Author's Note: Introducing the latest addition to my Spider-Nick series: The Spider Spirit.
For those who don't know, I'll explain the Spider-Nick series. It's a new crossover series involving different variations of Spider-Man and Nickelodeon shows. A couple of them will feature familiar versions of Spider-Man, but most of them will feature completely original spidersonas. This series was brainstormed by myself and my friend, MajorBrony95, who himself helped a lot in this.
For this installment of the series, we will be introducing a new spidersona known as the Spider Spirit, also known as Pakku, grandson of Sokka. We will start the series with this plus another chapter next week to give everyone a basic idea of the premise.
Coincidentally, this same weekend was the one where Netflix first premiered its new live action Last Airbender series. I promise, I didn't plan on that. I just thought it was cool.
Anyway, enjoy the first chapter. Next week, our web-slinger meets the Avatar herself. Any and all comments are welcome.
"All right, let's do this one last time. My name is Pakku. After a mysterious encounter with a spider spirit, I have become the one and only… Well, Spider Spirit. But I'm getting WAY ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning, shall we? Or better yet, let's start BEFORE the beginning.
"See, it all started with my grandfather, Sokka. That's right! THE Sokka! Pretty darn cool, I know. He and my Great-Aunt Katara found Avatar Aang in an iceberg and eventually helped him save the world, alongside the master earthbender, Toph Beifong, the Fire Prince Zuko, and my future grandmother, Suki, leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. Now, my grandfather may not have been a bender like the majority of his friends, but he more than made up for it with his signature boomerang, his strategic brain, and his sense of humor which some say I've inherited.
"Despite my ancestry, however, it doesn't really protect me from the harsh realities of being a socially awkward community college student. Between the bullies who poke fun at me, the anxiety I feel when I try to ask out pretty girls, and the high expectations teachers have of me, I feel like I'm in over my head.
"The only people who understood me at the time were my Aunt Ming and my Uncle Bato. They were kind enough to take me in and raise me after my parents died nearly thirteen years ago. It hasn't been easy, especially with all the triad gangs around Republic City, but my Uncle Bato always assured us that things will turn around soon.
"So how did a socially awkward 20-year-old become a web-slinging superhero working alongside the current Avatar, Korra? Well, now, we've reached… the beginning."
On a clear sunny day, Republic City was bustling. The sidewalks, the streets, everywhere was filled with people and vehicles going to and fro. In one certain old green Satomobile sat Pakku in the driver's seat. As he hit the brakes at a stoplight, he turned his gaze over to his Uncle Bato who sat in the seat next to him. He could tell by his smile in his short, black beard that matched his hair that he was just as excited as he was. He was a man in his mid-forties, wearing a usual Water Tribe that showed off his slight muscular figure.
The same excited feeling could also be said for his Aunt Ming, who sat behind him. She gave her nephew the warmest smile she could give with her young face. She was a woman in her early 40s with black hair with gray here and there in a tasteful bun and wearing a red dress, befitting her Fire Nation heritage.
Pakku himself was a tall, young man with a scrawny figure. He wore a white shirt with a blue jacket on that matched his pants. He had brown skin, blue eyes, and dark brown hair.
"Are you excited, Pakku?" Ming asked.
"Oh, yeah. Nothing like spending the afternoon looking at old stuff from almost 70 decades." Pakku said sarcastically before chuckling at the stern faces of his parental figures. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Seriously, guys, I'm excited."
Bato's frown became a smile. "That's good to hear. After all, this special traveling exhibit is all about the era of the Hundred Year War, which our family played a very large part in."
Once the light lit green, Pakku continued his drive until they all stopped at the parking lot of a museum. After they parked, they walked on out and headed out to the museum, passing by a statue of a shaggy-haired young man with a cocky look on his face and a piece of straw in his mouth. Once they purchased their tickets, they headed on in.
Inside the museum, Pakku looked around and saw various relics and artifacts safely placed in glass casings. Vases, swords, jewelry. It was certainly very interesting, but they were there for a specific exhibit.
