The Flies Around Me

by Xross-33

Uncle Ben and Aunt May died when I was in sixth grade. Since then life had been anything but easy. I was always the weakest, most easily taken advantage of. No one was looking out for me so I had to find my own way to survive. After that spider bite though now I'm the strongest. I'm DONE struggling DONE surviving. Now the world is going to need to survive me. I am the Spider man.

10. The end of an era

Oh boy. The good-looking witness just so happened to be Johnny Storm, The human torch; I have the worst luck.

Immediately after yelling 'Flame On!' his entire body bursts into flames and he starts hovering about a foot off the ground. Even through the fire I can still see his cocky smirk. "Reconsidering my generous surrender offer, bug?"

He wants to fight, maybe I would have indulged him if he was a normal but I really don't have time for this. Rhino and Sandman are on a rampage while Katherine goes to make the drop on her own. I shoot my webs at mannequins to his left and right and with a flick of my wrist they go flying towards Torch. I see him raise his arms to either side the flames on both of his hands glowing in intensity. While he's distracted I shoot at the display case behind him with both webs and pull, it's a lot lighter than I thought; it too goes flying towards him. That should slow him down.

Leading with my helmet I jump through the window and shoot my webs at the nearest building to gain some distance. I can hear Johnny behind me, "You think those are enough to-" I assume that's when the display case hits him. I can't help but smirk as I swing away. That was a close one, a drawn out fight with the human torch wouldn't be good; I land on a nearby building and rub a tender spot on my side. I'm honestly still a little banged up from the fight with that gun-carrying psycho from the other day. Why do I keep running into these people? "Is that really the best you can do?" Goddamn it. I don't need to turn around to see the glow of the human torch in the night. My danger sense goes off and I roll forward just in time to dodge a ball of fire that passes right overhead. I continue my run and dive off the side of the building. "Ah ah, you're not getting away from me!"

Can't this guy just back off! I'm sure to any bystanders looking to the sky I make it look good but dodging fireballs while trying to swing is not easy. "Give it a rest man!" I'm forced to arch my back to dodge another close call, I think his aim is getting better. "Don't you have a lady friend to get back to?"

I hear him laugh behind me. "Business before pleasure!" He puts his arms together and sends a huge ball of flame at me, I'm forced to abandon my current web and hook onto a lower building to yank myself out of the way.

This isn't going to work. He's just too fast for me to outrun. I flip around to face him for the first time since this chase began, and shoot webs on buildings to either side of him. Fine then, you want some? Come and get it! I yank on the webs the tension launches me forward like a slingshot towards the Human Torch. I extend my feet out to catch him with a double kick to the gut. But he quickly ascends dodging me. I can hear his laughter. "Is that all you got Spider?"

I grit my teeth as I flip around in the air, I'm trying not to let his flippant attitude get the best of me, but I want to knock that smile off of his face so bad. "Not even close match stick!" But I'm starting to realize that this location isn't to my favor. "Catch me if you can!" I turn and start swinging away. There's no way I can beat him in an open area like this, his aerial maneuverability is too much better than my own.

I turn a sharp corner but still feel the heat as a lance of fire flies in the space where I used to be, his aim is definitely getting better. I turn the corner and immediately grab the building next to me to stop my motion. Johnny is floating right in front of me. "Are we really back to running away? If you're not going to be more fun I might as well just end this." Holy crap how did he get there? Just how fast is this guy? "I bet right now you're thinking: Man this human torch guy is fast, how am I ever going to outrun him? Bad news pal you aren't." Unfortunately I'm begging to think he's just toying with me. I strike out with my fist and catch him in the jaw while he prepares to monologue more. This suit is fire resistant and heavily padded, I still almost cry out in pain when the punch lands, I turn to swing, I know I can't outrun him I just need to gain some distance. My right arm is numb from the pain and my entire sleeve is blackened. I really don't want to see what it looks like underneath.

I activate my helmet microphone and dial Katherine, she picks up after a second. "Peter where ar-"

"Kat, no time! Human Torch! I'm headed to the Baxter building hide there; I'll need you to get me out! Three minutes!" I end the call and look over my shoulder to see a bright figure headed my way.

