Spider-Man: Destiny - Year 1
Chapter 4: Burn it Down
…
"Kid, I need you to step back! Kid!" NYPD Officer Jean DeWolff exclaimed as she tried to hold Peter back.
"That's my uncle!" Peter yelled as he pushed past DeWolff and ran to tend to his uncle, who had a bullet wound in his chest. "What happened?!"
"He got mugged and shot by a guy who escaped. We have the cops looking out for him right now. I'm so sorry, kid," DeWolff sympathetically revealed.
Peter grabbed his uncle's hand. "Uncle Ben! Uncle Ben, please! Talk to me! Come on! COME ON!"
"P-Peter," Uncle Ben stuttered.
"Uncle Ben, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, please. Stay with me. Please," Peter tearfully begged.
"You- you're a g-good kid, Pet…"
Uncle Ben's eyes closed as his hand dropped from Peter's.
"Uncle Ben! No! No!"
Peter continued to cry as he buried his face in his hands. The visibly sad DeWolff turned her face away from the scene for a little.
…
Back at the house, Aunt May was sitting at the table with NYPD Captain George Stacy and two other cops.
"Right now, only one eyewitness was able to get a good look at where the killer may have gone, with the others saying he got out of there too fast. Rest assured, we'll do everything we can to bring your husband's killer to justice. I'm really sorry about your loss, ma'am. If there's anything you ever need from us, the NYPD is here for you," Captain Stacy stated.
Aunt May nodded, tears going down her face. "Thank you, Captain. You too, officers."
The doorbell rang, and Aunt May got up to go get it. Opening the door, Aunt May saw Peter and Officer DeWolff at the entrance.
"Peter!" Aunt May exclaimed, hugging her nephew.
"Aunt May! I'm so sorry!" Peter apologized.
"It's okay, Peter."
One of the cops showed Peter a drawn portrait. "This was a description taken by a sketch artist if you recognize him."
Peter's heart dropped instantly as chills ran over his whole body. The picture eerily and accurately resembled the mugger from earlier. The same mugger Peter had let go.
"Son?"
"Uh, no. Don't know him," Peter lied.
Captain Stacy got up from the table. "We'll leave you guys alone for now. We'll contact you if there's any updates. And again, we're here if you ever need anything."
Aunt May wiped away some tears. "Thank you."
The other two cops got up from the table and followed Captain Stacy and DeWolff to the door, leaving the house.
"Thanks for taking the kid home, Jean," George thanked DeWolff outside.
"Of course. Poor kid was silent the whole ride home. God, you should've seen it there," DeWolff sighed.
"Kid was shaken up seeing that sketch too," one of the other cops admitted.
"Either way, he's grieving. And that's not easy on anybody, let alone a kid," Captain Stacy pointed out.
Back inside the house, Aunt May walked over to the couch, sitting down and crying. Peter went up to his room, shaken to his core. He looked at his phone and saw a missed call and voicemail from Uncle Ben an hour prior. Hesitantly, Peter started playing the voicemail.
"Peter. I'm sorry things escalated to the point they did. One thing I'm still working on today is-"
Peter stopped the voicemail and dropped his phone. Collapsing on his bed, Peter proceeded to cry until it stopped being dark out.
…
Later that night, a dozen Italian mobsters were talking, smoking, and relaxing in a living room.
"That silver chick out there and her soldiers. We gotta make sure we're ready if they come for us."
"They won't. But if they do, we'll shoot 'em out quickly."
"We gotta bring out the big guns. Get every damn explosive we can and see what the Tinkerer can do."
"That bitch is nothing without that army and she knows it."
"Guys, relax. Let me enjoy my cigarette and-"
A small explosion blew apart the wall, sending two of the mobsters flying. The rest of the mobsters pulled out their guns and started firing, only for some of them to get shot and incapacitated by an energy beam, knocking them down. Silver Sable then jumped out of the remaining smoke and threw some shurikens, knocking down three of the mobsters.
"This lady's crazy!"
"Kill her!"
