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Number 1 Guy:

Chapter 1: Been there, done that. Kind of overrated, honestly.

Chapter 2: If you really want to know, a character is going to be introduced in this chapter.

Now, on with the story.

Shall we?

Origins Issue #03: Run Boy Run

(And yes, that is a name from a song.)

Just as he ran past the wall he, Miles and Aaron had painted a few days prior, (Not to mention getting bit by that racist spider) Nico's Spider Sense told him that he was being chased. Looking back briefly as he ran through the abandoned subway tunnel, he saw that it was the Prowler, running after him like some jungle cat from a horror movie. Or Hell.

Looking back ahead, Nico reached into his sweater pocket and pulled out a black bandanna and wrapped it around the lower half of his face as he ran and then he jumped onto the wall and used it as leverage to jump over the fence and landed gracefully on the other side before continuing his run from the Prowler. He reaches to the front of his hat and pulled down his sunglasses over his eyes and pulled up his hood.

Don't let them see your face. That's what Spider-Man said. Can't let anyone see your face. Okay, okay. I can do that. Easy to do since I have the bandanna and the sunglasses. Ha! And people ask why I still carry the shades around on my hat, even during the winter.

Okay, what are my options here? Other than running as fast I can and hope it's enough. Can't run home, or the school. Nico thought to himself as he ran through the subway tunnel. Can't let him know anything about me. Have to loose him. Throw him off my trail. Somehow.

How the Hell do you lose a supervillain that's ordered to kill you when you just discovered your superpowers and have no experience with supervillains?!

What was it that you told Gwanda? Nico thinks to himself before jumping over just as the Prowler tried to lunge for him, bursting out of the wall on his left. It's not easy to catch this eagle? He lands back on his feet and continues running.

Prove it.

It's like a game of tag. Except the tagger has the intent to kill you if he catches you.

Challenge accepted.

Just then a subway train's light appeared in Nico's vision. Thinking quickly, Nico jumped up to the ceiling while throwing the Spider-Dog through the subway window just before he landed on the ceiling. Meanwhile, the Prowler just simply pressed himself against the wall of the tunnel and avoided the train.

The little dog broke through the window, surprising the conductor and the passengers behind her. The dog shook its head and quickly looked up to the ceiling before running as fast as its little legs could carry him through the subway towards the back.

"Awww! Mommy, look! A little doggie!" said somebody's child as the little dog ran past them. Some other children tried to pet him but he didn't stop his run. He had to get back to his master!

Nico's hands briefly got stuck to the ceiling and he used his strength to pull out a couple of bricks from it. He continued to run upside down before his Spider Sense went off again and he swung his right hand back and used the brick in his grip as a small shield to deflect a claw swipe from the Prowler. It worked but it also knocked the brick out of his hand.

Another train came into his view but so did the subway station. He briefly looked between the train and the station platform before jumping forward and landed on the platform just before the train past by. He ignored the people noticing him and kept running before jumping to the other platform and avoided the other train just in time.

The little Spider-Dog had jumped out of the back of the train, landed on the ground before he ran up the wall and followed after his master's scent. Since he was so small, he didn't have much to worry about avoiding the next train.

Nico ran to the surface and began running through the streets of Brooklyn. He had no particular direction mind, just to go somewhere far from Fisk Tower.

The Prowler got on his signature motorcycle and prepared to start it up before he heard a growl that wasn't his motorcycle's engine. He looked to his right before he was tackled off his bike by a. . . small dog?

Nico suddenly stopped running as his Spider-Sense went off. Acting on instinct, he turned around and began running the way he came.

Growling, Spider-Dog bit down on the Prowler's pointed collar and shook back and forth. He had to keep this enemy away from his master. The Prowler tried to stand but he shockingly felt being held down as if he was held by a lion or jaguar instead of a small dog.

He swung blindly and elbowed the dog in the side, sending it fly to the wall. The Prowler stood up and glared at the dog. "You're not a normal mutt." he stated, unsheathing his claws. Just as he took a step, he was suddenly kicked into the adjacent wall.