I can't help but smirk behind my mask as I notice him rubbing his jaw as he speeds after me. Glad to know I'm not the only one who suffered for that. Just like I wanted his grin is gone, it's instead replaced by a serious look. I come to a stop on a nearby rooftop and he flies in front of me. "I'm done playing around spider. Unless you really want me to get serious, I suggest you give up." He levels a hand at me that's almost white with the flame that's built up there.

If I had time to prepare, if I had a plan I might be able to beat him. But this isn't Bobby the undertrained mutant teenager that I'm fighting. This is one of the members of the fantastic four, arguably one of the more powerful members. I know when I'm outmatched. I slowly raise my hands up, "Your right, you win. So what now? Are we going to the police station? The human torch snags another criminal?"

He keeps his hand aimed at me as he talks. "Just so you can get away? No, I've got something else planned." He raises his free hand to his ear, still never turning away from me. "Reed. I've got something… That guy that attacked the police station about a week ago… Mhmm. Yeah, he packs a hell of a right cross too… Ok, I'll hold him here, and hurry up would you, I was kind of busy when he showed up…Thanks."

That didn't sound good. "So I take it that wasn't the police station?"

He doesn't answer, just looks me up and down. "Where is the jewelry?" I just shrug. He narrows his eyes at me in response. "Lose the helmet, I want to know the punk who managed to land a punch on me."

"I think I'll pass." I'm forced to take a quick step to the left as a small fireball hits the roof where I was standing a second ago, apparently it wasn't a suggestion. Damn it this couldn't be going any worse. Not only is he not taking me to the place where I told Kitty to wait for me, but now this. I don't really have a choice. I place both my hands on either side of my head and remove the helmet.

He looks surprised. "Little young to be an super villain. What are you kid, like, fourteen?" I don't answer. Even if he knows my face the less information about me he has the better. "Not so talkative anymore." I hear a whirring sound and turn my head to see a slick silver flying…car? Driving it is a middle aged man wearing a blue jumpsuit with the signature 4 on in. Mr. Fantastic: leader of the fantastic four. "Where are Ben and Sue?"

The car comes to a stop at the edge of the building and Mr. Fantastic stretches out of the vehicle. "Your friend here isn't the only one causing trouble tonight. Some kind of Rhino man and a sand monster are wreaking havoc over by the freeway. I'm thinking it's related."

They look at me expectantly and I just shrug. "I'm just a normal guy, Rhino men and sand monsters? That sounds like crazy talk to me. So since this is clearly a misunderstanding I'll just be on my way and-" My entire body is overtaken with a familiar chill and I'm suddenly hit with an intense sense of vertigo as I start free falling through the building. "Kat?"

There's a shimmering of light to my right and I see the dark hooded figure of Shadow Cat holding on to my arm. "You called?" The falling sensation stops as we fall through the ground floor of the building into the sewers below.

My grin is so large it just might split my face in two. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you right now." I pull my helmet back on my head, It feels so weird to wear the suit without it. "How did you find me? And did you make the drop?"

I can't see her face but I can tell that she's grinning at me through her mask. "I was near the Baxter building when you called. I saw Mr. Fantastic getting in the car so I hitched a ride. I gave the bag to one of Fisk's goons at the drop off location." She starts walking through the sewers and I follow. "Let's hurry up and get home." Her voice sounds a lot less now that I'm not in any immediate danger. "We need to talk."

We were able to make it back home to the penthouse without any further incident. Mostly thanks to Katherine just phasing us through the sewer system letting us walk in a straight line. The majority of it was in silence. She seemed deep in thought I can imagine why. That job was a lot more dangerous than it was supposed to be. I have my own doubts about whether or not this was worth it. Regardless of what I decide the answer to that is, I don't have a choice. I don't get to make my own decisions, Fisk does.

I sit on the couch rubbing burn salve on my arm while Katherine paces in front of me. "Are you sure that's going to be okay?"

I try not to wince while carefully wrapping the bandage around my arm. "It should be fine. It's a lot better than it looks." I don't actually know that. I know nothing about burns but I hope It's true because it certainty looks bad. From my wrist to my elbow the skin on my arm is a bright red with some black parts on my knuckles where I made contact with him. If it wasn't for my suit I'm not sure I would still have that hand. In hindsight punching him was pretty stupid.

"Peter, you fought one of the Fantastic Four."