The family joined a group of people who stood at the main lobby. They stood around silently talking until a man walked before them with a cane that he leaned on. He cleared his throat to get everyone to quiet down so he could speak.
"Thank you for coming, everyone. Welcome to the Jet Memorial Museum. I am Quen, and I will be your guide here. Now, walk this way."
Everyone followed Quen as he lead the group. In the middle of the crowd, Pakku mimicked the way he walked on the cane making his aunt chuckle slightly and his uncle roll his eyes with a grin.
The tour group soon entered a room that had a mural of two teens in parkas standing on a giant block of ice and looking up at another kid with a bald head, an arrow tattoo on it, and glowing eyes. The room was also full of numerous relics such as old Fire Nation tanks and Komodo Rhino riding gear, Earth Kingdom military uniforms (including one belonging to the infamous "Mad General" Fong), paintings and pictures of famous battles from the early days, and much more.
"As I'm sure you all know," Quen began as he gestured to the mural, "the Hundred Year War was a devastating time in our world's history when the early Fire Nation- then under the rule of Fire Lord Sozin- wished to conquer the world in its imperialistic grip. It was especially hard because Avatar Aang, the last airbender, disappeared for a hundred years since the war began, and was believed dead, especially after the Fire Lord used the power of Sozin's Comit to commit a genocide of the Aur Nomads. Thankfully, Aang was found alive and in the nick of time by two Southern Water Tribe citizens, Sokka and Katara."
"My grandpa." Pakku whispered proudly looking up at the image of his grandfather. Looking at him, Pakku could tell there was a similarity between the man and himself.
"Once they learned they had until the next arrival of Sozin's Comet to save the world, the three of them traveled all around to teach Aang how to be the Avatar. He picked up some powerful teachers and allies in their quest to battle the then Fire Lord, Ozai. Some of those teachers included his soon-to-be grandfather-in-law, Pakku, as his waterbending master, our original chief of police, Toph Beifong, as his earthbending master, and his enemy-turned-friend, Zuko, Ozai's own son, as his firebending master. Finally, the day came when the comet made its way in our skies and Aang had to confront the Fire Lord. It was a harrowing battle, but soon the Fire Lord was defeated, his bending removed, and the world was saved all thanks to Avatar Aang."
Realizing something, Pakku held up his hand to get Quen's attention. "Uh, hi. Excuse me."
Pakku succeeded in getting everyone's attention. They all turned to him while Uncle Bato and Aunt Ming looked worryingly at him.
"Can I help you?" Quen asked quirking an eyebrow.
"Uh, yeah. I like to point out a hole in your storytelling, if you don't mind." Pakku said trying to be polite.
Quen laughed trying to hide his annoyed expression. "Young man, I've been studying this story for six months to prepare for this tour. I think I know what I'm doing."
"But you said that the world was saved all thanks to Avatar Aang." Pakku said. "Like he singlehandedly saved the world."
"He did." Quen said.
"Uh, no." Pakku corrected. "Don't get me wrong. I know that Aang fought the Fire Lord on his own and defeated him in what is probably the most important battle that day, but that wasn't the only battle, you know."
"Pakku, please don't make a scene." Bato whispered to his nephew, but his words fell on deaf ears.
Quen's smile faded and he looked annoyed. "Excuse me?"
"Well, there were three other battles fought at the same time." Pakku said. "The White Lotus seized back Ba Sing Se, Toph, Sokka, and his girlfriend, Suki, destroyed the Fire Nation fleet, and Katara and Zuko prevented his wicked sister, Azula, from becoming Fire Lord. I really don't think you should be forgetting those.."
Quen took a breath before smiling again, though it was obviously a bit strained. "My boy, it is truly admirable that you know all of that, but those battles you mentioned are mere footnotes in the final battle. If it wasn't for Avatar Aang and his immense power, the war would have been lost and we would all be under Ozai's rule."
"I'm not saying it wasn't important." Pakku said. "It's just… Ozai was just one guy. If it was just him that was defeated, then Aang would still have to worry about the Fire Nation fleet, the territory the Fire Nation conquered, and a psycho like Azula being the new Fire Lord. Without his friends, he'd have a whole bunch other messes to deal with."
