Chapter 11

Howdy everybody! Hope you are all enjoying the recent good weather well atleast here it's been nice which is great and so much pain, I really can't handle heat lol. Anywho, here is the promised mid month chapter, there should still be another one around the 23rd of July. Hope you enjoy and don't forget to review, it's greatly appreciated!

PS. I just checked back over chapter 10 and finally my section breaks have shown up, should make reading these chapters alot easier now :)

Boybay44: Great to see you again dude, glad to hear you're enjoying the chapters, you're definitely one of the reasons i write this! :)

"Spectacular" = Speech

'Spectacular' = Thoughts

"What is a 'Hero' though?" = Speach with a quote

*BANG* = Important Noise?

-Flashback- = Flashback setting

"I love you" = Written words

{4:00am} = Important Time/ Date

Disclaimer: Spider-man, Marvel and related IP belong to their respective owners. The author of this story owns jack-shit and holds no fantasy that they ever will.

"Okay Class, do you want the good news or the bad news?." Captain Stacy asked the gathered students sat before him in varying stages of alertness, those who were awake grimacing at the notion of any bad news.

"Good?" Gwen couragously asked with a wince, not looking forward to whatever news her dad had for the class.

"Well glad to see someone is paying attention." Captain Stacy with a chuckle before frowning.

"The school board has come to me and said that there won't be an exam for this class at the end of the year" Said Captain Stacy which was met with cheers from the whole class, Peter letting out a sigh of relief at having one less class to study for.

"Now, that might seem good at first but it means we'll need another assignment to finalise the grades for this year so following on from our last one about crime families, we'll be looking at the opposite side of the spectrum this time." Captain Stacy explained to a now groaning class, they might not have an exam but there was still work that needed to be done.

'Wait, if it's like the last one...Oh please no' Peter thought to himself with a wince as his brain supplied him with a difficult realisation.

"That's right, this time we'll be looking at the court system and what happens once these criminals have been caught and to to do this we'll be continuing with the same groups as last time. " Well there was the proverbial hammer. The room was filled with murmers of either happiness from those who liked their group or sighs of reluctance from those who knew they were back in a less than ideal situation.

Peter was of course a member of the later reactions. Casting his eyes around the room Peter noticed a smile on a few faces such as Harry and surprisngly Liz, whilst those like Gwen and MJ were subtly frowning. Hmm weird.

But the most telling response was of course Hobbie's. Peter could barely see him without making it look too obvious but he could see the clenched fists and scowl adorning Hobbie's face, it wasn't a optimistic sight.

Hobbie had barely done the work last time after the mess with the rec centre, who knew how he'd respond to having to do another assignment with someone who he very clearly partially blamed for his situation.

"Now class I'm saying it now but unless you have a serious reason, there will be no changing of the groups. Everyone did well in the last assignment so I see no reason to shake up what seems to be a winning formula." Captain Stacy informed before checking his watch.

*BRRRRIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGGG*

"Now class I'll see you next week. Same situation as last time you have until Friday to come up with an idea and get it approved." Captain Stacy said as watched the students pack away their stuff and head out of the room.

Peter was among them as he walked out beside MJ, Gwen and Harry walking infront of them as they all made their way towards the lunch room at a leisurely pace. On the way they walked past Liz and Sally, Sally once again sticking here tongue out in derision at the geek squad whilst Liz met Peter's eyes and smiled causing Gwen to grimace.

Given that he and MJ usually brought lunch from home it was up to them to secure a bench whilst Harry and Gwen grabbed their food from the cafeteria.

Squeezing out past the crowds of people chatting away without a care in the world, Peter and MJ walked out onto the schools outdoor dinning area. The sun had been beaming down all day and they were eager to take advantage of it.

"Over there Tiger." MJ said raising her hand to point towards a bench in the back right that was free.

"Perfect, great spot MJ" Peter replied enthusiastically as they began making their way towards the afformentioned seat, sitting down across from each other once they had gotten through the crowds.

"Geez I knew it'd be busy up here today but this is ridiculous." Peter complained as he placed his bagged lunch on top of the bench, MJ following suit with a shrug.

"People like getting a tan, they want to look good" She said simply as he took out a sandwhich and an apple from her schoolbag.

"Hey pale can look good too" Peter said indignantly as his cheeks lit up in a light blush.

"Oh I know you like pale Tiger" MJ said with a chuckle. "Any other features you enjoy, like hair colour? maybe black? red? blonde?"

The light blush erupted into a full blown super nova on Peter's face as MJ's teasing, her eyes alight with mirth as he tried to stammer a response.