I nod, not liking where this is going. "I know."

She stops her pacing and puts her hands on her hips, she looks a cross between annoyed and worried. "Do you though? Peter the fantastic four are the good guys! The best, people love them, I love them. They've saved the world Peter. Doesn't it bother you that we're the bad guys?"

It does. A lot more than I thought it would. I've never tried especially hard to help or impress others. Growing up I had my own problems to deal with. Now though I have strength, I have power, I should be able to choose, I want to be good. It's a bit of a shocking realization. Maybe years of being ostracized by my pears has made me want some positive attention but I definitely don't want to be known as a villain. "You're right. I don't want to be the bad guy."

Katherine looks like she was about to say something else before she hears me. She looks a little surprised before sighing and collapsing on the couch next to me. "So can't we just stop?"

I want to. "We can't." But it isn't that easy. It's never that easy. "Fisk won't let us. He bought this penthouse we live in. He pays for food, bought these suits. He's invested in us. He's not the type to let investments just walk away." And even worse than that, "He'd probably rather see it destroyed than risk someone else taking advantage of his hard work."

It's grim but it's the truth. Kitty's head rests on the shoulder of my good side. "So what? We just have to put up with it until one of use winds up in jail or worse?"

No. I won't make Katherine go through that. I promised that I would protect her. I fought Bobby just to prove that point. "I'll figure something out. For now though, let's get to bed. We still have school tomorrow." I glance at the clock 2:11 Am on a Tuesday. Tomorrow will not be fun.

As I predicted, school was awful. I made sure to wear a long sleeve shirt to cover my arm but only working on four hours of sleep I might as well have been half dead. I slept through the majority of English, P.E managed to wake me up; at least that's what I thought before I made it to math. I waved to Katherine before taking out my note book and taking a nap on it. Ms. Appleseed stops the lecture to wake me up twice before the period is over. Katherine fares a little better, probably from not trying to out run a human fireball last night.

By the time lunch rolls around I feel a little bit better, my math nap must've really hit the spot. After waiting in line Katerine and I both plop down at our usual table, Gwen is already sitting there with her homemade lunch. She raises an eyebrow at the two of us. "You two okay? I think I've seen zombies with more energy."

I just roll my eyes at her while taking a bite of my pizza. Thankfully Kitty answers for the both of us. "The person in the room below us was super loud last night. I don't think I got to bed until like three."

"Oh is that all?" Maybe it's thanks to my drowsy state that I don't jump out of my skin when Mary Jane materializes in the seat next to Gwen. I still wonder how she does that? I looked down at my pizza for like a second. "I was hoping that you two were up doing something a little more exiting." The suggestive tone she has leaves no question to what she's implying. I wisely decide to just ignore her.

Katherine however looks a little pink. "What? What are people saying?"

Mary Jane laughs, "Nothing, I heard some people gossiping on what the two of you could have been doing together. I made sure to tell them that the two of you were just working on a project."

Now that is something I didn't expect. "Why? Isn't starting rumors about us kind of your thing?"

She shrugs, "You've been holding up your end of the bargain, figured you wouldn't want people jumping to conclusions. A lot of people seemed to jump to the same conclusion, I was all over school today correcting them."

There's always a reason. "Thanks, I owe you one."

She smiles back, "Yes you do."

The rest of the school day passes by without incident. As Katherine and I ride the bus home. I get a text from Fisk's number that we'll be meeting again tomorrow for our second job. I need to do something about this. As much as I hate to admit it I need help.

We're just stepping off the bus when I make the decision. "Kitty, I'll catch up with you later. I've got to meet someone."

She looks at me suspiciously. "Who? No offense, but you have three friends."

Ouch, "Hey I know people!" She just raises an eyebrow. "Why does it matter? I won't be long."

She just huffs and walks into the building. What's her problem? I never thought of her as the clingy type. I walk a few blocks before pulling out my cell phone and a black business card from my pocket. I dial the number and it rings twice before I hear a voice on the other end. "I didn't actually think you would call me kid." He sounds out of breath like he's running or something.

"How did you know it was me?" I never gave him my number or anything.

"No one else has this number. So did you change your mind about letting me meet your boss?"

I almost tell him about my dilemma right there but then I remember who got me this phone. I wouldn't put it past Fisk to hide a bug in there somewhere. "Can I meet you somewhere?"

