Chapter 7

Peter took a big bite out of his churros, as he took in the sight of sunset in New York, perched on a fire escape of one of its many flats.

"I'd call that a good day's job for a friendly neighborhood hero," Peter mused to himself. "I stopped a Grand Theft Bicycle,"

'Couldn't find the owner so I just left him a note,' Peter noted to himself internally.

"I helped that old lost old Mexican lady. She was really nice," Peter continued, recounting his adventures to no one but himself.

'And she even bought me some churros,' Peter thought, as he smiled, before taking another bite at the snack.

Peter took a quick glance at his watch. "Cutting it close, but I reckon I can get to Harry's in about 15 minutes," Peter mused to himself. "I'm sure it's fine if I'm a little past 9,"

*shriek*

"Come on hurry! Hands in the air!" a nearby ruckus caught Peter's attention.

As he dragged down his mask back on, he saw some 'would-be' robbers rushing into a Chinese restaurant. "Seriously? Who robs Chinese?" Peter mulled to himself while swinging over outside of the store.

"Come on, less talking, more bagging," Peter heard one of the robbers demands, as he peeked inside via the top of the still open entrance, and saw one of the robbers holding his gun up to the cashier.

"I told you we should've gone to Harold's,"

Peter perked up at the sound of a familiar voice. He scanned the store and to his surprise, he saw Gwen & MJ crouched at one of corner, with their hands on their head.

"How am I supposed to know that the store was gonna be robbed?!" MJ whispered angrily, Peter's enhanced hearing helping him pick up each word clearly.

"Hey!" one of the robbers shouted, his attention now turned over to the crouched pair. "Did I tell you you could talk?! Shut up!" he threatened, as he shoved his gun to Gwen's shoulders.

Gwen glared back at the robber defiantly, almost daring the robber for a fight. "Seriously though, who robs 'Chinese'?" she retorted sarcastically.

'Oh boy, no time to lose,' Peter thought to himself, slightly nervous after Gwen & MJ's recent stunt.

"Ehem," Peter hanged, upside down from his web, between the robbers & his friends. "Unhand that lady!" Peter announced, trying to sound as threatening as possible.

"Seriously?" Gwen couldn't help but cringe slightly at Peter's remark.

"Spider-Man?!" one of the robbers exclaimed in surprise, before swinging his gun towards Peter.

Peter quickly yanked the gun out of his hand using his webs. "I'm gonna have to see licenses for this bub," Peter shrugged his shoulders, before yanking another pair of guns from the remaining two robbers.

*tingle*

Peter quickly ducks to avoid the clothesline coming at him from behind. "Oops, sorry about that," he quipped, as he tripped the robber that tried to ram him and webbed him to the floor. "Mind sticking around? Ha! That one never gets old!"

"Dammit!" one of the robbers screamed out as he rushed in and tried to tackle Peter.

Peter instinctively jumped up to the ceiling and yanked his feet from under him. "Sorry man, I'm not feeling like a hug right now, maybe next time?" he apologized mockingly, as he webbed the robber up next to his partner.

"Do you ever stop t-,"

Peter quickly shot out a ball of web at the last robber's mouth, sticking them shut, before he could finish his sentence. "..being awesome? Not really, no," Peter shrugged comically, before continuing to web up the final robber, and stop him from escaping.

Peter immediately scanned the restaurant for any remaining threats, before relaxing once he was sure it was safe. He then turned his attention towards the pair, that were still crouched in safety.

"You okay Gw-," Peter immediately stopped himself. "G-Girlie! You okay girlie?!"

Gwen raised an eyebrow, slightly bemused at Peter's words. "Girlie?"

"Girl! Woman! Female person! Ahahaha!" Peter laughed out nervously.

"Oh my GOD! SPIDEY!" An excited squeal rang out next to him. MJ now stood there, gaping in disbelief. "No way!"

"Ahaha, y-yeah, that's me," Peter gave her an awkward thumbs up, not sure what to do with his hands.

Gwen brushed off her thighs and shoulders as she got up, looking disinterested at the whole situation (a slight blush coloring her face).

"Um, you girls okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Gwen replied, taking in the sight of the sprawling robbers & the people around her. "I think he might need more attention than us though," she pointed to one of the clerks who was rubbing his head, slowly getting up.

"I'm fine," the clerk assured them. "A bit sore, but I'll be fine,"

"Whew, okay," Peter lets out a huge sigh of relief, his hands still shaking from adrenaline & nervousness. "Can anyone call-,"

"The cops? Already did," Gwen said briskly, as she helped some of the other customers up. "I called them right when the robbers came in,"

Peter blinked in silence for a moment, his surprise hidden underneath his mask, before MJ chimed in.