"E-eh I mean all hair colours are pretty, b-but personally i like the lighter colours." Peter replied to the now grinning MJ who looked like the cat who caught the canery.

"Red's pretty light you know" MJ said taking a small bite out of her apple.

"I-I guess it is"

"But you know what's lighter..." MJ said with a whisper as she leaned closer over the bench, a smile splitting her face whilst Peter tried to keep his eyes away from her chest and her eyes. "Blonde."

And que the full face blush, Peter just went silent, his face cherry red like a tomato as he took a bite out of a pear he'd taken out from his brown paper lunch bag whilst MJ just watched on chuckling.

The chuckling continued for about a minute before MJ calmed down and looked appraisingly at Peter.

"On the topic of looking good though, are you free this saturday?" MJ asked innocently enough despite the somewhat odd topic, a topic which initially gave Peter pause as he thought about his plans for the weekend.

"Yeah should be free for most of the day unless some big story happens and the Buggle needs me, why?" Peter asked after taking a sip from his refilled water bottle.

"I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind popping over to Aunt Anna's so that we can work on those headshots and poses? I know you're usually super busy but the deadlines approaching and i'm just starting to get nervous and I need the-" MJ rambled, a slight panic to her as she thought about her big break before Peter interrupted her.

"MJ that sounds like a wonderful idea, i'd love to help you." Peter said with a smile which got him a startled look before he got a big hug from MJ who leaned over the bench and threw her arms around the blushing brown haired boy.

"Eh, everything okay here?" Gwen asked suspiciously, her hands on her tray as she stood behind Peter and MJ who seperated quite quickly at hearing her voice, sheepish looks on both their faces.

"Yeah we were just going over the headshots MJ needed and I told her I was free this Saturday to do them." Peter said to his right where Gwen was currently sitting down beside him.

"Aha." Was all Gwen replied, an odd look in her eyes before she seemed to lightly shake her head, turning to face Peter with a smile afterwards.

"That's really sweet of you Peter, I'm sure you'll do your best." Gwen said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes, something which Peter failed to pick up on as he turned back to his food.

"I hope so, i'd hate to be the cause of MJ not getting this modelling job." Peter whispered with a grimace on his face, something which both girls quickly noticed, both reaching out to rest their hand on his in solidarity atleast they both tried. Only one succeeded, the other slowly brought her hand back hoping Peter hadn't seen it.

"Don't worry Tiger, if they can't see how good your photography skills are then I don't want to work for them anyway." MJ said with a small smile as her hand squeezed Peter's eliciting a smile from the previously hesitant young man.

"Thanks MJ" Peter replied earnestly before the sound of footsteps drew the attention of the three sitting at the table.

"Harry you miss-Liz?" Peter said turning around to stare in shock at the girl sending him a shy smile.

"Hey Petey, I was just wondering if you wanted to meet up after school at the Silver Spoon to go over this new project and the Hobbie situation?" Liz said with a smile and slight blush whilst Peter nodded his head in agreement oblivious to the looks being sent his way.

"That sounds like a great idea Liz, i'll see you there around 5pm okay?" Peter said proposing a time since Liz proposed the place. Liz only nodded with a smile before turning and walking back where she came from.

The silence which stretched out amongst the three companions on the table was broken by Peter when he turned towards Gwen who's face and jaw were tightly clenched.

"Hey Gwen, everything okay? Where's Harry?" Peter asked, jolting Gwen from her thoughts as she came back to the real world.

"Oh him? He said he had a phonecall he needed to take from or something." Gwen said with an awkward look on her face as she shrugged her shoulders.

"They've become real close recently haven't they?" MJ asked curiously after swallowing the small bite of sandwhich she'd had in her mouth.

"Yeah they have" Gwen said with a grimace before sighing and quickly packing away her stuff leaving her food only half eaten. "Sorry guys but the band is really picking up at the moment so I gotta be there, I'll talk to you later okay?"

And with that Gwen was making her way back through the tight crowds of students enjoying the wonderful weather whilst Peter and MJ could only watch in confusion.

llllllllll

"Oh gosh why does this always happen to me?" Peter whispered to himself in a panic, rushing down the sidewalk towards the Silver Spoon and checking his watch which read 5:05pm.

Pausing outside the door to the Silver Spoon, Peter caught his breath before pushing the door open and casting his eyes around the local hangout spot. It didn't take long for him to spot who he was looking for, her black hair and beautfiul caramel skin standing out amongst the coffee shops patrons.

Walking towards the window where Liz was sat Peter saw her sigh as she rested her head on her palm which was propped up by her elbow resting on the table, her eyes outside watching the passerbys.

Atleast that where her focus was previously because she must've spotted Peter out of the corner of her eye for she turned her head towards him and sighed as he went to sit down at the table.

