Marvels Spider-Man

Chapter 8

"I need those pictures by tomorrow morning." Jameson warned.

"Well, now Miss Watson is at Oscorp, am I assigned a new writer?" I asked, adjusting my camera that hung loosely around my neck.

Jameson looked at me with a slight glare. "What do you think?"

"Not sure, sir."

I adjusted my feet. Jameson always made me feel uneasy, but the pay was good.

"Of course I am Parker! Jesus Christ! This city is full of naive youngsters!" Jameson growled as he stood.

I nodded, "Okay," and left his office. I've already had a long day at work and Miles was at school.

Sadly there have been two robberies and Jameson was quick to note that neither Spider-Man showed up to those. Balancing Peter Parker and Spider-Man lives is harder than you would believe.

I left the office and placed my camera in the bookbag. I needed to go sit somewhere and relax, watch the sunset. I texted MJ, but there was no response. She was probably busy. She was packing and working at the same time for John, and I probably should not bother her.

I walk into a dark alley as my Spidey sense kicked in. I turn around and there are two men guarding the opening. Feeling nothing towards it, I turn around and round the corner to exit out of the other opening of the alley. There was two more guys.

I didn't walk any farther, I just slowly backed myself into a corner to keep all four men in sight. After going from crime after crime, to no crime, then right back to crime, you would think I'd expect it.

But no, I was Peter Parker in that moment. It was too dangerous to pull out the: "Hello! My name is Peter and I am Spider-Man!" card.

"What do you want?" I ask the men who slowly inched up on me.

"Nothing, really." One of the men smiled.

They were banged up homeless people. Their outfits were torn and their hats covered oily, dirty hair.

"I'm not the type you want to mess with." I warned.

Another raised his arms. "Oh no!" He mocked. "He's secretly Spider-Man!"

"Yeah right. The amount of times we've heard that!" Another replied.

I rolled my eyes. "You wouldn't be surprised how many times I've heard that."

"Shut up boy!" One of the men pulled out a knife and pointed at me. Normally, I'd smirk and not flinch. But since I was clearly dressed as an average New Yorker, I needed to play the part.

I raised my arms and shook my head. "Please, don't hurt me." I tired to quiver my voice to make it realistic.

My muscles itched to take them out.

"Hurry, the boss said take him out quick!" I heard one of the guys whisper to another.

"Okay," the other mumbled in return.

Within the next couple seconds, all four started throwing punches. I defended myself, blocking over half of these swings but allowing a few good punches in to make it look real. I even added painful grunts and moans in the mix between punches. S0. Much. FUN.

Suddenly another man, a larger one that Miles and I call Brutes, walked up with a bat. "Boss needs this done asap." He said.

"Who's your boss?" I ask, sitting up now realizing I ended up on the floor. My Spidey senses still going crazy.

"Shut up twerp!" One said.

The brute took a swing, but I quickly dodged. I started to realize that they were actually targeting me for something bigger. Someone who had it out for me, the Peter Parker side of me. I started to fight back a little bit more. The brute swung again, hitting me in the head and knocking me off my feet. I landed hard, my vision going black.

I woke up on top of the building and saw the sky had turned a darker orange. I look over and see Miles kneeled beside me, his mask pulled off to show a worried face.

"Hey man," he cracked a small smile. "What the hell happened to you?"

I sat up slowly, holding my head as a headache was letting me know it was present. "I got attacked in an alley. I was about to put my suit on but before I could these men came in and just started beating up on me."

"Why?" Miles asked as he help me to my feet.

I dusted myself off and shrugged. "They knew who I was, but they didn't know I was Spider-Man."

Miles shook his head. "I was leaving school when I felt like I need to check on you. Called you five times and decided to track you down since you didn't answer. Found you alone, bruises up in an alley. Brought you here."

"Thanks Miles." I patted his shoulder. "There's someone out there that wants me hurt, or even worse."

"I called MJ about it," Miles gave me a look. "She didn't answer. So I called someone else."

"Who?" I asked.

The door on the roof opened and Gwen Stacy walked forward. Her face falling as she saw me and she rushed over. "I came as fast as I could." She looked at Miles. Then back at me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just banged up."

She shook her head, walking over and laid her hands on my shoulders to motion me back down to the ground. "You should've fought back, Pete. I know you could've taken them."

"Yeah, well, Spider-Man was sidelined at that exact moment and didn't need anyone else knowing Peter Parker was Spider-Man." I chuckled.

"Right," she sighed, "sorry just, my dad leaves home every day with a gun strapped to his waist. I never know when he's going to make it back. I can have that same worry for you."

I looked at her. "You don't have to."

She shrugged. "Yeah, well, to be honest, I've always worried."

Miles folded his arms across his chest. "Okay, while you look him over, we need to figure out why he was targeted."

"Right. Do you remember the men who attacked you?" Gwen asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, actually I do."