AUTHOR'S NOTE: Happy New Year, everyone! Well, here's the first chapter of 2023, and it's probably the longest one so far. Not only that, but it's one that changes the status quo and is a harbinger of things to come! But anyone, I've said too much already. Enjoy!

DAILY BUGLE

The sounds of phones ringing off the hook to people at their desks typing on their keyboards, posting stories of current events, sports, and entertainment. This fast-moving and busy atmosphere served as the usual daily routine for the reporters who work for the Daily Bugle, and the top floor was just the most hectic. Mainly since it also contained the office of J. Jonah Jameson was located, where the editor's loud voice was always heard. His outbursts usually occuring when he wanted to push his reporters to find good stories and not slack off or scream in anger whenever he heard how a rival news outlet got to a good story first. Or, all and all didn't get his way.

As the reporters rushed back and forth through the top floor, the elevator located at the very far end of the floor opened up, and out came Peter Parker, who by now was out of costume and wearing a blue and red overshirt over a dark blue T-shirt with Captain America's shield on the chest, blue jeans and worn-out tennis shoes. He still had his backpack on, but by this time, he had already completed the video and had stored it in a flash drive, which he currently had in his right front pocket. But as Peter headed towards Jonah's office, which was just a few feet across, he did so with a depressed look. Not just from the fight he had with the Beetle, granted he was still sore from the encounter. But instead, it was from the phone call he had made earlier with his Aunt May…

SIX MINUTES PRIOR

…and made the call inside a dark, dusty room of an abandoned warehouse near the East River. Though his street clothes were in an old chair, Peter was still in costume, minus his mask and gloves, which were sitting right next to him on a table. Along with the mask and gloves was his video camera, which he had just uploaded the footage into his laptop and finished editing the video. But before he could put everything he recorded on the flash drive, Peter decided to send the video to May first. And once that uneasy task was done, Peter was on the phone with May to let her know he was okay. All while feeling nervous, for when Peter asked May if she received them, she replied that she did, but with a very stiff, none-too-pleased tone. "Don't worry, the places where I shot the videos were all good hiding places! Nobody, not even Spider-Man, saw me."

"Well, that maybe," May replied on the other line as she saw the videos on the family computer in their home. Today was her day off, and having her nephew put himself in harm's way wasn't exactly getting her much-needed time off from F.E.A.S.T. off to a good start. "That still doesn't make me feel any better that you're risking your life shooting movies for someone like Jameson, Peter!" As she continued, May's tone seemed to change to a sadder one. "I'd feel a lot better if you work somewhere AWAY from the danger and not feel so obligated to Spider-man or me to put yourself in dangerous situations."

"Aunt May, you know I want to help you with the house after all that you've done for me," Peter replied, as he knew that she didn't want him to concern himself with her but felt he had to honor the responsibility of taking care of her just as his Uncle Ben would've wanted. "Besides, Jameson's saying that Spider-Man's a menace when I, along with many people, know he's just trying to help; I need to convince Mr. Jameson that!"

May let out a sigh before she said something that hopefully would bring sense to her nephew about his current work situation. "First off, as far as Jameson's opinion of Spider-Man goes, it doesn't matter! What does are those from the people he saved, including those from F.E.A.S.T., all of whom told me stories about how he saved them from muggers, car crashes, and building fires. They know that Spider-Man is a hero because of his actions, not Jameson's words! They're the ones whose opinions are truly important! And second, since working for F.E.A.S.T., I've had a pretty good income, so while I appreciate you wanting to help pay for the house, Peter, I'm doing fine. And regarding how you earn money now, it's time for you to focus it on YOU! More specifically, for your life in college, your own apartment, all and all, for you to make a life of your own! But honestly, I'd feel a lot better if you have a life where you had a job that's safe and that I don't have to worry about whether or not I hear from you again…."

