This chapter is full of angst and hurt/comfort for our favourite spider, so be warned lol. It wasn't even meant to be remotely angst or hurt/comfort, but this is what happens when you write the plot as you go along. This is my first time ever writing about angst or hurt/comfort in my life, so I hope it's not too bad. Regardless, enjoy! (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)
Disclaimer: Descriptions of panic attacks are written in this chapter.
Spider-Man swung up and above the cars crossing the 59th Street Bridge, zooming over their roofs. Spidey liked swinging through New York's many bridges, flying inches above the water was always entertaining for the spider.
Releasing his web and shooting another, the arachnid zipped over the bridge's railing and let gravity take him down to the shimmering water below, limbs extended and catching the rushing air. Breathing in the salty air as he descended, Spider-Man closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Despite the noise of the cars above and the rushing wind, Spidey relaxed blissfully in his free fall, letting his body go limp and be taken by the early morning wind.
Spider-Man then opened his eyes, seeing the edge of the bridge get further away and flipped right way up before shooting a web a second later, swinging in a wide semi-circle barely a few inches above the water.
Ending the swing with a graceful flip, Spider-Man shot another string of webbing for a steep swing and flew back up the bridge and over the road, zipping above the cars and weaving through the bridge's cables. The spider spotted the skyscrapers of Queens approaching in the distance before his vision turned, performing a sideways somersault at the end of another swing.
Spider-Man had no particular destination in mind, as per usual at this time of day. Early morning harbours very little to no crime, and the city's arachnid typically takes the time to catch up on sleep or work. But a slow week had left Spidey with ample rest and so he decided to patrol early, catching the beautiful sunrise over New York that he doesn't usually see.
Camille passed the spray paint over her shoulder, ruffling through the duffel bag holding the rest of the cans. She squinted her eyes as she picked up a tin, examining its description. "Hey, you think we got enough?" She looked over to her brother securing a ladder against the chipped brick wall on the side of a small alley. "How big did you plan on making this?"
Securing his mask over his mouth, he shook the black paint can as he glanced at his sister. "It's gonna take up the entire wall!" He smirked as he scaled the ladder. "Don't worry about the paint, the boys are bringing more."
"Right." She secured her own mask over her face. "Did we have to start so damn early though?" She grumbled, rubbing an eye and securing her ladder against the other end of the brick wall. "Tobi, the Sun's barely up." Her voice was slightly muffled by the mask.
"It's a big job!" He responded enthusiastically, popping the cap off the paint can. "We gotta get it finished today, before Mom opens the shop tomorrow. Let's just hope the weather stays friendly." He eyed the sky.
"Should be all clear today, except maybe a little fog if I remember correctly." Camille smiled at her brother's excitement. "I bet you couldn't sleep last night though," she teased.
"Nope!" Tobi chirped, ironically full of energy. Pressing the can's nozzle, the paint spluttered a little before spraying over the wall in a thin stream. "We should at least get the outline done before my buddies come and help us out, you got a copy of the sketch on you right?" The teen asked, eyes not straying from his work.
"Yep," Camille answered, fetching the folded paper out of her paint-stained shirt pocket. Flattening the A3 paper against the wall, Camille's eyes glistened proudly and a grin tugged her lips.
Calling it a 'sketch' would be a little insulting. The drawing was beautiful, filled with detail and colours, making the art look like it was bursting out of the page's confines. Camille had given her brother a few ideas and sketches, and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't impressed with the piece he conjured from her vague drawings. He was clearly very committed to this.
Grabbing a black paint can and shaking its contents, she too popped off the cap and got to work.
Spider-Man whizzed through the streets as soon as he heard the very distant bomb-like explosion accompanied with a buzz of his spider-sense, his spinnerets shooting silk to swing him across the buildings faster than ever. Spidey's eyes tunneled on the black smoke pluming in the distance, ears picking up the muted screams mixed with the rush of air.
Latching a new web on the corner of a building, Spidey leapt off the vertical wall and slung himself over its corner before racing across the street. The spider's worried eyes finally caught a visual of the disaster down the road, eyes only furrowing further at the sight of the blood-red flames consuming a charred building and scorching anything that came close.
The screams were getting louder the closer Spider-Man got, the wind roaring in his ears barely doing much to muffle them. The panicked yells and uncoordinated shouts were concentrated in a loose crowd of New Yorkers observing the scene, most of them wielding phones and expressing fearful concern.
Spidey's eyes hardened as he stared at the blaze ahead, sticky fingers anchoring him to a building across the fire, his digits almost cracking the brick wall with adrenaline. Taking a better look at the blaze, the spider's mind raced as he analyzed the burning building, doing his best to find the safest entrance.
"Spider-Man! Oh my gosh!" A man shrieked, his voice barely heard above the crowd's commotion. His eyes were blown wide beneath his baseball cap, jaw unhinged as far as it could go and a shaky finger pointed right at the arachnid's form.
Those close to him followed the wobbly finger and caught sight of the spider clinging to the building across the street, and they too let out their own shouts of alarm. Before long, the crowd's primary attention was on Spidey, phones swiveling from the fire to record the perched arachnid instead. "It's him!"
One girl began jumping up and down desperately, waving her arms in the air frantically as she tried to get Spider-Man's attention. Spidey's eyes didn't budge however, the large lenses focused on an entrance to the building unrelentingly, brows screwed anxiously as the seconds ticked by.
'There could definitely be people still in there! How am I gonna get in with a wall of fire blocking the building's entrance?'
The girl's jumping ceased at the spider's lack of attention, instead deciding to shove past the crowd to the front while yelling at the hero in desperation. "Spider-Man! There are people still in there!" The young teen screamed over the crowd, her voice finally reaching the spider as she got close enough. "Please! My uncle! He was only meant to pop in for a minute– it all happened so fast–!"
She took a deep breath as Spidey's eyes locked on her, rubbing her sore throat briefly before shouting again. "I think there's a back exit on the other side of the building, it's for the staff so it's usually locked–!"
The spider didn't stay to let the girl finish, his legs springing him off the wall before any more precious seconds were lost to the flames. Leaping across the street, the spider detoured around the flames and scaled the adjacent building, shooting a web to launch and flip him over the top.
Bounding across the roof and ducking under the ventilation units, Spider-Man leapt off the edge and fell down to the alley below, the heat from the distant flames dissipating as his feet hit the ground. Ignoring a couple shocked gasps from a few onlookers nearby, Spidey ran to the building and scanned the it's rear.
The flames hadn't spread to the back yet thankfully, and the spider managed to spot the shut staff door standing out against the brick wall with its chipping white paint. Rushing forward, Spider-Man shoved his left shoulder into the door and knocked it down with a bang, a large shoulder-shaped dent bruising the metal door as it flung inwards.
Spidey immediately felt a rush of warm air fly out the open back exit, a faint orange glow emanating from deep inside. Small tendrils of smoke spilled from the opened entryway, the grey smog blocking most of the faint orange light and making the spider flinch at its foul smell.
Ducking beneath the worst of the smoke, Spider-Man deftly crawled into the heated building, ears straining to survey his surroundings. With the fumes blocking the spider's eyes and nose, Spidey pushed his ears and spider-sense even further to compensate.
"Hello?! Where are you?" Spidey yelled, conscious of the limited air in the burning building. Clamping his mouth shut against the smoke, Spider-Man held his breath and listened intently.
A very faint cough somewhere ahead alerted the spider, encouraging him to move forward in renowned haste. After navigating through what Spidey assumed was a small and thin corridor, he crawled closer to where the faint wheezes came from.
Spider-Man almost recoiled at the increase in heat. The air was steaming and filling with even more black smoke the further he traveled, the angry flames raging brightly through his obscured vision. The blaze ahead was fast approaching, completely consuming the front of the building and rapidly spreading to the back.
Pressing himself further to the ground, Spider-Man clenched his teeth and continued to crawl forward, his lungs straining as he stubbornly held his breath against the toxic smog. He made his way further down the small corridor, sharp ears picking up the struggling breaths just up ahead.
Squinting his eyes, Spidey barely managed to spot a shut door in front of him, the muffled wheezing coming from beyond. Spider-Man widens his eyes after a brief glance back down the corridor, the flames angrily snaking forward with alarming speed. Every second is another inch of corridor lost to the corrosive flames, and the spider didn't waste another second staring hell in the eyes.