Once again, Quen's smile dropped. "What's your name?"
He smiled before giving it. "Oh. I'm Pakku. Not the Pakku like you described. I'm just his great-grandson." He gestured to his uncle. "This is Bato, Sokka's son." Bato merely waved embarrassedly.
Once the revelation of their identities sank in, a few members of the tour whispered and pointed. Quen just stared daggers toward the younger man before slamming his cane down to bring silence to the room.
"Well, Pakku, I'm sure you have your opinion on the necessities of things like this. However, I am the tour guide, not you. So I will kindly thank you to keep your mouth shut and let me do my job."
"But you're not even…" Pakku started to say. He was stopped when his uncle placed his hand on his shoulder.
"Pakku, please, that's enough."
Quen smiled again. "That's better. At least Sokka's SON has some more sense than his GRANDSON. Now, if there are no more inane comments, I'll show you some of the important relics from the Battle at the North Pole in which Avatar Aang defeated Admiral Zhao and saved the Water Tribe."
Quen and the tour group all left for the next room, but Pakku and his family stayed. He lowered his head and frowned while his aunt and uncle comforted him.
"You did the best you could." Bato said.
Pakku sighed. "I know I probably shouldn't have said anything. It's just… I'm tired of our family constantly being overlooked. It's been seventy years since the Hundred Year War ended and there were numerous battles, but it seems that everyone is more interested in the battle between the Avatar and the Fire Lord than anything else. And any other battles only Uncle Aang was in for that matter. And that's not even getting into the people being omitted. When people do talk about anyone else other than Aang, it's usually always people like Toph or Zuko or, when she's lucky, Aunt Katara. The powerful benders, the great leaders. Very rarely do I hear about Grandpa Sokka and hardly ever about Grandma Suki."
"You don't have to worry about that." Ming said. "Everyone knows that Sokka was as much important to the battle as anyone else. As was Suki."
"It doesn't seem that way." Pakku said. "Like that jerkwad said, it's like they're destined to be footnotes in the history of Avatar Aang. So what's that say about us, their family?"
Bato thought for a moment before turning to his wife. "Ming, how about you catch up with the rest of the tour group? I wanna have a one-on-one chat with Pakku. We'll catch up in a bit."
"Okay, dear." Ming said leaving the room.
Bato turned back to Pakku. "Pakku, I get how you feel. I mean, Sokka was my dad. I know what it's like to wish we had more respect than what we have now. But, you know, I don't think correcting people is the best way to do that."
"Then how?" Pakku asked. "How can we show people that our legacy is just as important as those of the Avatar and the great benders in history?"
Bato looked around until something caught his eye. He brought Pakku to a wall where a piece of parchment was displayed like a portrait. There were badly drawn people sketched out in ink.
"I never thought I'd see this again. Do you know what this is?" Bato asked.
Pakku shrugged. "Something that looks like it belongs on a proud parent's kitchen wall?"
Bato smirked. "This is actually something your grandfather drew when he was fifteen. Right after the war ended and everyone was celebrating at the Jasmine Dragon Tea Shop in Ba Sing Se, he sat down and painted himself and all his friends: Uncle Aang, Aunt Katara, Zuko, Toph, Iroh, Mai, and my mother."
Pakku held in his breath trying not to laugh. "Wow. He had terrible drawing skills."
"Hey, you're not exactly a master artist yourself." Bato laughed back. "I remember a few drawings you made that weren't blueprints for ideas or anything like that. They would be enough to make Koh himself scream in terror and refuse to take their faces."
"Ha ha," Paku said sarcastically as Bato laughed. The young man then sobered up. "Seriously, Uncle Bato, what's this about?" he asked.
Bato quit laughing and smiled at the picture nostalgically. "Out of everyone in the Gaang until your Grandma Suki officially joined later on, Sokka was the only one who wasn't a bender, but that didn't stop him from making up for it. You think he did that just by telling everyone he was just as important as the others?"
Pakku hesitated to answer. "I guess not."
