Standing on a rooftop, Spider-Boy took in a deep breath, feeling the cold weather inside his body, he shivered as he stared down to the city, waiting for someone, his mentor specifically. When he heard a noise, he knew Spider-Man was there. The hero walked next to the sidekick and put a hand on his shoulder, making him grunt in pain. Spider-Man asked, concerned.
Spider-Man:"What's wrong, kid?"
The boy turned at the hero, his suit on, everything looked perfect but under the suit, that's where the trouble was. He looked at the hero's eyes and spoke with a soft voice.
Spider-Boy:"Jack O'Lantern attacked me again..."
The boy said silently, making the hero's lenses open wide, showing that he was shocked. The hero quickly pulled away his hand off the kid's shoulder and asked, concerned.
Spider-Man:"How are you? Are you okay?"
Spider-Boy gave a small smile under his mask, when he heard the hero's concern, he then slowly sat at the edge of the roof, Spider-Man following his action right after. Spider-Boy looked at the pedestrians walking on the streets and spoke.
Spider-Boy:"I have to be, for them..."
He muttered, Spider-Man quickly understood that the boy was injured
Before he could say something, Spider-Boy spoke again, this time with determination.
Spider-Boy:"It's about time I take him down."
Spider-Man smiled at the boy's determination, it reminded him of someone, someone really familiar.
Spider-Man:"You meant we."
He said, he saw Spider-Boy shaking his head. He first thought it was because of the cold, the boy couldn't stop shaking, but the sidekick spoke, showing that it wasn't for the reason Spider-Man thought.
Spider-Boy:"You never faced Jack O'Lantern, Spider-Man... I did."
Spider-Boy's gaze left the streets and turned to the hero, he tilted his gead and spoke to him.
Spider-Boy:"I lost to him twice... He killed a baby... All because of me, because I was late..."
He then turned back to the streets, with a hint of guilt in his voice, the thoughts didn't leave his mind for a second. What if Spider-Boy wasn't late? What if the baby was still alive...
Spider-Boy:"I'm gonna be the one taking him down."
Spider-Boy said, he then turned at Spider-Man and looked at his mentor, waiting for his answer on the matter. Spider-Man smiled and spoke.
Spider-Man:"You have a bright future, kid."
Spider-Boy nodded at his mentor and slowly pushed himself to his feet, Spider-Man did the same and they stared at the city. Spider-Man looked at the boy and asked.
Spider-Man:"Where do you think he will be at?"
Spider-Boy stayed silent, thinking about the question. The sound is the busy street was all Spider-Man could hear for a good minute. Spider-Boy's eyes widened as he looked at his mentor.
Spider-Boy:"Jack was looking for me, it was like he searched everywhere, specifically for me."
Spider-Man stayed silent, listening the boy as he spoke.
Spider-Boy:"It was like, he knew where I would be..."
He slowly looked down and remembered something, something he was told by his best friend, Tyrone, in his real identity.
Tyrone:"Yeah, there will be this Halloween themed amusement park at the Central Park."
Halloween themed... Amusement park, a lot of civilians... Halloween themed, a pumpkin mask could easily blend with the crowd... Central Park...
Spider-Boy jumped up and looked at the hero before speaking, as fast as he can.
Spider-Boy:"Spider-Man, call the police! Central Park will be attacked and we can't save all the civilians by ourselves!"
Spider-Man looked at the sidekick, he then nodded and jumped off the roof, swinging to the nearest police station.
Spider-Boy jumped off the building and started swinging to the Central Park, the pain he felt was immeasurable, every web he threw, every little movement made by the web-slinging sidekick hurt more than before. The cold breeze was freezing him, he never felt that bad before. His mind was killing him, what if he could save that baby? What would the baby achieve... He felt an immense amount of pain in his ribs as he tried to gain momentum. The sidekick tried to ignore the pain inside his ribs. It was like he was burning, like his whole body was on fire.