"Her dad's a cop," she explained, joining Gwen to help out some of the other customers.

"Oh yeah,"

"Oh yeah?" Gwen looked over, slightly bemused.

"I-I mean, Oh yeah?!" Peter stammered. "Great! Awesome! Amazing even!" Peter laughed sheepishly, trying to brush off his misstep.

After all the customers & staff have been accounted for, MJ quickly slid over next to Peter. "Hey-umm, Spidey?" she fiddled with her long flowing locks. "So, this might not be the best time, but… can we have a selfie?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, sure," Peter nodded enthusiastically. "May I?" he continued, as he offered to take MJ's phone & snap the photo.

"Thanks Spidey," she beamed at him before giving him a light hug, and started to pose for the photo. "Oh wait, Gwen! Come here!" MJ added, before dragging Gwen into the shot with her.

Gwen blushed slightly, whilst looking away from the camera, a slight frown playing on her lips.

"Uhh okay. Say 'Spidey'!" Peter said, as he posed for a selfie with the pair.

Suddenly MJ leaned over & gave him a quick peck on the cheeks while he was snapping the photo.

"W-wa-wait, W-what?"

"A thank you kiss, for saving us," MJ answered innocently.

"Oh-uh-I see," Peter stammered, blushing furiously under his mask. "Okay then, thx Ms...,"

"Mary Jane, Watson," MJ said as she grabbed Peter's hand for a handshake. "And this here's Gwen, Stacy," she gestured towards Gwen.

"Oh-okay. I'll-uh-well, I gotta go now," Peter rubbed the back of his head. "Gotta, you know, hero stuff, some superhero-, hero-ing thing. So, uh, yeah," Peter continued, noting to himself how thankful he is for his mask right now.

"Oh, okay then," MJ flashed him her signature smile.

"So, okay then," Peter nodded awkwardly at the pair before backing away towards the entrance.

Distracted by the pair, Peter missed the large hooded man, slowly making his way towards MJ & Gwen from the corner of the store.

"Hey Spidey!" MJ started before Peter could leave. "We uh, me & Gwen here are part of a band," MJ blushed slightly, her confidence wavering as she continues about her band.

"Oh, oookay," Peter replied, slightly confused.

"Yeah, the 'Mary Jane's'," MJ smiled sheepishly as she names her band. "Named after yours truly, of course, haha," she continued. "We're having our first gig tonight, our debut. And I just thought that it'd be super awesome, if you… could maybe… drop by tonight?" MJ grimaced in anticipation at her last sentence.

"Oh okay, yeah sure," Peter nodded. "I'll be there,"

MJ blinked in surprise for a few moments. "R-really?"

"Yeah sure, Mary Jane's. Gig. Floorboard. Got it," Peter gave her a thumbs up, before zipping up onto a nearby rooftop.

Right as Peter left, the large hooded man bumped into Gwen and suddenly ran out of the door.

"Hey! What the hell man?!" Gwen exclaimed, after she was knocked over by the man. Then she suddenly realized that her pockets are now much lighter.

"Come on! Seriously?!" Gwen groaned in frustration before rushing off to chase the man.

"MJ! Call the cops! The guy took my phone!" Gwen explained, hoping MJ would remember that the police tracker app wouldn't mark the store anymore, since her phone's now on the move.

As soon as she bursts out the door, she saw the hooded man duck into a nearby alley. "Dude! Stop!" she exclaimed as she gives chase to the man.

Peter, who was just about to swing away, turned his head back as he heard the commotion. He saw Gwen panting & rushing out of the restaurant. He immediately jumped down next to her. "What happened?" Peter asked as he joined Gwen's side

Gwen ignored him and continued to run after the thief. She reached the alleyway and looked inside, but there was no one there.

"Gwen, what-,"

"Some guy just snatched my phone," she shot back at him. "I saw him turn here, but he's gone," she continued, still panting from the exertion.

MJ arrived by their side a couple of moments later, also out of breath as she rushed to catch up with her friend. "Did you get him?"

"No," Gwen sighed in frustration. "He's gone. Who knows where he is by now,"

Gwen quickly turned towards MJ. "MJ, gimme your phone,"

"W-what? Why?"

Gwen rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I know you have a tracker app for all our phones,"

MJ gasped in fake shock. "What? I wouldn-,"

"Shut it MJ, I know you do. Now gimme your phone," Gwen said as she snatched MJ's phone. She quickly scrolled through the phone & clicked one of the heart icons.

"So… I, uh, only have it to make sure you guy's ar-,"

"Save it," Gwen shot back at her. "There," Gwen said with a look of satisfaction on her face.

Peter leaned over her shoulder, and tried to see what she was doing. "What you got there miss?"