PRESENT

…that phone conversation remained on Peter's troubled mind. Even as he made his way to the desk of Jonah's secretary, Glory Grant, an African American woman in her mid-twenties dressed who was dressed in work attire of a white top, black skirt, and shoes, but still showing some of her 'flare' with gold earrings and bracelets. It was here that she was talking on her desk phone, and the person on the other end was one of the very few people who could quell someone as temperamental as Jonah; his wife. "Hey Maria," said Glory in a pleasant but not too surprised tone, as she, like everyone in the Bugle, had grown used to Jonah's eccentric behavior. "Jonah said he'll have the usual for lunch." At that moment, Glory nodded when Maria asked to confirm what 'the usual' was. "Whichever is cheaper, yes."

At that moment, Peter couldn't help but feel sympathy for Glory, for as someone who worked for someone as temperamental as Jonah, she must deal with more stress than necessary. Still, she was one of the few people he enjoyed interacting with since working for the Bugle, which was why it was going to break his heart when he told her that this Spidey video would be his last. As Peter waited for Glory to get off the phone, he took a moment to look around the room to 'take it all in' before leaving it forever. But as he looked to the right, he spotted something that caught his eye.

It was that of a newspaper framed and hanging on the wall, with the banner headline reading 'Daily Planet Goes Digital.' It was the announcement that the Bugle would launch its viral news show with Jonah, in a blue business suit with his arms folded and a massive grin on his face, as its host. However, Jonah was not the only person in the photo, for with him was a smiling African American man around the same age as Jonah, but with grey hair, dressed in a brown business suit and with his hands in his pockets. It was Joesph 'Robbie' Robertson, the Bugle's city editor and Jonah's right-hand man. He was a man with a passion for news and patience for Jonah's outbursts. But most of all, Robbie firmly believed that Spider-Man was a true hero, which made him lock horns with Jonah many times. That was until last week when the two old friends got into an argument so fierce that Robbie ended up quitting the Bugle right then and there, and no one has seen or heard from him since.

A day that left many people in the Bugle heartbroken, especially Peter, for not only did he lose a good supporter for his life as Spider-Man, but also a true friend and mentor, one who reminded him of his Uncle Ben. A fact that made him let out a saddened sigh. "Guess I should've known that the writing was on the wall when you left, Robbie. Still, Jonah must have some level of decency if Robbie was friends with him. So, for that alone, I'll try to convince him, one last time, that Spider-Man is one of the good guys!"

As Glory hung up the phone, she noticed Peter standing right in front of her and immediately perked up, as she did with many co-workers she enjoyed being around. "Hey, Pete! Here with another video?"

Peter instantly snapped back to reality upon hearing Glory's voice and thus faced her with a smile. "Huh? Oh, yeah! Yeah!" Peter replied with a sheepish laugh, then reached into his pocket, pulled out, and showed the drive. "Got it right here! Is Jonah busy?"

Before Glory could reply, the conversation was cut short when she, along with Peter, heard the usual roar of Jonah in his office, even through the closed glass door of his office. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"

Naturally, this caused Peter and Glory to take a peek through the clear glass to see what got the editor so riled up, and they saw an angry and perplexed Jonah sitting behind his desk, holding a tablet horizontally as he tried to make sense of a blurry video that was playing.

And the person who shot the video was Eddie Brock, who was quite nervous as his greatest fears were made a reality. The footage he shot of the battle between Spider-Man and Beetle was not focused due to all the people running and bumping into him. As such, he desperately grabbed the tablet and turned it vertically, hoping against hope that it would help make the image a little bit clearer.

Unfortunately for Eddie, it did not, and the agitated Jonah decided to let him know. "IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MAKE IT BETTER?! WHAT THE HELL AM I EVEN LOOKING AT?! A TODDLER COULD MAKE A BETTER VIDEO THAN THIS!"

Back outside the office, an uneasy Glory turned to Peter, who was just as nervous. "Normally, I'd say yes, but I know your videos are WAY better than Brock's, so you better get in there and show Jonah your stuff before he has a heart attack!"

"On it!" Peter answered quickly as he walked to the door and silently hoped that what he had to tell Jonah wouldn't make the man drop dead.