The second Spider-Boy landed in the crowd, he started looking around, turning right and left, occasionally turning around and looking again. Then from the corner of his eyes, he saw something. Something big and orange. He started running towards it, pushing people on the way. When he was close to the orange thing, it turned around, revealing a poorly made the Thing costume. The person looked at Spider-Boy and spoke, with a happy tone.
The Fake Thing:"Hey, man! Good costume!"
Spider-Boy:"Thanks, worked hard on it."
Spider-Boy then walked away, pushing around the crowd, trying to find the Jack O'Lantern. Then he finally saw it, a pumpkin headed guy, walking around. Dark green and ripped shirts and jumpers with black protection around the knees. It was him, Spider-Boy's started pushing his way towards the villain, feeling more pain in every step he took.
When he finally got to the villain, he held his arm, making the villain turn around at him.
Villain:"What the hell are you doing?!"
Suddenly, Spider-Boy's eyes started to get blurry and when they got back to normal, he realized it was just a woman, dressed as a princess. Spider-Boy started looking around again then his eyes landed on something, standing in front of a store, a pumpkin headed guy. He thought his eyes were deceiving him, what changed his mind was the villain, waving at him and showing him the orange bomb in his hands.
Jack O'Lantern then threw the bomb up in the air, before it could fall into the crowd, Spider-Boy webbed it and threw it up in the air. When the bomb exploded, chaos came to life. People running around, screaming in fear, suddenly, there was a gap between Spider-Boy and Jack O'Lantern.
The sidekick and the villain ran towards each other and Spider-Boy swung a punch to the villain. Jack O'Lantern went under the punch and when he was behind Spider-Boy, he swung his scythe to his back. Spider-Boy jumped to left, dodging the swing. He then webbed Jack O'Lantern's foot to the ground and jump kicked his face, making him stumble to the left. Spider-Boy took that chance to swing a left hook to the villain, making him lose balance and fall on the ground.
Spider-Boy tried to punch the villain's face but the villain quickly rolled to the side, escaping the punch. He then swung his scythe to the sidekick's back, making Spider-Boy flip out of the attack's way.
Spider-Boy landed on his feet and turned his head back, seeing Jack O'Lantern smirk while playing with his scythe.
Jack O'Lantern:"You never learn, do you, Spider-Boy? You can't beat me."
Spider-Boy turned his whole body around and looked at the villain, his hands were formed into a fist as he spoke.
Spider-Boy:"You're right, I can't beat you."
He then threw a web at the villain's eyes, blinding him as he spoke.
Spider-Boy:"I can kill you."
Before Jack O'Lantern could get rid of the webs blocking his eyes, he was met by an uppercut, making him fall on his back. Spider-Boy dashed to the villain and did a flip in the air, his heel managed to touch Jack O'Lantern's chest but it was nearly missing it, causing no pain to the villain. When Spider-Boy landed on the ground, Jack O'Lantern kicked his knee, making him stumble forward. The villain then caught the sidekick and threw him to the ground.
Spider-Boy shouted in pain as he made contact with the ground. He then felt his senses tingle and moved his head to the right, barely escaping from the scythe attack that was coming towards him. Spider-Boy jumped on his two feet and webbed Jack O'Lantern's hand to the scythe, that was pinned to the ground.
He the jump kicked the villain's face, making him stumble backwards, ripping the web. He threw another heavy right hook to the villain's right side, making him shout in pain. The Spider-Boy threw a left hook to the villain's ribs, making him stumble backwards. Spider-Boy webbed the villains feet, not letting him fall to the ground. He then jumped and threw two webs behind Jack O'Lantern and pulled the webs, making himself move forward, his right foot met the Jack O'Lantern's face, destroying the pumpkin. The force of his attack ripped the webs off, making Jack O'Lantern jump towards his scythe.
Jack O'Lantern managed to pull the scythe off and he quickly turned towards Spider-Boy. He then saw another spider land next to the sidekick signaling that it was all over.
Spider-Boy:"It's over, Jack."
Jack O'Lantern chuckled, he then started laughing and showed them a controller. He pressed the button and multiple explosions around the park started happening, making Spider-Man's eyes go wide.