"Sorry I'm late again Liz it's just that the Buggle needed me there quickly after school and I couldn't reall-" Peter would've continued his rambling apology if not for the raised hand from Liz.

"Look Petey, I understand, you're busy. It's only five minutes so it's not the worst i've been waiting on you. Let's just get down to business." Liz said firmly before she began taking a copybook out of her bag and resting it on the table.

"Now do you want to discuss the elephant in the room first or will we jump into the assignment?" Liz asked Peter relatively bluntly which got a wince out of the afformentioned young man.

"We should probably start with the elephant before we move on" Peter said, sighing as he did so. "I'm sorry you had to be paired up with me again, i'll do my best to stay out of your way."

"W-what? Petey, It's fine I don't mind working with you." Liz said, her eyes turned to the side and refusing to look into his brown ones, a light blush spread across her cheeks. "It's the Hobbie situation we need to discuss."

"O-oh yeah, of course, sorry my bad." Peter said with a slight awkward laugh, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck as he did so.

"Right." Liz said taking a quick breath to collect herself as she continued. "Well I was talking to Hobbie earlier and he was...less than thrilled to say the least, said he'd take the F if it meant he didn't have to work with you."

'Geez that's not good...I'm just lucky Liz doesn't feel the same way, then again I don't know how she feels other than annoyed at having to deal with me' Peter thought to himself dejectedly.

"So I thought about it and I've come up with a solution" Said Liz with a slight air of pride. "You and Hobbie will focus on completely seperate sections and any communication will come through me. You two won't have to talk to each other or do anything other than your bit."

"I mean that's perfectly do-able but is it not too much work to put you under?" Peter asked worriedly to which Liz just sighed.

"It's not ideal but it's this or nothing. Just means we'll have to spend more time together working on our sections so that I can communicate Hobbie's wishes." Liz said with a slight blush as the setting sun shined down on her face.

'Dang sitting in the sun must be too warm for her, maybe I should offer to switch?' Peter thought to himself as he processed the recent bit of information oblivious to the situation.

"Sounds like a plan" Peter said with a sheepish smile on his face, a smile which LIz matched earnestly.

"So." Liz said with a slight shy cough. "What will we do topic wise?"

"Hmmm well the topic is the court system so we could break it down into categories like we did last?" Peter suggested to which Liz nodded in agreement.

"Well we'll need someone on the punishments, maybe hobbie could do that? And what about court proceedings?" Asked Liz as she brainstormed some very valuable ideas to which Peter was over the moon about.

"That's a great idea Liz!" Peter said in encouragement before he pinched his chin and started thinking himself. "We need a third idea though...what about the lawyer?"

"Perfect Petey! So long as Hobbie agrees we've already got our topics sorted out, just need to see who goes where." Said Liz, happy that their project was off to a good start or atleast a seemingly good start.

"Well I guess we give Hobbie first pick to make it easy, then we can meet up and discuss it further once we know what sections are left?" Peter suggested to a lightly blushing Liz.

"That sounds perf-" Liz began before being interrupted by the tv in the Silver Spoon which was turned up by the staff behind the counter as every eye in the place turned to focus on it.

"Good evening New York. This is a breaking news announcment, the identity of the serial killer who has been terrorising us all seems to have been uncovered. Police have said they were brought to the attention that there was a recent breakout from Ravencroft Institute, the perpatrator bearing a striking resemblence to the sketch that was showcased here a few weeks ago." The newscaster on the tv informed, garnering a bunch of whispers as people argued over whether or not Ravencroft were to blame for letting another inmate loose.

"So New York, here is the patient photo of the suspected serial killer, people are advised to avoid this man at all costs and to phone the police hotline straight away if anyone spots him." The newscaster said as a photo of a man with short red hair and a giant grin splitting his face filled up the screen, his eyes wide and unfocused as if they were seeing something that wasn't there.

"The patients name is Cletus Kasady and he is believed to be extremely dangerous. This was Robin Scherbotzky with Metro News One. stay tuned for personal anecdotes from the staff of Ravencroft about the suspected serial killer." The newscasters face was replaced by the news stations logo before cutting to commercial break.

"Petey" Liz whispered in a scared tone, her eyes wide and darting everywhere around the room before focusing solely on Peter who had been watching the tv with an intensity LIz had rarely seen before.

"Gotcha...h-huh? Sorry Liz are you okay?" Peter whispered in triumph before realising Liz had been calling him.

"No i'm not, could you walk me home please?" Liz asked frightened, ringing her hands together and casting weary glances around the room.

