Chapter Text
New York: the city that never sleeps. You'd think that saying only applies to the college kids partying it up after a stressful day or people on the graveyard shift, but for me, it's just as true. I'm not a college student, just a fifteen year old kid dealing with all of the average things teenage boys deal with. I wake up, take the seven into Manhattan, and count the seconds until school’s over. Seems ordinary enough, but I've got one hell of a night life.
My name is Peter Parker, and I am Spider-Man. I used to go to bed around midnight, like most of my classmates, but ever since I got my superpowers five months ago, I live by that cliche slogan of New York City.
I got my powers the usual way. Y'know, a boy goes on a field trip to a research facility, accidentally gets bitten by a radioactive spider, and suddenly has more power than he could ever dream of. What? Not the way you did it?
Well, I sure as hell didn't know what to do with my newfound capabilities. I made some bad choices that had even worse consequences, but that all led to me becoming New York’s very own superhero! Yeah sure, the Avengers are a thing, but they’re mostly off world dealing with galaxy level threats. I’m more your garden variety hero; a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, if you will.
But that’s just my alter ego. Peter Parker’s life is...not so glamorous. I mean, I take the seven to school, that should be all you need to know. But webfluid doesn’t grow on trees so there I was, smushed in a metal tube with a bunch of other highschoolers on their morning commute. I got off at Grand Central and walked a couple blocks down 42nd to a small cafe. To say it was a hole in the wall would be generous. It didn’t even have a sign with a name and the smell from the Thai food restaurant on the left mingled strangely with the laundromat to the right, but they made a mean banana smoothie. I met my friends there before school every day.
Harry and Gwen were already at our usual table. Harry slid over my drink as I set down my bag. “I had a feeling you would be late so I ordered for you.”
“Thanks,” I fished three dollars from my pocket and handed them to him.
He shook his head. “Not necessary, Pete. It’s just a smoothie.”
I glared at him until he sighed and took the cash. Harry might be the son of a multi-billionaire, but I hated when he tried to buy everything for me. He thought I was overreacting, but I knew Harry. If I let him buy me small stuff it would just escalate until he bought me and my Aunt May a penthouse.
Gwen ignored the whole thing. She was typing away at her laptop, her milkshake starting to melt.
“What’s she working on?” I pointed at her. If I interrupted her flow she’d probably bite my head off. Which wouldn’t even be the first time someone had tried that this week. Don’t ask.
“Final touches on the English paper.” Harry shrugged.
I sat down heavily in the booth next to Harry. “The English paper!”
Gwen raised her eyebrows without pausing her work. “You forgot didn’t you?”
“Forget? Me? No way.”
“You totally did,” Harry sighed. “We’ve had two months to work on it. What have you been doing this whole time?”
Catching muggers, thugs, and being a general nuisance to criminals all over the city. But of course I didn’t say anything. Harry and Gwen didn’t know about my extracurricular activities. No one did. You’d think I would be better at managing my time between school and heroism by now but...I wasn’t. “Look, English is my last class, I can finish before then!”
“How you manage to keep a 5.0 GPA is a mystery to me.” Gwen closed her laptop. “But let’s not shame poor Peter anymore. Did you guys see the news last night?”
I had a feeling I knew exactly what Gwen was referring to, but I just shook my head.
“You talking about that botched bank robbery on 50th?” Harry leaned forward.
“Yeah, except it wasn’t just botched,” Gwen smirked. She loved having a good story to tell. “I overheard my dad on the phone, they think it was that new vigilante!”
“The spider dude? No way!” I tried not to cringe as Harry butchered my name.
Spider- Man. How hard was it to get some proper branding?
“How come no one can get a solid video of the guy,” Harry was saying. “I mean, a city full of millions of people constantly on their phones and all we have is low frame surveillance footage to prove he even exists.”
“He’s too fast,” Gwen said with an air of authority. Her father was a police captain so she got all the secondhand information. As far as she and Harry were concerned, that did make her the authority on Spider-Man. Except for the fact that I was sitting right next to them. “Even if someone did get a good video, he’d probably still be a blur. It would take some real photography equipment to get anything usable. But you still wouldn’t be able to find him. The guy is as elusive as the t.v. remote when an annoying commercial comes on.”
Wow, my first compliment as a hero. I tried not to get too emotional. The truth was, I’d love to tell them both. I’d been friends with Harry all my life and with Gwen almost as long. I felt guilty lying to them, but how do you even start that conversation? Hey friends, sometimes I run around the city in spandex beating on bad guys. Not exactly the easiest conversation to have.