Sable ran and grabbed a mobster by the collar, slamming his face into the table and knocking him out. Another mobster pulled a gun in Sable's face, only for her to grab and twist his arm, causing a bullet to hit another mobster in the foot by accident. Sable delivered a punch to the mobster's stomach and kneed him in the face, knocking him out. Sable then ran over to the remaining two mobsters as they pulled out their knives. Silver Sable swiftly dodged two knife thrusts from one of the mobsters, countering with a precise strike to his wrist, causing him to drop the weapon. In a seamless motion, she spun around, delivering a roundhouse kick that sent the mobster crashing into a grandfather clock.
"You're dead!"
The remaining mobster lunged at Sable with his knife. She gracefully evaded his strikes dodging and jumping over the mobster's swings. Sable kicked the knife out of the mobster's knife, punched him in the face, and threw him to the ground.
"What was it you said earlier? I'm nothing without my army?" Silver Sable asked.
Sable stomped on the mobster's knee, breaking it as he screamed in anguish.
"Choose your words wisely next time, honey," Sable warned.
Sable then threw a smoke bomb into the ground, encapsulating the entire room with smoke as she disappeared.
…
Three days had passed, and Peter was just laying in his bed. Peter was endlessly staring at the ceiling until Aunt May knocked on the door. Opening the door, Aunt May did her best to keep a strong face on for her nephew.
"Hey, Peter. First off, I called the school and explained everything. Told them you'd need today and tomorrow off. Look, I-I know things are gonna be…"
Aunt May stopped talking as she tried to fight her incoming tears.
"It's fine, Aunt May. I know it's…. a lot right now. We probably need time to process," Peter muttered.
"You're right. I was coming in to let you know that I'm heading out to run some errands. Nothing bad, just stuff for groceries and housing and… I'll be back later in the night," Aunt May stated.
"Okay. I'll stay here."
"You've spent all weekend in bed. Maybe you could go get a bite nearby, or call Harry?"
"It's literally impossible to do anything else right now, May."
Aunt May approached her nephew. "Hey, kid. I know it feels like that right now. And I know it's not gonna be easy for either of us going forward. But we'll have each other. Always."
"You're right. Thanks, May," Peter murmured.
"Of course, hon. Love you, Peter."
"Love you, May."
Aunt May left Peter's room, sighing as she walked downstairs. Leaving the house, Aunt May looked through her phone for different job options as she let the tears release.
…
In an alley in Queens that night, eight thugs were laughing, smoking, and playing poker. A few women were hanging with them.
"You betting or folding?"
"Seriously, did you see her in the red thong earlier?"
"My mom's been getting on my ass about my shifts at Cinnabon and-"
"Babe, how much you getting if you win?"
"Hey!"
The thugs and women all looked to see a figure standing at the alley. Peter stepped forward, wearing his cage fighting suit.
"The hell?" one of the thugs asked.
Excluding Peter, everyone in the alley started laughing.
"Shut up, shut up!" Peter yelled. "A man was shot on the street recently. I've heard this is one of the sketchier areas of Queens, so tell me what you know!"
"Get out of here, kid. Your mommy's probably wondering where you are," another thug mocked.
"Jesus, what's this kid doing?" one of the other thugs genuinely asked.
Peter walked closer to the thugs. "Listen. You do not want to piss me off right now."
"Really? What's up with the shitty costume?" the thug taunted.
In a fit of rage, Peter pushed the thug to the ground. Another thug ran for him, only for Peter's enhanced senses to prompt him to sweep his leg, knocking him down.
One of the thugs pulled out a switchblade. "You're dead, freak!"
The thug ran over to Peter and swung the blade at him, who dodged it and threw the thug against the brick wall. Peter then threw the same thug into another incoming one, knocking them both down.
"You son of a bitch!" another thug yelled as he ran at Peter.
Out of reflex, Peter kicked the thug straight in the chest, provoking a bone-crunching sound.
"Ahhhhh!" the thug screamed as he fell to the ground, his ribs cracked.
"Joey!" one of the women yelled.
Shocked, Peter stepped back.
"You broke his ribs, asshole!"
"Son of a bitch is gonna pay!"
"This guy is crazy!"