There's a loud bang from his side of the phone. "You must really be in a bind to get so trusting. I just happened to have finished my business. There's a deli called Fatastisubs in the north part of midtown. I'll be there for the next hour or so."

I can't help but chuckle at the irony at walking into a fantastic four themed sandwich shop the after the night I had. When I walk in I recognize the dark figure siting at a corner table, but my stomach decides that I grab a sandwich before I sit down. As I'm waiting in line I glance at him a few times, he's wearing thick boots with black pants tucked into them. Thankfully he's forgone the gun filled trench coat and is instead wearing a brown hoodie; he's still just as intimidating as before. I sit down with my 'Human Torch' sub. (Ham, turkey, cilantro, yellow peppers and a LOT of hot sauce).

The Punisher chuckles as he looks up at me. "You really are too young for this kind of work."

Why does everyone comment on my age? "You said I could call you for help." He nods. "My boss, he calls himself the Kingpin."

From the look in his eyes I can tell that he knows exactly whom I'm talking about. "I can see why you didn't want to talk over the phone. Big guy has his fingers in everything, ears all over town." At hearing this I glance around nervously. "Don't worry, I eat here for a reason. I have my own reason to keep clear of Kingpin."

Now that's a surprise. "You used to work for him? What happened?" If he got away so can we.

"I did a few jobs for him a couple of years ago." He pauses for a second to take a bite out of his sandwich. "I thought it would be freelance. He wanted a personal assassin. We had a disagreement."

The way he says it makes me afraid to ask, but I have to know. "Disagreement?"

"He tried to kill me." That's exactly what I was afraid of hearing. "I'd be careful if I were you kid. I'm one of the few of his former employees that isn't six feet under. He doesn't take desertion lightly."

"So what do I do?" What can I do? All of this is my fault. I should never have made the deal with Fisk. I shouldn't have thought beating up gangsters was a good way to make money. "He knows my name, my face, my friends."

He takes another bite of his sandwich. "That is not a good situation. You have two options kid. You either do what he says, and live with it; or you put him down."

I grab my old bag and leave the house around midnight, dressed in my full suit. My arm feels a little better but it's still tender. A reminder of why I'm here. I land on a building where I can see the light coming from Fisk's room. Good he's there; at least I won't have to go looking for him. I swing around back to the service elevator, and ride it up to the top floor, I want to smirk from behind my mask at how easily they let me in but I'm too nervous. I've seen what Fisk is capable of, no matter how easy it is to get to him; this will be no cakewalk.

The guards at the front door know by now to let me through. I open the double doors to Fisk's room and am a little annoyed to see him look up from his steak dinner at me with no surprise. The doors close behind me and I'm met with the finality of my decision. There is no going back now. I walk in with my hands behind me and discretely spray my webs over the door handle. "Mr. Parker, I know you had a troubled childhood but I had hoped that one of the people who raised you would have mentioned how rude it is to show up unannounced."

I slowly walk towards him, making sure to keep my body between him and his vision of the webbed up door handle. I want to get as close as I can before he finds out. "Heh, guess it slipped my mind. Something important came up, and I knew I had to go straight to you with it."

He puts down his fork and looks at me with interest. Just a little closer. "Well? What is so important that you felt the need to interrupt my meal?"

Almost there, I unsling my backpack and set it on the table. "It will be easier if I show you." He continues to look at me with interest as I open my backpack, I reach my hand in and feel the handle.

I freeze for a second as Fisk responds. "Peter" He calmly places his fork and knife on either side of his plate and removes the napkin from his shirt. "Are you sure that this is important? If not you can walk out now and we can just forget about your mistake."

He knows! How does he know? Has he been watching me? Of course he's been watching me. It doesn't matter anymore, he may preach forgiveness but I doubt he practices it. I'm in too deep to stop now, and I really don't want to. I take a breath in and out, I'm not Peter Parker, I'm the Spider now; and the Spider is no one's puppet!

In one swift motion I pull the gun out of my bag, unlock the safety, and pull the trigger. "Consider this my letter of resignation!" Fisk dives to the side, but I can see a red stain on his white suit jacket where I must have hit him. I glance back at the door and can see that the guard is trying to get in. I take a second and turn to spray more webs over the doors. They're going to have a hard time getting through that, this batch of web is stronger and longer lasting than my usual formula.

