Chapter 8: Competition
Hey everyone I'm back with a new chapter. Oh yeah 3 Spider-Man updates in one week! I'm on a roll! Also I am thrilled to say this story has over 150 followers and favorites! Thanks for all your support guys! I hope you like what I have planned. Please Review and Enjoy.
Shortly after landing the job with Bruce Wayne, Spider-Man was swinging through the air feeling like a million bucks.
As he swings by a building smoke came out of the vents as an explosion went off inside.
Inside we see Alex and Flint running out of a store with sacks of stolen goods.
"First time I've ever blown myself out of a store." Flint said.
"Yeah Marko, biggest score we ever made. I'm loving it." Alex smiles.
"And I'm loving that there's no Spider-Man down here to cramp our style." Flint smiles.
"You can't lose what you never had." Spider-Man said dropping in upside down. "Hey fellas."
Holding out his hand Spider-Man fires his webs tying them up.
Soon the two crooks were back behind bars.
"Two bags full of cash and we lost it! I can't believe it!" Flint groans.
"I can't believe we let that annoying punk get us again." Alex said when the cell opens.
"Bail's been paid. Guess punks can have friends." A cop said confusing them.
Making their way outside, the two of them saw a car waiting for them.
"Get in boys." Inside they saw Mr. Hammerhead sitting across from them. "And welcome to the big time."
The next morning Jaden was in his room typing on his laptop.
On it, he saw a news article about the Justice League and surprise, surprise almost all of them were featured around the adult heroes mainly Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.
"Man Diana's been in the hero thing less than me and she's already a star." Jaden said enviously. "Probably because she's so beautiful. Meanwhile, I'm still being called a menace. Life can suck sometimes."
Suddenly he heard a knock at the door.
"Jaden?" Maya calls out.
"Come on in Mom. Door's open." Jaden said as she walked in.
Seeing the article he was reading she smiles.
"It's nice to know the world is a little safer with heroes like them looking out for us." Maya said.
"I guess so, what's up?" Jaden asks.
"Well in light of your new job and how well you've been doing I've decided to give you back your old curfew." Maya said.
"Really? Thanks mom." Jaden said.
"Jaden I am so proud of you. I mean how many kids your age can say they have a job at Wayne Industries?" Maya asks.
"I know mom it's pretty cool." Jaden smiles.
"Your father would be so proud of you." Maya smiles hugging him from behind. "Just like I am."
"Thanks mom." Jaden said when Maya noticed the flyer for the dance on his desk.
"What's this?" She asks taking it.
"Oh it's just the Fall Formal. After that whole alien invasion fiasco, I was thinking of not going. Besides I don't even have a date." Jaden said.
"All the more reason you should go. You need to start living Jaden. Hey why don't you go ask Mary Jane to the dance?" Maya suggests.
"Mom, I just met her. It's a little too early for me to ask her out." Jaden said standing up.
"All I'm saying is now that aliens can invade this planet you should try to make the most of life. You never know when something crazy might happen." Maya said.
"Alright mom. I got to get to school. I love you." Jaden said giving her a kiss on the cheek and grabbing his backpack.
As he walked out, he sees MJ walking out of the house next door to take out the garbage.
"Hey tiger." MJ calls out getting his attention.
"Oh hey MJ." Jaden said walking over.
"Good to see you survived." MJ said.
"Yeah I got lucky." Jaden shrugs.
"So what's new?" MJ asks.
"Brace yourself I think my mom is playing matchmaker again." Jaden said.
"Uh oh should I dress up nice or is it casual?" MJ teases.
"Just don't let her talk you into doing something you don't want to do." Jaden said.
"Noted, see you round Jaden." MJ smiles.
"See ya." Jaden said walking to school.
Meanwhile, in a dark part of town, Hammerhead's car enters a body shop under the train tracks but when they enter a secret door opens bring them down.
Opening the door, Flint and Hammerhead step out.
"What about O'Hirn?" Flint asks.
"This is a solo job." Hammerhead said as the car drove away. "The big man has had his eye on you Marko."
"The big man?" Flint said interested. "Do I get to meet him?"
"No one meets the big man." Hammerhead said in a serious tone scaring Flint a little bit.