Peter ran out of the alley and into the street as fast as he could, with the thugs in pursuit. However, Peter accidentally ran into a couple walking out of a restaurant, causing the three of them to fall down.
"Shit, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Peter apologized as he helped the couple back up.
Peter's enhanced senses started warning him, though he was too late to prevent one of the thugs tackling him to the ground.
"Get out of here! Run!" Peter yelled at the couple, who complied.
Peter easily threw the thug into the restaurant, shattering the glass window. Peter then turned to see two of the thugs running towards him. One of the thugs was holding a metal pipe, and he swung it in Peter's direction. Peter dodged two swings and blocked the third hit with his arm, denting the pipe.
"What the...?" the thug said.
Peter punched the thug in the shoulder, knocking him down. The other thug tackled Peter to the ground and began punching him across the face. Peter quickly kicked the thug off of him and proceeded to run as fast as he could from the scene.
…
In Aunt May's bathroom, Peter was applying concealer to his slightly bruised face to hide his injuries. He couldn't stop replaying the moment he broke the thug's ribs in his head.
"Learn to pull your punches, idiot." Peter muttered to himself.
He heard the garage door start opening, and Peter went down to greet his aunt. Aunt May was taking several bags of groceries out of her car trunk and bringing them into the kitchen.
"Hey, Peter. Could you give me a hand with these?" Aunt May requested.
"Yeah, for sure," Peter responded, proceeding to grab some bags out of the car.
"How was your day?"
"Honestly, fine, all things considered. Just chilled inside. And talked to Harry. Had to let out some anger."
"Well, that's good."
"How about you?"
"It was alright. I pretty much spent the day just driving around and trying to get everything off my mind. And obviously did some shopping."
Peter put some groceries on the counter. "Well, that's good."
Aunt May sat down. "Yeah. I spent a lot of the time driving just reminiscing. Listening to the songs Ben showed me. Thinking of all the me…"
Aunt May's voice began to quiver before she started crying. Doing his best to hold back tears, Peter went over and hugged his aunt.
"It's gonna be okay, May. I promise," Peter whispered.
"I just miss him so much. One day, he was gone and we weren't expecting it. My Ben, just taken from this world for no reason. No fairness to it, he's just gone like that," Aunt May cried.
"I know, May. I miss him so much too."
Peter embraced Aunt May as she cried for the next few minutes. A few tears went down Peter's eyes himself.
"But it's like you said. We'll have each other. And as tough as it is, we're gonna get through it. It's what Ben would want," Peter reminded.
Aunt May started wiping away her tears. "You're right. You're right. As long as we both support each other, it'll all be okay."
"Yeah, for sure. Go to bed, May. I'll finish the groceries."
"My goodness, Peter. You sure?"
"Yeah, seriously. Go get sleep, May. You deserve it," Peter insisted.
Aunt May kissed Peter on the forehead. "Thank you, sweetheart. Maybe I'll go up to the attic tomorrow and clear some things out. There's so much stuff up there not just from me and your uncle, but your parents as well."
"Didn't my dad leave a lot of his science notes there?"
"Yeah, definitely. You could definitely take a look at them if you want. Be a nice way for you to connect with him and Ben."
Peter nodded. "Could be. Good night, May."
Aunt May started walking up to her room. "Night, Peter."
…
Up in the attic, Peter was looking around all the boxes and possessions. Finally finding a familiar briefcase with the initials RP on it, Peter opened it. Taking out a file labeled Molecular Adhesive Formula, Peter opened it and pulled out his father's notes. Looking at the notes, sketches, and formulas, Peter knew what he planned to do.
"Thanks, dad," Peter whispered.
…
At around midnight, James Wesley and several of the Kingpin's thugs were hanging around, smoking, and keeping watch in a secluded construction site in Queens.
"Man, the Kingpin's really been cracking down with security lately," one of the thugs remarked.
"Tell me about it. But with the crazy shit that's been going on lately, I get it."
"Are we even safe out here?"
"Yes, you all are," Wesley assured the thugs. "Your maximum safety has been ensured. The Kingpin is going to generally compensate you all for this and make sure that-"
A barrage of blue energy beams started assaulting the thugs and base at that point. Wesley quickly jumped out of the crossfire and hid behind one of the shipping containers.