Jack O'Lantern:"You thought I only have one bomb?!"
The villain was going crazy. Spider-Man looked at his sidekick, who nodded and spoke.
Spider-Boy:"Go save the civilians Spider-Man, I got this."
The hero nodded and ran towards where the explosions happened. Spider-Boy and Jack O'Lantern stared at each other, none of them making a move.
Jack O'Lantern:"You know, you are really better than I expected you to be, Spider-Boy. But I know..."
He said, making Spider-Boy look at him, his head tilted, the sidekick was confused even though Jack couldn't see it. Jack smirked and kept talking.
Jack O'Lantern:"You feel your body burning, even smiling and talking hurts, anything hurts..."
He then took his scythe and hit the ground with it, before saying one last thing.
Jack O'Lantern:"But don't worry, I will end it all."
He then rushed towards Spider-Boy, swinging his scythe to the sidekick. Spider-Boy ducked under the attack then threw a punch to Jack O'Lantern's stomach. Jack O'Lantern blocked the attack with his scythe's snath. He pushed Spider-Boy back and kicked his leg, making him stumble backwards. Jack O'Lantern then swung his scythe towards the sidekick's leg, only for him to jump over the attack.
Spider-Boy landed on the ground and webbed Jack O'Lantern's scythe, he then pulled it towards himself, making it fly out of Jack's hands. He then kicked the scythe while it was flying towards him. The scythe hit Jack really hard, sending him flying backwards.
Spider-Boy then jumped and before Jack could fall to the ground he pulled the boy towards himself, he punched him and then webbed his chest and pulled himself towards his chest. Spider-Boy's feet landed on Jack's chest, while still in the air. Spider-Boy pushed Jack down to the ground.
Jack tried to stand up, he was barely standing up. Spider-Boy quickly webbed the villain's neck, he then pulled him towards himself and roundhouse kicked his face, making him fall to the ground. Spider-Boy then webbed the villain onto the ground.
Standing in front of the defeated villain, Spider-Boy breathed out. He then saw the scythe and webbed it, pulling it towards himself. His attacks towards the end of the fight got worse and worse, showing Jack one thing.
The sidekick wasn't afraid of killing. Jack's eyes met the sidekick's mask. Spider-Boy looked at the scythe and spoke, mockingly.
Spider-Boy:"Your own weapon will be your end."
He slowly raised the scythe ready to strike. Jack closed his eyes, ready for his death...
It never came. Jack opened his eyes and saw the scythe was pinned, next to his head. He turned his gaze to Spider-Boy who was looking down at him.
Spider-Boy:"Death is too easy of a punishment for you... You're gonna rot in a cell, every side will be a gray, lifeless wall reminding you of who you are..."
Spider-Boy approached the villain's ear and whispered something.
Spider-Boy:"A killer, that's what you are."
He then stepped back and saw Spider-Man, staring at the hero. Spider-Man walked towards Spider-Boy and put his hand on the hero's shoulder.
Spider-Man:"You did good, hero."
They then heard the sirens and quickly left the crime scene.
Spider-Man was sitting on a rooftop, only half of his mask on. Spider-Boy was next to him, half his mask off as he was chewing the burrito that was bought by Spider-Man himself.
Spider-Man:"Your first villain, huh?"
Spider-Boy smiled and nodded, he then spoke as he placed his hand on his chest.
Spider-Boy:"Still hurts..."
Spider-Man laughed at the boy's words and nodded before speaking.
Spider-Man:"You get used to it after a while."
They then heard a crime alert coming from both Spider-Man's phones, making them look down to it.
Spider-Man:"You or me?"
Spider-Man asked Spider-Boy, who was already standing up. Spider-Boy nodded and spoke.
Spider-Boy:"I got it."
He then jumped off the rooftop, swinging towards the crime scene. Spider-Man watched as the hero swung away with a small smile on his face.
"After all, this is my responsibility... Because with great power, comes great responsibility..."
Jack O'Lantern will be back in Kingpin and the Master arc.