"Of course not. Because words are cheap, Pakku, but nobody ignores action. He courageously fought in the greatest battles, masterminded the cleverest plans, and built some handy gadgets. That's how those who do know him in the world see him. Sokka had a call to action, and he answered it." Bato put his hands on Pakku's shoulders and turned him around to face him. "One day, I'm sure it'll call for you too. Only then will the people recognize what this family means."
Pakku smiled softly. "Thanks, Uncle Bato. What about you? Did you ever have a call to action?"
Bato's smile fell for a bit and he looked away for a moment. "You could say that. Let's just say that I'll make sure that you and Aunt Ming don't have to worry ever again. Speaking of whom, we should probably catch up to her."
"Would you mind going on ahead?" Pakku asked. "I wanna look at the picture some more."
"If you want." Bato said, his smile returning. "Just don't stay too long. Despite the jerky tour guide, there's still plenty of cool stuff to see."
As soon as Bato left, Pakku looked back at the old drawing. He kept an eye on the drawing of whom he assumed was his grandfather because of the sword he had.
"Guess I have a legacy to live up to, huh, Grandpa?" he asked softly. "Don't worry. I'll do right by you, somehow." He then looked at another figure in the picture and chuckled. "Strange that you made it look like Grandma was firebending though."
All of a sudden, Pakku's attention was being diverted. He looked over at a door to a separate area where he heard a distant scuffle. At first, he thought it was nothing, but something about it made him feel anxious. Curious, he went to investigate.
Pakku found his way to a hallway when he heard more scuffling noises as he got closer. He followed them to a door that was left ajar. When he peeked inside, his eyes were fixed on two men in delivery uniforms. They picked up relics from the tables and shelves and put them in crates.
At first, Pakku shrugged. He thought it was just some workers taking stuff into storage. He was about to leave, but he stopped once he heard the men's voices.
"Stealing this stuff is easier than I thought."
Pakku stopped himself and gasped silently. He leaned in closer to the ajar door to hear more.
"So all we gotta do is pretend we're storage workers, wheel this priceless junk to our van, and the boss will pay us?"
"Of course. You know, once he gets his cut of course."
"Ah, man. You know, I hate that we have to do all the work while the boss still gets a big cut."
"Well, don't let him hear you say that. He is the leader of the Agni Kai Triad for a reason."
Pakku's eyes widened. He recognized the name of the gang that was mainly made up of firebending gangsters. He began to slowly walk away when he heard more.
"I get what you're saying, Zin, but still. It seems unfair that we have to split the money four ways since it was just the three of us who did the real work."
Pakku raised his head in confusion before whispering, "There's three?"
That's when someone grabbed Pakku's hair from behind and forced him up to his feet. He tried to yell out, but a hand was wrapped around his mouth as he was cut off from making any noise. A third man then forced him into the storage room where the others saw him as he was pushed to the ground. The third thief then closed the door shut and locked it behind him. Pakku looked up and saw the other crooks who looked down at him.
One of the crooks just put on a red-jeweled necklace with a spider inside of it. "Well, well. What do we have here?"
"We got ourselves a spy, boys." said the man who caught Pakku. He had a flat top on his head.
"Not to worry, everyone." said the third crook, a big man with pale skin and white hair. "The boss told us what to do in this type of situation." He held up his hand and formed a big flame in his open palm. Pakku was already feeling warm just looking at it. "Any last words, spy?"
Pakku gulped before chuckling nervously. "Uh, yeah. Sorry about the ankle."
The pale man raised an eyebrow. "What about my ankle?"
Pakku took the confusion to take action and thrusted his foot hard onto the pale man's left leg, kicking his ankle and making yell out in pain and douse his flame to clutch it. His fall caused the flat-topped man to frantically walk backwards until he himself tripped over a chair.
Seeing his chance, Pakku jumped up to his feet and raced to the door. He grabbed the doorknob and turned it only to realize that it had been locked. He was about to turn the lock when the third man, the one who wore the necklace he stole, grabbed him and threw him to the side. Pakku landed on a table making it fall over and break into pieces.