At Midtown High, we find ourselves in the outdoor eating area, Jaden walked over to Harry and Gwen who were sitting alone.
"Hey guys." Jaden calls out getting their attention.
"Jaden you're alive." Harry smiles as he sat down.
"Yeah lucky for me." Jaden said.
"An alien invasion. Crazy." Gwen said.
"No what's crazy is them making us still go to school like nothing's changed." Harry said.
"Oh you'll live. Listen guys there's something big I want to tell you." Jaden said.
Before they could ask the PA turned on.
"Good morning students, Coach Smith here with a brief announcement. After the injury of our starting Tight End and the academic suspension of our backup, the Midtown Mustangs will be holding 3 days of tryouts starting this afternoon." Coach announces much to Harry's joy.
"Perfect. I am so there." Harry smiles.
"Uh Harry, you know I'm all about being the encouraging gal pal but the words "catastrophic bone breakage" do come to mind." Gwen said.
"Harry, are you forgetting Flash is on the team? Are you forgetting how crazy huge and tough those guys are?" Jaden warns.
"Well if you're so worried how about a little moral support and tryout with me?" Harry suggests.
"Uh let me think about it for a little bit and get back to you." Jaden asks.
In the principal's office, we see a man with blonde hair and a trench coat sitting across from the principal.
"Well Mr. Jones I must admit I'm surprised you want to enroll your niece so late in the year." The principal said.
"Yes forgive me, we had a bit of a moving situation but I assure you we're settled in." Mr. Jones said.
"So your niece, are you her legal guardian?" The principal asks.
"Yes I am." Mr. Jones nods as the principal looks at the papers.
"Well, everything seems to be in order. We'll have Ms. Megan all ready to enroll by Monday." The principal assures.
"Thank you for your time." Mr. Jones said standing up and walking out.
As he opened the door he almost bumps into Jaden around the corner.
"Whoa sorry sir." Jaden said but Mr. Jones just smiles.
"No trouble at all young man." Mr. Jones said as Jaden looks at him curiously.
"Have we met before? You sound familiar?" Jaden asks.
"Possibly. Have a good day." Mr. Jones said walking past him.
Walking to his locker, Jaden opens it and overhears Flash talking to his fellow teammate Kenneth Kong.
"Hey Kong, you hear? Osborn is trying out." Flash said.
"Cool." Kenny smiles confusing him.
"Cool?" Flash asks.
"Hey I need a new tackling dummy. Broke my last one." Kenny said as they both laughed.
Hearing this Jaden closes his locker to see Harry walking towards him.
"You know what Harry. I got your back buddy." Jaden said making him smile.
Meanwhile, at an unknown lab, Flint was hooked up to tons of equipment as Doctor Octavius had 4 strange mechanical arms strapped to his back.
"Hey doc, what's with the arms?" Flint asks a little creeped out.
"They allow me to multi-task, manipulate difficult objects and uhm maintain a safe distance." Otto mutters that last part.
"You need a safe distance? What about me?" Flint asks.
"Well there are…concerns." Otto admits.
Hearing that Flint immediately tried to break free but couldn't.
"Marko relax." Hammerhead said walking in. "Procedure is simple, painless, and totally worth it. Show him."
Walking to a screen Otto began to type.
"The uh subject is infused with millions of microscopic silicone granules creating silicone armor. In theory you'll be able to pass through metal detectors undetected and be impervious." Otto explains.
"Is that a good thing?" Flint asks.
"Yeah means nothing and no one can hurt you. Not even Spider-Man." Hammerhead declares making Flint grin at the thought.
Later that day at Football tryouts, Jaden, Harry and the other students were lined up in football uniforms and helmets while Gwen, Liz, and a few others were watching from the stands.
"Alright, ladies I only have room for 2 of you on the team. One starter and one backup." Coach said as Flash nudged one guy.
"Don't worry Brown you're in. We'll make sure of it." Flash assures.
"Helmets on! Let's play some football!" Coach declares.
Tryouts began and Flash's plan was going off without a charm. First was passing drills and Flash's throws knocked them to the ground unable to catch the ball except for Brown who caught his.