Back in the office, Eddie knew he was in hot water, as the battle happened right then and there, and he had no time to edit the video properly. As such, he desperately tried to talk his way out of this mess for the sake of his paycheck. "Jonah, I swear, there are some clear shots that show Spider-Man terrorizing those people when he was fighting that Beetle guy!"

"When it comes to Spider-Man, ALL shots have to be clear, Brock!" Jonah clarified in a bark. "Oh, I had such high hopes for you when you gave that video of that Wall-Crawling menace fighting that 'Shockster' or whatever his name is! But now, instead of giving me something that gives people an idea of how dangerous that web-spewing is, you gave me a blurry monstrosity that'll give them a headache if I put it on air!" Suddenly, Jonah noticed Peter about to knock on his door. "Parker!" Jonah bellowed, causing Peter to momentarily freeze like a deer in headlights before he could knock on the glass. "If you're here to drop off a video, it damn sure better be a lot better than Brock's!"

After letting out a massive gulp, the anxious Peter fearfully opened the door, walked into the office, and approached his desk. "Uh, yeah, right here, Jonah," said Peter with a small smile, trying to hide his nervousness as he held up the drive for Jonah to see. "In fact, it's a two-for-one! Because I managed to get Spider-Man fighting a group of robbers and that Beetle guy!"

With a speed that would almost rival Peter's, Jonah instantly snatched the drive out of Peter's hand and then used the wheels at the bottom of his chair to roll to the right side of his desk where his computer was located.

Meanwhile, a wide-eyed Eddie stood in shock at Peter's sudden appearance and continued to sit there in stunned silence as he watched Jonah insert and play the Spidey videos, the first of which was indeed Spider-Man subduing a team of robbers.

For Jonah, the video of Spider-Man fighting off the robbers didn't particularly interest him, as Peter had previously given him other videos like this. Still, it wasn't until the footage showing Spider-Man's fight with the Beetle that he finally grinned from ear to ear. "Ah ha! Now we're getting somewhere!"

Once Eddie saw this video for himself, his jaw hit the floor. "You got to be kidding me!" Eddie exclaimed in bewilderment, then turned to Peter in anger as he felt this 'snot-nosed punk' just upstaged him. "How the hell could you have recorded the fight, Parker?! Where were you?!"

Once Peter heard Eddie call him, he turned and appeared to stare daggers into him. For a while, he was at the door, he heard Jonah, very loudly, confirm that Eddie was indeed the, as MJ put it, 'blonde-haired dumbass' at the bank recording the Shocker's attempted robbery and made the video he saw on the news. One in which showed only a few images and let out much of the fight, namely the moments when Peter saved the people and thus made him look bad. And what made it worse was that Peter didn't bring his camera that day to record the fight himself, and therefore had no proof to show that Eddie's video wasn't credible, and thus was forced to keep his mouth shut about it. "Oh, hi, Eddie," said Peter in a less than enthusiastic tone.

"Don't dodge the issue, you little…!" Eddie barely caught himself, as he didn't want to look like a bully in front of Jonah, who was too transfixed on Peter's video even to notice. But through the corner of his eye, he spotted Glory staring daggers at him, who, for all he knew, could spread nasty rumors about him, given the social butterfly she was. As such, Eddie decided to keep his cool, all the while looking at Peter with a narrowed, angry brow. "I was there when that Wall Crawling freak and Beetle were duking it out, but you were nowhere to be seen!"

"I was in a hiding spot!" Peter remarked. "You think I'd want to get mixed up in that?!"

Eddie could only scoff at the young man's answer. "Well, if you ask me, Parker, that just further proves that you don't have what it takes to work in any news outlet, let alone the Bugle. You don't have the guts to get bold and get right there in the action!"

Peter gave Eddie a skeptically raised eyebrow as he pointed out one particular 'bold' action of another assignment his rival was assigned to. "Oh really? Like how when the Avengers were being honored at city hall, you took the bold step of getting a shot of Black Widow's backside?"