With the third crook over him, Pakku moved his hand around looking desperately for something that could help him get free. He wasn't even thinking when he grabbed the handle of a knife and threw it. The crook saw it and moved out of the way to dodge it, but the knife instead caught the jewel in his necklace and it was ripped from his neck. Once Pakku's strike brought the necklace to the wall, the knife dug itself into the jewel causing it to crack. It continued to crack getting everyone's attention until it broke. The red jewel fell into pieces.
"Aw, great!" cried the crook. "I was gonna keep that as a bonus!" He angrily turned to Pakku, who was trying to stand up, before leaping forward and kicking him in the stomach. Pakku yelled and stumbled backwards, holding his chest in pain before the Agni Kai goon seized him by the shirt and formed a fire knife himself that he placed near Pakku's face, almost burning him. "Oh well," he said sinisterly. "Guess you're just gonna have to pay for that with INTEREST, kid!"
"Wait. You hear that?" asked the pale man.
Everyone took a second to keep an ear out hearing a slight, ghostly laughter echoing across the room. They looked around and followed it to the remains of the jeweled necklace that Pakku shattered.
A black smoke started to creep out of the severed cracks and grow before everyone's eyes. It swirled around until something formed before them. It was a black, ghostly figure with red marks on its back. It had the shape of a spider, but it was half as big as either one of them. It opened its red, devilish eyes and fixed them on everyone surrounding it.
"Humans." it hissed. "How like you to do this."
"RUN!" the pale crook yelled in panic. But before he and his fellow criminals could make any moves, a blast of web shot out of the giant spider's mouth. It was wrapped around them and they were stuck to the wall covered in web. Pakku could tell that the impact made them all unconscious.
"I hate it when people scream at me after a long nap." the spider laughed before looking back at Pakku. "Ah. I can tell that it was by your hand that I am finally free. Am I correct?"
Pakku didn't say anything. He just stood and nodded his head nervously.
"Well done. For that, I shall grant you mercy… and a gift. Let's just hope you survive this!"
Pakku watched as the cackling spider changed into a wisp of smoke that towered over him. He turned to try and run again, but he couldn't even take a single step forward before the spirit flew right through his torso. He spasmed for a moment before falling onto his back. The spirit then flew to the nearest window and forced it open before flying out, disappearing into the sky, laughing madly.
Meanwhile, on the ground, every part of Pakku's body jolted. He was shaken up and down violently. During the convulsions, his eyes and mouth began to glow bright blue. This went on for a moment before it suddenly stopped and he fell unconscious.
"Is he going to be okay?!"
"He appears to be doing fine, ma'am. Nothing's broken at least."
"That doesn't mean…"
Pakku groaned interrupting all the talking that was going on around him. He looked up and saw his Uncle Bato and Aunt Ming along with someone he never met, but was dressed as a doctor.
"Oh, Pakku! You're okay!" Ming cried out in delight and relief hugging him tightly.
"Ow!" Pakku groaned feeling sore. "Aunt Ming, I…" He suddenly realized where he was. He was sitting up from a gurney just outside the front entrance of the museum. He looked across and saw the crooks he stumbled upon still covered in web and taken in by the metalbending police.
"What happened?" Pakku asked.
"You tell us." Bato said. "When we haven't seen you, we were getting worried. So we looked around and found you unconscious in the storage office right with a bunch of gangsters tied up next to you. What happened?"
"I… I… I'm not sure." Of course, Pakku did have a basic idea what happened, but he didn't know how to explain everything that happened. He didn't know whether it was real or a trick of the eyes or something. Because of that, he couldn't give anyone a clear answer.
Pakku then noticed two women in police uniforms approaching him. One was a middle-aged, tough looking gray-haired woman with a scar across her cheek and the other was another woman with brown hair with blonde hair tips and a smile, showing she was likely the more laid back of the two.
"Good to see you awake, young man." The first woman greeted. "I'm Chief Beifong. This is Captain Jan."
"But you can call me… 'the Wolf'." Jan said dramatically.
"No one's calling you that, Jan," Chief Beifong said blankly, which made Jan slump her shoulders in disappointment. Lin then noticed Bato standing beside his nephew.
