Peter stood up before the bus had even fully come to a stop, quickly coming behind a couple of other people who were getting off as well. Fortunately, they all seemed to be in a hurry just like he was (it was New York, after all), and he immediately broke into a jog as soon as his feet touched pavement. A small binder tucked in his right arm, he moved quickly around a couple blocks before he finally ended up just outside of his destination: Stark Tower.
Pulling out his phone, Peter checked to see the time: 1:45 P.M. He couldn't believe it, but he'd actually made it to the site of a job interview early for once, with a whole fifteen minutes to spare! Even so, he quickly tried to curb his enthusiasm, since there was still time to...
Before he'd even completed the thought, an alert came over his phone: a police chase was happening just a few blocks from him. Glancing back at his cellular device, Peter let out a breath.
"It's alright," he told himself as he put it away. "I've still got plenty of time. Quicky and easy stop, and back with time to spare."
Hurrying to a nearby alley, Peter quickly removed his outer clothing, revealing his Spider-Man costume underneath. Nine years of experience had taught him to store his interview outfit higher up on the side of the building, lest someone come by and take it... again. Slipping on his mask, he then flipped over the top of the building, running along the ceiling as he performed one final check of his web shooters. He then front flipped off the edge of the roof, diving down before firing a web as he swung off in the direction of the chase.
"Come on, Parker," he told himself. "You can do this; you can make it this time!"
It wasn't long before the sound of sirens could be heard, and soon Peter was zeroing in on his target. Right away, he could observe a couple of things that would make this scenario potentially tricky: the vehicle being pursued was a large, armored vehicle and whoever the driver was clearly didn't care for the rules of the road, both of which meant great risk to civilians. In fact, before he could even make a move against his target, Peter observed a man directly in the path of the vehicle's current trajectory. Working quickly, he webbed the man from his backside, yanking him back and straight into a larger web he'd also made to cushion his blow.
"Man, that was close," he thought as he turned the corner of the street with the rest of the chase. "I have to put a stop to this, and fast!"
Quickly firing another couple of webs to maintain his momentum, Peter flipped in the air, landing on all fours on the top front of the vehicle. Unfortunately, he had almost no time to prepare a plan of action, as his spider sense immediately went off. Shifting to the side, he narrowly avoided several bullets shot from the inside of the vehicle through the roof. Coming to the driver's side window, he spoke up.
"Come on guys, you know the rules: don't shoot and drive!"
Recognizing the driver wasn't wearing his seat belt, Peter promptly ripped him straight from his seat, tossing him out and quickly webbing him to a passing streetlight. The passenger then went for his gun too, but he quickly fired another web, knocking away the weapon and sticking the man's hand to door at his side. He was about to slide in and hit the brake, but his spider sense went off again, this time directing him to a kid running out into the middle of the street in pursuit of a ball that he'd likely gotten from the store just down the road, a woman right behind him.
With little time left, Peter quickly changed tactics, leaping in the air just ahead of the car before firing two webs towards the ground, yanking down hard and kicking the front of the vehicle hard so that it flipped up into the air and over the kid and his mother. He then leaned back, webbing the car in the air and pulling himself back to it.
"Please get this just right!"
Positioning himself in the perfect spot, he came to the back of the vehicle just as it was about to hit the ground, his legs slamming so hard into the ground that it cracked the concrete at his feet. The impact of the weight over his head reverberated through the muscles in his body, but fortunately they held up, with him soon setting the vehicle back down on the road right side up again just as the police were converging on the scene. Peter went with them as they opened the door to the back with guns drawn, but the crew inside were lying in almost every manner possible due to being flipped, many of them moaning from the impacts they'd taken.
"Thanks, Spidey," one of the cops said as they came alongside him.
"No problem, but what's that in there, anyway?" Peter questioned, gesturing to the contained object that seemed surprisingly intact in the middle of the vehicle.
"Supposedly it's some kind of experimental power source," they said. "These guys were probably going to try and sell it on the black market."
"Unbelievable; don't these guys know day trading is all the rage now?" Peter replied, shaking his head. "Well, anyway, I hate to run, but there's somewhere I really have to..."
Suddenly, Peter's spider sense went off, but this time it was FAR more intense.
"LOOKOUT!" he cried out, pushing the officers to him off to the side just in time to feel a blast of electricity hit him hard, sending him to his knees. He glanced up to find none other than Electro, who was floating just above them.
"Hey, Max," Peter said, forcing himself back to a standing position. "Sorry, but you already missed all the fun, so you might as well..."
"On the contrary, Spider-Man!" Electro announced enthusiastically, electricity cackling around his body more potently as a result. "What's in that car is going to finally make me invincible! I'll be pure energy, and not even you will be able to..."
Thinking quickly, and not wanting to hear the same villain speech for the nine-thousandth time, Peter fired a web, momentarily blinding his opponent. He then turned and webbed the power source out of its containment unit and to himself, turning back just in time to see his opponent burn the webbing clean off his face.
"Alright then," he said. "You want it? Come and get it!"