Next was Jaden's turn. Taking a deep breath Jaden ran out just as Flash threw reaching for it, Jaden fumbles narrowly missing.
When Harry stepped up Flash nailed him in the chest but Harry still hung onto the ball.
The next test was running drills, Harry managed to bob and weave around all the players much to Flash's anger.
As everyone cheered for him Kenny stuck his foot out to try and trip him but Harry jumped right over, unfortunately for him a certain girl noticed his stunt.
When Jaden stepped up to run Kenny charged right at him, causing his Spider-sense to go off. Thinking quickly Jaden made a sharp turn narrowly avoiding being crushed and doing a touchdown.
In the stands, Liz and Gwen cheered happy for him.
Soon the first day came to an end, Flash was following coach to hear his picks.
"Some real talent out there. Hobbie Brown looks good but those two skinny little juniors might be better. They're sure giving King Kong a hard time." Coach said.
"They're not the only ones." Flash points revealing that the girl who saw Kenny's trick was his girlfriend, Gloria.
"Grow up Kenny. Why would I date someone who's too immature to play fair?" Glory asks.
"But Glory." Kenny said.
"I'm serious! Cut it out or we're history!" Glory said walking away.
Back at the secret lab, Norman Osborn had joined Hammerhead and Otto as they neared the final preparations.
"Please, Mr. Osborn. This lab it was assembled so rapidly and the equipment it's substandard. At the very least I need more time. The experiment hasn't even been tested." Otto begs.
"This IS the test." Norman declares putting on protective glasses. "Press the button doctor."
Activating the machine, tons of sand and high-tech lab equipment started up and all that energy was radiation was dumped right onto Marko.
Screaming the sand began to surround Flint and the machine began to overload.
"Sir! We must abort!" Otto begs.
"Not yet." Norman said.
In the end, it was all too much as Flint's body began to change to the color of sand before exploding into pig piles of it all over the lab.
"What have we done? What do we do?" Otto asks horrified.
"We sweep up and we try again." Norman said taking off the glasses.
"Wait. What's going on in there?" Hammerhead asks.
Looking inside they see all the sand gather together reforming into Flint.
"What have you done to me?! Answer me!" In his confusion and rage, Flint turns his hand into a hammer and bangs against the glass.
"Hey Mister Sandman." Hammerhead said getting his attention. "Chill."
Soon Flint and Hammerhead were in the car driving away as Flint was trying to get the hang of his new form.
"There you go. You got your sand legs, sand clothes and now you're in color." Hammerhead said as it looked like Flint was his old self again. "See? It's not so bad."
"Not so bad?!" Flint snaps.
"Stuff happens. End results are the same. You got powers no one else got. Not even Spider-Man. Now you can get revenge for all those times the Webhead put you behind bars." Hammerhead points out.
"Yeah I could…no wait. Revenge is for chumps. I don't care about Spider-Man. All I ever wanted was the big score and now I got the power to get it." Flint said.
"Now listen you little nobody." Hammerhead points.
"Hey! Flint Marko was a nobody but everyone will know the name Sandman!" He declares breaking the door down and making his escape.
As the car divider came down, Norman looks in.
"Well you're taking this better than I thought. I thought he wanted someone to fight Spider-Man." Norman recalls.
"Big man wanted a villain to distract Spidey. And that's what he got." Hammerhead grins.
Up on the roofs, Spider-Man was sitting down after a night on patrol.
"Okay I didn't rely too much on my powers just enough to avoid any cheap shots by Kenny and Flash. Just got to do this for 2 more days. Harry gets onto the team and I can never play another school sport for as long as I live." Spider-Man said when he heard an alarm at the bank go off.
At the bank, Sandman breaks the door open holding a huge sack of cash.
"Ugh really Marko? Haven't you gotten tired of the same old thing?" Spider-Man asks dropping in. "Where's your friend?"
"I don't need one anymore." Sandman turns his arm into a giant sand fist and attacks forcing Spider-Man to jump back.
"Whoa what happened there?" Spider-Man asks surprised.
"I happened. Sandman happened!" Sandman declared going on the attack.
"Oh mama!" Spider-Man said jumping around. "And I thought getting sand in shoes were annoying. You take it to a whole new level."