Whipping his head back to the closed entrance, Spidey pushes forward and awkwardly headbuts the door on all fours. The bottom of the door gives a muted thud from the impact as it jolted forward, and Spidey heard the wood give a pitiful groan before leaning backwards and toppling over him. The door laying on his back was immediately forgotten the moment Spider-Man caught a glimpse of what was inside.
Through the wispy smoke, a small, huddled and shaking form sat in the corner of the tiny room, knees up to her shoulders with tiny arms wrapped around her quivering legs. The smoke was fairly less potent in the room, but with the door down and fire rapidly catching up, soon this room would be no different than the blackened remains down the corridor.
Shrugging off the downed door as he moved, Spidey crawled forward with aching lungs. Holding his breath had managed to save his lungs from the toxic smog, but it also restricted much needed oxygen from fueling his straining muscles.
Putting one limb in front of the other, the spider pushed his head even lower and took a deep breath, wincing slightly from the smoke inhaled as a result.
Clearing his throat, Spider-Man tried to grab the young woman's attention but to no avail. Panicking at the furious cackling of flames nearing the only entrance and exit to the tiny room, the spider pushed his limbs the extra distance to reach out and grasp the woman's leg tightly.
She gasped, head flying out from behind her knees and arms flailing about before finding weak purchase on the ground. Her eyes were bloodshot and widened to their limit, fingers twitching and scratching at the floor before she finally managed to make out the figure crouched like an insect before her.
Spider-Man squeezed the woman's ankle and nudged it towards him, hoping to get her to understand. She slowly began to comply, getting on her hands and knees to shuffle forward - a lot slower than the spider would've liked, but movement nonetheless - before she abruptly stopped.
Spidey almost groaned in frustration as he eyed the woman, the increasing blaring of his spider-sense reminding him of the situation's urgency. Spidey decided to open his mouth and speak to address the importance of hurrying up, but the woman reached out and grasped his foot before he could. Her fear-stricken face tilted and gestured worryingly behind her, the movements were sharp and jerky with her grating coughs.
Spider-Man almost wanted to dismiss her frantic gestures and haul her forward - they had wasted too much time, they wouldn't make it out if they spared another second! - but the spider's razor sharp eyes caught a glimpse of something barely coming through. With half a mind on the flames, and the other half on trying to squint through the curling black smoke, Spidey's heart seized as he managed to finally make sense of the woman's panicked gestures.
Something, no, someone was there. A man.
'Oh.'
The danger of the flames and smoke had overworked his spider-sense, making it impossible to realise the unconscious man earlier.
And crawling back to carry him along was going to take time, only around fifteen seconds perhaps, but those fifteen seconds in light of the disastrous situation were worth more than gold. Spidey's heart beat hard against his ribs, the thundering of his blood drowning the woman's raspy coughs and the sinister snapping of flames ahead.
As it is, they would barely manage to scrape by the flames unscathed, but retrieving the other man would make that impossible. Leaving him behind was simply not an option however, abandoning someone is just an impossible thought to Spidey.
And yet, there simply wasn't enough time.
Spider-Man shut his eyes, barely taking a second to go through all his thoughts. There has to be a way - there always is. It's only a matter of sorting the correct choice from the others, to think and wrack his brain for a proper solution.
But with the orange light glowing ominously beyond the door, Spidey knew there simply wasn't enough time to think. Every second of thought is a second wasted in action.
So instead of thinking, the spider felt. His senses extended to every corner of the room, visualizing everything around him. He sensed the flames ravenously eating away at the corridor outside, he sensed the harsh breathing of a fearful woman next to him, he sensed the unconscious man obscured by the cancerous smoke, the unconscious man who– wait a second, he isn't breathing–!
A worried face harshly tore through his vision, shouts and screams surrounding her blurred by the fearful words spilling from her lips. "Please! My uncle! He was only meant to pop in for a minute– it all happened so fast–!"
Uncle.
Spidey's chest burned as his heart suddenly seized from its frantic beating. His treacherous brain simply couldn't resist painting Ben Parker's pained face over the unconscious man, and his spider-sense ripped through his brain in painful waves as his twitching lenses zeroed in on the vulnerable man.
Spider-Man shut his eyes fiercely, but that didn't help, at all.
The coughing woman beside him suddenly blurred into his vision alongside his uncle, her face eerily contorting into the sickly pale features of his Aunt May. Splotchy skin glistening with sweat, wrinkles deepened and brows screwed tighter with each cough wracking through her frail body, blood dotting her lips as the cursed devil's breath slowly and painfully took her life.
Everything around him froze, movement crawling to halt.
The static in his brain was deafening as it swallowed and lit his nerves on fire, his spider-sense buzzing through his neck and down his back as the microscopic hairs raised across his body. The harrowing pressure mounted quickly on his spine, building to a point it almost weighed him down physically.
The pressure buildup was so fast it blindsided the spider, but before he could attempt to mentally shake his head clear, the pressure on his spine suddenly burst physically.
And with it came four thick spider legs.
Spidey didn't realise he was gasping until the smoke entering his lungs became too much, a brutal hack tearing itself out of his throat, and like a switch the anguished faces of Uncle Ben and Aunt May dispersed.
As their faces melted away, the soft glow of the flames peeking around the corridor grew harsh and unforgiving once again, the woman's frozen features resumed with another weak cough as the motionless tendrils of black smoke continued their soft billows across the room.
The nauseating whiplash from the terrifying sequence of events stopped the spider from questioning what the fuck just happened. His mind instead was quickly dragged back to his twitching arachnid legs and aching throat that let out another painful hack, the thickening smoke only clogging his lungs further.
A panicked wheeze from the woman beside him reminded Spidey that she wasn't faring any better either, and despite the ominous daydream - or dayterror more accurately - he just experienced, there was very much still a raging inferno outside looking to barbeque them very soon.
His spider-sense blared harshly at the reminder, and through the buzzing static in his head came the faint sound of sirens tickling his ears. The first real thing from outside the burning hell hole he found himself stuck in.
Spider-Man almost couldn't believe it, nearly thinking his scrambled mind was playing tricks again, but the steady ring of sirens beyond the burning building's walls was definitely unmistakable.
Like a switch being flipped, Spidey's head shot up and his sluggish body tensed. Shuffling forward, the spider only allowed himself one more feeble cough before pushing the scratchy words past his dry lips. "Go! Just go!"
Another useless cough tore his throat, and it was difficult not to get frustrated at the woman's slow reaction, her fear-stricken face only twisting in confusion but her body staying stock-still.
Spidey didn't bother with any more raspy words. Twisting and clenching the muscles in his back, the spider shifted his large and heavy arachnid legs forward, the tips twitching and clicking against the floor.
The long appendages were thick and sleek, covered in tiny and compact fur-like crimson hairs which glistened a beautiful ruby-orange in the fire's soft glow. The smooth and soft red fuzz carefully transitioned to a coal-black near the end of each leg, where the sharp tip eventually stood in a daring obsidian.
The woman jumped, her confusion switching for shock at the appearance of the large appendages breaking through the thick smoke, the joints stretching and spanning across the room as they reached past her and swiftly wrapped around the unconscious man behind them. Extra claws extended on each tip to better grasp at the man's clothes, and the woman finally snapped out of her trance when Spider-Man pulled the man towards them.
Vaguely remembering how to crawl forward, she clumsily but quickly made her way past the spider and to the front of the room, the hero following once the man was securely tucked amidst a cluster of giant spider legs.
The heat reached her face immediately once she pushed her head into the corridor, a roaring inferno raging an arms length away. A wince wracked her frame at the burning fire just beside her, her mouth shooting open at the intensity of the blaze.
Spidey firmly nudged her forward from behind, the wordless encouragement snapping her out of her hesitation and reminding her to continue forward. The only path away from the blaze was down the corridor, a dead-end except for a locked storage room and locked back exit.
Another encouraging nudge forward pushed the woman to crawl onwards, taking comfort in the spider behind her and trusting his direction as she clambered over the room's downed door and fully into the corridor. The blaze was less intense as she crawled away, but its sinister crackling told her it wasn't too far behind.