Peter then quickly fired a web, yanking himself up and off the ground just in time to hear a lightning strike from his enemy land just where he'd been half a second before. He glanced back and, sure enough, his opponent was following him, flying and preparing to shoot another blast his way. The first part of his plan had worked: get Electro away from cops and civilians and have him only focus on him.
Now would come the hard part.
Swinging through the air and trusting his spider sense, Peter narrowly avoided several electrical blasts his way as he tried to come up with a solution. Experience had taught him that he would need either a strong insulator or a mega-sized dunk tank, so it was just a matter of finding at least one of those things.
"Think, Parker, think," he thought to himself. "You're a New Yorker, so where would you find..."
Unfortunately, he didn't have much time to think as an errant blast from Electro proceeded to knock off a chunk of a building nearby, the ensuing debris headed straight for an oblivious civilian on his phone just below. Tucking the device between his feet, Peter quickly fired a second web as he swung past, pulling the man out from under the destruction just in time and dropping him off a little further down the sidewalk.
"Now," Peter said as he continued on his way, Electro on his heels, "what was I... oh yeah!"
An idea suddenly springing to mind, Peter arced his web for a quick change in direction, making a sharp left turn just in time to avoid yet another lightning blast. Picking up speed as best he could, he eventually saw his destination coming within view: a local community center, specifically one with a HUGE pool they'd recently put in. The place was temporarily closed to the public however due to renovation elsewhere in the building, so as long as no one was in the pool room at the time, things should play out about as perfectly as they could.
Swinging just over the top of the facility, Peter found no one within the room, so he quickly wrapped himself around a pole at the top of the building, facing his enemy.
"Come on, Max, you know by now that you can't hit me from that far away!" Peter taunted. "What's the matter, scared to get up close and personal?"
"I'm not afraid of anything!" Max protested. He then flew directly towards Peter, who leapt up into the air just in time to avoid his opponent. Shooting two webs towards the roof of the building, he yanked hard, putting his feet to Electro's back and sending them crashing through the rooftop window. Giving an extra kick, Peter backflipped to the wall nearby as his enemy hit the water with a big splash. Within a couple seconds, the water converted to steam, shooting up into the air like a Gaiser. Peter peeked down into the now empty pool where, sure enough, he found Electro unconscious, with little to no electricity to be found cackling on the outside anymore. It wouldn't last forever, but easily long enough for him to be contained and sent back to the Raft, where hopefully he would stay long enough to serve out his sentence this time.
"Yeah, right," Peter thought.
The police quickly converged on the scene, and Peter went down to meet them.
"Here," he said, handing over the power source. "Might want to make sure these people beef up their security a little more next time."
"Thanks, Spidey," they said. "We couldn't have done it without..."
"No problem; sorry, but I really have to run!" Peter replied, the back half of the sentence coming out as he was already swinging through the air.
Maybe if he hurried, he could still make it...
Unfortunately, things didn't play out as smoothly as he hoped coming back, as Peter ended up having to quickly take care of a hold-up at a nearby bakery before even making it back in time to change. Still, he was determined to make as good an impression as possible given the circumstances, so straightening his tie even as he opened the door, Peter strolled up to the front desk, hoping he was giving a confident appearance.
"Hi!" he greeted. "I'm Peter Parker; I'm here for my 2:00 interview."
"Oh, I'm sorry," the secretary replied. "The next person after you was early and, since you were already fifteen minutes late, it was assumed that you weren't coming, and they went ahead and invited the next person in."
"Oh, uhm, okay," Peter said, scrambling to come up with what to say next. "Well, uh, would it be okay if I sat and waited? Maybe we can just end up switching places?"
"I guess you're welcome to wait," the woman replied. "Mr. Anderson should be wrapping up with the interview soon, so maybe you can catch him."
"Perfect, thank you," Peter said. He then went over, promptly taking his seat. He pulled out his binder, glancing at his resume and the rehearsal sheet that May had worked with him on to prepare him for some questions they might ask and how he could help "sell himself." No sooner had he started giving it a serious look, however, than he heard a door open and looked up to find two people shaking hands. One of the men then headed toward the exit, while the other appeared to head back inside an office. Guessing that this was likely who he'd hoped to speak to, Peter hurriedly got up from his seat.
"Mr. Anderson!" he shouted as he quickly tried to stuff his papers back in the binder. "Hello, my name is Peter Parker. I apologize; I was supposed to be here at two, but, you know, Manhattan traffic, right?"
"The same traffic every other prospective staff person had to deal with," the man replied somewhat sternly, causing Peter's heart to sink a little. Nevertheless, he continued.
"Anyway, I'm here now, so I was hoping that we could still talk about the entry position?"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Parker, but I'm afraid that position has just been filled, actually," Mr. Anderson replied.
"I-it has?" Peter questioned.
"We hired the guy who just left," the man explained. "I'm sorry, but I really have other business to attend to."
At that, Mr. Anderson turned and left, leaving Peter to his sunken heart and defeated mind. Slowly, he turned and made his way out the door, exiting the building.
Hope you enjoyed it! Looking forward to sharing more!
Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!
"Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow." Isaiah 1:16-17