Peter continued to swing away in a huff after what transpired after stopping the robbery. Due to his frustration, it was only through instinct that Peter made his way through the air without bumping into any building he swung past. "Well, the perfect end to a perfect night," thought the annoyed Peter as he released one web-line and shot another out of his right wrist. After only a few minutes of swinging, Peter unknowingly made his way to…
TIME SQUARE
As Peter released his line, he flew towards and landed safely on the edge of a nearby rooftop, which he did out of pure instinct, given that he was still frustrated with what just happened. "Eyepieces work like a charm. They even helped me stop a robbery and, as a bonus, saved two people from becoming roadkill. And, as always, I'm seen as the bad guy instead of being given a simple thank you!"
"THAT WALL-CRAWLING MENACE IS AT IT AGAIN, NEW YORK!" Were the words that were echoed throughout Times Square by the raised voice of a middle-aged man via the speaker system of a large middle TV located on the Two Times Tower. On the screen was that of a fair-skinned middle-aged man in his mid to late fifties, his greying hair in a buzzcut hairstyle with a small matching mustache. He was dressed in a white T-dress shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a grey vest, and a black and red necktie. Attire worn by J. Jonah Jameson, editor of the web news and newspaper media outlet, the Daily Bugle. This time, he addressed the city in his talk show, where he sat behind a black desk and in front of a green screen, which to the viewers watching, looked like a wall of screens showing moments going on around the world.
All of which made Peter let out an aggravated groan. "And here's the reason why."
"That's right!" Jonah continued with fire in his eyes. "We here at the Bugle have video footage of that atrocious arachnid continuing his reckless antics earlier this afternoon!"
The image then changed to that of Peter, as Spider-Man, standing on top of a streetlamp and looking down on a man clad in a green armored jumpsuit with bronze-colored gauntlets, boots, belt, and helmet with two rings that ran horizontally above and below his visor. His name was Anthony 'Toy' Davis, a former engineer for Stark Enterprises but now turned to a life of crime under the name of 'The Ringer' due to his use of ring-shaped weaponry of his design. And, in front of frightened pedestrians in the area, Tony used said weaponry as he pointed his right hand upward and clenched his fist, which triggered a button that shot out a bronze ring out of his gauntlet and straight towards Peter, the intended target.
Fortunately for Peter, this projectile was no different than any he had faced since becoming a superhero. As such, he performed a back-flip off the lamp and barely avoided the ring, as it was just inches away from his chest. It didn't take long for Peter to land on top of the lid of a closed trash bin, and he soon noticed a run-down trash can on the left side. The sight of the trash can gave Peter an idea of how to end this fight quickly, and he enacted it by pointing his left hand at the can, shot a web-line, and once it hit and stuck to it, Peter quickly threw the can at his ring-themed enemy.
Naturally, Tony was not impressed by this 'kindergarten level' tactic and almost felt ashamed for Peter. And he showed it by pointing his right fist at the airborne trash can and firing another ring, which easily sliced the can in two before reaching him.
However, this was exactly what Peter wanted, as throwing the can was a distraction. One that allowed him to aim both hands low and shoot two web lines, which directly hit Tony's feet. Before the flabbergasted Tony could react, Peter yanked hard on his end on the lines and pulled the criminal towards him. Along the way, Peter enacted the next phase of his plan that was, as he would admit, his most unorthodox. In that, he jumped off the bin and flipped forward in mid-air, all while Tony passed underneath him and ended up slamming his back up against the container, with the impact making a loud echoing 'bang' that could be heard throughout the area.
Once he landed safely on his feet, Peter spun around to face the now dazed Tony, then fired numerous web-balls with a speed that was just as fast as a machine gun firing its rounds. It wasn't hard for the balls to make their mark, and within seconds, Tony's entire body was covered in webs that kept him attached to the bin and prevented him from sliding down to the pavement.
Suddenly, the image of Peter incapacitating the disoriented Ringer soon shrunk down to a small rectangle that ended up on the top right corner of the screen with the embroiled Jonah pointing it. "You see that, folks?! To the untrained eye, it may look like Spider-Man is being a 'hero' by webbing up some other costumed whack job. But it's clear that the web-spewing charlatan is using public property to do it! And I say, it's only a matter of time before that menace's thirst for destruction changes from destroying public property to attacking the public itself! And is that what it's going to take, New York? Spider-Man webbing up and throwing around some innocent bystander just for you to see what a true danger he really is?!"
As the pedestrians in the street either listened to Jonah's ranting or ignored him, Peter could only place his hand over his eyepieces and lower his head in shame. Mainly because HE was the one who shot that video via a special camera, sold the footage to Jonah, and received payment of two hundred dollars. Despite his best efforts to try and convince the headstrong editor that 'Spider-Man' was a hero, Peter's words still fell on deaf ears as Jonah would often edit the videos for his crusade against him and other masked vigilantes. And thanks to his show being broadcasted all over the city, combined with Jonah's loud and brash personality, there was no way it would go on unheard. This was confirmed to Peter when he lifted his head from his hand and looked down to see a few people listening to Jonah's report in the streets below, with most of the people who listened to Jonah's report looking on with a mixture of fear and disdain.
Especially one fair-skinned man with black hair wearing a business suit decided to make his opinion of Spider-Man known. "As if this city doesn't have enough problems, now we got THAT freak in long underwear running around? Hopefully, the Avengers will take care of him."
The next to speak up was a middle-aged woman of the same skin tone, wearing a fur overcoat and her blonde hair in a bun. "I hope so," she said in disgust. "Because I don't want…that monster anywhere near me! The sooner he's put behind bars, the better!"
Though Peter could not hear them being so high up, he could tell that most of the people didn't think so highly of him, which added to his aggravation. But just as he was about to fire another line and continue swinging, he spotted something through the corner of his left eye that instantly brought him out of his frustration.
It was another one of the many large TV screens mounted on the side of a nearby building, and it showed a commercial for a minivan that showed a family driving said van to arrive at a campsite near a river. At one point, it showed the footage of a little body running to and hugging a grey-haired man who appeared to be in his late fifties.
Upon seeing this image, Peter could feel so many emotions surge through his body, two of which were most prominent. The first is happiness, as the old man in the commercial brought out warm memories of his late uncle, Ben Parker, the man who raised him like a son and gave him love and advice when he needed it. And the second is utter sadness, as Ben is no longer part of the land of the living, and most damning of all, Peter felt that his uncle's death was his fault. And the painful recount of Ben's death caused Peter to always remember the last thing his uncle said to him the last time he saw him alive. Something that he always kept in mind when putting on the mask and swinging around the city. And those words being: 'With great power, comes great responsibility.'
The power of this saying snapped Peter out of his anger, and he took a deep breath to settle his nerves. "Suck it up, Parker," Peter thought to himself sternly. "You're not spinning webs to be popular. You tried it once, and Uncle Ben is now dead because of it. So for him, you'll have to settle for doing the right thing because it's right and roll with whatever physical and verbal punches come your way." With renewed resolve for his mission, a calmer Peter stood up so he could continue swinging to try and help those in need before going home. But not before taking one last disappointed look at Jonah, who was still on the screen and now with one of many images of Spider-Man with the word 'Menace' plastered in front of it. "Still, it'd be nice to know that I'm not the only one in this city who thinks Jonah's an idiot."