Chapter Text
Chapter 4: Shocking Developments
It had been two weeks since Ned’s funeral, the warm winds of August were replaced by the cool breeze of September. During this time, Peter had been acting in his new identity of Spider-Man. He was even able to create a web firing device, which he named the web-shooters. While it did take a little bit of practice, after a while Peter was swinging around the city and webbing up bad guys easily.
Something that was not easy, however, was making the costume. Luckily, he had found some useful internet tutorials on sewing, which ended up being instrumental. His costume looked similar to his drawing with his chest, midsection, hands, top half of his arms, and feet were red with black web outlines. This contrasted with his sides, legs, back, and lower half of his arms, which were completely black. He also had a black spider on his chest along with a matching red one on his back. Of course, Peter made a mask to hide his identity. The red mask covered his entire face with two white lenses for him to see through.
For those two weeks, Peter had been fighting crime. Nothing fantastical, just mostly small time, street level, problems. However, despite all the good he had done in those two weeks, public opinion on him was mixed. Half of the city adored him, while the other half despised him.
Currently, Peter was on his way to school. As he walked across the New York City streets, a white truck with green stripes sped by. Now, this would usually be a normal sight, except for two major factors. Firstly, said truck belonged to a bank given the coin bag logo on the side. Secondly, the van’s backdoors were open, with a man wielding a machine gun standing on the edge. As three police cars chased after the truck, the gunner fired his weapon at them. As the four vehicles sped away, Peter knew he had to do something. Peter pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time. The clock said he still had fifteen minutes before school started. “I can make it,” Peter thought to himself, changing his direction. He promptly ran into a dark alley, and started changing into his superhero costume.
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Meanwhile, a crew of criminals were still trying to complete their heist. There were a total of five criminals in the truck. There was both a man and a woman standing behind the machine gunner, while the leader and her boyfriend were in the passenger and driver's seats respectively. They were all wearing basic grey hoodies and sweatpants, along with black ski masks.
“I can’t shake them off!” the driver said, nervously. Suddenly, a stroke of luck happened! While the machine gunner was firing another round of bullets, one of them ended up hitting the tire of the police car in front of them. The vehicle spun out of control and crashed into a parked car. All of the cars stopped in their tracks, as the entire road was now blocked.
The machine gunner let out a hearty laugh, before turning to face his teammates. “Looks like we don’t have to worry about them anymore,” he said, with a wicked smile.
The leader gave a relaxed sigh. “Looks like it is smooth sailing from here,” she said, leaning back into her seat.
“Unless a superhero shows up,” her boyfriend responded, making a right turn.
“Baby relax, I don’t expect us to run into Iron Man or Daredevil,” the leader said, trying to comfort her lover.
“I’m more worried about this new guy called Spider-Man,” the driver said, now making a left turn.
“Spider-Man!” the woman said with a laugh. “You afraid of a guy with the powers of a fucking spider!?”
“Have you forgotten how creepy spiders are?” the man in the back yelled over.
“Yeah, my niece can’t even be in the same room as one without screaming.” added the other woman.
“All of you are acting like children,” the mastermind of the heist said with annoyance. “I bet we won’t ever see him once in our lives,” she said, confident in her luck. The driver then looked at his side view mirror, horror and panic forming on his face.
“I think you just lost that bet,” he said, motioning towards the back. The woman leaned over to her side mirror. Out there, swinging after them, was the one and only Spider-Man.
“Well shit! Looks like we have company,” she yelled, trying to prepare her comrades for a fight.
The machine gunner quickly began reloading his weapon. However, in the blink of an eye, Spider-Man swung in and kicked him to the ground, knocking the criminal unconscious instantly.
“Sup guys,” Spider-Man said, looking at the two remaining criminals. The criminals paused for a moment in confusion, before pulling out their guns. However, Spider-Man used his webs to grab the weapons out of their hands.
“Didn’t your parents tell you not to play with dangerous toys?” he said, dropping the guns and webbing them to the ground. The criminals promptly pulled out pocket knives. “I guess not,” Spider-Man said, as the man lunged at him.
After dodging, the hero kneed the criminal in the gut. This caused the man to fall on his knees, the woman ran over in retaliation. Spider-Man grabbed her by the wrists and kicked her to the ground. As she hit the ground, the webslinger promptly webbed her up. The Wallcrawler turned over to the man and punched him in the face. The criminal almost slumped out of the van before Spidey grabbed him by the collar. He then threw the criminal down next to the woman and webbed him up as well. He also webbed up the unconscious machine gunner, just to be safe.
Suddenly, his spider-sense started tingling. He turned around and saw the leader aiming her pistol at him. She then fired six bullets, but Spider-Man dodged every single one. The wallcrawler ran over and knocked the gun out of her hand. The pistol flew over and hit the driver in the head. Spider-Man slammed the leader’s head into the dashboard, knocking her unconscious. He turned around and saw how the driver was knocked out cold. He then looked through the window and saw something horrifying. A crosswalk filled with children, trying to walk to the elementary school on the left side.
The crossing guard turned to her side and saw the speeding truck. The blond woman blew her whistle and raised a stop sign, not knowing that the driver was unconscious. “Shit!” Spider-Man said, jumping out of the driver-side window. He grabbed the side of the car and spun around to the front of the vehicle.
“Okay, you got this…..hopefully,” Spider-Man thought to himself, holding onto the front of the truck. He jumped down and slammed his feet into the ground, attempting to slow down the speeding car. The vehicle slowly started to stop as Spider-Man’s feet started breaking the concrete in front of him. Finally, right in the nick of time, the truck stopped just a few inches in front of the kids.
Spider-Man stepped forward and took a deep breath. He looked over to the crossing guard and waved. “Are you okay ma’am?” he said, still clearly out of breath. All the woman could give in response was a simple nod. “That’s good,” Spider-Man said, now looking over to the astounded children in front of him.
“What about you guys? You alright?” he asked, checking in on the kids.
“YES!!!!!!” all the children yelled, amazed at what they had just witnessed. Spider-Man looked over to the elementary school and saw a massive clock on the roof. However, to Peter’s dread, the time was precisely 7:56.
“Shit! I only got four minutes before class,” he thought. “Remember, stay in school kids,” Spider-Man said, jumping into the air. He then swung off as everyone on the ground stood in astonishment.