"Trap successful. I don't think I have to tell you that it's your cue," Wesley said through his earpiece.
Several Sable soldiers pulled up and started shooting and attacking Fisk's thugs. However, a scream was heard as one of Sable's soldiers was suddenly thrown into one of the beams. Adrian then flew in with his wingsuit, plowing through Sable's soldiers. The soldiers shot at Adrian, only for the advanced wings to shockingly endure the energy beams. Adrian grabbed two of the soldiers and flew up several feet before slamming them into the ground.
"Holy shit!" one of Sable's soldiers yelled as he pulled out his blaster.
Adrian fired several blades from his wings at the remaining shooting soldiers, disarming and knocking them down. Adrian flew over and kicked another soldier in the face, knocking him into several crates. Adrian then grabbed another soldier and threw him several feet in the air. Adrian excitedly flew up to the soldier mid-air and broke his back by bashing it with his left wing, with the soldier falling down lifelessly.
"Lock him down!" one of Sable's soldiers yelled as he and three others pulled out their grapnel guns and shot them at Adrian.
Adrian clipped the grapnel wires apart with his wings and flew straight into the ground with heavy power, crumbling a part of the ground and sending the soldiers flying back with force. Adrian saw a brutalized soldier nearby and walked over to him.
"Please! Please don't kill me!" the soldier begged.
"Well, not yet. You got some shit you need to get off your chest to us," Adrian pointed out.
Adrian then grabbed the soldier and flew away. Meanwhile, Wesley stepped back into view and casually walked past the battleground. Getting in his car and driving away, Wesley called the Kingpin.
"Her soldiers ended up striking tonight. You weren't kidding that this place would be next based on their pattern lately. Adrian took one of their soldiers. We'll start getting more info out of him in the morning. I gotta get some sleep," Wesley explained.
"Perfect. What can I say, nobody underestimates the Kingpin without finding out the hard truth. Now that we finally got one of their men, we're even closer to figuring out Sable's next move and how we'll dismantle things. Tonight was a victory, and a necessary and honorable sacrifice for our men. Have a good night, James. Thank you."
The call ended, and Wesley smiled as he turned on the '80s channel on the radio.
…
In their base, Silver Sable threw a wrench at the wall before grabbing a blaster and shooting apart a training dummy.
"One of our men was taken! And five dead! Because of all of you! How could either of you have let that flying wretch take one of your own with the intensive training and resources you've been given! You're the Wild Pack!" Silver Sable ranted at her battered soldiers.
The soldiers remained silent as Sable kicked a chair aside. Keating started to slowly approach Sable.
"Sable. Sable, we all understand your anger," Keating emphasized.
"Anger? Think about the things Fisk's men could be doing to him right now! That pig has never been known to show mercy!" Sable raged.
"And neither will we. First off, we'll have the medic see what he can do about our men. We're going to do everything in our blood to bring back our soldier. And if not, we'll amplify our efforts by five and burn the empire down before slaughtering Fisk," Keating reasoned.
"Fisk watching everything explode before his slow death has been a given this entire time. No need for the semantics. But you're right. We'll bring our man back. And all of Fisk's soldiers will know true pain if he's dead. And as for that bastard with the wings, the unimaginable things that are going to be done to him… they will all crumble," Silver Sable declared to Keating and her soldiers.
…
Took two weeks this time for the newest chapter. Again, hella sorry about that. Life's been a lot lately, for better and for worse. To be transparent, I'm currently in my final semester of a masters program, and also dealing with classes, internship, family and friends, and overall just striving to be a better person. I'm in a good position with that, genuinely. But at the same time, I'm also anxious about true adulting after all this, getting a job and helping my family financially, truly growing up, all that shit. It's like I've said, my life has changed a lot and had some crazy shit since starting high school and I want to capture that here.
I really will try to have the next chapter out earlier, and more shit is gonna go down as our Peter Parker continues his transformation into one of Marvel's greatest heroes, and y'all are about to see some SHIT go down. Until then, thanks again for reading, and follows, favorites, and reviews are always appreciated.
-redbirds12