"Lin." Bato nodded.
"Wait. Chief Lin Beifong? As in the daughter of Toph?" Paku asked surprised.
"That's right. And that makes you Pakku." Chief Beifong said turning back at the young man. "Been a while since I last saw you. What's it been, six, seven years? You sure have grown up." She turned to Bato again with a reproachful look. "Bato, you really should have brought him around more."
"Well, I was always a bit busy." Bato shrugged. "Being curator of the Southern Water Tribe Cultural Center and all that."
"Hog monkey wash," Lin scoffed. "You're basically one of the ones in charge. You could easily give yourself a day off and found time to visit. Your brother was my friend too. I would have loved to see Hakoda's kid more." Bato gave another shrug before the chief rolled her eyes. "Never mind." She turned to Pakku. "So, how are you feeling, kid?"
"Kinda dizzy, really." Pakku answered holding onto his head. He stepped off the gurney with his aunt helping him stand up straight.
"Well, I got three suspects, members of the Agni Kai Triads, and they're telling me the same story: that they were attacked by some kind of giant spider monster that came out of a broken jewel and stuck them to the wall." Chief Beifong ex[;aomed. "I don't suppose you know something about it."
"I… I don't know what I saw." Pakku answered. "All I know is, I saw those guys trying to steal the museum artifacts, and after that, everything got weird. I don't really know what to make of it."
"I see." Chief Beifong said. "Well, if you can explain more, give us a call down at the station. If there is some kind of spider spirit out there, let's hope he's friendly."
"Later, kid." Jan said with a playful salute before leaving with the chief.
"Well, whatever happened," Ming said hugging Pakku along with Bato, "I'm just glad you're safe."
"Yeah… safe." Pakku said with his mind wandering.
After returning home, Pakku headed straight to his room, still trying to figure out what happened. He threw off his shirt and lay out on his bed, replaying the entire situation in his head.
"Okay. Let's go over what happened again." Pakku said aloud to himself. "I found the criminals trying to rob the museum. They tried to kill me. I accidently broke one of the relics they were trying to steal, and all of a sudden, a giant spider was formed out of it. It must have been some kind of spider spirit or something. It attacked the crooks, reached me, and… AAH! I can't even finish what happened?! I…"
Pakku stopped himself when he started to see double. His head slowly tilted from side to side while he was losing focus. He grabbed his head to keep it still while his focus returned.
"Whoa." he said. "Guess that experience took a lot more out of me than I thought. Either that, or that monster stole my breakfast while he was in my stomach. Either way…" He collapsed on the bed and quickly fell to sleep where he remained for the rest of the day.
The next morning, Pakku woke up and rubbed his eyes. He still felt a little strange, but he seemed to be doing better somewhat. His head was better at least. He stood up and went over to his mirror and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes… only to let out a small yelp as he gazed at who was staring back at him. While the reflection had his face, the body certainly wasn't his. Whereas he had been quite skinny and scrawny, now he was relatively muscular, though not too much to be too noticeable or grotesque.
"What in the…" Pakku murmured as he looked himself over. He had never expected to look like this if he ever beefed up. He then shook his head and decided he needed some air.
He quickly put on new clothes (which now seemed a tad snug due to his new physique) and went downstairs. In the kitchen were his aunt and uncle, who were cooking breakfast and sitting at the table and reading the Republic News respectively.
"Another gang war in the Dragon Flats borough between the Triple Threats and the Creeping Crystals that damaged shops and injured nine." Bato sighed. "And the council is still doing nothing about it. I keep telling Tenzin he needs to…" Suddenly, he looked up and, seeing his nephew, smiled. "Hey, look who's alive."
Ming turned and smiled. "Oh sweetheart, you're up. Good. After yesterday, we just decided to let you sleep through the rest of the day, so you must be starving. I'm making a big breakfast, all of your favorites."
"Uh, thanks a lot, Aunt Ming, but I'm actually not too hungry right now." Pakku said quickly. "Right now, I kinda just need some fresh air."
"Are you sure?" Aunt Ming asked. "After what happened yesterday?"