A sharp wince from the hero behind her made her spare a glance back, the angry flames licking at his suit daringly as Spidey crawled over the fallen door, the unconscious man protected in a cluster of arachnid legs wrapped safely around his body. Swiveling her head back forward, she pushed her limbs even further, trying her best to scramble forward as fast as possible and give more room for Spidey to crawl away from the flames behind her.
The corridor was short and incredibly small, but the journey definitely felt infinitely longer than it should have. Thick billows of black smog blocked her from seeing anything in front, but when her hands felt the dented fallen metal door of the back exit, she knew exactly where she was.
The burst of relief from crawling over the downed door was almost unbearable, a white light beginning to shine heavenly ahead from where the exit was, and illuminating the thick particles of black soot and dust drifting in front of her eyes.
Silhouettes of people peeking from the open exit squeezed the last amount of adrenaline into her veins, her body rushing forward in a quick mess of clambering limbs, her eyes and lungs aching for the promise of clean air.
"I see someone! Over here!" The voices were right in front of her as she placed her right hand beyond the exit, the cool and rough texture of dirty concrete never feeling better. Before her left hand could follow and place itself ahead, a pair of arms gripped her armpits and heaved her forward, her upper body lifting up and out of the smoky building as a few more hands steadied her sides and helped pull her away.
Her shoes dragged across the ground as she was helped out into the bright outside light, the sound of her relieved and harsh coughs defending her ears as her lungs expelled the toxic smoke, greedily gulping down clean air instead.
Her coughs eventually melted into slow and deep breaths as she was gently seated against a brick wall, the hands releasing her to hover over her form worriedly instead. Her swiming mind slowly began making sense of the worried questions shot her way.
"Oh my God, are you okay?!"
"Water, get some water!"
"Does anyone have any towels?"
"Was Spider-Man with you? Wait– he's here!"
Her head snapped up, heedless of the sharp pain from the sudden move, and zeroed her vision on the pair of bug eyes emerging from the wispy thick smoke. The rushing crowd of people in the alley around her blocked most of her vision, but between the people's legs she could make out Spidey's form crawling out from beneath the worst of the smoke, his movements entirely spider-like.
As a couple people from the crowd moved towards the hero, Spider-Man nimbly lifted himself up and to the side, audibly taking in the fresh clean air.
The crowd suddenly exploded in shock and frantic questions as they caught sight of the unconscious man, now carefully cradled in two of the four arachnid legs sprouting from the hero's back.
"Holy shit! He's got spider legs! Look!"
"I need a picture of this!"
"Oh my gosh, where are they coming from?"
"Get away!"
"Hah, it's true! He can grow extra arms!"
Heedless of the crowd's excitement, Spidey gently released the man into his back, his extra legs folding in on themselves as they smoothly dispersed into his back. Dropping to his knees, Spider-Man shoved his ear to the man's chest, muting the crowd's chatter and focusing his hardest on detecting a heartbeat - even a weak one would do.
The seconds ticked by without a single beat, the spider pushing his head stubbornly harder into the man's chest to no avail. Small tremors began prickling through his body, dread digging its claws deep into his heart and dragging it kicking and screaming to his stomach.
Pushing himself off his chest and shakily shoving his palms over the man's breastbones, Spidey's mind numbly counted with every compression as he distantly noted the crowd going silent - or his head simply shutting them out.
As the numbers wracked up, Spider-Man's breath grew more shallow, his heart seizing terribly or beating impossibly fast - he couldn't tell.
One more compression had Spider-Man briskly lifting his mask over his nose, his fangs biting his lower lip in worry before he took a deep breath and pushed his mouth forward. The spider's fingers pinched the man's nose closed and tilted his chin forward as Spidey exhaled deeply. The man's chest rose, and Spider-Man inhaled through his nose to breathe into the man's lungs one more time, before releasing and shifting his hands back over his chest.
This time instead of counting numbers, Spidey ended up chanting 'please' over and over, unsure and uncaring if it was whispered aloud or in his head.
It felt like forever, but the sudden small beat under his shaking palms had the spider pause disbelievingly. Surely enough, another beat and soft intake of breath from the man below flooded Spidey with unbelievable relief, more than the fresh smoke-less air around him could ever attempt to achieve.
'He's breathing… he's breathing, thank goodness he's breathing.' With a deep relieved exhale, Spider-Man sat back on his haunches and lowered his mask, the cold grip on his heart lessening at the sure sight of the small rise and fall of the man's chest.
Distant cheering brought Spidey back to his surroundings as his eyes surveyed the crowd around him. Phones and smiles flashing, the crowd of New Yorkers rallied together in their praise with fists pumping the air. Spidey's frazzled mind shifted back to the unconscious man to truly make sure he was okay, before lifting himself back onto his feet.
"Nice save Spidey! Cool legs too."
"Excellent CPR Spider-Man!"
"That fire's way out of control! Where's the fire department at?!"
Spidey's head lifted at that, briefly glancing at the worried man who brought up the question. Spider-Man listened intently to the sirens blaring in the distance, brows furrowing as he realised the wailing wasn't getting any closer. What was holding them up?
A brief glance back had the spider's hand fist in worry, the flames had now eagerly reached the building's back exit, the angry red blaze consuming the doorway and flaring to engulf its surroundings.
'What's stalling them?'
Another harsh crackle and pop from the blaze made the spider tense his fists, his spider-sense buzzing in warning. 'Something's wrong, I need to see what's taking them so long.'
After a brief check on the unconscious man and a quick pat at the dark soot covering his suit, Spidey leapt to the air and shot a web, swinging away from the crowd of onlookers to investigate.
Carol usually doesn't have so much damn adrenaline coursing through her veins when driving a firetruck, especially when she hasn't gotten the chance to push the gas pedal for the past ten minutes!
"This is probably the worst hold-up I've ever been in," her passenger commented, his head resting in his gloved palm as he gazed out the window.
Despite his seemingly calm demeanor, Carol knew her coworker was very much worried and alert. They had been one of the first FDNY personnel deployed to the fire in Chinatown, with the first half of the journey going very smoothly.
After crossing another intersection however, a handy-dandy 5 vehicle collision - involving a police motorcycle apparently - up ahead had completely clogged the road. The traffic buildup was immediate, and those caught in the holdup were stuck with nowhere to go until the road ahead was cleared.
The frustrating and concerning part was that Carol could just about see the towering smoke beyond the buildings, the height and colour of the smoke telling her experienced mind that the fire they're looking at is not just a simple kitchen fire.
Dispatch had updated them as more information about the emergency was uncovered - an explosion at a dry cleaners apparently, but Carol felt completely frustrated at the inability to act and utilize the information.
According to her radio, most if not all emergency vehicles had taken this route, so unless they were way further behind and managed to turn around in time, all emergency personnel were stuck behind this mess of honking cars and screaming New Yorkers.
Carol hit her head against the top of the wheel in frustration, lifting a finger to press a button and switch the siren off.
"I've never seen our sirens be more useless," Aadan commented beside her, scratching his scalp awkwardly beneath his helmet.
"Yes, that's why I've just turned it off," she sighed, rubbing her temple and feeling her age. "There're most certainly going to be casualties at this rate. Even if we end up getting there within the next ten-fifteen minutes by some miracle, it'll be far too late."
Aadan hummed, his deep voice grumbling in agitation. "There are way too many cars on the street these days, too many accidents, there should be regulations or something," he huffed.
Carol silently agreed, tapping her fingers on the wheel and watching the distant smoke in dread.
Aadan reached a hand to grab his water bottle from the center console, twisting the cap before taking a deep drink. "I reckon we could've made it to New Jersey by no– what the hell?!"
Carol's head snapped to her colleague in surprise, catching his pale face before following his gaze out the windscreen in worry. She didn't see anything at first, and opened her mouth to ask before shutting it abruptly.
A distant red and blue figure quickly flipped into vision, and Carol ducked her chin forward and over the steering wheel to get a better look through the glass. The spider shot a web and swung forward, passing by the street over the traffic before releasing the silk at the peak of his swing, rolling and flipping into a graceful eagle dive.
Shooting one more web to catch his fall, Spidey swung low and released the line to land in a roll, getting back on his feet smoothly and trotting up to their fire truck. His suit looked rather dirty covered in patches of soot as he peeked into the driver's side window. It took a while for Carol to lift her jaw back up and roll the window down. "Spider-Man?"