At that point, Eddie's eyes grew wide with embarrassment. He remembered that he meant for that picture to be part of his private stash, and he confused it with the pictures he was supposed to bring to Jonah, thus cementing it as the most embarrassing moment of his career. "Okay, first off, I was trying to get a shot of Captain America, but she got in the way! And second-!"

"Quiet, you two!" Jonah barked, his eyes still glued to his computer screen and transfixed at the fight. "Your bickering is ruining the beautiful moment of having the proof that shows how dangerous that tights-wearing criminal is!"

In the final part of the video, where Spider-Man kicks the detached door right into Beetle's face, the voice of a young African American teen girl soon calls out in jubilation. "YEAH! Go, Spidey, go!"

The woman's supportive call caused Jonah's smile to transform into an annoyed grimace. "And THAT ruined the moment!"

This remark left Peter taken aback. "What? How?" Peter asked, causing Jonah to turn to face him with an irritable glare. Though initially intimidated by the editor's expression, Peter shook his head to regain his confident composure. "I mean, how does that girl supporting Spider-Man ruin everything? In fact, it's the moment that helps prove that Spider-Man is not a menace! In those videos, he tried to stop two robberies! And in the second one, he even saved people from getting hurt by that bomb thing that the Beetle used to blow off the car's door!"

"What you call stopping robberies, kid, I call trying to get rid of the competition," Jonah said sharply. "And as far as that girl goes, probably one of those kids who like to shoot videos on their phones and post it on 'Tic Tak' or whatever! Not knowing she's contributing to the problem by cheering for that masked weirdo!"

Here, Eddie decided to interject and give his take on the situation and show Jonah that he's 'experienced enough' to be taken seriously. "Or she could be a plant!"

Upon hearing Eddie's theory, both Peter and Jonah turned and looked at him with bewilderment as they said this in unison. "What?!"

"Well, think about it! Maybe Spider-Man went to that girl and promised to pay her a huge sum to be his cheerleader and post on those social media sights to make him look like the good guy!" At that moment, Eddie turned to the still-befuddled Peter with a smug look. "It's a classic con, Parker! One that YOU fell for!"

At this point, Peter's confusion soon transformed into disgust. "Okay, that is BEYOND ridiculous!" Peter declared, then quickly turned to Jonah, who appeared to be in deep thought. "Jonah, you think so too, right?!"

After a few moments of contemplation, Jonah finally looked up with a severe expression and turned his attention to Eddie. "Brock…you've got one hell of a point!" Jonah exclaimed, which resulted in Eddie smiling and Peter in a state of further shock. "Not only is that Web-Slinging menace endangering civilians, but he's also corrupting our youth!" At one moment, Jonah paused, turned away, and held his hand as if to spell out his planned title for his latest story for the show. "Matter of fact, here's the title; 'Spider-Man: Spreading Web of Menace through World Wide Web!'" With his title now in mind, Jonah turned back to Eddie. "Not bad, Brock! My faith in you is back up by…ten percent!"

"Wow, Thanks, Jonah," Eddie replied, smile still present only to hide how offended he was by Jonah's phony phrase, even when it came to coming up with the title of the story.

Peter wasn't any happier. Not only did Jonah ignore that he, as Spider-Man, stopped two robberies, but Eddie decided to put the cherry on top by suggesting that an innocent young bystander be used as an unknowing accomplice in Jonah's hate campaign. All of this made Peter quietly seethe in anger, with the stress causing his right eye to twitch. "Focus. All. Energy. On. Not. Ramming. Own. Head. Through. Wall." Peter thought to himself, struggling to stay calm. But along the way, he caught a glimpse of three things on Jonah's desk, something that made him briefly pause.