Nico practically snarled as he swung his fist and punched the Prowler in the face four times. "Don't. Touch. My. Dog!" he said in between each punch before lifting the villain over his head and throwing him across the room.

"Come on, Pup!" Nico picked up the little dog and ran back to the subway stairs. "Let's blow this neighborhood!"

The Prowler lifted his cracked mask up and glared after the boy that ran away from him before getting back on his bike.

"Move! Get out of the way!" Nico shouts to the people that were walking on the sidewalk he was running for his life on. "Gang way! Move! Move! Out of the way!" The dog in the cradle of his arm barked at the people as well, as if coping the Native American teen as he ran.

Just then his phone went off in his pocket. Ah shit! he thought as he pulled it out of his pocket and saw the caller. Gwanda.

"Hey, Blondie!" Nico said as he continued running at full speed. "Look, we're going to need a rain check on that date!"

"Nico, where are you?"

"Believe me when I say this," Nico replied frantically. "But I saw some shit I shouldn't have and now being chased by a supervillain that is ordered to kill me!"

"What?" Gwanda exclaimed on the phone.

"Look, if I'm not at my dorm by midnight or not at my Grandpa's or my friend's by tomorrow, then have the authorities look for my body in the East or Hudson River!" Nico said as he ran past a lamp post that looked. . . not like a lamp post and more like some crazy art sculpture.

"I think it's a Banksy," a citizen said in thought to the people next to him.

"WHAT?!"

"If the Prowler catches me, that's where they'll highly likely dump my body!" Nico remarked as he glanced back and saw the Prowler on his motor cycle, driving after him. "That or inside a dumpster."

"Nico, where are you?!"

"Good idea, tell the authorities to search for my corpse in Brooklyn before searching the rivers! And take care of my dog, if you find him!" Nico said before hanging up abruptly and then ran to the direction of a construction site.

With a grunt, Nico jumped over the fence of the site, landed in the snow before he ran over to the site, inside the unfinished building.

As he ran to the top, he saw the Prowler arriving outside, parking his motorcycle and running into the building. The Prowler looked up from the center of the construction site and saw the boy nearing the top of the building. He narrowed his eyes, before running up the stairs.

Nico panted as he pushes his way through the door, he ran before stopping at the ledge. He looks around and sighed as he saw the suspension bridges in view. Thank God that this building was tall enough where he could see the bridges of New York.

He points to the closest one, and looks down to the dog. "Look, look! See that bridge?" he asked and the dog looks over to where he's pointing at. "Yes. Yes. Go cross that bridge for me." He points to the other one. "I'll cross that bridge and we'll meet there, in the middle!" He finishes as he points to a area in between the two bridges. Got it?"

The dog barks once at him before barking at the bridge Nico pointed at first before pointing his nose at the area he pointed last.

"Smart one, you are, Pup." Nico remarked. He then jogs to the other side of the roof. He holds the dog up like a football and throws him to the nearby building.

AAAAWWWWW-WWWWWOOOOOOO!

The dog spreads his arms out and lands on the wall and begins to run up the wall with a determined frown as fast as he could.

Nico smiled, promising to give that Doggo the best treats before he begins to sprint to the other side of the roof. Just as the Prowler showed up in the doorway, the Native American teen was already at the edge and jumps off to the construction beams and jumped to the next. The action of jumping from beam to beam reminded him of an old video game where a rabbit crosses a river by jumping onto logs. He makes his way to the other building. He tucks in his arms and legs and he breaks through the glass window.

He quickly begins to run to the door and jumps up to kick the transit window above the door with his feet before he began to run down the hallway and saw that he was in a mall of sorts. He pants, looks around for a direction to go before he runs to the right just as the Prowler breaks down the door and appears in the hallway.