Firing a web at a light post, Spider-Man swings around on it and nails Sandman in the chest but his foot gets stuck going through Flint's body.
"What the?" Spider-Man gasps.
"Gotcha!" Since he was trapped Sandman used this opening to nail Spider-Man in the face with a painful sand-coated right hook sending him crashing into a truck.
Climbing up onto the hood of it, Spider-Man shook it off.
"Geez how did you go from a punching bag to a sandbag?" Spider-Man asks.
"Nice huh? The big man did this to me to get to you." Sandman said.
"Big Man? Who's the big man?" Spider-Man asks interested.
"Uh that's on a need-to-know basis. Look cleaning your clock has been fun but I got banks to rob." Sandman said as police sirens echoed.
Turning into sand, Sandman went down the storm drain making his escape. Unfortunately for him, he left his loot behind.
"Aw man! My money!" Sandman yells in frustration.
Looking around Spider-Man waited for the cops to show up.
"Hey you guys mind dropping that deposit off back at the bank? Thanks." Spider-Man said aiming his hands up but no webs came out. "Oh come now?"
Jumping up onto the buildings, Spider-Man escapes the old-fashioned way.
The next day in Chemistry Class, Jaden was sitting in the back all alone as he was working on something.
"I can't believe I used up all my webs. I gotta refill my supply ASAP or Sandman's gonna be knocking me all over the city." Jaden said dumping a chemical into a beaker and spun it around quickly turning it into web fluid. "Maybe I can talk Batman into helping me make an emergency supply stock someday."
Filling up his web-shooters, Jaden walked out of the lab only to see Liz nearby.
"Oh uh Liz what are you doing here?" Jaden asks.
"Getting in some extra study time?" Liz assumes.
"Uh yeah you know me. Study, study." Jaden chuckles nervously.
"Nice moves yesterday, where'd you learn to run like that?" Liz asks.
"Oh you know. I've been running from Flash for years, guess I just have lots of practice." Jaden shrugs making her giggle.
"Well I heard it's down to you, Harry and Hobie Brown." Liz said before leaning in. "Good luck." She whispers in his ear before walking away.
Sighing Jaden leans against the wall. "This is for Harry you have a job now. He needs this more than you do." Jaden told himself before slapping himself in the face to snap him out of it. "Man being a humble hero is not easy."
As the second day of tryouts, were kicking off Sandman used this chance and his new powers to rob as much money as he could and cause tons of trouble.
At the field, Hopie was doing great with Harry dodging all of Kenny and Flash's moves.
Running across the field, Jaden saw the ball flying towards him but Kenny was charging at him from right below it.
'You can do this Jaden. It's for Harry.' Jaden cringed as Kenny rams into Jaden sending him flying through the air and crashing into the end zone.
Cringing Harry, Liz and Gwen watched as Jaden lifted his head up still holding the ball.
"Does this still count as a point coach?" Jaden groans.
"Yes it does." The coach said.
"Oh great." Jaden said struggling to get up.
Helping him up, all the applicants gathered around as tryouts came to an end.
"That was a good day. Haven't made a final decision but I'm leaning towards Osborn as our starter and Cooper as our second string. Anyone want to change my mind there's still one more day of tryouts." Coach said.
"Unbelievable, the geeks are inheriting the earth." Flash said in disbelief.
Walking out of school, Jaden was holding his head in pain when Harry held out a water bottle.
"Thirsty?" Harry asks.
"Thanks." Jaden said taking it.
"Can you believe it man? I might get a shot at the team and you might get on it too." Harry said.
"I don't know how much more of this I can take." Jaden admits chugging the water down.
"Look Jaden I know you didn't want to do this, but I'm really glad you stuck by me for this." Harry smiles.
"It's what friends do Harry." Jaden smiles.
"Hey guys. We're heading to the Silver Spoon, wanna come?" Looking across they saw the football team looking at them.
"Sure my treat." Harry offers as Gwen walks by.
"If you insist." Randy said as Harry walked towards them.
"You go ahead Harry I'm not hungry." Jaden said following Gwen onto the bus.
"Hey if it isn't Jaden Cooper, Football star. Why aren't you with your new friends?" Gwen teases.