“My dad doesn’t think he’s real. Faked videos and conspiracy theories and all that,” Harry pointed his finger at me. “But I bet he’s legit.”
“Oh he’s real alright,” Gwen folded her arms. “My dad says the police are on high alert for him.”
Oh great, just what I needed. The undivided attention of the NYPD. I set my smoothie down. Suddenly I didn’t have much of an appetite.
“What do you think of him, Pete?” Harry asked.
“What makes you guys so sure it’s a he? Women can be vigilante crime fighters too. Just look at Black Widow.”
Gwen rolled her eyes. “They’re pretty sure he’s a guy. All his victims agree that he has a male voice. By all accounts, he apparently talks a lot while he fights.”
Well at least my witty banter made an impression on all the baddies I’d caught. Though I didn’t like the word victims. Sounded a bit too violent. " Hey, it’s almost seven thirty, we should get to school.”
“This early?” Gwen checked the time on her phone.
Harry laughed. “He probably wants to spend a few minutes on his paper before class starts.”
What I really wanted was a topic change. Whenever they talked about Spider-Man I always got nervous. The only things safeguarding my identity were a red mask and my big fat mouth. I’d hate to accidentally give away my secret.
We left the cafe. Sadly Gwen and Harry took their spider-theories to the streets.
“He’s gotta be some billionaire,” Gwen asserted. “With those webs he uses, he probably spends a fortune in the manufacturing cost alone, forget about the research and testing it takes to come up with the formula.”
Harry pursed his lips. “Not necessarily. He could be backed by a corporation. That would explain why my dad hates to talk about him. He’s probably mad Oscorp didn’t think of it first.”
I kept walking with my mouth shut and my hands in my pockets. They couldn’t be farther from the truth. In reality, the webfluid I made was so dense that even just one cartridge could last me two weeks if I was careful. As for the chemicals, I may have liberated them from the chemical supply closet at school. But in my defense, Midtown’s chemistry class wasn’t too advanced and they never would’ve used them anyway.
“Hmm,” Gwen frowned. “I still think he operates alone. If a whole team of scientists was involved there’s no way no information would slip after all this time.”
“I don’t know, Gwen. To build a suit that provides that level of strength and agility...seems unlikely it’s just one guy.”
“Oh come on,” Gwen threw her hands in the air. “Peter, you’re on my side aren’t you?”
I was actually on neither of their sides. My agility was all me, not some advanced combat suit. They’d lose their minds if they found out I really sewed the suit myself with materials I found in May’s fabric container in the basement. I still hadn’t worked out the kinks in the lenses, but nevermind that.
“Uh,” I looked up from the sidewalk, “I guess it isn’t impossible that he works alone. He could be another billionaire genius like Iron Man, but logically speaking, Harry’s explanation is more likely.”
“Yes!” Harry held his hand up for a high five. I nervously held my hand up. Proportionate strength of a spider was a hard thing to control, so interactions like this were stressful. I was still new at this, what if I gave Harry knuckles without focusing and accidentally punched him through a wall? But the high five went off without a hitch, Gwen and Harry none the wiser to the mental hoops I was throwing myself through for little, everyday things.
Thankfully we got to Midtown High in time to avoid any more questions.
“Okay guys, I’m off to the computer lab.” I waved goodbye.
“You’ve been saving for a laptop for over a year,” Gwen said, curse her memory. “How close are you?”
“Super close,” I lied. Most of my spare cash, which wasn’t much, went to suit repairs and fine tuning the more delicate aspects of my costume like the lenses and web shooters. My computer savings were nearly gone. “Besides, I can work on documents on my phone!”
“Which is really surprising.” Harry grimaced. “That thing is barely better than a flip phone. If you’d just let me help out-”
“Thanks, but you know I can’t take your money, Harry.”
Harry sighed. “Yeah, yeah. You’ve gotta make your own way in the world. But still-”
“Bye, Harry!” I cut him off, running for the computer lab. “Bye Gwen!”
I reached the doors and glanced back. Harry and Gwen were exchanging worried looks, making me feel even guiltier. They were my best friends. Sooner or later they were going to figure out something was up. Why did I have to go and make friends with the two smartest teenagers in all five boroughs? And why did I think lying to them was a good idea in the first place? I’d never let them see it, but I was really stressed out, like, all the time.
I sighed and continued to the lab. Maybe I should think about coming clean.