"Move! Move! Out of the way!" Nico shouts frantically as he ran as fast he could to the people that were in his way and they actually listen to him when they saw him running or maybe they saw the Prowler chasing after him. "Gang way! Thanks, New York!"

Then he sees a couple of baby strollers coming onto his potential exits and the only way was forward. He grits his teeth and then jumps up, uses the handrail as leverage and jumps onto the giant Christmas tree.

"Everybody, run!" he shouts from the top of the tree. "There's a supervillain in the building! Stay calm! This is not a drill! Please, evacuate the building in an orderly fashion!" Then he jumps down, gritting his teeth as he crashes through multiple tree limbs and Christmas decorations.

"Ow! Ow! Splinters and needles are no joke! Ow! Ow! Fuck!" Nico quipped and yelled in pain as he fell before landing on the throne Santa would sit on. "Oof! Good thing Santa's not here to see this."

He stumbles to his feet as the Prowler jumps down. He runs to the left and trips over a plastic display of Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the Shepards at the manger. "Sorry, Jesus!" Nico called back as he ran to the exit and the Prowler chases after him. Nico quickly reaches to the wall and pulls on the emergency fire alarm system switch as he ran through the building.

Nico got outside and ran as fast as he could. He briefly looks down at himself in surprise. He was no slouch in running but with how much he had been, he figured he'd be out cold by now. I guess that racist spider did me a favor, Nico thought as he kept on running.

Running to an intersection, Nico ran and jumped onto the back of a semi truck just before two other trucks drove and blocked the Prowler's path for a brief moment. He climbed to the top of the trailer and ran to the front before jumping off and landing on a different car.

He looks back and sees the Prowler driving after him. Nico looked forward and jumped onto another car before jumping off again and into the alleyway. He ran to the end of the allyway before jumping up and onto the wall. He pants for a moment before he began to climb upwards.

He reached the top and climbed onto the roof. He looked back and saw the Prowler already entering the ally and running up the wall.

"I got bit by a spider to do that," Nico quipped and ran across the roof. "You're telling me that people already made shoes to do that?! Come on!"

He then jumps over to the other roof and ran some more before repeating the process. This happened two more times before he had to jump off the roof and onto the back of a garbage truck.

Nico looked back and saw the Prowler glaring down at him from the roof, looking like a perched bird of prey.

"Too bad you're not the Vulture," Nico remarked as he saw the garbage truck drive towards the bridge he had aimed for.

Then his Spider-Sense went off. Behind you! He turns around and saw the Prowler jumping car roof to car roof.

"Ah, you got to be shitting me," Nico muttered before he jumped off the truck and landed on another car that was more further head that just got onto the bridge. He looks back at the Prowler before jumping onto another car before jumping onto the sidewalk and began to run across the bridge.

When he reached the center, Nico jumped onto the concrete tower and began to climb as fast as he could. By the time he reached halfway, his Sense went off and he looked down to see the Prowler climbing after him.

"Damn, you're relentless!" Nico exclaimed as he quickened his rate of climb. "Why couldn't you be a good guy?"

He reaches the top and ran to the other side. Nico paused and looked down and let out a panting whine of exhaustion. He looks at the bridge below before he inched to the far left side.

"Well, Prowler." He states as he turns to face the caped supervillain. He points a finger at the Prowler. "This shall be the day-night! This shall be the night that you shall remember as the night you almost caught Captain Jack Spa-Oh shit!" His foot slipped off the edge too soon and Nico fell off the bridge.

This. . . wasn't part of the plan, Nico thought as he fell. He sees the river racing up to his vision as he tumbled through the air like a child's toy while dropping like a rock. This is going to hurt. A lot. He closes his eyes while holding his breath, plugging his nose before he slammed through the frozen surface of the river and into the ice cold water.

SPLASH!

. . . Ow. . .

The Prowler stared down at the hole in the frozen river with an motionless expression before he moved away from the ledge. He reaches to his Comm link earpiece. "Mission accomplished, Mr. Fisk. Target eliminated. How? Dumb guy fell off the bridge on his own. Who was he? Never got to ask. Guy tried to quote a movie before he slipped." he said to his boss on the Comm before lowering his hand.