The first was a picture showing Jonah, in his younger years, with his hair black and minus the mustache, dressed in a groom's suit as he posed with his bride, a blonde-haired, pale-skinned woman named Julia, his first wife who sadly was now deceased. From what Peter heard from some of the older reporters in the Bugle, she was gunned down by a masked gunman who worked for a gangster to which Jonah was running a story on at the time. This gave Peter the theory that this was why Jonah was against a 'masked man' like Spider-Man; thus, all the anger the editor gave him was soon replaced with pity.

The second was another picture, but this time at a festive party with his second and current wife, Maria, who was a fair-skinned woman around Jonah's age and had red hair and a white dress. Peter remembered meeting her a couple of times, and aside from being the only one who could tolerate Jonah, much less love him, she was shown to be a kind and patient person. Someone who reminded him of his Aunt May, a person who was constantly worried sick about him due to making videos, and the fact that he was causing her so much heartache was tearing him up inside.

And the third was a white coffee mug, a birthday gift to Jonah from Maria. And on it was the phrase 'Give the Devil his due' written in red. All of which reminded him of a certain 'daredevil' who helped him fight off the Enforcers last night. And, despite the ultimatum he received on joining the team or else, he also reminded Peter that his video-making wasn't exactly the most honest way of making cash. Something which he knew that his Uncle Ben would disapprove of no matter how dire the situation was. And it was these three items that reminded Peter of the primary reason why he came to the Daily Bugle, and though he knew it would make things harder for him financially, he knew that, for the sake of his aunt's peace of mind, it had to be done.

Once Jonah turned to Peter, he could see the sad look on the young man's face and thus rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't be so sour that you got fooled by a con, kid. But, before you start crying like a baby, I'll give you your bottle and give you three hundred bucks instead of the usual two hundred, seeing as how the videos you gave are good."

Though Peter appreciated this tiny bit of generosity, it still wasn't enough to change his mind, and thus proceeded to tell Jonah what he knew would affect him significantly from here on out. "Thanks, Jonah, but you can keep it. I quit."

Naturally, Peter's answer earned this response from both a shocked Jonah and a confused Eddie. "WHAT?!"

Now seeing that he had his, as of now, former employer's attention, Peter continued while trying to be as gentle in his approach as possible. All while catching a brief glimpse of Jonah's first wife and then turning back at him with a sympathetic expression. "Look, J.J., I think I have an idea of why you think Spider-Man and all masked people like him are to automatically be considered the enemy," Peter could see Jonah's eyes lid up with rage and instantly held up his hand to stop him from screaming. "And I won't delve any further! It's none of my business, and I'm sorry for bringing it up!" After giving that apology, Peter sighed as he continued. ", But that said, while I do appreciate what you've done for me, I can't work for or take money from someone whose hatred for one person is so great he's willing to overlook facts. As far as the video goes, it's yours without charge. Do whatever you want. Because at the end of the day, there are people who know that Spider-Man is a hero through his actions and their opinions are what truly matter. I sincerely hope you learn this someday and start reporting the truth after that. Until then, take care, Jonah. And goodbye." After saying his peace, Peter turned around, walked towards the door, opened it, and walked out of Jonah's office for the last time.

Peter's exit caused many emotions. For Eddie, it was happiness, as he no longer had a rival to try and out-scoop him. But at the same time, confusion, as Peter just skipped out on a chance to get paid more than usual, and no one would be that stupid enough to miss out on an opportunity to make a quick buck, especially these days. Also, Eddie thought that Peter's videos were always 'too good.' Good in a way that the young man would in cooperation with the very masked freak he recorded. All of this led Eddie to assume that while Parker leaving was good for him…it almost felt too good to be true.

Another person who felt confused was Glory Grant, who watched as Peter walked out of the office, gave her both a nod and a small smile, and continued walking, as opposed to him walking up and telling her how much Jonah paid him and writing him a check. Something which troubled her greatly, as the last person who gave her a quiet gesture like this while leaving was Robbie.