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Peter arrived at his school and changed out of his superhero outfit. “I think I’m going to make it,” he thought, running down the school hallways. He arrived at his classroom and took a deep breath. He opened the door and saw how all the students were now looking at him. The teacher turned around, trying to see what was diverting everyone’s attention. He looked at Peter and gave a small sigh.
“Mr. Magne, you are ten minutes late! Again!” the teacher said, disappointed in his student.
“Sorry Mr. Ditko,” Peter said, rushing over to his seat.
“I am going to let this slide one last time, but if this happens again, it will be a tardy young man!” Mr. Ditko said, turning his attention back to the board. As Peter sat in his seat, he heard whispers from everyone around him. He knew balancing superheroing and high school would be difficult, but Peter was confident he could make it work.
He looked over to his left and stared at Ned’s empty desk. He then looked over to his right and saw Harry’s empty desk as well. Without his two best friends, Peter felt extremely lonely. Especially during lunch, where he would just eat by himself. Sometimes, after he finished eating, he would sneak out of school and go on patrol. In Peter’s mind, it was the best way to avoid the feeling of isolation. “I need a therapist,,” Peter thought to himself while taking notes.
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While Peter Magne was in school, someone else was making a big decision. Down on the east side of Harlem, a man was standing across from an auto shop. This special someone was Herman Schultz, a white man wearing a purple jacket with a black T-shirt underneath. He also had blue jeans and white tennis shoes. Herman took a deep breath as he pushed back his natural white hair.
“Okay Herman, you got this. Just walk in and demand a job,” the thirty-five-year-old said, now walking over to the building. He then, rather weakly, knocked on the door. A mixed woman with a green mohawk opened the door and stared at Herman. She was wearing black jeans, a white crop top, and a leather jacket with a name tag saying “ALEX CONWAY: ASSISTANT MANAGER”
“Hi, I’m-” Herman said, interrupting himself with a cough after realizing he sounded way too polite. “I’m here to see Tombstone,” he said, now sounding like a knockoff version of Christian Bale’s Batman. The woman almost laughed, not finding Herman threatening at all.
“I don’t think he’s busy right now, so you can come in,” the woman said, with a vague French accent. The woman motioned for Herman to step inside and follow her.
Herman followed the woman around the auto shop, looking at his surroundings along the way. The whole place was packed, people were stationed all around him working on either cars or guns. After around three minutes, the two found the man they were looking for.
Lonnie Lincoln, otherwise known as Tombstone, was one of the most notorious and most dangerous gangsters in New York. He was a tall man, towering over everyone else in the shop. The most notable thing about Tombstone besides his pure black suit, was his skin. It was completely grey and looked like stone. Even his hair was not immune, looking like it was carved onto him. Tombstone was talking to a random henchman before he noticed Herman and the woman standing there.
“Herman, it’s great to see you again,” Tombstone said, walking over to them. “Those gadgets you made us worked like a charm,” he added, wrapping his arm around the man.
“Oh, umm glad to hear that,” Herman said, as the two started walking.
“So what brings you back here?” Lincoln said, with a smile.
“Well…you see,” Herman said, while stepping out of Tombstone’s arm. Herman turned around, Tombstone looking at him intrigued. “I want…..no…I DEMAND,” Herman said, trying to again sound more intimidating. However, Tombstone’s attention was diverted to something going on behind Herman. Two men had just walked in from the shop’s back entrance, with them was another man with a black sack over his head.
“Just give me a quick second Herman, gotta finish some business,” Tombstone said, pushing Herman slightly to the side.
Tombstone walked over to the two men and their prisoner. The henchmen ripped off the sack and pushed the man onto the ground. The man then looked up and saw Tombstone staring down at him.
“Hey Jeremy,” he said, a wicked grin forming on the mobster’s face.
“Dear God!” the man said, getting up to his feet. “Wait! Please give me a second chance! I won’t do it again!” Jeremy said, taking a step back. The two criminals each promptly grabbed him by the shoulder so he wouldn’t move.
“I would love to, but if I gave you a pass then I would have to give everyone who steals money from us a pass so……you're kinda screwed,” Tombstone said, with a shrug. Jeremy started to breathe heavily, knowing his end was near.
“Don’t worry, you're not going to die yet, the boss would like to talk with you first” the enforcer said, as everyone else started to chuckle. Jeremy's dread had reached its limit, as fear took over every instinct. He looked to his side and saw the criminal’s gun holster.
Jeremy grabbed the gun and pushed forward, breaking the guard's grip. “AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH” he yelled, firing four bullets at Tombstone’s chest.
However, after hitting the mobster’s body, the bullets merely fell to the ground. Tombstone looked down at the bullet holes in his suit. “Dammit! This is a brand-new suit,” he said, more annoyed than anything.
Tombstone walked over and grabbed Jeremy's gun. “I guess they never told you why they call me Tombstone” Lonnie said, bending the gun. The terrified criminal stared at Tombstone, fear filling his eyes. Lincoln just smiled and punched Jeremy square in the face, the petty criminal falling to the ground like a bowling pin. Jeremy let out a grunt of pain as he grabbed his broken nose. Tombstone then bent over and grabbed him by the shirt.
“Please…no,” Jeremy said, as Tombstone raised his fist. The mobster proceeded to hit Jeremy over and over again, blood and teeth spilling everywhere. After a couple of seconds of intense suffering, Jeremy stopped moving. Tombstone got up and looked down at his handwork. Herman wanted to vomit after seeing what was left of Jeremy's face. Lonnie looked down, noticing his jacket and face were covered with blood.
“Can someone get me a towel!” Tombstone yelled out. He then pointed over to the criminal whose gun had been stolen. “Get rid of the body and next time keep your gun more secure,” he said, as Alex ran over and handed him a white towel.
Tombstone turned around and walked over to Herman, who now had a mortified expression on his face. “What were you demanding again?” Lonnie said, wiping the blood from his face.
“Well, demanding is such a strong word,” Herman said, nervously fidgeting with his hands and desperately trying to avoid eye contact. “I was more asking for a job?”
A sinister smile formed across Tombstone’s face. “Follow me,” he said, while walking away.