"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry. A good walk will be good for me," Pakku said, hoping to avoid any more questions with a hopefully convincing smile. "I promise I won't be out too long. Who knows? Maybe I'll have worked up an appetite by then."
His aunt and uncle looked at each other before Bato looked back and nodded. "Alright. Just don't stay out too long."
"I won't." Pakku said before leaving.
Unfortunately, the fresh air didn't seem to do Pakku any favors like he'd hoped. He couldn't have gotten further than half a mile from the apartment on Konietzko Avenue before he started feeling dizzy again. He tried pushing through however and kept walking. After about ten minutes, he arrived in a busy part of downtown Republic City. He held his head and shut his eyes, though he kept on walking.
"AH! Seriously, what's up with me? It's like I…"
Pakku just walked off the curb without realizing when he felt something ring inside of his own head. He suddenly realized that something big and fast was coming close to him. He turned and saw a Satomobile racing to his direction. He freaked out and jumped out of the way on instinct.
The Satomobile kept driving on, but Pakku's surprises weren't yet over. Once he was finally able to think clearly, he exclaimed loudly when he found himself on the side of the building. His hands and feet were planted on the wall without having to hold onto anything. He started to yell before he was finally released. But instead of landing on his back, he gracefully landed on his feet.
Pakku looked back up at where he was sticking to and looked around. Once he confirmed that no one was around to see him stick to the wall, he ran around the building until he found himself in a lonely alley. He looked at his hands watching them shake.
"Wha… What's happening to me?!" he yelled before clenching his fists.
All of a sudden, something blasted out from his wrist and hitting the dumpster in front of him. He moved closer to see what it was, and upon further inspection, realized that it was a string of white, silky web.
"Web? Sticking to walls?" Pakku asked. "What? Am I some kind of…"
Pakku stopped himself as he remembered his strange encounter with the spider spirit in the museum yesterday.
"Well done. For that, I shall grant you mercy… and a gift."
Pakku placed his hand onto his chest before looking at the far corner. He fixed his eyes on a complete web where a spider-fly landed and crawled on it.
"Could that be the gift that that thing talked about?" Pakku thought to himself. "The abilities of a spider-fly? Or just a spider in this case? Then that means… I could do anything a spider can, right?"
To test his theory out, Pakku placed his fingers firmly on the wall. He then placed the fingers from his other hand up further. He pulled himself up pretending like the was crawling on the horizontal ground. He didn't look down until he was sure he was halfway up. As he looked down, his shock and fear quickly turned into excitement.
"WOO-HOOOOOOOO!"
Pakku quickly climbed back up until he reached the end of the wall. He then ran across until he reached the end. That's when he jumped upward and landed safely on the next rooftop. He then leapt across rooftops like a puma-goat sleeping in across the mountains. He kept going until he found himself on the rooftop of an intersection.
Pakku looked across the street and saw a low building. With another theory forming in his head, he decided to try and shoot a long string of web on a higher building and swing his way to the lower building. He prepared himself, took a breath, and thrusted his hand forward.
"GO, WEB!"
He waited for a moment pointing his fingers out, but nothing happened. Confused, he threw his hand up again.
"Fly!"
He tried again, but no web came out.
"Up, up, and away, web!"
Still, nothing. He kept repeating the process, each with a different hand gesture hoping to get a reaction.
"Shazam! Go! Go! Go, web, go!"
Letting out a loud groan, he tried one last time. This time, he pressed his middle two fingers onto his palm. Finally, he got the result he wanted. A line of web was shot out of his wrist and flew across the street. He fired another thread which flew higher. Finally, he carefully aimed his wrist and fired one last string of web, which was long enough to reach from the building he was aiming for to where he stood.
With the web shot and the swing prepared, Pakku planted his feet on the edge of the rooftop. He took a breath gripping both hands on the web. Finally, he threw himself off the roof and swung across the street.
At first, Pakku felt exhilarated. With the wind blowing on his face and the speed of the swing, he never felt more alive. It was like he didn't have a care in the world. Of course, all that excitement ended when he realized that he was on a collision course with the wall on the other side of the small building. He tried to reach his feet onto the low rooftop to stop himself, but it was no use. He only stopped as soon as he hit the wall. He paused for a moment before pushing himself off feeling sore.