By some miracle I managed to finish my paper before English. Not my best work, but I was confident it was at least a B. After the final bell I texted Harry something about needing to pick up groceries for Aunt May before sneaking out one of the school’s back entrances. I’d already put my costume on underneath my clothes in the bathroom, so now it was only a matter of finding a nice quiet ally to take my street clothes off. Good thing New York has plenty of allies. In no time at all I was perched on a fire escape twelve stories up. The metal creaked as I shifted my weight. Down below me people walked along the sidewalks. Kids travelled in groups, jostling and pushing each other, excited to be out of school.
I was trembling with excitement as well. The metal groaned one final time as I jumped off and fell through the air. The wind roaring around me was a sound I would never get over. Once I passed the fifth floor windows, I shot a web, continuing to fall until the line went tight and my momentum carried me forward and up.
“Whoohoo!” I yelled out, reaching the top of the swing.
People turned their faces up with expressions that varied from wonder to annoyance as I thwiped my way west on 23rd. I felt my muscles loosen up, all the tension and stress from the day just melting away. Slingshotting myself across Manhattan was the most amazing feeling in the world.
Relaxation time ended when I heard a startled cry below. A man with his hood pulled up was taking advantage of the afterschool crowds for a little purse snatching. I folded my arms against my sides, shooting down towards the street like an arrow. At the last second I grabbed a streetlight, swinging around it several times before stopping in a squat. The man was running my way with his shoulder down, shoving pedestrians out of his way. Luckily that kept his attention on the ground, not on spiders falling from the sky. I shot a web as he passed that attached to his ankles. I gave it a tug, pulling his feet out from under him.
He dropped the purse with a yelp, thrashing wildly.
“Hey, careful down there!” I called out, pulling the web up. “Wouldn’t want me to drop you. That hoodie probably doesn’t offer the best protection from smashing your face on the concrete.”
“What the hell!” He continued struggling. “Lemme go, you freak!”
“Nah,” I stuck the web to the metal between my feet as soon as he was high enough to hang over everyone’s heads. Already a big crowd had gathered. “Just call it a citizen’s arrest or something.”
I jumped down to the ground to survey my work. The man was trying to bend up and free his legs. I took the opportunity to web his hands to his ankles as well.
“There you have it folks!” I turned to the crowd like I was an announcer at a sports event. “Spider-Man has done it again! One hogtied purse snatcher for the boys in blue! No need to thank me, please, hold your applause!”
The crowd eyed me with an appropriate amount of suspicion.
“Okay, maybe a little applause wouldn’t hurt.” I picked up the purse and held it up. “Anyone know who this belongs to?”
A breathless woman pushed through the crowd. “Did anyone see which way that-”
She stopped short when she saw the man in the hoodie dangling from the streetlight.
“And we have a winner,” I held out the bag. “Here’s your purse, ma’am. Hopefully nothing’s missing. If it is, just ask him.”
I turned and raised one arm to shoot another web, but the lady called out. “Hey wait! Who are you?”
I placed a hand on my chest. “Can’t you tell? I’m your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!”
I shot out a web, yanking myself into the air as soon as I finished speaking. Hopefully one of those people would call the police to get hoodie guy down before my webs disintegrated. I designed them so that continued exposure to oxygen would break down the chemical bonds after an hour. Wouldn’t want Manhattan to look like a massive spider’s nest.
“A couple more stunts like that and New York will know who I am in time for the evening news!”
I swung up and down Midtown, Chinatown, even through Hell’s Kitchen for the rest of the afternoon, but it turned out to be a slow day for petty criminals. I didn’t know if that made me happy or disappointed. Pretty soon the sun started to set. Time for all spiders to swing home. Well, all spiders that had an overprotective aunt anyway.
Just as I was making my way back east, a tingling sensation ran up my spine. It was like that game kids played, spiders running up your back. I turned in time to see a dark shape disappear behind a skyscraper.
“What are the odds that was just a giant pigeon,” I asked myself, swinging around the corner. There was no sign of whatever that thing had been. I scanned the street, but the sun was in my eyes. My powers included enhanced senses, which made things like direct sunlight nearly blinding. I was trying to get my lenses to filter out most of the input I got so I wouldn’t go into sensory overload but like I said earlier; I was still working out the kinks.
I spent a few more seconds squinting, waiting for my lenses to adjust, when I felt my spine tingle again. I jerked my head to the right as a huge shape grabbed my arm and dragged me into the air.
“Woah!” I gasped, craning my neck to get a good look at my attacker. “Y’know, I can get around just fine on my own, I don’t need an air taxi. And I’m not paying you for the ride either!”