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In a couple of minutes they reached Tombstone’s office. Lonnie put his jacket over his chair before sitting in it. The chair was next to a metal desk with a wooden top. It barely had anything on it besides a computer and a framed picture of a little girl (probably related to Tombstone in some way). Herman saw there was not much else in the room besides a few posters with hot girls on motorcycles and a window into the auto shop.
“I thought you intended on staying freelance Herman, just selling your designs to whoever pays the best,” Tombstone said, adjusting his posture.
“Well, things change, Mr. Lincoln, and I would like to have people watching my back. Also, a steady paycheck sounds really good right now,” Herman said, with a sigh. Tombstone quickly took notice of how somber the man sounded.
“Family troubles huh?” Lonnie said, sitting up in his chair.
“You could say that,” Herman responded, not wanting to give too much information.
“Well, your inventions never failed us before, and it would be nice for us to have our own personal engineer,” Tombstone said, thinking about the offer.
“NO! Not an engineer!” Herman said, slamming his fists onto the desk. This startled the mob enforcer but also left him intrigued.
“I am sick and tired of people thinking I am nothing but some nerd who can’t accomplish anything!” he said, turning around to look through the window. “I want some action! I want to do something big!”
Tombstone thought about it for a second before an idea crossed his mind. “Well, you might be in luck,” Tombstone said, bending over to grab something under his desk. He pulled out a black box and put it on the desk. Lonnie opened it, causing Herman to walk over. Schultz looked down and saw two metal gauntlets inside the box.
Herman's eyes widened as he instantly recognized them. “Are those?” Herman said, looking over to Tombstone.
“The gauntlets you designed? Yep!” the mob enforcer said with a smile. “My boss saw their potential and had me commissioned to build them,”
“Along with that safety suit you designed as well,” he said, pointing into the case. Herman looked down and saw that underneath the gauntlets was a costume. “This was actually convenient. the big man just asked me to give these to someone and go wreck some places,”
“So why not give them to the man who helped build them,” Lonnie said, planning on killing two birds with one stone. Herman picked up a gauntlet and put it on his left arm. Even though it wasn’t turned on, he could feel the power surging through them.
“When do I start!” Herman said with a smile.
“Today!” Tombstone said, snapping Herman back to reality.
“Wait what!” the inventor said, starting to wonder if maybe he had gone over his head.
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Herman Schultz was in fact way over his fucking head. Tombstone gave him the address of the building and told him to go there right away. He thought Herman wouldn’t need any practice since he designed the gauntlets and likely knew how they would operate.
So now Herman was standing on the sidewalk, wearing his yellow and brown quilt containment suit. Luckily, he was covering up the costume with a brown trench coat and fedora. However, the mask and green visor he was wearing were still visible.
Herman took a deep breath, before walking into his target. His target was a ten-story tall office building, and at the very top was a giant red neon sign that said:
ROXXON
Inside there was a massive lobby with tons of people moving around. Herman slowly walked over to the front desk, nervous about what was going to happen. The receptionist looked up and gave the man a smile.
“Hello, how may I help you today?” she said, causing Herman to feel bad
“Ummm yeah, I’m kinda here to destroy this building. So it would be nice if you evacuated everyone out of here,” he said, not sounding confident in the slightest
The receptionist stared at him, confused at the statement. “Is this some sort of prank?” She said, putting one of her hands underneath the desk and pushing the silent alarm button.
“No, it’s not a prank,” he said, nervously. Suddenly, a security guard placed his hand on Herman’s shoulder.
“Do we have a problem here sir?” the guard said, trying to figure out the situation. Herman then started to panic, which caused him to do something very stupid. Schultz charged up his gauntlet and proceeded to punch the security guard. The man was sent flying through the window, while everyone else was screaming in terror.
“Oh shit! You okay!” Herman yelled, not intending to hit him that hard. “Wait, what am I saying? A supervillain wouldn’t apologize,” the super criminal thought, deciding to get more in character.
“You shouldn’t have tried to be a hero pal!,” Herman said, trying to sound more like a badass supervillain than a scared criminal. The receptionist jumped under her desk as two more guards rushed in. In response, Herman closed his fists and fired two concussive blasts at the guards. The blast sent them flying into the air for a few feet before landing on their backs. This time, while looking at the knocked-out guards, Herman didn’t feel any guilt or concern. Instead, he felt an immense sense of ecstasy.
“That kinda felt good!” Herman whispered before turning around. He walked over to the front desk and with his gauntlet’s enhanced strength, ripped it off the ground with one hand.
“I said EVERYONE OUT!” he yelled, throwing the desk through a wall.
“Wh…….Who are you?” the receptionist asked, scared for her life. Herman started to think about it. He knew that he probably needed some sort of codename, but he wasn’t able to think of one. Suddenly, a name crossed his mind, one that Herman Schultz felt was perfect.
“I'M THE SHOCKER!!!!!!!!” he yelled, trying his best to be overly dramatic. The Shocker then fired two concussive blasts into the air which went right through the ceiling. All of the staff started running out of the building as a little bit of debris fell to the ground. “Okay, let’s just wait a second and let everyone clear out of the building. After that, demolishing this building should be easy-peasy,” Herman thought to himself. However, things would turn out to not be so simple.
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Nearby, Peter Magne had just gotten out of school. It was a pretty lonely day and not much had happened. He was looking around trying to find a good place to open a portal home. Suddenly, Peter saw a massive explosion miles away. “Well, looks like the day ain’t over for me,” Peter thought, as he ran into a nearby alleyway.
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After a couple of minutes, Spider-Man had web-slinged to the source of the explosion, a Roxxon office building.
“Of course something blew up at Roxxon facility,” Spidey thought to himself. He then heard a loud vibrating sound coming from inside the building. Spider-Man swung in and crawled on the ceiling looking for the source of the noise. The wallcrawler looked around, analyzing the destruction. “Jesus! It looks like a tornado went through this place,” Spidey whispered, noticing how the entire lobby was almost completely wrecked. After a few more minutes of searching, the wallcrawler found his target. Inside the office area, Shocker was firing a vibrational blast at a set of desks.
“WOOOOOOOO!!! This is fun,” the costumed criminal said, taking great joy in trashing the place.
