"Not sure if this counts as your friendly neighborhood spiderman anymore."
Peter Parker, aka The Amazing spiderman, was currently web-swinging through the endless urban canyons of Coruscant, the massive city-planet that stretched as far as the eye could see.
By now, this had become his daily routine
The whole situation still seemed surreal to Peter.
Back in early days, his biggest concerns were passing chemistry class and working up the courage to talk to Liz Allan. Then came the radioactive spider bite, and nine months later he found himself in space—apparently in an entirely different galaxy—fighting an interstellar war alongside the Avengers.
How in the hell had his life taken such a dramatic turn? It was beyond comprehension.
The last time he'd checked, Peter's biggest worries were homework assignments and...
Landing gracefully on a rooftop ledge, Peter sat down and pulled off his mask, his expression growing somber.
Peter ran his hands through his messy brown hair, staring out at the endless cityscape. Countless speeders and starships wove between the towering buildings like a three-dimensional highway system that defied everything he thought he knew about urban planning.
Wonder how Aunt May is doing, Peter thought with a pang of homesickness.
He could only imagine how worried his aunt must be right now. He'd been gone for so long that she probably thought he was dead. Maybe she'd gone straight to Mr. Stark for help. The thought of May crying over his disappearance made his chest tighten with guilt.
His brooding was interrupted when he spotted several LAAT gunships flying in formation toward a district where he could see a significant clone trooper presence below.
Peter's eyes narrowed with interest. He quickly pulled his mask back on and leaped from the building, shooting a web-line to catch one of the passing gunships.
He managed to stick to the hull and carefully made his way around to the open side door, poking his head inside to address the clones within.
"Hey there, Commander Thorne."
The clone troopers inside nearly jumped out of their armor at the unexpected voice, several reaching for their blasters before the aforementioned commander let out a relieved sigh.
"Maker's breath, stop doing that, Peter," Thorne said with exasperated fondness.
Peter just grinned and swung himself into the gunship's passenger compartment.
"Hey, guys," Peter said cheerfully, giving a casual wave. "Jack, Nolan, Merv. Good to see you all again."
The clones each returned his greeting, and Jack gave Peter a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"Come along for another wild ride?" Jack asked with a knowing smile.
"Ah, come on, Jack. Where's the fun in sitting around the Temple twiddling my thumbs all day?" Peter replied with a grin that was evident even beneath his mask, causing Jack to chuckle.
It was funny how things had developed. It had only been a few weeks—maybe a couple months—but ever since Peter had started patrolling Coruscant's lower levels, he'd begun encountering the Coruscant Guard with increasing frequency.
This had initially caused quite a stir among the troops, but several clones had vouched for him after he'd saved numerous lives—including several of their own—during the Zillo Beast's rampage through the city.
While it had been difficult to gain their trust at first, many members of the Coruscant Guard had gradually warmed up to Peter. After learning he was one of the Avengers—those off-world heroes who had been making quite a name for themselves throughout the Republic—their relationship had become genuinely friendly.
In fact, Peter had spent more than a few off-duty hours hanging out with various Coruscant Guard units at their barracks, sharing stories and trading jokes.
For the most part, they were great guys who genuinely cared about protecting the citizens of the capital.
There was only one notable exception who seemed to harbor some inexplicable hostility toward him: Commander Fox.
From what Peter could tell, Fox viewed the Avengers as dangerous outsiders who held no loyalty to the Republic or its ideals. And to some extent, the commander was probably right.
But in Peter's mind, the Avengers' loyalty was to something even more fundamental—the protection of innocent life, regardless of which government claimed jurisdiction.
Right now, for instance, Commander Thorne was explaining that a group of criminals had started a serious disturbance in a residential district where many working-class families lived.
"What's the situation?" Peter asked as the gunship continued flying toward their destination.
"Based on the reports we've received, it appears to be some kind of territorial dispute between rival gangs," Thorne explained, his distinctive helmet with its painted red wing design tucked under his arm. "Civilians are caught in the crossfire."
Peter looked ahead toward their destination, and the black outlines around his white eye lenses contracted slightly as he focused.
He reached into his utility belt and pulled out several small, square devices.
"Here, Thorne," he said, holding up the gadgets. "Web grenades, courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Peter."
Thorne blinked in surprise, accepting the devices and examining them curiously.