Seeing the state Liz was in and given the situation Peter knew there was only one solution.
"Of course Liz" Peter said with a reassuring smile that seemed to remove a weight from Liz's shoulders.

"Thank you Petey, It means alot you know" Liz whispered as she reached accross the table to hold Peters hands to which Peter just blushed in response.

"A-anytime Liz" Peter said as he looked into Liz's relieved eyes, seeing the smallest blush spreading across her cheeks.

Liz only smiled in response before letting go and beginning to pack away her things, Peter taking a moment to find himself before he joined her in packing up.

Standing up with their bags packed the two walked towards the door of the Silver Spoon in preparation for the walk home, chatting away about random stuff that popped into their minds to distract themselves from the thought of Cletus.

Although Peter tried to keep his eyes open, he found the situation a bit more distracting than expected when Liz put her arm around his and began walking closer to him. 'Woah what's gotten into her, we haven't done this since we were together...' Peter thought to himself as him and Liz walked hand in hand towards Liz's home.

llllllll

After dropping Liz off at home Peter was quick to dart into the nearest alleyway and throw on his Spider-man suit and it was with a flourish that Spider-man came swinging out of the alleyway on a mission.

What was the mission? Same thing the mission is every night, protect the innocent and search for the serial killer.

'The killer was last reported in Mid-town so i'd better start there' Spider-man thought to himself as he swung through the streets of New York, dodging birds as he went by.

Thankfully Liz's home, well hotel, was near the middle of Mid-town in the business district so he was in the perfect place to start searching. And something to be even more thankful for is the photo which had been shown earlier on the news was quite identifiable, especially from the red hair so Spider-man had something to look out for as he swung down streets and alleyways in search of the criminal.

lllllll

"Come on Lady, don't you wanna have a good time?" A burly thug said through a large thick red beard towards a scantily dressed woman waiting in an alley.

"Look buster, I told you, 150 dollars for an hour or leave me alone." The burnette woman in a tight pink dress said to the man who snarled in response and grabbed her by the wrist.

"And I told you, Jerome doesn't pay!" The man growled at the woman as he bruised her wrist with his tight grip, his dark brown eyes boring into the womans scared blue ones.

The man licked his lips as his other hand went to grab at the womans breast while she searched in her handbag with her free hand for something to fight the man off only to look up and realise she didn't need to anymore. Relief settled into her and a smile blossomed forth on her face as she looked behind the thug who smiled sickly at her thinking her smile was directed to him.

"That's it baby, get in the spirit." The thug whispered in what he thought was a sexy voice as he licked his lips only to be surprised by the feeling of tapping on his shoulder. Looking behind him he finally saw why the woman was smiling.

"Think she's smiling for me" Spider-man said with a laugh as the thug let go of the woman and went to reach for something in his pocket or waistband. Spider-man didn't want to take any chances though so he quickly socked him in the face with his fist and webbed him to wall he collapsed against.

"Are you okay miss?" Spider-man asked the woman who was watching the thug in revulsion as she nodded before turning her head towards the mouth of the alley upon hearing the sounds of a police cruiser rapidly approaching.

"Thanks Spider-man, I knew they were wrong about you." The woman said before quickly walking off, making sure to keep an eye on the thug the entire time she was in the alleyway despite him being webbed to the wall.

With the woman gone Spider-man took the time to crouch down infront of the thug and give his features a once over.

"Damn, wrong red-head." Spider-man tsked as he realised the serial killer was still out there before standing up at the sound of footsteps making their way down the alleyway which drew his attention.

Walking towards him was officer DeWolff and her partner, their squad car parked nearby at the mouth of the alley, its windows rolled down and lights still flashing.

"I got you a present officers!" Spider-man said with a smile on his face as he opened his hands wide to gesture at the restrained thug. Sadly, officer DeWolff pulled her gun out the second she saw Spider-man, her partner slowly and reluctantly following her lead.

"Hands up! Spider-man you are under arrest for the murder of the green goblin!" DeWolff shouted at Spider-man who raised his hands in mock surrender.

"Officers, officers, we seem to have a misunderstanding here if you'd just let me-" Spider-man said trying to explain himself before he was cut of.

"All available units report down to Hells Kitchen, there was a reported sighting of Cletus Kasady down on 33rd street." The voice of the police dispatcher echoed down the alleyway from the police cruisers radio, drawing DeWolff and her partners attention as they turned around quickly to face their car.

"Looks like we've a busy night then after we drop these two off in a cell." DeWolff said as she turned back around to face Spider-man only to curse at the sight before her.

"Fuck!" DeWolff shouted at the alleyway that had a noticeable lack of Spider-man standing in it, the only people being the officers and the thug still webbed to the wall.