“Eesh, you really need to fire your tailor because that suit is not doing you any favors,” Spider-Man said, not impressed with his enemy's costume.
This sudden voice caused the Shocker to look up in surprise. “What the hell!” the villain said, surprised at how someone was walking on the ceiling.
“What? You never saw a guy crawl on walls before,” the webslinger said, jumping down in front of the Shocker. “Now, care to explain why you’re turning this office building into your own personal wreck room?”
“Listen man, I don’t want a fight. I’m only tearing this place up for my job,” Shocker said, not wanting to fight.
“Look man, I understand the economy is shit right now, but this is not a good way to make some cash. People are going to get hurt if you keep doing this,” Spider-Man said, trying to reason with the supervillain. “Just turn yourself in, and maybe we could see about getting you a better job than…..this,” he finished, motioning towards the Shocker’s atrocious outfit.
Shocker paused for a moment, thinking about the offer. He didn’t want to hurt anyone and a part of him wanted to stop. Suddenly, thoughts of joining Tombstone’s gang and the fear of being alone entered Herman’s mind. “Look kid, can you just move? I really need to get this job done!” Shocker said, clenching his fists.
Spider-Man let out a sorrowful sigh. “I’m sorry, I can’t let you do that,”
“Well, if you get hurt, that’s your own damn fault for picking a fight with the SHOCKER!!!!” the villain said, raising his fists in the air. Unfortunately for the Shocker, instead of being intimidated, his opponent started to laugh hysterically. Spider-Man almost rolled on the floor laughing so hard!
“Your name is the shocker!” the webslinger said, almost crying in laughter. “I was afraid Spider-Man was a cheesy name. Thanks for letting me know they were even worse options.”
Herman started to feel nothing but rage towards the mocking superhero. Shocker then aimed his gauntlets and fired a gigantic blast of vibrations. Spider-Man was too busy laughing to react in time, causing him to be launched a couple feet back into a stone pillar. The wallcrawler hit the column with a thud before falling to the ground (leaving behind a massive crater in the pillar as well)
“Not so funny now!” Shocker yelled, cracking his knuckles.
Spider-Man got up from the ground and looked over towards the yellow and brown supervillain. “Nope, I still think the shocker is a funny name,”
The Shocker growled and fired another blast. However, Spider-Man effortlessly jumped over to the attack and landed on the ceiling above Herman. “I was only hired to mess with Roxxon!” the villain said, looking up at the hero. “You didn’t have to get involved!” he yelled, firing another blast of concussive energy.
Spider-Man jumped out of the way and used his webs to grab a massive boulder of debris. “Regardless of who owns it, blowing up a building is not really something I could ignore,” Spidey said, throwing the debris at Shocker.
The criminal fired a blast of energy, reducing the boulder to rubble. However, the dust blocked his vision and prevented him from seeing Spider-Man. The webslinger quickly jumped over and punched Shocker in the face.
“HOLY SHIT! HOW HARD CAN THIS KID PUNCH!” Herman thought, while taking a step back. Shocker charged up and tried to hit Spider-Man with a concussive fist. However, the wallcrawler dodged and punched him in the stomach. Herman fell onto his back, gasping for air.
“I need to get out of here!” Shocker thought. He aimed his gauntlets to the ground and blasted himself forward, jumping into the air like a frog. The vibration villain busted through one of the broken windows and landed on the street outside. Spider-Man swung after him, landing right in front of Shocker.
Shocker charged his fist again but the webslinger ducked. He then moved behind Herman and webbed his gauntlets to the ground. Spider-Man promptly axe kicked Shocker in the head, causing the villain to fall to his knees. The wallcrawler looked at his enemy and noticed how he was incapacitated. “Well, it looks like my job here is done,” Spider-Man said, feeling like his mission was complete.
Suddenly, his Spider-Sense tingled as Spider-Man started to hear sirens. Four police cars quickly arrived at the scene and stopped a few feet away from Spider-Man. The officers got out of their cars and aimed their guns at the masked marvel.
“Hands on your head now!” a cop yelled out angrily.
“Wait what!” Said a shocked and confused Spider-Man.
“You are under arrest!” The same cop said. He was a middle-aged white man with brown hair and a mustache. He looked unreasonably angry, even before he started yelling at our favorite wall-crawling crime fighter.
“For what! I just stopped Mr. Supervillain over there” Spider-Man said, motioning over towards the captured Shocker.
“All we see are two freaks tearing up private property,” another cop yelled.
“Okay, that’s just rude!” Spider-Man said, pointing towards the officer who spoke.
“We will not say this again! Hands on your head now!” the first cop yelled back. Suddenly, an empty can hit Spider-Man in the head.
“Ow!” he said, looking down at the can. Spidey looked over to his right and saw a few feet away a crowd of people had formed. They were all angry and trying to throw things at Spider-Man, yelling insults the whole time.
FREAK!
WEIRDO!
GET OUT OF NEW YORK!
Why are we yelling at him? Didn’t he just stop that dude from destroying a build-
STOP HIDING BEHIND THAT MASK LOSER!
The hateful words of the crowd affected Peter greatly. He knew that some people wouldn’t agree with his actions, but nothing on this scale. It honestly hurt Spider-Man, seeing how many people despise him.
Suddenly, another police car drove up and parked next to the others. Stepping out of it, came a familiar face to the webslinger. “Is that Detective Dewolff?” Peter thought, recognizing the officer.
“Detective Barr, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” she said, marching over to the first officer.
The brown-haired cop let out a massive sigh, annoyed at the appearance of Jean Dewolff. “We are in the middle of arresting a suspect. Which you have no right to interfere in, might I add!”
“Well, according to my information, your “suspect” has not been accused of any crime,” Dewolff said, angry at how impulsive the other cops were acting. “Also! You are currently allowing multiple citizens near an active crime scene, might I add!”
“Finally, someone here with common sense,” Spider-Man said, somewhat relieved.
“However,” Dewolff said, turning over to face the hero. “We would still like you to come in for questioning.”
“OH C’MON!” the webhead shouted, infuriated at Dewolff’s response.
“Wait a second, what’s the fucking difference between those two things?” Barr said, even more agitated than before.
“The difference is I was going to ask nicely instead of just pointing a gun at him,” Jean responded, having enough of her rival detective’s stubbornness.