But the most prominent of emotions to be brought out by Peter's departure was that of rage, which consumed Jonah as his face was bright red as he got up from his chair and walked around his desk to scream this at the young Peter. "Oh, today is your last day, all right, Parker! But letting you quit is way too good for a supporter of Spider-Man! SO, YOU'RE FIRED!" Jonah roared, then turned his wide, anger-filled eyes to Eddie, who by this time was still intimidated. "Brock, only because I don't have a choice, YOU'RE primary job is to get me videos of that leotard-wearing miscreant! But know this, if the next one you bring is no better than what you brought me today, then you can join Parker in the unemployment line! Got it?!"

"Every word, Jonah!" Eddie nervously replied as he held his hands up in defense.

"Good, then stop gawkin', get out of my office, and get me those videos! NOW!" Jonah roared, which caused Eddie to bolt out of the office quickly and right past Glory's desk, where the secretary sat, saddened that another good worker and friend was driven away by her ego-driven boss.

But even though he received the break of a lifetime, Eddie still seemed troubled as he continued walking on. "Get more videos! Sure!" Eddie thought to himself sarcastically. "If I can pull off that miracle, I'll go ahead to the Avengers Tower, walk up to the Hulk and kick him right in the nuts! It was only by pure freaking luck that I ran into that Wall-Crawling freak today! I don't even know the first place he'll go!" Suddenly, as Eddie looked straight ahead, he spotted the saddened and now unemployed Peter waiting in front of the elevator. The one who always got such clear videos of Spider-Man and was always at the right place at the right time. All of this made Eddie look at Peter with great suspicion, as he was starting to think that Peter shot those videos not out of luck but in cooperation with the masked vigilante he was tasked of recording. At the same time, though, it caused a confident smirk to appear on Eddie's face. "But I know someone who might!" thought Eddie, as he felt he now found the one person who could lead him to Spider-Man, and maybe even expose him as a fraud and be labeled a 'hero' to Jameson, thus getting the recognition he desperately craved. "But I think I might know who does."

Out of all the reporters working at their desks, it was that reporter Jacob Conover, a brown hair, a red-skinned man in his mid-thirties and in a business suit, minus the jacket, who noticed Eddie's sly smile while typing on his keyboard and seemed repulsed by it. "Geez, Brock, if your thinking of Black Widow's ass, can't you do it at home?"

Eddie heard Jacob's words, and given that he was one of the many reporters that he had a hostile relationship, he turned and looked at him with anger and embarrassment in his eyes. "Screw you, Conover!"

STATIN ISLAND

Finally, after many hours of heart, back-breaking work, Adrien now stood in the middle of his workshop clad in the costume destined to help him unleash vengeance on Norman Osborn. This ensemble consisted of a green body suit underneath his electromagnetic harness, which was spray-painted green. One the rest of his body was the green painted, bird's head helmet he wore on his head, his wings which were currently retracted on the back of his arms, and on his feet were a pair of steel boots, each with three dagger-shaped blades on top, with two blades on the front and one on the back. "Time to pay the piper, Norman," Adrien said with venom in his voice; then, as he bent down, he pressed four new hidden buttons underneath his green gloves on top of his palms. This caused a sequence of activations to occur in certain parts of the suit.

The first of these happened in the helmet, namely that of the black visor, which caused two glowing yellow 'eyes' to appear. This also revealed the visor was two-way, for while the outside of the visor had the eyes for intimidation, the inside of the visor showed Adrien digital grafts and icons that dictated altitude, graphs of his surroundings, and so on.

The second was that of the flight harness, which produced a humming sound once it kicked on. At the same time, the wings soon popped out, showing a massive span, and the wings were painted jet black.

And the final sequence occurred in the boots, namely that the daggers slid down and acted as a boost that propelled Adrien into the air when he jumped up and flapped his wings. Once airborne, the daggers soon connected and locked in place beneath Adrien's feet, forming giant, bird-like talons.

These sequences within the suit allowed Adrien to fly straight towards the open window above the work and into the sky, where he began his plan as an airborne predator to go after his prey in the form of the business partner that made him the type of man that was feared by all. A man with revenge on his mind and nothing to lose.