Gwen blushed slightly when she realized Peter was peeking over her shoulder. "It's a tracking app," she explained. "According to this, the guy is… right in front of us?" Gwen furrowed her brows in confusion.

Peter took a glance at the icon on the app's map & saw that it was moving right towards them, and eventually, pass them.

"Well, unless Mrs. Richards just gained a few extra pounds & turned to villainy…," Peter said jokingly. "I'd say your app's busted,"

"What?!" MJ immediately snatched her phone back from Gwen. "Ugh, figures. Dammit, Smythe. You said the app was foolproof," she groaned in frustration.

Peter mused to himself for a few moments, and took another look at the alley. "Unless…," Peter started to consider the possibilities. "He's in the sewers!" Peter smacked his forehead in frustration for not having realized it sooner.

"What?" MJ blinked in surprise.

"Sweet, guess you're not such an idiot after all," Gwen smirked to Peter before snatching back MJ's phone (Hey!) and sprinting towards the manhole cover in the alleyway.

"Woah! Where do you think you're going?" Peter shot out a web string directly on her back and held her in place.

"I'm going…," Gwen said through gritted teeth. "…to go & take my phone back!"

Peter yanked her back, into his arms. " 'You', are not going anywhere," he said calmly, holding Gwen in his arms.

Gwen's eyes widened in surprise. Peter took a few moments, before he realized what he was doing.

"WHOA!" he exclaimed as he quickly let her go. "S-s-sorry, I didn't mean to,"

Gwen blushed furiously, looking away at the young hero. "Y-yeah, forget it," she stammered.

"A-anyway! You're not going anywhere miss," Peter quickly changed the subject, before grabbing MJ's phone out of her hand. "I'll be borrowing this for a bit," Peter quipped, before running towards the manhole.

"I'll give them back to you. Promise," Peter assured MJ, before yanking open the manhole, and jumping into the sewers.

"Ugh, leave your no. in there while you're at it Spidey!" MJ shouted back before Spidey went in.

"Great, now we both don't have our phones," MJ pouted in annoyance.

Gwen lets a deep sigh, and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Let's just go back to the store for now,"

Peter dropped down into the sewers, the foul stench of New York's undesirables numbing his senses. "UGHH! It just had to be the sewers didn't it," Peter groaned while pinching his nose, as he made his way forward, guided by MJ's app.

"You can't go to some flower fields, or a perfume store? No, you just had to go to the sewers huh?" Peter grumbled along, the thief slowly getting closer according to the app.

Just then, Peter noticed a shadow passing by almost instantaneously. "Um-Hello?" Peter asked, as he immediately turned towards where the shadow caught his eye. "Anyone there?" Peter yelled.

After a few moments of silence, Peter nervously continued on his way. "Be 'Spider-Man' they say," Peter muttered to himself nervously. "You'll just stick around, and stick to walls!" Peter continued to grumble at his predicament.

*Tingle*

The intense sensation was stronger than anything he felt before. Peter instinctively flipped over to the top of the sewers, to avoid the incoming attack. "I don't know about you, but striking someone from the back, does not count as a greeting where I come from." Peter exclaimed, a slight nervousness coloring his voice.

"Hahahaha!" the large-hooded man bellowed; his back turned towards Peter. "Finally, we meet Spider-Man," the man said, his raspy voice giving him an almost maniacal tune.

Now that he's finally able to see the man in the flesh, Peter noticed that the man wasn't just large, he was hunched over, with disproportionate limbs.

"Uhh, I feel so ashamed, but, who are you again?" Peter taunted.

"Me? I am a mere nobody…" he chuckled as he slowly turned towards Peter. "…for now. At least, until the whole world learns the brilliance of 'THE JACKAL'!"

As he finished his sentences, he started standing up straight, showing how incredibly large he really is, and started flexing his body, ripping apart the hoodie he was wearing in the process, revealing his furry-body & green skin.

Peter's mind started to race, as he tried to make sense of what he's seeing before him.

"Uhh… okay," Peter crossed his arms on his chest, still hanging upside down, trying his best to maintain his cool. "So…, the Grinch now steals people's phone," Peter quipped. "A bit weird, but hey, its 2020. I've seen worse,"

"Hah! The phone was nothing more than just a lure," the Jackal gloated, his fangs gleaming in the moonlight lit sewers. "A bait, to snare the elusive 'spider',"

"Wait, you did all this just to have some alone time with lil' old me?" Peter taunted. "Why didn't you say so? A text message would've been fine,"

The Jackal remained smirking, his eyes studying Peter thoroughly. "Those robbers you stopped was hired by me," he continued to explained confidently. "I knew the easiest way to draw you out was by starting some… trouble," he chuckled. "You couldn't resist, could you, Spider-Man? Always the good little boy. Always playing the hero,"

"Gotta say, that was a pretty lousy plan," Peter eyed him warily from atop the ceiling. "What if the police had come instead?"