“I don’t have time for this, can I just leave!?” Spidey yelled over, feeling like this was a giant waste of time.
“NO!” Barr and Dewolff shouted at the exact same time. Spider-Man let out an annoyed teenager growl, like a kid being told he can’t go play with his friends.
Unfortunately, since everyone was distracted, they didn’t notice the Shocker was starting to get up. “Can’t go to jail” he whispered, starting to charge up his gauntlets.
Spider-Man’s spider-sense started ringing like crazy. “EVERYONE GET DOWN!!” the hero yelled, causing everyone to look at him. Everybody then noticed Shocker was about to use his gauntlets and hit the ground immediately. Just in time too, because Schultz let out a massive shock wave, launching himself into the air. Spider-Man, on the other hand, was knocked back into the building across the street.
After the dust settled, Spider-Man stood back up. He looked over and saw how Shocker was gone from sight. “No, no, no, no” Peter whispered, terrified that the villain got away. He then turned over to look at the cops, staring directly at both of the detectives. While he was wearing a mask, it was pretty easy to tell he was pissed.
“GOD DAMMIT!” Spider-Man said, jumping into the air. A majority of the cops wanted to stop him, but they were too concussed by the shock wave to respond in time. So, the webslinger just swung away, angry at the events that transpired.
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The Shocker landed on a rooftop hundreds of feet away. However, he landed too close to the edge and started to lose his footing. “Wooah!” Herman exclaimed, falling off the edge of the building. Luckily, he landed in an alley-way dumpster, which broke most of his fall. Shocker let out a deep breath and took off his mask.
“Dammit,” he said, looking at the heaps of trash he was surrounded by. He then jumped out of the dumpster and saw no one was in the alley. Herman pulled his phone out of the suit’s pocket, and called Tombstone’s number. “Hopefully he has a contingency plan,” Herman thought.
After a few seconds, the call was answered. “Herman, you have royally fucked this up,” the villain said, barley holding back his anger.
“It’s not my fault, I didn’t know that spider-guy would show up,” Herman said, nervously trying to justify his failure.
Tombstone let out a very audible sigh. “You're right, there is no way you could have predicted Spider-Man’s interference,” he said, in agreement.
“Look, you gotta help me!” Herman pleaded. “I need an extraction team or a safe house! Please, I beg of you, do something!”
“Fine,” Tombstone growled. “I might be able to get some of my guys to pick you up and getcha ya out of town,”
“Out of town?” Herman said, confused. “I know I screwed up, but I can’t leave the city! Besides, no one saw my face," he said, not agreeing with Tombstone’s plan.
“Yeah but now every cop in the city is looking for…..what did you call yourself?” Lincoln said, snapping his fingers in an attempt to remember. “Oh right, The Shocker!” he said, clearly not impressed by the name. “Hell, you might have gotten the attention of even bigger agencies!”.
”Like the FBI?” Herman asked, wondering what the mobster meant.
“Nope, even bigger!” Tombstone said, a tiny touch of fear in his voice.
Herman's heart started beating rapidly as panic took over. “Tombstone, I know I messed up, but please, there’s got to be another way! I can make it up to you! Please give me one more chance!”
“I’m not giving you a second chance! BECAUSE YOU HAVE ALREADY BLEW UP YOUR FIRST ONE. SO YOU BETTER SIT YOUR ASS THERE WHILE I CLEAN UP YOUR FUCKING MESS,” Tombstone yelled. Then the mobster hung up on Herman.
“No, no, no, no, no,” Herman said, trying to call back. However, instead of getting a call back, all he got was the answering machine.
“Sorry, but the number you are trying to reach is unavailable,”
“GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!” Herman yelled, throwing his phone across the alley. Herman needed the money, and needed to be a part of that gang. Schultz fell down to his knees, tears forming in his eyes.
“Mom, I’m sorry,” he said, glad his mom couldn’t see how much of a disappointment Herman became. His thoughts then switched from sadness to desperation.
“I need to do something to get back into Tombstone’s good graces. I gotta do something big,” Herman thought. He then ran into the street, looking for anything to solve his problem. Suddenly, Herman saw the answer to all of his prayers. Down the street, sat a Roxxon electrical plant. Schultz just put on his mask, knowing what he had to do!
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Meanwhile, Peter decided not to go home. He was still upset over what happened and needed time to cool off. So, Peter decided to go and visit the warehouse.
For those of you who have forgotten, the warehouse was an abandoned building that many teenagers tend to visit. Luckily, Peter was visiting when nobody seemed to be around.
He was now on the roof of the building, having already changed back into his civilian clothes. As Peter leaned on the railing, he kept thinking about the day's events. “If the cops weren’t so busy harassing me, Shocker would currently be in a cell right now. Instead, that man is free to be a danger to himself and others.”
What hurt Peter even more was all the things that the crowd of people yelled at him. He didn’t want any gratitude or appreciation, but not being called a “freak” or “weirdo” would be nice. The vile and venom shown by the crowd was making Peter reflect on his decisions. “Maybe this superhero thing was a mistake?” Peter thought for a moment. He then let out a deep sigh and gazed across the skyline of New York City.
“You come here often,” a British voice said, startling Peter. The teen turned around and saw a girl sitting on top of the old elevator. She was around Peter’s age but three feet taller. The girl looked like a classic raven-haired goth with a black jacket and boots. She also had blue jeans and a black beanie with a star. Something else that was noticeable was her pale skin. The girl looked like she hadn’t been outside in years.
“Um yeah, I go here to clear my mind,” Peter said, awkwardly.
“Same,” the girl said, looking over towards the city skyline.
There was a moment of silence, neither teen wanting to speak. Peter looked over towards the stranger and decided to break the silence. “So what are you up here for?”
“None of your business,” the girl said deadpanned.
“Oh….ok” Peter said, deciding not to push the subject further. They sat in silence again, until the girl looked over towards Peter. She saw how stressed out he looked and a sense of pity formed inside her. The goth let out a sigh and jumped down from the ledge.
“Personally, I don’t give a shit, but it looks like you’re about to explode if you don’t talk to someone,” the goth said, now standing right next to Peter.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” Peter said, not wanting to be a bother. However, the emotions within Peter started to boil up. “Okay, it is something!”