I turn my attention back to Kingpin who is standing with the aid of his cane. Despite the bullet wound in his side he's smirking. "I'll be sure that your little friend suffers for this as well."

I level the gun at his head. "I'd die before I let that happen."

He smirks adjusting his grip on his cane as I go to pull the trigger, "You will." Just before I pull the trigger I'm brought to my knees by a terrible high pitched screech that becomes my entire world. I put both hands on the side of my helmet and try to pull it off to no avail; it's stuck on my head! Some where through the massive pain and all the nose I can hear Fisk laughing. "You didn't think it would be that easy did you Mr. Parker? I didn't get to where I am by taking chances. Let me explain what's happening to you." My body is a slave to the pain, as much as I want to ignore it and shove that gun down Fisk's throat I can't, the only thing I can do is continue to roll on the ground clawing at my helmet as my baser instincts demand that I make this noise stop. "The hyper sound wave emission system that's installed in your helmet is bombarding your eardrums with as many high frequency sound waves as money can buy. If you feel any moisture in your helmet that's because your ears have begun to bleed. Soon your eardrums will burst, then your eyeballs will pop and so on. I don't really want to get into the details. I'll tell you how to stop it though. All you have to do is break my cane. If you do then the signal will stop and so will your pain."

I think I'm begging to black out. My eyes are screwed shut from the pain and I've since stopped flailing around. I'm just clutching my helmet waiting for this to be over. I can't blame anyone but myself. I wonder if this was what was destined to happen? I can still hear Fisk in the background, "I had my doubts about controlling you. A violent seemingly moral-less youth. You know I had prepared for you killing me?" From the moment that spider bit me was I destined to end up here? It's too bad that I had to drag Katherine down with me. With her powers though maybe she'll be able to escape Fisk, I don't see how he could catch her. "Although that doesn't seem likely now." Through all the pain I manage a weak smile through my mask at the hope that maybe I didn't get my best friend killed along with me. I'm definitely blacking out, the white noise is fading into the background and I feel myself falling further and further into darkness.

It's like a breath of fresh air when it stops. The noise ends abruptly leaving me in a world of silence, the pain is still there but lessened, in one violent motion I throw my helmet off thanking god for whatever saved me. I feel hands on me and open my eyes to see the hooded figure of Shadow Cat. "Katherine?"

"P—r …o" I can barely hear her. I touch the side of my head and examine my fingers finding them slick with blood. Katherine helps me up and starts pulling me towards the window. "We need…ow!" She sounds kind of panicked, I still feel disoriented from that entire ordeal. I glance around the room and see Fisk motionless on the ground his broken staff beside him, there's a pool of blood but oddly instead of underneath him it's behind him. It's also odd that there isn't more blood coming from his bullet wound. "Peter! We need to go now!" Oh thank god I can hear. We get to the window and Katherine phases us through it. We fall for a few seconds before I realize that she expects me to web sling. I feel like my center of balance is a little off as the two of us swing through the night sky but I adjust to it long enough to get us home. I swing at the window and Katherine phases us through it into our living room

"Peter what the hell were you thinking!" She sounds mad, she stumbles over to the couch and sits down, I notice that she has my helmet in her hands. "If I hadn't notice you leave and followed you would have died!" She pulls down her hood and I can see the tears in her eyes.

I sit down on the couch next to her. She's right, I almost died. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, I messed up, it seems like all I do is mess up. But he's dead now everything is going to be ok. He can't control us anymore, we can be the good guys!"

Katherine shakes her head, this is what she wanted right? "No we can't! Not like this, not after I.." She covers her mouth for a second before phasing through the back of the couch and running into the kitchen. I follow and find her heaving in the sink. "Peter I killed him. How can I be the good guy after committing murder?"

No, I'm not going to let her blame herself for this. This is exactly why I went alone. "Katherine, you did the world a favor tonight! Fisk was a mobster kingpin who organized all the crime on this half of the country! No body will miss him, and now we're free."

The glare she gives me makes my blood run cold. "And that makes it okay? A hero catches the bad guys, they don't play god."