Spidey stared for a moment. "Are you trying to get back there?" He asked, pointing a gloved finger over the buildings where the drifting smoke from the fire can be seen.
Aadan nodded his head along with Carol. "Yeah, but the accident ahead trapped us."
"I'll clear it and get the traffic moving then." The spider nodded, turning his head to leap away.
"Wait!" Carol yelled, poking her head out the window. Spidey turned back to her, and she saw a few drivers had rolled down their windows and were yelling enthusiastically for Spider-Man's attention. Ignoring them, she asked, "can you give us a quick sit-rep? How many people are trapped in the building?"
"There were two people trapped, but they got out safely. One of them - a man - his heart stopped heating, but I resuscitated him with CPR. Other than that, there are no more victims unless you count the building itself - in which case it isn't looking too hot, so to speak." Spidey answered.
Carol sighed in relief and nodded. She noticed the spider catching a brief look at an unfinished wall painting nearby, a quick glance showing two teenagers propped on ladders with more on the ground all gaping at them, spray cans and paint buckets in their messy hands. The large mural was ironically of Spider-Man. "Glad to hear the people are safe. If you could clear that accident and get the traffic moving, we'll definitely be able to do something about that fire ASAP."
Spidey nodded leapt off, shooting a web to zip himself across the street. Carol's stare lingered on the hero a few moments after he disappeared behind the long line of traffic, her lips twisted contemplatively.
From what she heard of the spider, he was a very friendly and quirky hero, throwing quips and smiles around with reckless abandon at times.
Spider-Man seemed a lot more reserved and reticent just now however, his supposedly expressive bug lenses only moving to blink. Odd.
Aaron quickly spoke into his radio, updating everyone with Spider-Man's new information.
Two minutes later and the traffic was moving forward steadily, the cars slowly moving faster and clearing the congestion. Carol eagerly switched the sirens back on, filtering through the moving traffic and breathing a sigh of relief as they made their way to the fire quickly.
The day had been very long, and the sky was already dimming. Days were shorter this time of year, but Ulma swears she's never had a longer day than today.
Still resting near the closed off remnants of the charred building, Ulma had been tended to by first responders and had kindly refused a trip to the hospital. An oxygen mask and a quick check-up wasn't worth the cosmic hospital bill, thank you very much. And so she stayed near the site, waiting very patiently for her worried step-sister driving all the way from Arden Heights to arrive.
She should have known, however, that getting saved from a fire by Spider-Man would attract the news crews and interview questions her way.
"Can you tell us what happened on your side of the story ma'am?"
Ulma sighed, the exhale disguised as if she was just tired but in reality she was a lot more mentally exhausted and annoyed at having to repeat her story once again.
She was half tempted to just throw a 'no comment', or tell the news reporter to ask the paramedics what happened - she's already told them the details in great depth. But she knew those unsatisfactory answers wouldn't get the questions off her back for good.
Ulma licked her cracked lips, looking at the reporter with a bland but not unfriendly look. She pointed to the unrecognisable building. "I work at that dry cleaners. It was just a normal shift, until it wasn't when one of the dryers blew up like a bomb."
"Do you know what might have caused such an explosion?" The reporter asked, face pulled in an expression of professional inquisition.
She swallowed. "If I had to take a guess, someone must've left a lighter or something of the sort in their clothes before putting them in the dryer. Those are gas dryers, and it's not too difficult to get an explosion of that scale with enough gas and a spark."
The reporter's face pulled into a frown. "Well, I'm glad you dodged the worst of it. Can you tell us what happened next?"
She licked her lips again. Gosh, she really hated interviews. "I must've blacked out from the blast because the fire had spread a lot when I came to. I remembered there was a customer that had just popped in at the time, so I searched and found him knocked out on the floor, he was pretty close to the explosion. The dryer that blew up was near the entrance, so the fire was blocking the only way out."
The reporter hummed, encouraging her to continue with his attention never wavering.
Ulma looked off to the side. "I thought the best thing to do was to get as far away from the fire as possible. I'm not physically strong at all, so it took a lot of effort but I managed to drag the guy– uh, the customer, into the back of the store with me."
The reporter nodded as a few firefighters and police officers milled about, the red and blue lights from their vehicles lighting dim afternoon.
She pulled the sleeves of her sweater over her cold hands, rubbing them absently. "Uh, the store isn't really that big, so there's only two rooms at the back. One was locked with the staff key I left behind, so I got us in the other room and decided to wait until help arrived. When the fire and smoke looked like it was going to become too much, I closed the door."
"Good decision," the reporter added uselessly, moving the microphone to his mouth to utter his words before pushing it back to her.
Ulma nodded. "I'm not sure how long I waited, but I remember the smoke was getting unbearable and uh, too thick to the point where you could hardly breathe without choking. The gaps between the door and the door frame were kind of large, so I guess the smoke must've had little trouble getting to us."
The reporter hummed again, and Ulma wet her dry lips.
"Again, I don't know how long I waited, and my head was getting really dizzy from all the smoke. But the next thing I remember, someone was touching my ankle and uh, I got super surprised." She cleared her throat, "it was Spider-Man."
The reporter visibly perked up, motioning the cameraman closer as he bared his white teeth in a wide smile. "Yes, reports say Spider-Man had managed to break down the back door and enter the building. He must've made his way to you. Please carry on, describe everything that happened."
Ulma swallowed nervously, shifting her gaze down and fiddling with the sleeves of her sweater. She really wanted this interview - this interrogation really - to be over with already. "He kinda pulled and squeezed my ankle again, and I got the hint he wanted me to follow him." The reporter nodded along eagerly, Ulma bit her chapped lip and continued. "I did follow him for a second, but then remembered the guy next to me. I stopped and tried to tell Spider-Man about him, but I didn't want to get into a coughing fit so I used my head to point back instead.
"Spidey must've realised what I was trying to say because his eyes looked surprised for a second…" Ulma bit her lip and furrowed her brows, unsure of how to continue. In truth, Spider-Man looked a lot more than 'surprised'. Spidey's eyes were very animated and shifted through so many expressions in less than a few seconds, Ulma was sure she wouldn't be able to decipher them even if she watched them in slow motion. She doubted she could decipher them even if he wasn't wearing a mask.
It was hard to tell, but with the way his body was quivering and tensing it was impossible not to notice. Something was going through Spidey's head, and it definitely didn't look pleasant. Ulma wished she could ask the spider what he was thinking at the moment, but that was simply impossible.
She wished she could at least convey how colossally thankful she is to be alive and breathing thanks to him, or at the very least shake his hand, or maybe comfort his unusually solemn and fretful looking actions today.
Even after getting them out of the blaze, Spidey hadn't said a word before he left. For someone who's so quick to quip and offer a friendly laugh, the spider was aberrantly silent. His worried gaze and tense muscles were visible looking closely, almost as if saving that faceless man was personal.
"Go on," the reporter's tone was polite but impatient, and Ulma's nervous fiddling grew annoyed.
"He, uh, took a few seconds to think, then he told me to go. He-"
"What did he say exactly?" The report interrupted, doing his best to milk every piece of information.
"He said 'Go. Just go.'"
The reporter nodded happily and gestured to continue.
Ulma took a moment to lick her dry lips again. "Umm. I don't know when they appeared, but one moment they weren't there and the next, these four spider legs were reaching out and picking up the other guy."
"What did they look like?" The reporter had barely let her finish her sentence before asking his question in a constrained voice. He was trying to stay professional obviously, but was very clearly getting swayed by his enthusiasm.
"Uh, they were pretty big. Umm, fuzzy, red and black, and uh, well, they looked like giant versions of spider legs." Ulma supplied the smiling reporter, who nodded eagerly.
"Okay, and what happened next?"
"Umm," Ulma bit her lip. "Well, he picked him up and we crawled back out the room. The fire was way too close and burnt him a little, but we thankfully made it out right that second or it would've been so much worse."
The reporter nodded solemnly.
"We crawled out through the back exit where Spider-Man, uh, kicked the door down before," she licked her lips again. "And I remember I could see some people peeking through the doorway when I got close. They helped me out and sat me against a wall."
The reporter hummed, and Ulma shifted slightly.