“Here we go,” the girl said, somewhat sarcastically.
Peter grabbed the railing, trying to think of how to best phrase his problem. “Have you ever done something and afterward people give you flak for it?” he said, looking over to the goth.
The girl shrugged in response. “No, I’m not really a people person.”
“Okay, well, I have been doing something and I thought it was helping people. But some guys messed it up and another group of people said some really awful things. So now, I’m just wondering if it’s even worth it.”
Peter took a deep breath, a heavy weight having been lifted off his chest. The girl next to him just paused and processed the information. After a few seconds of thinking, she asked him one simple question.
“Is this thing you're doing important to you?”
“Yes, very important” Peter responded, solemnly reflecting on his past.
“Well dumbass, screw what other people think!” she said, turning to look him right in the eyes. “If this thing means something important to you, then keep doing it. So, a few people didn’t like it, do you really want other people to dictate your life?”
The teen processed what his peer said and agreed with the sentiment. “You’re right,” he responded, taking her words to heart.
“The logic is pretty fucking simple, unless you’re a moron,” she said, now diverting her attention back to the city skyline.
“Ok, enough with the aggressive positivity. You’re starting to sound like an angry self-help video,” Peter said. This snarky remark caused the girl to let out a small laugh.
“You know, when you're not being stupid you're actually pretty funny,” she said, smiling.
“That’s just a part of my charm,” he responded, with a smirk. “In all seriousness, thank you, this really helped me.”
“Great, therapy session over, where’s my money?” the goth said, jokingly holding out her hand. Despite her sarcastic demeanor, the boy’s gratitude greatly affected her. The teenage girl didn’t think she would be of any help to others and was surprised by Peter’s appreciation.
“Hm, you wish Lucy,” the other teen said with a smirk.
“Who’s Lucy?”
“Just this old cartoon character from charl-”
Suddenly, the ground began to violently shake, causing the two teens to step back from the railing. The tremors were so strong, they both nearly fell over. Then, as quickly as it started, the shaking stopped.
“Was that an earthquake?” the girl said, trying to catch her bearings.
“Those are pretty rare here in New York,” Peter said, having never encountered an earthquake during his time in the city. Instantly, the lights of the surrounding buildings began to go out. Each structure losing power like a light bulb getting turned off. The teens quickly went back to the railing and looked down at the streets below. In accordance with the buildings, the streetlamps were shutting off one by one.
“What the hell? All the powers gone,” the girl said, looking at the darkened streets.
“There must be something going on with that new power plant they built!” Peter responded, trying to offer an explanation.
“Some new power plant,” the girl scoffed.
“Yeah, that’s what happens when you outsource to Roxxon,” he snarked, still not impressed by the company's science skills. Suddenly, a moment of clarity hit Peter, along with a nightmarish possibility.
“Wait, could it be Shocker? No, he wouldn’t!” he thought. Peter then remembered something Shocker said during their battle.
“I was only hired to mess with Roxxon! You didn’t have to get involved!”
Peter needed to get out of this conversation and go stop whatever mad plan Shocker was doing. “Shit! I have to go check on my mom,” he said, turning around. In almost the blink of an eye, he had sprinted all the way to the stairs. “Gotta Go! Bye! Thanks for the advice!” he said, quickly running down said stairs.
The girl just stood there, staring at the empty space where Peter once stood. After a few seconds, she just shrugged it off, and began to walk away. “I should probably get home before dad worries,” the girl said to herself, planning to leave the rooftop. She then started to reflect on the boy she had just met. He was quite the strange guy, but no one else had made her smile and laugh in a long time. “Weird but nice” were the only words the girl could use to describe Peter Magne.
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Jean Dewolff was trying to figure out what the hell was going on! She was just driving around Fifth Svenue until the power started going out. Everything from the lamp posts to the traffic lights were down. Now, the detective was driving to the nearby power plant to investigate.
She arrived at the gigantic facility and parked right in front of it. Jean picked up her police radio and talked into it. “Hey can we get some more people down at the Roxxon power plant? The entire Upper East Side is completely out of power right now!”
Strangely, no one responded to Detective Dewolff’s call. “That’s odd! Someone should have answered by now!?” she thought, clipping the radio to her belt. Dewolff stepped out of the car and prepared to enter the building.
Suddenly, the sound of burning rubber entered her ears. She turned around and saw a car speeding by, obviously going above the speed limit. The vehicle drove to an intersection where it collided with another car coming from the left side. The vehicles spun out of control, like bumper cars. After a few seconds, they stopped moving and were parked across from each other. The hood of both of the cars looked completely wrecked.
“Oh shit!” Dewolff said, running over to try and help. However, in the blink of an eye, Spider-Man arrived and landed in the middle of the two cars. He went over to the first car and ripped open its destroyed door.
“Are you okay sir?” he asked, helping the driver out of the car. The man nodded his head, as the other driver stepped out of his car. The man then politely pushed off Spider-Man and yelled at the second driver.
“WATCH WHERE YOUR GOING JACKASS! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED US!”
“THE TRAFFIC LIGHTS ARE DOWN AND I DIDN'T SEE YOU! MAYBE DON’T DRIVE LIKE A FUCKING MANIAC!” the other man responded, marching closer to them.
Spider-Man stepped in between them, attempting to deescalate the situation. “Hey! With the power down, neither of you should be on the road right now,” he said.
“I need to get my wife to the hospital now!” the first man said. Spidey walked over to the back of the car, which was luckily undamaged from the crash. Through the back window, the webslinger could see a very pregnant woman.
“Oh crab! How can I stop Shocker and get her to a hospital!” Spider-Man thought, knowing he was running out of time. Detective Dewolff walked over and stood right next to the webslinger. Spidey turned around and looked at the officer, sensing no harmful intent from her. With his spider-sense deeming her safe, the wallcrawler did something he had never done before.
“Officer please, Shocker is tearing up the power plant and I need to get this woman to the hospital!” he said, asking for help. Even though he wore a mask, Jean could see his desperation. So, Detective Dewolff decided to do something she hoped she wouldn’t regret.
“You stop Shocker, I’ll get them to a hospital,” she said, going to open the back door.
“I can get them to the hospital faster than you!” Spider-Man said, still unsure.