Why can't she see that this was necessary? "Katherine you didn't play god, yo-"

"I pulled his heart out through his back!" I remember the scene back at Fisk tower, it explains why the blood puddle was next to him. "It was you or him; the choice was obvious, but does that make it right?"

"You had to." I would rather have been the one to do it, but it's too late for that now. "It was him or US. He wasn't going to keep us around forever."

She makes another dry heave while I rub circles on her back. "I know. It doesn't make me feel any less awful though."

"You should get to sleep. I think we both need some rest." Truth is if Katherine wasn't having a breakdown I probably would have hit the floor a few minutes ago.

She wipes her mouth and takes a sip of water. "Peter can you sleep in my room tonight? I'd really don't want to be alone right now."

She looks so broken; her eyes are puffy from crying and her lips looked cracked and pale. The worst part of this though, I can tell that she needs me from the look in her eyes. And I like it. I instantly hate my self for feeling this way but that doesn't make it stop. After years of isolation and dependency on abusive foster parents, and after that being dependent on Fisk it feels good to have someone depend on me. Although if I think about it we're both equally alone, neither of us has any family to go to or even other friends that we can truly rely on. "Of course, I'll grab a sleeping bag." When it comes down to it we really only have each other.

[The next day (3rd person)]

There's still a bloodstain in Fisk's penthouse from where he was slain the night before. Immediately after the guard finally happened to break down the web secured doors they called for the house doctor. There was nothing they could do though, with his heart removed from his body, Fisk was dead before Peter and Katherine left.

Standing in the room now are six individuals each dressed in a very unique fashion. The first and most normal is Maro Flint aka the 'Sandman' dressed in his usual clothes. Next to him stands Aleksei Systevich, a former Russian super solider who is more often referred to as 'Rhino.'

Also in the room is Maxwell Dillon dressed in a flashy green and yellow outfit with a mask that resembles lightning bolts. A mid aged electrician who has fought the fantastic four several times, his trademark is the lightning power he wields and his preferred title is 'Electro.'

The fourth figure Adrian Toomes is a balding man dressed in a skintight green suit with a plume of feathers around his neck. From each of his arms extends many large feathers. His chosen persona mirrors his physical appearance as the goes by 'Vulture.'

Next to Toomes stands a man wearing a yellow padded body suit underneath a red tunic and boots with thick gauntlets over his arms. Herman Schultz, or 'Shocker' is a well-known muscle for the Kingpin using the high frequency air blasts from his gauntlets to enforce Fisk's rule.

The final figure resembles a giant green scorpion. With a long prehensile barbed tail behind him it's no wonder that Mac Gargan chooses to go with the alias 'Scorpion.'

The all turn to the door as a sixth figure walks into the room. He's a sleazy looking man dressed in a suit and tie. He walks to the front of the group and sits down in Fisk's chair. When he speaks his voice is nasally but resounds through the whole room. "Last night, Wilson Fisk, otherwise known as the Kingpin was killed. The reason that I've brought you here is because about a week ago he called me and had me organize a portfolio and a job for you in the event of his death." An exited silence goes through the crowd, none of them are particularly sad that someone decided to off kingpin, each of them is just thinking of what he could possibly want as his last job. The sleazy man presses a button on Fisk's controller and the monitor clicks to life, showing the images of two teenagers on screen.

The first is a skinny looking boy, brown hair, very plain looking and kind of bony. The second is a girl about the same age, brunette hair and a little on the short side. "Their names are Peter Parker, and Katherine Pryde. Otherwise known as 'The Spider' and 'Shadow Cat.'" He presses another button, and a half a screen of information appears about each of them. Including home address, school, and known powers. "And as of right now each of their heads are worth a million dollars."

And Bam! How'd you like that!

First of all as far as the Spiderman vs. Human torch debate, maybe an experienced peter parker who was prepared would put up a better fight. But peter as he is in my story only lasted as long as he did because Johnny was testing him. As to how Sandman and Rhino got away, I'll leave that to your imagination.

I've honestly been wanting to write this chapter for MONTHS, god it's taken me so long to get here. I consider this the end of an arc. THE KINGPIN ARC IS OVER! How did you like it? The fanale? The arc? Let me know what you liked I really appreciate the feedback.

For bonus points, to whomever can guess what the next arc is going to be about ;)

Thanks for reading!