"Because I like the friends I have now. Besides I don't think I'm cut out for football." Jaden said.
"Why not?" Gwen asks.
"Well I wanted to tell you and Harry together but…I got a job Gwen." Jaden smiles.
"Wait seriously?" Gwen smiles. "Jaden that's amazing."
"It's not much I'm just a gofer really. Get people coffee, food, whatever they need." Jaden admits.
"Don't sell yourself short. I knew you'd find a job sooner or later. Let me guess it was the interview you left the lab early for, wasn't it?" Gwen assumes.
"Yeah it was. Which reminds me, I owe you a double scoop ice cream." Jaden realized.
"Hey uh Jaden you know the dance is only a few days away." Gwen reminds.
"Yeah but I still don't have anyone to go with. My mom is trying to play matchmaker for me." Jaden said.
"She is?" Gwen asks.
"Yeah she wants me to set me up with someone. What am I in Fiddler on the Roof?" Jaden jokes making Gwen giggle.
"Well do you often wish you had more money." Gwen teases.
"Then I wouldn't have to work hard. Ya ba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dum." Jaden said mimicking Tevye making Gwen burst into laughter.
"Jaden stop you're killing me." Gwen laughs holding her sides.
"There's that smile." Jaden points.
"How do you always know how to make people smile?" Gwen asks wiping a tear from her eye.
"It's a gift." Jaden shrugs when a truck raced past them banging into other cars as the police chased after it.
"I gotta go." Jaden said standing up. "I just remembered I got to run an errand for my mom. Gotta get to the store before it gets dark. I'm sorry Gwen do you mind?"
"Not at all. You be careful and congrats on the job. I want you to tell me all about it." Gwen said.
"You're the best Gwen." Jaden smiles running out.
"Ugh I was so close." Gwen mutters wishing she had another minute to talk with him.
At the Silver Spoon, we see Harry having a drink with the football team and Cheerleaders as he told them a story.
"Then he gets into a second accident at the toll booth. I mean worst chauffer we ever had I thought my dad was gonna pop a vessel." Harry jokes.
"Maybe the chauffeur wasn't the problem." Flash mutters.
"Wow who knew being super-rich was super tough." Glory jokes.
"Yeah I-I-I mean no. I mean." Harry stutters.
"It's okay I'm just teasing you." Glory smiles much to Kenny's annoyance.
"Better get used to it. The way you play today you and Cooper both might be spending a lot more time with this crowd." Randy points out.
"Yeah but not tonight. Come on Glory let's hit it." As Kenny swings his arms as if to stretch his spills his drink all over Harry's shirt making him yelp. "Oops sorry."
While Liz looked at him worried, Flash and Obie just seemed to enjoy it.
"Kenny what are you 6? I wanted to be your girlfriend not your babysitter." Glory said.
"Glory it was a joke. You're not gonna break up with me again are you?" Kenny asks.
"What do you think?" Glory asks turning to Harry. "Come on Harry, take me home."
Smiling Harry got out of his seat and walked out with Glory.
On the streets we see the truck, we see Sandman had filled it with all the money he had stolen plus more.
Swinging in, Spider-Man lands on the roof of the moving vehicle.
"Attention but you are driving way over the speed limit. I ask that you pull over right now!" Spider-Man said.
In retaliation, Sandman turns his hand into a sand spear and thrusts upwards almost impaling Spider-Man.
Swinging in from the open window, Spider-Man kicks Sandman to the other side of the car.
"Gee webhead if I'm here who's driving?" Sandman smirks pointing to the wheel.
"Ugh downside to being a New Yorker. You never think you might need to learn driving." Spider-Man whines.
Walking along the sidewalk a teenage girl with short red hair was checking out the city.
"So this is gonna be my new home huh? I gotta say it's pretty big." She said when she heard a noise.
Turning around she saw the out-of-control truck heading towards her.
"Whoa!" She yelps jumping out of the way as the truck crashed into a construction site.
Groaning Spider-Man tumbles out near the construction workers as the girl got up and spotted him.
"Spider-Man." She smiles happy for some reason.
As the workers helped Spider-Man up his spidey sense went off.
"Get away!" Spider-Man pushes them away from him just as sand shot up around him.