"Ow…"
Once he returned home, he assured his family that he was fine now (which was surprisingly true as the pain from the collision with the wall had faded already) before sitting down to a hearty breakfast. As he ate all of the food put in front of him, his aunt and uncle looked surprised.
"My goodness. That walk must have given you some appetite." Aunt Ming said.
Pakku looked up as he finished the last of his food and smiled. "Yeah, I guess it did. Thanks for the food, Aunt Ming. Welp, I'm gonna head back upstairs, guys."
With that, Pakku headed back to his room. That's when he finally dropped his act and felt excited about what had happened, jumping up and down and even doing a backflip and sticking to the ceiling to his amazement as he laughed.
"That… was… amazing! Spectacular! I… I wish I could think of other adjectives! I don't know what that spider spirit did, but clearly, it changed me! I don't know what this means, but..."
Once again, he stopped himself when a thought crossed his mind. He stared at his hands before fixing his eyes to his window where he got a good view of Republic City. He remembered all the gangs which are hurting the innocent people of the city: the Agni Kais, the Triple Threats, the Creeping Crystals. He then remembered the words his uncle told him at the museum.
"Sokka had a call to action, and he answered it. One day, I'm sure it'll call for you too."
This was it. This was the call to action that Pakku was waiting for. It may not be what his uncle had in mind, but he knew that he could do much good with these powers of his. He knew what he had to do.
Since that day, things began to change in Republic City. Whenever Pakku decided to swing around town, he wore a costume to hide his identity and keep his family safe. It wouldn't do to have any of the triads going after them in revenge for beating them. He wore a blue shirt and pair of tights, red gloves, a red vest, a red mask that covered his entire head, and a pair of black goggles that matched his boots. His vest had a spider symbol printed on the back and in a small corner of his front.
He first made himself known when he caught a couple of daylight robbers trying to make off with bags full of cash. He made short work of them by catching them in his web, sticking them to the wall, and returning the money to its rightful owners in no time at all.
As the weeks went by, more and more people accepted that there was someone out there who was more than human protecting them from all kinds of gangsters and criminals. They tried to use bending to get the advantage, but in the end, this hero always caught them by surprise and became too fast for them to land a hit on.
Every time he caught a criminal or a few more, he always left them hanging for the metalbenders to find wrapped up in web. Attached to them was a note which was signed with a name that everyone started calling him by.
"Courtesy, your friendly neighborhood Spider Spirit"
The name had been slightly inspired by the fact that it WAS a spider spirit that had given him the abilities, and also by a story Uncle Bato told him about from when Zuko had dressed up in a blue demon mask and called himself the Blue Spirit and used the identity to free his Uncle Aang and Appa, Aang's bison. While the reasons may have been mainly so he could capture Aang himself, Pakku had still enjoyed the stories and the idea of using an alternate identity and name in honor of the character seemed to fit.
Witnesses started giving their testimonies to anyone who would listen about this mysterious hero and all the good he was doing. Along the way, more and more people gave their opinions on the same man. Some were negative, but most were thankful towards him.
"This is not a man. My brother saw him building a nest in the Teo Center fountain."
"I think he's human. I think he's a man. Could be a woman."
"He throws up his hands, ropes come out, and he climbs up the ropes like a spider web."
"I see the web, and it's his signature. And I know the Spider Spirit was here."
"The guy protects us. You know, he protects the people."
"Some kind of freakyloo or something. Wackadoo."
"He stinks and I don't like him."
"A guy with eight hands. Sounds hot."
"He has those tights and a tight, little…"
"Dressed like a spider. Looks like a bug. We should all just give him one big hug. Look out! Ooh! Here comes the Spider Spirit."
All in all, by now, all of Republic City has caught wind of the web-slinging superhero. And until the fateful day when the Avatar comes to Republic City, Pakku will gladly protect Republic City with every fiber of his being.
He is the Spider Spirit.