"Spider-Man crawled out after me, and put his extra arms away after he set the man down–"
"How did he put them away? Did they go back into his back? What about his suit?" The reporter questioned, cutting her off once again.
"I don't know, they just sort of folded into his back through the suit."
The reporter looked slightly disappointed at the lack of description but didn't comment further, just merely gesturing for her to continue.
"He gave the man CPR and rescue breaths, and it eventually worked, the guy started breathing again." Ulma shed a fond smile, the mysterious spider at the front of her mind. "He left about a minute after that, apparently helping the emergency services through some intense traffic or something."
The reporter nodded, though he didn't seem satisfied with her lack of details. "What did he do after the CPR and before he left?"
Ulma couldn't help the sigh this time. "Nothing. He just checked on the guy for a bit and glanced at the fire maybe, then he left."
The reporter appeared to contemplate pushing for more but decided to let it rest, simply thanking her for the interview and turning back at the camera, giving some more known details of the event along with his own comments and spewing some other news mumbo jumbo.
Ulma sighed again, walking away from the news crew and taking a seat by the curb. Her mind naturally wondered to the spider and his distressed behaviour. A frown tugged at her lips.
'Whatever was bothering you, I really hope you're okay Spidey.'
"Wow, that– that looks absolutely incredible!"
Tobi looked down from his ladder to see a woman gaping up at the wall, holding the hand of a small child with stars in his eyes capable of charging a solar beam as he gazed at the unfinished mural.
"Thanks! Still gotta finish the details!" Tobi replied, pointing to the unpolished highlights, bright grin splitting his tired, messy face. "Then it'll be perfect." He said the last sentence more to himself, voice laced with pride, as he tried to take in as much of the progress as he could from his close vantage point.
The sky had dimmed and piled on a fair amount of fog, but the early moon and street lights provided enough light to look over his work. It was mostly finished, just the extra details and touch-ups remaining. Camille and the boys had just left for the day, leaving the remaining work to a confidently smiling Tobi.
He was grateful for the nap he'd taken earlier at lunch to fuel him for the evening, or else he knew he'd be dead on his feet. Willpower could only get you so far.
There weren't many people milling the streets, the chilliness in the air warding off most New Yorkers - Tobi was grateful for the foresight of bringing a fleece jacket and an extra long, fluffy scarf.
He wanted to fall asleep on his feet despite his earlier nap, but the promise of completion kept him going with a wide smile on his face. This was going to be the biggest and bestest NYC art of its kind! The project hadn't been completed yet but the compliments had already come rolling through, especially after the little fiasco with Spider-Man himself drawing a little extra attention to the street this afternoon.
Tobi's smile widened at the memory, the hero was so close, so close! If only he hadn't been too busy trying to get his jaw off the ground, he would've been able to snap a clearer picture instead of a red blur.
At the time, he had reached down to grab a cloth and wipe at the paint on his hands when one of his buddies shouted the hero's name, pointing wide-eyed out the shallow alley and down the street. And sure enough, there Spidey was, dropping from the sky in a perfect eagle dive.
Spider-Man didn't stay longer than a minute, chatting briefly to the FDNY stuck in the horrendous traffic - then taking a quick glance at them, Tobi couldn't believe it! - before swinging off back where he came from.
Obsessively checking and refreshing the news and social media feeds showed Tobi fresh videos of the hero saving a couple people from a fire, giving life-saving CPR to one of them. What really got him sky high however, was the brief video of Spider-Man sporting four freaking spider arms! He spent far too long gushing over it.
Tobi later found out Spidey had been the one to clear the stand-still traffic, helping the emergency responders get to the fire. That had been the cherry on the cake. Tobi was buzzing with uncontained excitement at the spider's heroics and his unbelievable luck at getting to see him in person, no matter how short it was - the hero had even glanced at them too! His sister and friends had laughed at his over-enthusiasm, but Tobi knew they were incredibly excited too.
Hours later when some of the excitement had simmered down, Tobi felt Spidey's behaviour in the videos to be just the slightest bit strange. The spider hadn't said a word at all - presumably only when he spoke to the FDNY. Not a single quip or sound for a hero so usually talkative.
It wasn't really noticeable, and was probably nothing, but for a strong Spidey-fan like Tobi, the webslinger's silence was confusing.
Breaking away from his distracting thoughts and returning a wave at a passing New Yorker, Tobi picked up his paint can and got back to work.
Spider-Man felt the strong urge to go home, spin a giant web and take a deep nap. Maybe even hibernate. He's felt this way since the fire rescue in the early afternoon.
But now as he gazed at the late evening's star-filled sky, perched discreetly in one of Central Park's many trees, Spidey slowly realised it's not his body that's tired and in need of recovery, it's his mind.
He sighed, thoughts trailing to the vivid memories of the fire, more specifically of the eldritch day-nightmare.
It was such a bizarre experience, but more than that it was simply terrifying. Just the thought of those phantom faces of Uncle Ben and Aunt May, twisting painfully and grotesquely onto the features of those strangers, was enough to get his heart beating faster again.
Spidey shut his eyes and breathed in through his nose, willing the images away. His heartbeat kicked up a notch when even in the blackness of his closed eyes, the phantom ghosts of his Aunt and Uncle persisted.
Fear gripped his heart tightly at the horrible expressions on their kind faces, features pulled and forced into awful looks of pain and suffering. Spidey shuddered.
A sudden ringing pushed through the smog in his head, and it took the spider a frazzled second to recognise the sound was coming from his comms. Someone was calling him.
Like a balloon popping, Spidey's treacherous mindscape mercifully faded away, the terrible grip on his heart gone as if it wasn't there before, and allowing him to suck in a breath he just now realised he was holding.
He allowed himself another second to garner his bearings and take one more deep breath, before opening his eyes and checking the caller ID on his suit lenses. It showed Miles Morales.
Hitting the accept not a second later, Spidey almost audibly gave a breath of relief as Miles' enthusiastic voice bounded over the line.
"Hey Pete! I hope you're not busy!" He suddenly gasped, "wait! Are you doing Spider-Man stuff right now?"
Miles sounded far too excited, and Spidey found the boy's enthusiasm to be melting his tense shoulders much better than any massage. "No, I'm just relaxing at Central Park. What's up Miles?"
"Oh, that sounds nice. Well, I can call back if I'm bothering you?"
"No!" He gave an awkward laugh. "Uh, no." He certainly didn't want the teen to call back later. Miles hanging up would leave him with his own previous thoughts, and that's something he definitely didn't want. A voice to talk to, especially one as easy-going and excitable as Miles' is something he certainly needs right now. "You're not bothering me."
Miles paused for a moment. "Umm, okay?" He cleared his throat. "Well, that's great! 'Cuz I've been working on some invisibility tech, and it's been sooo hard to keep it a secret from you, but I just can't keep it under wraps any longer!"
Miles' excitement was almost tangible, and Spidey found his chest laughing without his consent.
Miles grinned. "You think you're gonna be free over the weekend to come check it out? I could kinda use your science-y knowledge to help me in some areas if you're down!"
Spidey sighed in relief as he felt the last of his previous tension ease out of his body. "Yes, of course I'm down. How could I say no when the smartest tech genius - no, I'm not talking about Tony Stark - is inviting me to get a free tour of his latest invention?"
Miles laughed heartily over the line, and Peter grinned along. "I don't even know how to begin breaking the terrible news that you overestimate me waaaay too much, Pete!"
Spidey gave a mock scoff, waving a dismissing hand. "Nonsense Miles. I meant it, you're a genius for someone ten times your age."
"Oh my gosh, really?" Miles sounded very sweet with compliments. "Thanks man! That means a lot, especially since it came from Spider-Man himself!"
Peter's chest was rumbling once again without his consent.
"Oh," Miles paused, "say, I heard about the fire rescue you did today! That was awesome! How're you holding up?"
Spidey's blissful bubble popped at the unexpected subject change, and he probably took too long to gather his bearings and answer. "Uh, I'm just fine Miles. The fire might've been on the larger side, but it was still just your average fire rescue."
Miles hummed. He didn't sound entirely convinced for some reason, but not rudely so. "Okay, well if there's something wrong, I hope I can help."
Spider-Man tilted his head as he considered Miles' words. "'Something wrong'?" He echoed in question.