Swinging through the streets of Mid-town Spider-man hightailed it towards Hells Kitchen and 33rd street. 'Man, i'm glad they took their eyes off me for a second there, that was a tight situation. What is with that officer, why does she want me gone so bad?' Spider-man thought to himself before shaking his head and focusing on the task before him, catch the serial killer.

It didn't take him too long to get to Hells Kitchen, it was a bit of a rougher neighbourhood compared to Mid-town but Spider-man had swung by before and done what he could. now he just had to do it again.

Reaching 33rd street Spider-man saw a deserted street, the only thing walking along it being a stray cat which was missing its left ear as it walked leisurely across the road. Atleast that's what it appeared at first glance.

Out of the corner of his eye Spider-man spotted a dark shadow moving on one of the nearby rooftops near the buildings water tower.

'Gotcha, people can relax knowing you're off the streets for good.' Was Spider-mans inner monologue as he quietly climbed the side of the residential building, keeping his ears honed for any sound of running.

'Here's John- wait what?' Spider-man's eyes went wide at the sight before him, a bunch of thugs with hair colours ranging from red to black and all the in between stood fishing something out of the water tower and passing it down to a thug on the ground holding a large sack that was barely filled.

'Oh please don't let this be what I think it is' Spider-man wished as he trained his eyes on the thugs only to see the one thing he was hoping not to. 'More pumpkin bombs...What happened to every water tower being checked?'

"Hurry up Dave! Kingpin wants these by the end of the night at the latest." A blonde thug whispered loudly at the redhead holding the sack, now known as Dave.

"Why are you telling me to hurry up Deeandra, you're the ones fishing them out, if anything it's on you and Dennis's head not mine!" Dave whispered back with an equal intensity.

"I knew we should've just stayed at the bar." Sighed the thug beside Deeandra, probably the afformentioned Dennis as he passed down a pumpkin bomb to Dave who placed it carefully in the sack with the rest of them.

"So didn't know the Spice Girls were having a reunion, private concert for me then?" Spider-man quipped from the side of the building where he was squatting watching the thugs freeze at the sight of him.

Atleast they froze for a second before Dennis and Deeandra jumped down off the water tower and pulled out a crowbar and gun respectively.

"Now now Spider-man, you don't wanna get on the Kingpins bad side, lets just go about our seperate ways and forget we ever saw each other" Dave said with a sneer, running a hand through his short red hair.

'Gosh dangit another false lead, next thing I know someone will be calling the police on MJ for having red hair.' Spider-man thought exasperated as he began walking towards the thugs whilst keeping a close eye on Deeandra and her gun.

"Do you all really want to do this song and dance?" Spider-man asked them only for his spider-sense to go off suddenly without warning.

*CRASH*

Dodging to the left Spider-man narrowly avoided getting hit in the back of the head with a trash can as another thug appeared out of the shadows, his stature a bit small and pudgy.

"Frank get him!" Dennis shouted at the newly revealed thug as Spider-man spun around to block a roundhouse kick with his arm.

'Geez for someone so pudgy he packs quite the punch' Spider-man thought as he rubbed his arm for a brief second before ducking from a haymaker Frank sent straight at his face.

Whilst this was going on with Frank and Spider-man, Dennis and Deeandra quickly ran over to Dave and began making sure the bag was secure for transport, they were in a tight situation and dang it if they weren't banking on Frank buying them time to escape.

Their hope lasted about as long as it took for them to notice the shadow stretching from the other end of the building with what looked like small horns.

Back to Frank and Spider-man, Spider-man realised something very important, Frank hit like a truck but his mobility wasn't anything extreme atleast compared to him. This was something Spider-man was using to great advantage as he ducked and weaved through Franks punches and kicks rather than block them.

This went on for a minute or two before Spider-man saw the moment he'd been waiting for, an opening. Redirecting Franks haymaker to the side, Spider-man realised that the thug had over extended himself, something which gave him the perfect opportunity to web his feet to the building rooftop.

"What is this stuff?!"

The sudden glueing to the roof was enough to shake Frank who stopped attacking and instead focused on getting free, therefor giving Spider-man the perfect opportunity for an uppercut which sent Frank flying onto his back.

Webbing Frank quickly to the roof, Spider-man turned his attention back towards the other thugs only to see a somewhat shocking sight.

Standing in the midst of the three thugs which were now laying on the roof in pain was what appeared to be a man in crimson red body armour with a helmet that had small horns on it and two escrima sticks in hand.

"What the- who are you?" Spider-man called out to the man, drawing his attention away from the thugs and towards everyones favourite arachnid who was standing there befuddled.

"Daredevil."