The man laughed. He gripped my arm tighter with his...talons? Yep, those were definitely talons. I’d had plenty of close encounters with pigeons to be able to tell. This was no pigeon, though. This was a lunatic dressed in a full body mech suit with wings. He looked down and I made a very unheroic noise. The man was wearing a mask that covered the top of his face, curving down over his nose in a beak shape. The mask itself was terrifying. All green tinted glass with beady red lights for eyes.
“I had hoped to test my new suit on someone else, but when I saw you I couldn’t resist,” the man said, his voice sounding slightly mechanical as if it were run through a light modulator.
“There are better ways to introduce yourself, Pigeon-Man!” I shot a web at his mask and he dropped me in surprise.
I tumbled a short way through the sky until I positioned myself to shoot another web, swinging up to the roof of the closest building.
“Pigeon-Man?” The guy exclaimed, banking back around. He landed on the same building and swiped the webs from his mask. “I am the Vulture!”
“Cool, cool, cool,” I rubbed my chin. “But there aren’t many vultures in Manhattan, you’d get a lot more recognition as Pigeon Man. Take it from me, I’m-”
“Spider-Man, I know.”
Gee, the first time someone gets my name right and it's a crazy guy in a wingsuit. “Oh, did you see my Tinder profile?”
“What is Tinder?” Vulture seemed genuinely confused.
“It’s a- oh nevermind, you’re clearly too old to know.” I gave him the up down. He was taller than me, but when you’re only 5’4’’, everyone is taller than you. Still, this guy was unmistakably an adult.
“My sponsor was right,” Vulture growled, “you are annoying.”
“Ooh, a sponsor! Who would take an interest in little old me?” I placed my hands on my chest like I was flattered.
“That’s something you’ll never know, spider.” Vulture raised his fist. “When I crush you like the insect you are, my sponsor will be unable to deny I am ready to enact my revenge on Osborn!”
Osborn? I racked my brain for reasons he would be after Harry before I had a no duh moment. Vulture was after Norman Osborn, Harry’s dad and CEO of Oscorp Industries. I couldn’t let him get the chance.
“I have several problems with your plan,” I shot a web, snagging Vulture’s fist and pulling him towards me. “First,” I accentuated the word by punching Vulture right in the beak, “spiders are arachnids, not insects.”
Vulture reeled from my punch, landing several feet away with his wings splayed out. Was that punch too much? It was hard to tell just how much his suit protected him. I repressed a sigh of relief when he shook his head and stood up.
“Second, couldn’t you make your suit out of something softer? I would not stuff my pillow with those feathers.” I shook my hand out. “And third, what do you want with Norman Osborn? Surely you can find a more interesting person to enact revenge on.”
“You don’t know the first thing about Osborn! He’s a thief!” Vulture spread his wings and took flight, building speed as he closed the distance between us.
“A thief?” I jumped up over Vulture, launching myself off his back and knocking him back onto the roof. Best to keep this bird grounded. “The guy is a multi-billionaire, what would he need to steal from you?”
“Everything!” Vulture turned and snarled at me. Totally not scary at all. “My funding, my designs, my credibility! Norman Osborn deserves to die by my claws! That will show him how wrong he was to destroy my legacy!”
“Slow down there, buddy,” I ducked as he tried to knock me over with a swipe of his wings. “It looks like you managed fine without all that stuff. Look at you! You could make Big Bird jealous with those wings!”
“Aargh!” Vulture flew at me again. This time I rolled under him. Just as I passed underneath his wings, I felt a current of warm air. I rolled and came up in a crouch as Vulture swept in a circle around me. I focused on his tech. His wings were attached behind his shoulder blades with a battery pack. Right at the base of each wing was a vent. That’s where the hot air came from. If I could block them with my webs, there was a good chance Vulture’s tech could overheat.
I took aim, but Vulture folded his wings to dive at me.
“Come on, come on,” I whispered, holding my ground as he sped towards me. Finally he spread his wings. I got two shots off right as Vulture’s talons connected with my chest. I gasped, the wind knocked out of me as he flattened me on the roof. My head rocked against the concrete and set my ears ringing.
“Your webs are useless against me, Spider-Man!” Vulture pressed his talons down harder causing me to cry out in pain. “The Vulture has defeated this pesky vigilante!”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that, you glorified chicken!” I grabbed his talons and used all my strength to pull them off of me, slamming Vulture down to the ground.
“Give up already,” Vulture demanded, picking himself up. “Can’t you tell when you’ve been beaten?”
“Can’t you?” I shot back, one hand on my chest where Vulture’s claws had torn my suit.