"Umm," Miles seemed nervous, but was doing a decent job of masking it. The teen took a few seconds over the line before sighing in defeat. "Sorry Pete, it's just that you sound a little tense and off. I don't wanna bother you, but MJ sort of mentioned it first."
Peter was caught off guard, stuttering a little as he wrapped his head around what Miles said. "MJ?"
Miles sighed nervously. "Yeah. I mean, it's not obvious, but to someone who knows you Pete, you were looking a little agitated in that video especially when you were giving that guy CPR."
Other than an audible breath from Spidey, the call was silent, both not knowing what to say.
Miles' voice came over the line after a little while, sounding nervous once again. "I mean, don't get me wrong, it could totally be nothing! It's just you were acting a little weird ya know? MJ and I wanted to know if everything's alright."
"Uh," Peter stuttered for a second. "Well, I mean yeah, everything's good I guess." The spider winced at his pathetic attempt as reassurance, sounding completely unconvincing to his own ears.
"Okay," Miles fiddled with something over the line. "You totally don't have to answer this, but did you maybe know the guy you gave CPR or something?"
Spider-Man's eyes widened. "What?"
Miles panicked, dropping the item he was fiddling with abruptly. "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have asked, it's none of my business! I just, well, nevermind, pretend I never asked, sorry!" The teen rambled, and Peter only had half a mind to focus on the words.
The other half was thinking back to the faceless man he saved. No, he definitely didn't know the guy, but saving him at the time felt far too personal than saving just a random stranger.
Spidey shut his eyes, unsurprised when his mind wandered to Uncle Ben for the tenth time today. The faceless man just kept reminding him of Ben, and the panicked look on the young girl's face when she spoke of her Uncle trapped in the fire was far too close to home.
It's been eight years since Uncle Ben died, and Peter thought he had moved on. He had taken Ben's words to heart and became Spider-Man, doing his best to make his late Uncle proud.
But never had a thought or memory of his Uncle come to scare him so much in such a long time. The last nightmare he had of him was back when he was still a young spiderling, a child. Since then, anytime he thinks of his late Uncle, the man has always been a source of strength for the arachnid. Today however, Ben and May's ghosts have taken a haunting turn.
Spidey sighed, feeling much too tired and much too confused.
"Pete?" Miles spoke through his thoughts, voice quiet and worried. "... Are you, uh, okay?"
'Am I okay?' The spider thought wryly, deep down already knowing the answer but unwilling to reach it. He sighed audibly, face looking miserable beneath the mask as he gazed over Central Park.
"... I don't know that man I saved." He settled for answering the previous, easier question.
Miles took a moment over the line, thinking of his response. "Okay. You didn't know him… but you maybe had some sort of connection or something?" He phrased his statement more as a question, tone light and unrestricting but not weak. He was allowing Spidey to set his own pace and answer of his own time, and with that the spider felt less constrained to answer.
"Yes. He was an Uncle to a young girl." Peter looked at his fingers, and traced the webs idly as a distraction.
Miles could tell there was a story behind the small packet of information Spider-Man was giving him. The teen heard of what happened to Peter's uncle when he was his own age, and it didn't take long for him to make a likely connection between the stranger and Ben.
Biting his lip, Miles briefly thought how horrible he is at this kind of thing. MJ would be so much better. "Well," he sighed, "look Pete. When Dad died, you really pulled me out of a dark spot I had no idea I was stuck in. Working with F.E.A.S.T and meeting you, May and MJ was one of the best things that's ever happened. I can't imagine - not that I'd want to anyway - where I'd be without all that. Thanks for that, man."
Spidey was listening with every fiber of his being, Miles' words being the only thing going through his otherwise vacant mind.
Miles took a second before continuing. "I've just realised that there isn't anyone to do something like that for you. To help you move on, you know?"
Peter swallowed, soaking in his words and thinking over them. Help him move on? Uncle Ben died eight years ago, and he's already accepted that and moved on.
Almost as if sensing what the spider was thinking, Miles added, "I'm not talking about your uncle Peter, I'm talking about May."
"Aunt May?" Peter paused, lips chapped and mouth dry. Aunt May? It's been a good six months or so, and he's accepted that she's gone too.
"Yeah man," Miles responded. "Devil's breath was a big shock to the city, dude. No one saw that coming. I don't think you've taken the time to properly grieve Peter…"
Spidey stayed silent, unsure of how to respond and what to do with his uncoordinated thoughts. He felt lost and incredibly small, unconsciously huddling in on himself atop of the cold tree branch.
"I'm sorry Pete, MJ is so much better at this than I am. But I ain't leaving you hanging either, Ma sent me to therapy for a while before I volunteered at F.E.A.S.T, so I hope I know a little about what's going on." Miles spoke, tone soft but sturdy. "Talk to me please, I can try to help like you helped me. I hope you know that MJ and I would be so much happier if we could lend a hand, we're worried about you man."
Spidey felt his lost and uncoordinated thoughts pause in his mind, instead focusing on the teen's words over the call. After going through them a third time, Peter felt a lulling warmth begin soothing over the aching area in his chest. It wasn't much, but it was a very welcome start.
He could hear the tone and meaning in the teen's words. Spidey felt unbelievably grateful to have people like Miles in his life, and understood what the teen meant earlier saying he wouldn't know where he'd be without such support. Spidey now realised how much he needed to rely on his friends, as he felt just how much the warmth in his chest soothed against the cold vacancy.
Doing his best to salivate his dry mouth and get his throat moving, Spidey took a deep breath, taking his mind back to the fire earlier that day. It was hard, but he brought his thoughts back to the terrible faces of Uncle Ben and Aunt May plastered on the faceless man and the coughing woman. He swallowed.
"I…" One more deep breath, "I thought there was only the woman there at the time, but I should've known better. The little girl from before had told me her uncle was in there too. When the trapped woman showed me the man, I panicked. There wasn't enough time to go get him, the fire would trap us if I did. There wasn't enough time to think, and everything sort of went… bad. I'm not entirely sure what happened– it was strange and scary." Peter blinked, knowing it was difficult to follow and understand his words. He felt as if he's talking more to himself than Miles, and grounding his thoughts on what happened.
"There wasn't any movement around me anymore, everything paused, and I don't know when it happened but the man was suddenly Uncle Ben." He swallowed the lump lodged in his throat, thankful for Miles' silence. "The woman looked like Aunt May too, and they were both dying. I– it was… I've never felt anything like it." He admitted, lost and confused.
Miles gave him a graceful minute of silence as he gathered his thoughts. Spidey swallowed again. "I'm confused, I mean I've been through worse fires…"
"I don't think it had anything to do with the fire Pete." Miles spoke softly. "It could've been a car accident or a mugging or anything really. A panic attack can happen anywhere."
"Panic attack?" Spider-Man echoed, voice high in pitch.
"I think it's just everything catching up to you, you know?" Miles' voice sounded a little distant, almost as if recalling a personal memory. "You may have understood and moved on from Ben, but I don't think you properly moved on from suddenly losing both of them..." Miles let Peter soak up his words for a moment. "I think May and Devil's Breath just dug up some buried scars for you, and it took six months for you to fully process."
Peter didn't know what to say to that, realisation slowly dawning on how much May's death had really affected him. Miles continued anyway. "I think you've buried it under all the amazing work you do, so it was only a matter of time before something like this happened." Miles let that sink in for a moment, going back to nervously fiddling with the object from before. "Like you told me before with F.E.A.S.T, do something or speak to someone to help you properly move on, you know? I know that'll help."
Spidey knew exactly what Miles meant, after all, it was him who had suggested the teen take up volunteering at the shelter to help move on from his father's death. All things aside, pide and happiness bloomed in his chest at being able to help the teen move on, and adopt his cheerful persona once again.
He should definitely take on his own advice.
"I don't know you as well as MJ does, so I'm sorry Peter," Miles' voice was nervous and unsure. "But I hope I'm doing at least a halfway decent job of helping out a friend."
Spider-Man's lips were already pulled up before he even realised he was smiling, fondness spreading wonderfully over the small warmth already growing in his heart. "You've helped me more than I can possibly thank you for, Miles. I would've never reflected on nearly half of those things if it weren't for you, thank you."
Miles made a high pitched happy sort of sound. "Really? I'm so glad Peter! I'm always down to help you if you need it, man!"