“If you don’t stop him, more people will get hurt,” Jean responded, helping the pregnant woman to her feet. Jean Dewolff looked over to the teen and saw how he wasn’t a hundred percent sure.
“I need you to trust me!” She said, now looking directly at him. After a few seconds of thinking, Spider-Man decided to do something that he hoped he wouldn’t regret. The webslinger jumped up into the air and swung over to the power plant, ready to confront the shocker.
“Everyone get in the police car!” Dewolff said, motioning towards the car. The second driver and the husband helped the pregnant woman into the back as Dewolff got in the driver’s seat. She started the car as the second driver got into the passenger seat, with the first driver staying in the back with his wife.
As the detective drove off, she had one last glimpse at the power plant. “Don’t let us down,” she thought, as the building left her view.
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Luckily for Spider-Man, the power plant was mostly outside, making it easier for him to land. He had already stopped ten other accidents from occurring on the way there, so he was quite eager to put an end to this madness. The whole place was absolutely wrecked, sparks flying everywhere he looked. Hell! Half of the ten electrical towers powering the place had already fallen!
Spidey then noticed two downed security guards near the entrance. He ran over and was relieved to discover they were just unconscious. “This is going to get real messy, so let’s make sure you're safe and comfy,” Spider-Man said, as he started to make two web cocoons.
After a couple of minutes, he was confident the guards were all nice and snug. Spider-Man picked the cocoons up and placed the two in the corner. “Now you kids have nap time, while I put Shocker in time out,” Spidey said, walking away.
The ground started to shake, almost causing the wallcrawler to fall. Spider-Man looked over and predictably saw the shocker. However, his movements were more unhinged and frantic, like a dog with rabies. “Hopefully, I can find a way to talk him down,” Spidey thought, walking closer to him.
“SHOCKER! YOU HAVE TO STOP!” Spider-Man yelled. The villain turned around and growled at the webslinger.
“Why won’t you leave me ALONE!” Shocker yelled, firing a seismic blast. Spider-Man effortlessly jumped out of the way and landed on one of the fallen towers.
“You have to listen to me! You’ve already taken out the power for the nearby neighborhoods,” Spider-Man pleaded. The shocker fired another seismic blast, causing Spider-Man to jump to the electric tower on the villain’s left. “That includes things like hospitals and traffic lights. You could even blow up ten city blocks if you do too much damage to this place!”
“Why should I care! This city hasn’t done a damn thing for me!” Shocker said, firing another blast.
“Look, New Yorkers aren’t my biggest fans either, but they don’t deserve to die,” Spider-Man said, jumping over the attack. He then fired a web that hit Shocker right in the face, blinding the villain. The masked marvel promptly tried to swing over to his opponent.
Unfortunately, Shocker was able to rip the web off. “YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” Shocker roared, hitting Spider-Man right in the face with a supercharged fist. The blow sent the webslinger flying across the power plant and into the back wall.
“That hurt a lot more! Shocker must have turned up the power on his gauntlets!” the hero thought while getting up.
“You don’t know what it feels like to be alone! For all of my life the only person who was ever in my corner was my mother!” Shocker yelled, marching over towards the wallcralwer.
“I do understand!” Spider-Man said, starting to relate to the costumed criminal. “For the longest time it was just me and my mother. We felt so alone, like we were the only ones who cared for each other. Despite this, we realized we were never really alone. I found friends, my mom even found love. Shocker, you aren’t alone!”
“Nice speech web-head! But unlike you, no one came and saved us!” Shocker said, firing another vibration blast. Spider-Man ducked easily, but Shocker quickly ran over and punched the webslinger right in the chest. This caused the hero to fall onto his back as Shocker stood above him.
“When we were on the verge of homelessness, no lover or friends came to help! Even our Rabbi abandoned us! That job you stopped was my ticket to a better life! I could not only get a decent pay but finally find some people to belong with! AND YOU RUINED IT!” the villain roared, punching Spider-Man in the face. He then kept punching the webslinger over and over again, yelling with each hit.
“YOU RUINED IT!”
“YOU RUINED IT!”
“YOU RUINED IT!”
“YOU RUINED IT!”
“YOU RUINED IT!”
“YOU RUINED IT!”
The Shocker stopped and took a stuttered breath. “Now, I just hope all this destruction will impress them enough to let me into their gang,” the villain said, his sanity clearly starting to slip.
A series of groans came from Spider-Man, snapping the supervillain back to reality. “Somebody who makes you do something to prove yourself isn’t your friend,” the wallcrawler said, getting right back to his feet.
“WHY WON’T YOU DIE!” Shocker yelled, running towards the webslinger with a fist. However, Spider-Man caught the shocker’s punch, and just looked him in the eyes. “Is this the person you want your mother to remember!”
“SHE CAN’T EVEN REMEMBER MY FUCKING NAME THANKS TO THAT DAMN DISEASE!” Shocker yelled, throwing another punch. Spider-Man caught it easily, but this was all a part of Shocker’s plan. The villain turned on his gauntlets, causing Spider-Man to uncontrollably vibrate.
However, the superhero did something unexpected, he let go! This caused the Shocker to step forward, right as Spider-Man reeled his right hand back. He then punched the criminal right in the face, breaking the Shocker’s visor and knocking him all the way across their battleground
The gauntlet gladiator quickly got up, still blinded by rage. “Why won’t he give up!” Shocker thought while charging up his gauntlets. However, instead of firing, they just started to shake violently.
“Oh no!” the villain said, knowing he had made a grave mistake.
“What’s going on?” Spider-Man said, noticing the machines were sparking.
“I turned the power up too much! My gauntlets….there overloading! They could explode any moment now!” Shocker exclaimed. Herman tried to take off the gauntlets, but the vibrations were too strong! He couldn’t even move his arms.
“I can’t take them off!” Shocker yelled in fear. The force and pressure became too strong, causing Herman to fall to his knees in pain.
Spider-Man knew he couldn’t let The Shocker die! He quickly swung over and tried to find a solution.
“I’m going to die!” Herman said, scared for his life. Schultz started reflecting on his life, and regretted all the choices he made. “Why did I waste my life away trying to join a stupid gang!”
Spider-Man examined the gauntlets and came up with a plan. But first, he needed to reassure the Shocker he wasn’t going to die.