Sure did almost sound familiar though, the Prowler thought to himself.

The Chihuahua-Terrier dog ran on the side walk that ran alongside the river. He sniffs at the ground with his nose before his eyes go out to the river. He senses someone trying to reach down to him but he ran away from them before they could pick him up.

He ran for two blocks before he stopped and walked down to one of the docks and stared. First to the bridge to the left of him before looking out to the river. This was the area his master pointed at. So where was he?

He must have gotten tired of running and decided to walk all the way here, the dog concluded in his mind. I'll wait here for him. I won't move from this spot until he shows up.

Dogs. Their loyalty is so astonishing and can only be nothing but admired. They are Man's Best Friend.

He sits at the edge of the dock for well over thirty minutes before that strange new instinct of his buzzed in the back of his mind. Behind you.

The dog turns around and saw a human walking to him. It was a female, old as his master perhaps and a few inches shorter. She had hair the same color as the lights and dressed in white and black clothes with a white hood. Suddenly his fur stood on end.

The girl was like his master. Then her scent hit his nose. It was mixed with his master's just as his was mixed with hers.

The girl looked around before she abruptly stopped and looked down to the dog's eyes. She kneels down to his level. "You're. . . You're like me." she whispered, reaching a hand out to the dog. "Wow, I can't believe I'm saying that to a dog."

The little dog huffed at her, wagging his tail and leaned forward and licked at her hand briefly before turning around staring at the water. Now, back to waiting for his master.

The girl looked around before looking back down to the dog. "Hey, hey." she whispered gently. "Come on, let me take you home."

The dog whined a little and stomped his right front paw. No. I will wait here for my master.

The girl grimaced before reaching forward and grabbed the dog. She moved to lift the dog but he used his spider powers for his paws to stay put.

The girl was surprised when the dog wasn't budging like it should. "Hey, come on." she said firmly.

The dog turned his head and snapped his jaws at her hands but his teeth didn't hurt her. "Okay, now you're just being stubborn." she remarked as she lifted him up and his paws tore off one board of the dock off its hinges and nails.

The girl stared at the board stuck to the dog's paws while the Chihuahua-Terrier looked at it in annoyance. Damn it, my paws did it again. At least my master isn't here to see this. Or that it was his shirt again.

Suddenly a hand reached out of the river and grabbed onto the ledge of the dock. Another followed before a human head came after as he coughed up water.

The dog's tail wagged as he barked happily. It was the boy! The boy he grew to love after meeting him hardly three hours ago. The boy he was willing to die for. He wiggled out of the girl's grip, the board dropping from his paws and he ran to his master, barking in excitement before grabbing onto the boy's jacket and pulled him onto the dock.

"Oh my God! Nico!" the girl exclaimed as she ran and knelt down to the Native American teen who flopped onto the dock like a dead fish.

Pulling the black bandanna off his face, the Native American teen gasped and panted for air before he curled up and began to shiver. "D-D-Do-Don't t-t-tr-try t-t-tha-that a-at h-ho-home," he remarked dryly, wrapping his arms around himself and shivers. He looked up and saw the dog. "O-Oh h-h-he-hey, Pup." Then he saw the girl as the dog licked at his face.

"Gwanda! Hey. You came!" Nico chuckled weakly. ". . . You're not mad I didn't show up, right?"

"What? No, no. Nico, why did you just crawl out of the river in the middle of winter?!" Gwanda exclaimed in shock.

"Slipped on the bridge," Nico replied simply. "C-Cold. I-I'm so c-c-co-cold." he said with chattering teeth.

"We need to take you to a hospital!" Gwanda exclaimed.

"N-No!" Nico shook his head. "No. No, they'll check the hospitals if I show up." he said between shivers. "M-M-My h-h-ho-home. I-It's n-not far." He sits up and moves to stand. "Back in Br-Brooklyn."