Peter found the teen's exuberance contagious, his own smile widening and becoming a lot more genuine. "And I know now to be more open and accept it, thanks."
Another one of Miles' happy breath-squeal-laugh things came through the call, and Spidey chuckled, finding the young man to be too adorable for his own good. "I'm glad! Oh, I should probably get going then. Sorry! Ma called me down for dinner like five minutes ago."
"You should've left sooner–"
"Nah, you were more important Peter," Miles smiled, and Spidey's chest was getting too small for all the warmth growing in it.
"Thank you, Miles." The spider said with all the weight of his gratitude he could manage in the words.
"Anytime man. We help each other!" Miles grinned, before turning his head away from the phone and shouting down the hallway, "ya voy, Ma!"
Quickly putting the phone back to his ear, he shuffled off his seat. "Alright, I gotta go!"
"Take care Miles."
"See ya, Spidey!" The line clicked and the call ended with a smile on both their faces.
Spidey continued to shuffle through his thoughts and stare at the moon for another minute or two before the beep of his phone alerted him to a message, and a quick glance at the screen showed it was from Miles. He smiled.
Miles Morales:
Saturday 14:00, the new Irish restaurant at 116th street. Hope that works for you! I'm super excited!
P.S I didn't know the rumours you had extra spider arms were true! So cool!
[19:43]
Peter Parker:
Thanks Miles. Sounds great, I'll be there!
[19:44]
Deciding against putting his phone away just yet, the spider scrolled through his many social media and news notifications. The recent 'fire fiasco' - as his brain so helpfully dubbed - had definitely drawn enough attention to last the whole week, hungry news outlets eating up every detail and interview they could get their grubby hands on, regurgitating articles and opinions of questionable authenticity.
Spidey ignored most of them, only reading the most popular one released by the Daily Bugle purely for entertainment - and yes, they still sometimes refuse to include the damn hyphen in his name! As the spider expected, the article was fifty percent fact - mainly from just recounting what happened according to witness reports and videos - while the other half was just hog wash.
'It's a shame MJ is busy writing her book, I'd love to see her own article shed some light and truth,' Spider-Man thought, tapping his nail against the side of his phone as he scrolled with his other hand.
Moving on from the articles, Spidey took a quick visit to his social media to filter through and read a few of the New Yorker's thoughts.
[Bossy_Bobby]:
Holy crap, did everyone see the video of NYCWallCrawler and his new spider-arms?! The rumours were true…
[JonWithNoH]:
Spider legs? What a freak! You don't need arachnophobia to look at NYCWallCrawler and come to that conclusion. That alien creep is technically an invasive species, no? Do something NYSDEC!
Reply from [PoloReef]:
Isn't that racism against aliens? Grow up.
[Frisha_Y]:
Oh my Godddd, I'm so darn jealous of that guy! Spider-man kissed him! TWICE! 😍 #SaveMeTooSpiderMan
Reply from [cross_roadz]:
Ikrr, I would pay so much money to be in his position! He wasn't even awake to appreciate the kiss-of-life!
[UlmaReally]:
Thank you for saving me today NYCWallCrawler! I'm sorry you got hurt because of me, I hope you're okay.
Reply from [NYCWallCrawler]:
I'm happy you're alright! And don't worry, I'm just fine, thanks. You were very brave protecting that man before help arrived UlmaReally
[ProducerJared]:
Banging down doors and running headfirst into blazing buildings, Spider-Man: Hero or Hoser? Watch JJJatHome's new podcast to hear what he has to say!
[joshisballin]: [edited]
those new legs look so freakin cool! we need new spider-man fanart, stat! #SpideySquad
Reply from [JøeMama]:
You forgot the hyphen again Josh 😔
[Shelfies_]:
Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is a real hero! #SpideyForMayor
[OtterWash]:
That pileup by Eldridge street in Chinatown was nasty! Glad SPIDER-MAN helped clear it up, better late than never I guess 👍
Reply from [miss_mississippi8]:
I was there! I waved at Spidey but he didn't look at me 😢
[RedAlexia_Was_Taken]:
Thank you for saving my uncle today NYCWallCrawler! It would be impossible to express how much gratitude we have ❤️ 💙
Reply from [NYCWallCrawler]:
Anytime! I'm glad I made it. You did a fantastic job of pointing me in the right direction, great work!
Spidey's heart grew heavy at the last post, filled with increasing warmth at New York's love and support. Spider-Man doesn't usually respond to messages on social media, even to those he saves. But today, the spider felt a great deal of pride at being able to save that girl's uncle, preventing a terrible loss and another teen from going through what he had been through. It was priceless.
Distractedly continuing his scroll through social media, Spider-Man almost missed a picture taken of himself talking to the FDNY, scrolling back up to take a better look at it.
The picture was taken at an angle, the elevation and position showing it was probably taken from inside a car. It showed Spidey talking to the driver of a firetruck, the woman's head peeking out as they discussed.
At the back of the picture however, was a familiar looking street art. Spidey remembered taking a glimpse of the unfinished mural, a handful of messy teenagers working on the wall and gaping back at him. Spider-Man smiled, the art was obviously a painting of him, the red webbing of his suit shining beautifully.
The quick picture didn't do the art justice, and the spider found himself wondering how much more magnificent the mural would look completely finished.
'Well, it wouldn't hurt to check it out, hope it's finished,' Spidey thought absently, standing up from his perched position on the tree branch and giving a mighty stretch. He was distantly grateful his suit offered a decent amount of warmth against the chill, but was also reminded to work on it to battle the harsher cold later to come.
Not wasting another second, Spidey lept off, startling the pair of ladies below as he swung over their heads.
Swinging around a corner, Spidey recognised the street as he glanced down the road. Far up ahead, he can see where the totalled vehicles he had moved from the road were now gone, cars driving past freely.
There were fewer people walking through the streets at this time of day, the chill keeping most people at home more than the dim, foggy weather. The lower visibility didn't do much to mask the beauty of the evening's sky however, Spidey finding himself admiring the stars and moon with every swing.
Keeping himself high above the street and a blur to anyone who decides to raise their head, Spider-Man quietly slinged down the road, keeping his eye on where he briefly remembered the big mural to be. A few glances across the street and maybe a wrong turn here or there, before a smile unwillingly stretched across his face as he finally caught sight of the small alley.
After getting a proper look, his lungs didn't protest when the air was knocked out of them in shock, his feet barely managing to catch onto the light post up ahead.
It was finished.
And it was breathtaking.
The wall itself seemed to be struggling to contain the overflowing details and popping strikes of colour, every inch of the canvas covered in art.
It took a while to get over the initial shock and truly appreciate the thought and genius elements put into the mural. He could easily distinguish the multiple hands and brains that went into this art, the different styles and ideas blending seamlessly.
There was a large painting of himself slapped in the center, his famous spider crouch drawn to the perfect minute detail. The spider's form was crisp and sharp, the bright colours giving life and movement to the still image.
The art around his form was the extra push needed to lift the painting off the wall. Almost as if captured in the perfect moment, there were downed enemies of all kinds littered around, their forms crumpled, defeated and webbed. Their presence gave the spider an overawe aura, and the painting a dazzling depth.
Adoring the cracked floor of the painting were a few startling details.
The crushed and shattered horn of Rhino, the ripped and scorched fabric of Electro's suit, the chipped and ruined core of Shocker's gauntlets, the broken and fractured glass of Mysterio's helmet, the clipped and worn mechanical feather of Vulture's wing, the squirming and beaten robotic tentacle of Doc Ock, and the faded and dying monochromatic glow of .
A symbol of each of Spider-Man's enemies lying battered and beaten around his feet, their presence a reminder of every victory and life saved. The mural felt as if it cast a spell on your sense of perception, almost like you could reach forward and enter the scene without the barrier of a brick wall stopping you.
Spidey never knew it was possible to be so speechless and hypnotised by art, but now thinks he has some semblance of an idea. Thinking back on the brief glance he got on the group of teenagers, seamlessly working on the piece as a team, was another shock to Spider-Man. Such a young and ambitious group of mismatched humans producing such a perfectly in sync masterpiece.
Ripping his eyes off the mural was unbelievably difficult, but the spider somehow managed to do so after a while, taking note of the small nose coming from around the corner of the painting.
