Dressed in his suit, Spider-Man clung with one hand to the glass facade of a skyscraper, his feet firmly planted on the vertical wall. He looked down at New York at 4 PM—the sun still high, the city bustling with traffic in late August. The debris had long been cleared, showing no trace of the Avengers' battle with the Chitauri army, as if the Battle of New York had never happened.
That was also the day this universe's Spider-Man officially donned his suit for the first time and went into action, the young spider zipping back and forth, saving people in an alien-infested New York, only no one saw him.
"A beautiful first day of school," Spider-Man muttered to himself as he swung, "Met new friends—sort of, found clubs to join, and—"
"I'm sure many of you already know about this morning's bank robbery in Queens. A group of high-tech armed robbers not only damaged the bank's load-bearing structure but almost blew open the vault! Fortunately, the Avengers arrived in time to prevent a larger disaster."
Jonah Jameson's furious face, strikingly similar to Omni-Man's, suddenly filled the giant screen on the Daily Bugle building. He waved a newspaper, roaring, "—But that's not the point! The point is, multiple witnesses confirmed that the New York street menace, Spider-Man, was also on the scene! Without a doubt, this is yet another crime orchestrated by Spider-Man and his masked accomplices!"
"Can't believe I actually counted seeing the Daily Bugle's website maintenance job as part of a good day..." Spider-Man rolled his eyes as he swung past the screen. "Maybe I should leave a 'little surprise' in the code, like 'Hey, Jonah, your hairline has receded another centimeter.'"
Swinging past J. Jonah Jameson's large face, Peter swung with one hand, Browse his phone with the other. He wanted this part-time job not just for the money—though suit upgrades definitely needed funding—but more importantly, Peter was developing a program that could monitor keywords like "fire," "robbery," or "murder" on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube in real-time. This would help him detect emergencies across New York faster, allowing Spider-Man to arrive on the scene promptly.
And with this job, he'd have a legitimate reason to spend long hours in front of the computer without worrying about Aunt May or Gwen's nagging.
Incidentally, the $900 monthly pay was enough to make three new suits or upgrade existing gear, giving those thugs he dealt with a little surprise.
"Hey! Spider-Man! Over here!"
Spider-Man, who was Browse his phone, looked over, quickly put his phone away, and swung towards the voice. The person calling him was a child who looked about four or five years old. Spider-Man landed beside him, crouching down to talk to him at eye level.
"Hey, little guy, what's up?"
"My bike fell down. Can you get it back for me?"
Next to them was an open-air section of the New York subway. A child's bicycle with training wheels lay on the tracks. If left there, it would be crushed by a subway train in a few minutes at most.
So the little boy watched as Spider-Man leaped over the concrete barrier, taller than himself. Moments later, he jumped back up with the bicycle and placed it on the ground: "Alright, kid, remember not to play in places like this... But how did you drop the bike down there? The barrier is taller than the bike?"
"Someone threw it down," the child answered honestly. "He said you'd pick it up for me."
Spider-Man's eyebrows furrowed under his mask: "Who would do something like that? Do you remember what he looked like?"
"Dark skin, lots of little braids in his hair, carrying a bag..."
A very vague and unspecific description, but a small child clearly couldn't provide more information. He could only give a few safety reminders before leaving, but he kept this strange incident in mind.
"Even Karlkin wouldn't do something so tasteless. Wait, wouldn't Karl? I'm not so sure anymore. But he's not black, anyway. Oh! Hello? Uncle Ben?"
A sudden call interrupted his thoughts. Peter squatted on the exterior wall of the building, checked the caller ID, and answered: "What's up, Uncle Ben?"
"Peter, can you—"
The shrill police siren in the background made Benjamin Parker pause: "Can you... pick up a cake for May? From that Metano Bakery we always go to. If you're busy, I can drive over now—"
"No problem, it's on my way!" Peter quickly replied, "It's on my way, just say Aunt May's name, right?"
After hanging up, he let out a light laugh, mocking no one in particular: "Expecting New York to be peaceful is indeed a luxury. Alright, time for your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man to make an appearance!"
The red figure leaped from high above, chasing after the rapidly approaching police cars.
"Suspects are fleeing south along Third Avenue, now turning onto 95th Street! Repeat, target has turned onto 95th Street!"