"Just press the center button—see the spider logo there?—and throw them wherever you need crowd control," Peter explained, pointing to the small arachnid emblem in the middle of each device.
Thorne nodded appreciatively, then looked up to see the young superhero backing toward the gunship's open door.
"Race you there," Peter said with obvious excitement, executing a perfect backflip out of the gunship and firing web-lines to swing ahead at incredible speed.
Thorne just stared for a moment, then shook his head and put his helmet on.
"Alright, boys, we need to hustle or he's going to handle this whole situation before we even arrive," Thorne called out, his men responding with enthusiastic agreement.
Far ahead of the gunship, Peter was web-swinging toward the sound of blaster fire and civilian screams, picking up speed with each swing.
As he approached the scene, he could see multiple groups of armed individuals engaged in a running firefight, with dozens of combatants firing at each other from behind whatever cover they could find.
Peter also spotted several clone troopers in their distinctive white armor, trying to evacuate civilians while simultaneously returning fire against the criminals.
He spread his arms wide, and web-lines shot out from his wrist-mounted spinnerets, connecting to anchor points on nearby buildings. Using the webbing like a hang-glider, he angled downward and gained speed as he approached the conflict zone.
As he drew closer, his suit's heads-up display automatically began tagging targets throughout the area.
Green tags for the clone troopers—friendly forces. Blue tags for civilians—top priority for protection. Red tags for the gang members—obvious hostiles shooting at everyone else.
Coming into range, Peter immediately fired two web-lines that caught a pair of thugs mid-stride. They were instantly encased in his synthetic webbing, stuck fast to the ground and nearby walls.
Many people in the area began looking up toward the source of the webbing, and several clone troopers immediately recognized the distinctive red and blue figure, beginning to cheer loudly.
With the arrival of their Avenger ally, the clones began moving with renewed confidence, focusing their efforts on evacuating civilians while some provided covering fire against the criminals terrorizing the street.
Less than a minute later, the cavalry arrived in the form of Commander Thorne leading his gunship squadron.
Thanks to the combined efforts of the Coruscant Guard and Peter, all the rival gang members were quickly rounded up and secured, then loaded onto transport ships bound for the nearest detention facility.
Once every civilian had been checked for injuries and evacuated from the danger zone, Thorne and Peter regrouped to debrief.
"Thanks again for the assist, Peter," Thorne said seriously, extending his hand for a firm handshake.
"Hey, anytime, Thorne," Peter replied, returning the gesture. "That's what I'm here for."
Peter glanced over his shoulder, watching as the clone troopers efficiently loaded the captured gang members onto detention transports.
"Seems like there are a lot more of these incidents lately," Peter observed with concern.
"Nothing too surprising about that," Thorne said, crossing his arms. "With the war raging across the galaxy and the recent elimination of Ziro the Hutt, criminal activity has been spiking everywhere."
"Ziro the Hutt?" Peter said with obvious confusion.
"You weren't briefed on this?" Thorne asked, surprised.
"Uh, no," Peter admitted with a shrug.
"Well... to put it simply, Ziro the Hutt was essentially the primary crime boss controlling most of Coruscant's underworld. He was arrested a while back after plotting against the Republic and was subsequently eliminated during transport..."
"Creating a power vacuum," Peter finished grimly, and Thorne nodded.
It reminded him of something similar that had happened back on Earth. When Matt had taken down the crime lord known as Wilson Fisk in Manhattan, it had initially created chaos as various smaller criminals tried to fill the void. Peter had read about it online and had always wondered what it would be like to meet the guy who'd brought down the Kingpin.
"We've got everything handled here, Peter," Thorne said, drawing the young vigilante's attention back to the present. "You can head back to your... patrol, or whatever it is you do up there."
"Definitely patrolling," Peter confirmed with a self-deprecating chuckle, causing Thorne to shake his head in amusement.
"Carry on, then, Peter."
"See you around, Thorne," Peter said, giving the commander a casual two-finger salute. "Say hi to Thire for me when you see him, okay?"
Thorne simply nodded and waved goodbye, watching as the hero turned and fired a web-line to swing away into the urban maze.
"I wish I could do that," Thorne muttered to himself, then turned back to the situation at hand and began barking orders to any nearby clones who looked available to help with the cleanup.