Leaping on a nearby wall to take a closer look, Spidey spotted the form of a boy milling about, organising a huge mess of spray cans and paint tubs, and stuffing them in boxes and piling them on a sack truck. The teen was almost finished with only a couple boxes left to fill, with a few sheets of dirty cardboard and used towels to clean up as well.
He looked exhausted as he worked, feet dragging and movements sluggish, but his face told a different story. He was ginning lazily, and appeared to be unconsciously doing it, occasionally glancing at the towering mural before shaking his head and getting back to work.
The sight made the spider chuckle in warmth, reminding him closely of a certain Miles Morales. He watched the teen work for a minute longer, the boy packing the last box and walking over to his sack truck.
"You know, I'd call this a masterpiece, but that would be an insult," Spidey's lips twitched at the boy's jump, his stained hands unable to stop the box from flying out in surprise and falling to the ground. The teen's head whipped about, trying to discern where the voice came from futilely.
"Up here buddy," Spider-Man spoke, watching the boy's head spin impressively fast to his form stuck on a neighbouring wall. As expected, the boy's eyes widened astronomically, and a worrying second past when the spider thought the boy began hyperventilating.
He smiled patiently as the boy lost the ability to formulate words, a mixture of sounds, aborted sentence starters and unintelligible 'ohmygod's flying out of his mouth. After a slow but amusing recovery, the teen finally managed to get an understandable sentence through his lips. "It's Spider-Man!"
Spidey nodded, his large bug eyes curved in a wide smile as he watched the boy from above.
"Oh my God, like it's actually you! Like for real, not a picture or video or drawing– oh my God it's you!" He spluttered, slowly inching forward to the spider's chosen wall as if afraid he'll disappear with faster movements.
"Yeah it's me," Spider-Man grinned, crawling lower down the vertical wall to help the boy's straining neck.
The teen breathed heavily. "H-Hi! I'm Tobi! Umm, I'm sorry!" He blurted, ebony skin turning a surprising shade of scarlet.
Spidey tilted his head in momentary confusion. "Sorry? What for?"
"Uhh, well you know?" Tobi gestured around the floor, the messy cardboard and paint surrounding his feet. "For, uh, the mess?" The teen sounded unsure of himself. "I mean like, your suit must be worth more than all the real estate in Manhattan– scratch that, in New York combined! I don't wanna ruin it with this cheap paint!"
Spidey stared for a moment before bellowing out a heavy laugh, Tobi smiling giddily and embarrassed. "Absolutely not! Even all of Tony Stark's suits together aren't worth that much!"
Tobi laughed too, cheeks dimpling endearingly. "R-Right, but it's still worth like waaaay too much for you to be even remotely close to this smelly paint!"
Spider-Man smiled warmly as he stared at his reflection in the boy's chocolate brown eyes. "I still think you're mistaken, Tobi. My suit wouldn't even be close to the worth of that masterpiece behind you."
Tobi seemed startled, almost as if forgetting there was even a painting behind him in the presence of Spider-Man. He whipped his head back to stare at the mural for a moment before turning back to the spider with eyes as wide as saucers. "Wha–? No. My buddies and I just kinda pulled this off outta nowhere, you know? It's just a quick project to promote my Mom's store! You're so much more fuc– er freaking awesome than that!"
Spidey laughed. "I'm flattered, but to be honest it should be me doing the flattery. What you've got there, Tobi, is single-handedly the greatest piece of art I've ever laid my eyes on by a landslide. Don't you dispute it."
Tobi was floored, utterly floored. Spider-Man, like 'guy who saved New York however many times at this point' Spider-Man, had just said that about his mural! He opened his mouth to probably spew some mumbled up nonsense but Spidey beat him to it.
"What're the names of your buddies who helped you with this?" The spider asked, reaching a hand to his belt and pulling out his phone. Tobi watched Spider-Man crawl back up the wall slightly to get to the best elevation, before raising his phone and snapping a perfect picture of the art. "I hope you don't mind if I post this on social media, and let everyone know how damn awesome you guys are?"
Tobi couldn't breathe. This will forever be the greatest day of his life, that or he had simply just died and gone to spider heaven. "Oh my God, yes! I mean, no, I don't mind! And yes please! Thank you, -Man sir! The boys aren't gonna believe this!"
Spidey chuckled once again at the teen's enthusiastic rambling, looking at him expectantly with a smile.
Tobi blinked for a moment. "Oh right! The names! Err, well first there's my sister Camille Okeke, and my buddies: Jack Cook, Mall Dunne - with a silent 'e' at the end by the way, Phoenix Sanchez, Leo Jackson and Michael Barker." He listed them off on his fingers, face screwed in concentration to not miss anyone.
Spider-Man was deftly taking note of all the names, ensuring he spelt them correctly. As he was finishing up, a pair of sirens began wailing quite close by, startling the teen. Tobi whipped his head over to Spidey in alarm, watching the hero put his phone away and shift himself on the wall.
Spider-Man took a brief glance at the direction of where the sirens were blaring, before turning back to Tobi with a smile. "Well, duty calls! Keep an eye out on social media, and hopefully soon all of New York will see the absolute masterpiece you guys painted here. I'm sure your mother will appreciate her store's extra attention too." He winked, and Tobi choked on his breath.
"Thank you so much!" Spidey heard the boy yell earnestly as he lept away, shooting a web to swing backwards and give the boy a salute, heart filled to the brim with warmth at the kid's blindingly happy smile.
As he continued to webswing and make his way towards the sirens, Spider-Man found himself thinking back to what Miles said earlier: "Like you told me before with F.E.A.S.T, do something or speak to someone to help you properly move on, you know?"
Yes, the spider knows exactly what'll help him move on, and it's simply just being Spider-Man. Helping and saving others is an anti-drug like no other, and the almost overbearing support New York gives in return only multiplies the happiness in his heart.
What he needed to work on to properly move forward however, was talking to others. Spidey is a social spider, he loves human interaction, so he shouldn't be surprised at how helpful Miles' talk was at making him reflect on things, and the chat with Tobi at making him feel better.
Remembering he has friends to talk to if some days get a little too rough brings warmth in and of itself.
[NYCWallcrawler]:
[Tagged Photo]
A blinding masterpiece by Eldridge street in Manhattan, Chinatown! Thank you for your support Tobi and Camille Okeke, Jack Cook, Mall Dunne, Phoenix Sanchez, Leo Jackson and Michael Barker! ❤️ #artoftheyear
Tobi giggled over his mouthful of steak, absolutely beaming at the new post from Spider-Man.
"Tobi, I've told you before to keep your phone away from the dinner table!" The teen's mother admonished, looking at her grinning son exasperatedly.
"Sorry Mom," Tobi replied, not sounding sorry in the slightest. He took one last longing look at his phone before setting it aside and devouring his dinner with reckless abandon, Camille laughing over her spoon of white rice.
"Slow down!" His mother reprimanded again. Tobi barely slowed his munching, mind and thoughts not straying from the spider.
His mouth hurt at his incessant grinning, and Camille's smirk showed she very much amused, but happy. He was still far too giddy over his earlier encounter with the superhero, and it certainly showed in his jittery behaviour. He simply couldn't believe his luck today, Spider-Man was just so cool!
At the back of his mind, Tobi was also incredibly happy Spider-Man seemed to be back to his usual cheerful self. The teen had been confused and slightly worried at the recent videos of the silent hero looking tense and jumpy.
It may have just been nothing, but Tobi is relieved regardless. If anyone in New York deserves to be happy, it's Spider-Man.
And with all the support New York gives the spider, Tobi smiled confidently knowing that the hero definitely feels all their love and gratitude.
END
For important clarification: in this universe, Peter is an alien and that is how he naturally has his powers. As a result, there are no radioactive spiders going around biting people. So Miles never gets bitten in this universe as he does in the game or the comics/movies. He's just a normal, awesome and energetic genius!
For those unfamiliar with the Marvel's Spider-Man game, a cool little feature is Spidey's social media feed. Depending on what you do in the game and what events are currently taking place, different people comment different things on SPIDER-MAN NYCWallCrawler's page. Thought I'd add that in this chapter, even using some of the tags from the game too.
P.S I hope I wrote Miles' awesome character correctly, and he wasn't too OOC