“What are you talking about?” Vulture sneered. He took a step closer to me, then straightened up. “What’s that noise?”
The mechanical whirring of his suit had escalated to a high pitched whine. He frantically tried to find the source of the noise, but it was too late. Smoke started to curl up from the battery pack. A spark of electricity arced out and his wings fell uselessly to his side.
“What have you done?” Vulture cried. “You broke my suit, you insolent bug!”
“Again, arachnid. Not a bug. But if you won’t take it from me, how about we call the cops and ask them what they think?”
“I will not be so easily defeated, Spider-Man.” He raised his arm and a small device shot out from his wrist. I lost sight of it in the glare of the sun so I ducked, but I should’ve jumped. The black dot hit my shoulder and my body was jolted with electricity. I fell writhing to the ground as Vulture used his arms to prop up his wings and glided off the building.
As soon as the electricity stopped, I dragged myself over to the edge of the roof, but it was no use. Vulture was nowhere to be seen. I rolled over onto my back, my limbs still twitching painfully from being tazed. “We’ll call that a tie.”
After a few minutes I pulled myself up, all my muscles groaning in protest. I’d never fought a guy like that before. Where did he come from? Who would sponsor a maniac like that? And why did he think Osborn stole from him? Oh no. If Vulture was targeting Norman, that meant Harry could be in serious danger.
I swung a few blocks, but with each swing my arms grew heavier. I was in no condition to do anything else tonight. Hopefully the damage I caused to Vulture’s tech would prevent him from doing anything else tonight either. I swung east again, trying not to feel like a failure.
I walked along the top of the Queensboro bridge, then swung to catch the LIRR. I layed down on the cool metal, the rumbling of the train giving me a free and sorely needed massage. I jumped off as the train stopped at the Forest Hills station. I dropped down behind a gas station, the only one in the area that didn’t have cameras in the back. You start to pay attention to things like that when you have a secret identity. I changed back to my street clothes, stuffing my Spidey suit to the bottom of my bookbag. I kept the web shooter bracelets on my wrists, just in case.
I was on edge the whole walk home. I kept expecting to see the Vulture’s beady eyes around every corner. Maybe it was leftover electricity making me so jumpy. Or maybe it was the concussion. I rubbed my head. Vulture did not play around. I needed to be ready for his next attack. I should warn Harry- except I couldn’t do that without giving away my secret.
Maybe I could warn them as Spider-Man. Show up in the red and blues on Oscorp’s front door and say “Hey Norm, there’s a crazy guy in a costume after you!”. Sure, that would do the trick.
I sighed. No secret in the world was more important than Harry’s safety. I made a silent promise to myself to protect Harry and his dad no matter what. Harry would not lose his dad like I lost my parents. I trudged up the steps to my house.
“Peter,” Aunt May called from the kitchen. “You missed dinner, where were you?”
“Sorry, study group with Harry ran late.”
“I saved you a plate, come on in here.”
I did as I was asked, mostly because my stomach let out a defiant growl when I considered just going straight to bed. As soon as I came into her view, Aunt May’s smile turned into a frown.
“What’s wrong, dear?”
“Wrong? Nothing’s wrong.”
“Of course there’s something wrong. You look exhausted! Is Flash Thompson giving you a hard time again? I should really talk to that boy’s mother.”
I laughed. “Really, I’m fine. Maybe a little tired, but nothing a good night’s sleep won’t fix.”
“If you say so,” Aunt May said with a look on her face that said she didn’t buy it. She took out a plate of meatloaf and mashed potatoes from the microwave.
“Is it okay if I take this to my room? I still have some homework to finish.”
“As long as you bring the plate down before you go to sleep.”
“Thanks, May, you’re the best.”
Aunt May smiled again. “I am aware.”
I grabbed the plate and ran upstairs. Forget Harry and Gwen, if Aunt May figured out I was Spider-Man, I wouldn’t have to worry about the Vulture ever again. She would kill me on the spot. I set my dinner down on the edge of my desk and fished my mask out from my bag. I opened a drawer and grabbed a couple tools. Time to figure out these lenses. I needed to be able to see the Vulture if I was going to beat him. Maybe I could add a polarizing filter like they used on cameras. After a couple hours of work, I slipped the mask over my head. I walked over to my mirror and turned on my phone’s flashlight.
“Yes!” I shouted as my lenses narrowed and darkened my vision like they were supposed to. “Bring it on, Pigeon-Man!”
I put my mask in my bag when I was struck by another idea. I took my suit out. The little black device was still stuck to the cloth. I pried it off. Maybe I could use the Vulture’s weapons against him.