Screaming the workers ran for their lives as Sandman appeared in front of Spider-Man.
"I've been wanting to do this for a long time." Sandman said making his other hand into a spear.
"Well looks like you might have to wait longer." Catching his arm, Spider-Man brings it down cutting him free from Sandman's grip, and leaps onto the beams.
"Good thing I refilled my web-shooters today." Spider-Man said firing webs to tie up Sandman. "Nowhere to run now?"
"Who do you think I am Flint Marko?" Sandman mocks turning into sand and moves out of the webs. "Spider tricks don't work on the Sandman, but do sand tricks work on the Spider-Man?"
"Oh I need more tricks." Spider-Man whines as Sandman hurls metal beams at him. "What I wouldn't give for some Justice League backup right about now."
Using what he learned in football tryouts. Spider-Man bobs and weaves avoiding all the beams.
"You know I hadn't planned on coming after you, but you're just determined to be the cloud hanging over my sunny sandy beach. Time to change the weather." Sandman turns his arms into hammers but Spider-Man fires a web hitting him in the face.
"Alright, Sandman I have been knocked around in enough these past few days. Now it's someone else's turn!" Grabbing a metal girder, Spider-Man swings it down smashing Sandman to the ground but he appeared right in front of him.
"Wow you sure showed me." Sandman mocks turning his hands into hammers again.
"You know that move is really getting old." Spider-Man said dodging his attacks and moving towards a cement truck.
Sandman was about to attack when a strange energy stopped him in his tracks.
"Hey what's going on? Why can't I move?" Sandman asks.
"Huh?" Looking up Spider-Man saw this and realized this was his best chance to counter.
Firing a web at the cement mixer, Spider-Man yanks it off making cement pour down on Sandman.
"Let's see your sand get you out of this one!" Spider-Man said as Sandman turned into a statue. "Eat your heart out Michelangelo." Spider-Man chuckles as he looked around. 'What happened? Why did Sandman stop attacking back there?'
Little did he realize; the girl had snuck off revealing her eyes were glowing green for a second before she disappeared.
At Harry's place, he walks in to see his parents having dinner.
"Hey mom, dad." Harry smiles.
"Harry, what happened to you? And what's with the helmet? Going to a costume party?" Norman asks.
"Trying out for the team." Harry said proudly.
"Football? Not really your strong suit is it?" Norman asks.
Looking at his parents, Harry saw his mom didn't even respond.
"Guess we'll find out tomorrow." Harry said ready to prove him wrong.
The next day at tryouts, Harry was giving it all he had more determined than ever to get in.
As the ball flew to Jaden, he managed to catch it but at the last second fumbles it.
Turning to Harry, Jaden saw him give his friend a thumbs up for trying.
Soon the tryouts came to an end.
"Here's what we got. Osborn you're first string, Brown second, Cooper maybe next year." Coach said.
"Yeah if we're desperate. You made a fun dummy out there Cooper. Let's do this again sometime." Flash laughs as he and the team walk away.
"Guess he didn't have as much potential as coach thought." Liz said as Glory walked past Kenny and up to Harry.
'Well at least Harry got what he wanted out of this.' Jaden smiles happy for his friend.
Turning around he saw Gwen holding two ice cream cones.
'And I'm fine with what I got.' Jaden smiles going to join her.
At a nice-looking apartment, the mysterious girl entered to see Mr. Jones inside.
"So how did it go?" He asks.
"It went well, I helped Spidey stop a bad guy." She said.
"How did he react to seeing you?" He asks changing forms to reveal he was Martian Manhunter.
"He didn't see me just yet. I wanna surprise him when I shop up at school." Changing forms, we reveal that she was Miss Martian.
"You sure you'll be fine going to school here?" J'onn asks.
"I'll be fine Uncle J'onn. I got a friend to help me out." M'gann nods.
"I suppose we owe Batman some thanks for setting all this up." J'onn said.
"This city is different but interesting." M'gann admits.
"Well in the meantime I have work to do with the Justice League. Good luck M'gann." J'onn said leaving.
Smiling M'gann turned back into her human form and sat down.
"Oh I think I'm gonna like High school." She smirks.