"You'll come, Spider-Man," the Jackal said simply, taunting Peter with his nonchalance. "I've watched you, studied you. I know what makes you tick, what makes you talk, what makes you… Spider-Man,"

Peter's hair started to stand on end as he listened, wondering if he was bluffing or if he really knew so much about him.

"The only unexpected variable…," The Jackal's smile momentarily turned to a scowl. "…was those two,"

Peter wondered if he was referring towards Gwen & MJ, and if so, what do they have anything to do with this creature.

"Yeah? Well, that makes one of us," Peter continued. "What do you want with me, Jackal? I'm pretty sure I've never met you," Peter addressed the man before him. "Scratch that, I know I've never met you. Green skin, Blanka fur, you're not exactly easy to forget,"

"Oh, you might not know me, but I know you…," the Jackal's eyes lit up with excitement. "…better than you know yourself. After all, I am your father!" the Jackal laughed out maniacally.

"Uhh, no?" Peter said, bemused by his claims. "Sorry pops, I don't see the resemblance,"

"Hah, your feeble mind can't possibly fathom what I have planned for this city! For this nation!"

"Hmm, I pegged you for the world domination type actually," Peter stroked his chin comically.

"For the world!" the Jackal exclaimed as he finished his sentence.

"There it is," Peter chuckled softly. "Look Blanka, I'm here for the phone. You give me that & maybe I'll put in a good word for you with the police later," Peter offered, still eyeing his green counterpart warily.

The Jackal flashes him a toothy smirk. "I told you, I have no need of it," he grinned, before slyly lobbing the phone into the waste water running next to their feet.

Peter instinctively jumped off the ceiling to grab the phone, and stop it from falling into the pungent water.

*TINGLE*

Mid-jump, warned by his spider-sense, Peter belatedly realized that the Jackal was already swinging in for an attack almost immediately. Peter immediately used one of his web shooters to fire a line onto a nearby wall to try & contort his body away from harm.

Peter managed to grab the phone, just as the Jackal's claws raked him on the shoulder, and slamming him back onto a nearby wall.

"Argh!" Peter winced in pain, his hands grasping the newly formed gash on his shoulder.

"Hahaha!" the Jackal gloated in glee. "So simple, so predictable, Spider-Man," he taunted, as he took out a vial and used it to store a drop of Peter's blood, still fresh on his claws.

Peter quickly got back up, ready to fight. "Yeah? Well, why don't we go another round and see if you can do that again?" Peter challenged defiantly.

"Hah, I would love to stay & chat, 'Spider'," the Jackal spat the words at Peter. "But unfortunately, I have better things to do with my time, rather than waste them on the likes of you!" he exclaimed, before taking out another 2 vials from his pouch and smashing them on the ground.

The two vials exploded & its contents started mixing and forming into a cloud of stinging, viscous, green smoke that shielded him from view.

"Stop!" Peter yelled out as he jumped into the cloud, but to no avail. Peter looked around, wary of another ambush by his assailant. After a few moments, once he was convinced that the Jackal had left, he relaxed his guard and lets out a big sigh.

'That was… weird,' Peter thought to himself, his mind racing as he considered everything that has happened since. He then started to look around for any clues nearby.

Peter noticed a piece of fabric from the ripped hoodie the Jackal was wearing, stuck on one of the sewer grills. As he picked it up & turned it over, to his surprise, he recognized a part of the badge emblazoned across the torn fabric. Midtown High.

'Huh, small world,' Peter noted to himself, before turning his attention towards Gwen's phone. "Well, at least I got this back,"

As he turned back & headed towards the direction he came from, he suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Ah dammit. There's no way I remember where to go in these sewers," Peter said exasperated, as he realizes the predicament he's currently in.

*zip*

Peter landed in front of the store that he helped save a few moments ago. The police, having already swarm the Chinese restaurant, are currently cuffing the three robbers he helped secure in place.

Peter dropped by the nearest officer to get their attention. "Excuse me sir, have you seen a pair of ladies around here? High School age, Blonde & Red-Head?"

"You mean Capt. Stacy's kid?" replied one of the officers, to which Peter nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, she already left. Said she was late for some kind of concert or something,"

"Conce-Oh shit!" Peter exclaimed in panic, as he zipped himself up onto the nearest building & made his way to the 'Floorboard'. As he was swinging, he took a quick glance at his phone to note the time. 9.55pm.

"Ah shit, I'm not gonna make it!"