Chief George Stacy led his police team to set up a roadblock at the intersection of Second Avenue and 95th Street. The seemingly exaggerated display was quickly explained—a familiar blue energy beam shot from the window of a red car, instantly flipping the lead police car.
"Suspects have high-tech heavy weaponry! Return fire!" Chief Stacy decisively ordered.
The police fired back as much as possible with their handguns. The sedan seemed to sway slightly, and a suddenly appearing blue energy shield blocked all the bullets. Then, the second police car was sent flying by the energy beam, and the officers instinctively dodged the explosion, seeking cover.
"Aha!" A masked robber leaned out of the car window, holding a weapon that seemed to be technologically superior to normal firearms, excitedly firing bursts at the police cars. After successively blowing up two police cars and basically clearing the road, he saw the middle-aged police chief giving orders and immediately aimed and fired. He believed he didn't need to aim much; the gun's power was enough to send the target to meet God.
The blue beam shot towards the police car Chief Stacy was using for cover. As thick smoke rose, the robber let out a hearty laugh until he heard an unfamiliar voice.
"What's so funny, buddy?"
In the nick of time, Spider-Man swung Chief Stacy to safety with a web, then darted through the smoke, weaving a giant web across the street. The speeding car crashed head-on, its tires spinning uselessly in the sticky web, the entire vehicle stuck fast.
With a muffled thud, Spider-Man landed on the car roof.
"Complimentary convertible service!" Peter punched through the car roof, then ripped out the entire top, holding it up to reveal three startled robbers and bulging bags of jewelry. "Oh, seems the customers aren't satisfied? Remember to leave a five-star review."
"Shoot him!"
Spider-Man backflipped to dodge the energy gun's shot, trying to web up the barrel, but it was useless—the blue beam pierced through the web, and he dodged it with a sideways duck. Then, a web shot from his right wrist hooked the passenger door. The moment the passenger door was torn off by the web, the armed robber, who was about to open the door, stumbled out, his weapon also snagged away.
Peter, meanwhile, picked up the high-tech weapon he'd never seen before and examined it closely, spotting several familiar components: Chitauri technology, which he'd seen a lot of in previous months.
"Wait, this energy source... is a modified Chitauri rifle? Someone cracked this in just a few months?"
The robber in the back seat hadn't gotten out yet, but the armed passenger and the driver had. The driver was a standard tough guy, his hands equipped with glowing blue power gauntlets, while the passenger, after having his gun taken, came out with an energy shield embedded in his arm.
"You know, you guys aren't very distinct. This morning, I dealt with a guy who called himself the Shocker based on his weapon. You guys should come up with some catchy nicknames too," Spider-Man quipped, dodging punches as he walked backward with a leisurely pace. "Like 'The Boxer,' how about that? And the one in the back, 'Shield Man'? Oh, now I should call you 'Charge Man'!"
"Shut up!"
"Why does everyone always tell me to shut up?!"
As the energy shield robber charged, encased in blue light, Peter easily dodged him with a somersault, returning to the Boxer's front, focusing on dodging: "Left hook, right hook... beautiful jab! Are you done?"
The Boxer looked at his gauntlets in disbelief, seemingly confused as to why, with his boxing skills and power gauntlets, he hadn't landed a single hit.
The young spider nodded understandingly.
"Then it's my turn."
"Agh—!"
With a classic Wilhelm scream, the Boxer was punched flying, sticking helplessly to the web blocking the road. The shielded robber turned to see this, but then saw the guy in the back seat aiming a rocket launcher at Spider-Man—and directly in his own line of fire.
"No, no, no, no, no!"
"Activate your shield!"
Charge Man pressed the shield twice, but the energy shield seemed to have run out of power. It flickered twice, then died. Unfortunately, the rocket launcher had already fired, leaving him no choice but to scream in despair.
"No power!"
Peter even turned his head to double-check, confirming that this rocket would hit his teammate no matter what, then chose the simplest and most straightforward way to solve the problem.
"This goes to show, kids, always remember to bring a power bank when you're out and about."
Peter wrapped a web around the rocket, swung it directly into the sky, and then fired another web to detonate it mid-air. The flash of the explosion illuminated everyone present, leaving the guy with the rocket launcher wide-eyed.
And Spider-Man's easy shrug.
"Alright, guys, want to keep going?"