Gwanda stared before nodding. "Okay, come on." she gently pulls Nico to his feet, the little dog climbing up the boy's leg and held onto his back.

Just then a police cruiser stopped at their side. The front window rolls down to reveal a middle aged man with dark blonde hair, mustache and dark framed glasses. "Nic?" he asked upon seeing the Native American teen.

Nico looks over to him. "Gordon? Hey, mind giving us a ride to my house?" he asked dryly. "Or at least my neighborhood?"

Gordon stares before sighing. "Get in." he said.

"Cool," Nico nodded and gestured for Gwanda to follow his lead. He opens the back door and gestures to get in. "Ladies first," he grinned. The blonde girl chuckled lightly in response before getting in first. Nico got in next.

They ride in relative silence save for the little dog panting as he laid on Nico's lap across the bridge. But then the radio crackled to life. Gordon sighed and replied back. "10-4. Lietenant Gordon en route." he looks back to the teens. "Sorry, kids. Going to have to drop you two off."

"That's fine, we can walk," Nico replied as he opened the door and they got out. "And Gordon, don't tell Officer Morales. It's nothing serious." Gordon rose an eyebrow but nodded his head.

Gwanda looks around before pulling Nico close.

"Hold on tight." She pulls a white mask down her face then held up her other hand and shot a string of webbing to a light post and then they were off the ground and in the air.

Nico's eyes widened as this reminded him of the first time he was saved by Spider-Man. But then exhaustion began to take hold of him, even as he remembered what happened under Brooklyn.

Spider-Man, one of the protectors and superheroes of New York City that saved Nico three times in his life and countless others. . . was dead.

"I-I'm so sorry. . . Spider-Man," Nico whispered to himself and then exhaustion took over him and he passed in and out of conscious as Gwanda carried him.

Just a little longer, Nico told himself. Just a bit longer until Gwanda takes you home.

"Here." Nico groaned out, roughly ten minutes later, lifting his hand up and pointing to an apartment building, he points to a certain window.

"Okay," Gwanda says softly before thwipping a web and they swing down to the window he pointed at.

Nico pushes the window open. ". . . Grandpa. . . " he called out weakly. "Help. . ."

As luck would have it, the elderly man was home and sitting in a chair nearby and he looks up to see his grandson, soaking wet and looking pale.

"Oh dear God, Nico!" Cecil exclaimed in shock and concern as he moves to stand up. "What happened?!" Nico took one step forward only to loose balance, passing out.

But then two strong, lean arms caught him before he hits the floor. Cecil looks behind his grandson and sees that a young blonde teenage girl was holding his grandson up with a concerned and worried expression. He looks at her in confusion before he shakes his head dismissively and grabs Nico's shoulders and pulls him over to the sofa, a small brown and black dog ran around his feet before jumping up to curl up on Nico's side on the sofa.

Behind him, the TV was playing a news announcement. Spider-Man was found, dead. And he was identified as a twenty-two year old man named Peter Parker.

This announcement played on every TV and phone in New York City. People of all ages and gender were shocked to their core. Among them were the Morales, especially Miles and Peter Parker's wife, Mary Jane and his aunt May Parker.

That was a lot.

I kinda made things up as I went.

And yes, Nico wore sunglasses over his hat. That is something I do IRL because it shields my eyes from the glare reflecting off of snow from the sun. That can hurt my eyes on occasion.

So, how was this chapter? Good? Bad? Bit of both? Fun to read?

One of the things I enjoyed writing was a) the scene in the mall with Nico shouting that there's a supervillain in the building, apologizing to the plastic display of Jesus and b) the dog waiting for Nico at the docks. I may have written a bit of a reference to the novel of Cujo in the dog's perspective. I also made a reference to the TV show Batman Beyond. And don't worry, the Spider-Dog will get a name in the next chapter. It's not going to stay as 'Pup.'

Next Issue: The Girl From Another Dimension