“What is your real name, not your alias!” Spidey said, looking right in the man’s eyes. The Shocker looked at him, and realized the webslinger was trying to calm him down.
“Her....Herman, my name is Herman!” Shocker said, taking a deep breath.
“I need you to trust me Herman! You are going to make it out of here alive!” Spider-Man said, putting his hands on the gauntlets. The power vibrated through the entirety of Spider-Man’s body, causing him to yell out in unbelievable pain.
“A normal man’s body would have been torn apart by the vibrations. luckily for me, I’m not normal,” Spider-Man thought, while beginning his plan. Pushing through the pain, he grabbed the ends of both gauntlets and peeled them back like a banana.
In the blink of an eye, Spider-Man had taken the gauntlets completely off. He then webbed them into a ball and swung it far into the air. After a few seconds, the gauntlets exploded and let out a massive shock wave. However, since they were so high up, they did absolutely no damage.
The Shocker just sat there, confused over what had just happened. “You saved me? Why?” he said, looking at the webslinger.
“Because, I know what it’s like to be alone, and I want no one to ever go through that feeling ever again,” Spider-Man responded. The criminal looked around at the damage, as the weight of his actions started to sink in.
“What have I done!” Herman said, falling down to his knees. Spider-Man started to walk towards him, before he heard the sounds of sirens in the distance.
“You should probably go,” Shocker said, accepting his fate. Spider-Man solemnly nodded and swung away. Shortly after, numerous police officers swarmed the building and raised their guns at Herman. Shocker did nothing to resist and just raised his hands. As the cops cuffed him, one thought went through Herman’s head.
“Mom, I'm so sorry!”
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Later that night, on the top floor of Roxxon Tower, Vincent Xenos was sitting in his luxury office, screaming at his phone. “HOW COME I PUT THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS INTO SECURITY, BUT YOU COULDN’T STOP ONE MAN! TWICE!” Vincent yelled, complaining to his head security official.
“Bbbut-sir he had tech beyond anything we ever could prepare for!” the employee said, scared of his boss’s wrath. Xenos calmed down, seeing a point in his employees’ statement.
“Well, you better start preparing more for situations like this! Or else I am going to be looking for a new head security!” the CEO said, hanging up on the phone. He then took a deep breath, and leaned back into his chair.
“I don’t care much about that office building,” Vincent thought. “But that power plant accounted for almost 10% of our energy profits and the repairs are going to cost me millions!”
The buzz of the desk’s intercom took Vincent out of his thoughts. “What now Paul!” Xenos said, not in the mood for more problems.
“There are two people here to see you sir?” the secretary said, with fear. Vincent just sighed, he knew they would show up eventually.
“Fine, let them in,” the Roxxon CEO said, letting go of the intercom. His office doors busted open, with two very different figures walking in.
The first person was a Black British woman with red hair, wearing a red and black outfit. The second person was a tall, bald Hispanic man, wearing a bright pink coat and heart-shaped sunglasses.
“What are you two doing here?” Vincent said, annoyed.
“We just wanted to check in on you papi,” the hispanic man said, seductively sitting in one of the two chairs in front of the desk.
“Especially, since that yellow and brown pincushion wrecked your shit,” the British woman said, sitting in the other chair, texting on her phone the whole time.
“Yes, this “Shocker” has caused quite a few problems for me, but since there are no good leads about his employer, I am moving my attention to another problem,” Vincent said, focusing on a much bigger issue.
“Oooooh and what may that be?” the tall man said, interested.
Vox reached into his file cabinet and pulled out a newspaper. He then placed it onto the desk for them to see. On the front page was a picture of Spider-Man with the headline “HERO OR MENACE.”
Vincent’s guests stared at the poster, not knowing what to make of it. “You got to give us some context here, what does someone in a tacky costume gotta do with anything?” the woman said, annoyed.
Vincent sighed and got up out of his chair. “Our newest acquisition, Alchamax labs, was experimenting with genetic modification on spiders. So how convenient that, after one of said spiders went missing, this little spider-punk showed up” he said, now standing by his office windows.
“So?” the hispanic man said, not understanding the connection.
“He was bitten by one of them!” Xenos yelled, with a growl. “Not only is this a scientific breakthrough I am not making any money from, If he traces his powers back to Roxxon he could become a real pain in the ass!”.
The man with the sunglasses got up and walked over to Vincent, trying to calm the man down. “Don’t worry Voxie! I’m sure you’ll come up with a plan,” he said, touching the overlord’s shoulder.
“Oh, I agree Val, I’m making a plan as we speak,” Vox said, his eyes starting to glow a dark blue. There was one thing Vox knew for sure about Spider-Man and Shocker’s boss. He would make sure both of these problems would stay gone.
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The next day, Peter was just let out of school. Luckily, he gave a good excuse to his mom why he was a little late coming home yesterday. “I need to try and come up with better excuses to explain why I am so late getting home,” Peter thought while walking the streets of New York.
As he was walking, something surprising happened. The girl from the warehouse, walked right past him. She had her headphones on and didn’t notice him, but Peter recognized her instantly.
“Hey!” Peter yelled, turning around to face her. The girl stopped and took off her headphones, having felt like someone tried talking to her. She turned around and saw Peter waving towards her.
The girl walked up, looking confused. “Sorry, do I know you?” she said, struggling to remember him.
Peter paused, embarrassed that she forgot about him so quickly. “I’m the guy from the rooftop?” he said awkwardly.
“Oh yeah, you!” the girl said, remembering him. “Dammit, why didn’t I recognize him!” she thought, embarrassed she forgot about him so soon.
“Yeah, thank you again for the advice, it really helped,” Peter said gratefully.
“No problem,” the girl said, the feeling of having helped someone like this was new to her.
A crazy idea entered Peter’s head, one that he decided to act on. “You want to grab some hot chocolate from that vendor down the street?” he said, pointing over towards the vendor.
The girl paused for a moment. “Why not? Got nothing better to do?” she said with a shrug.
“That’s great,” Peter said, happy that she accepted. They both started walking down the street towards the hot coco vendor. “My name’s Peter? I never got your name?” he said, looking over towards her.
“Octavia,” the girl said, a smile forming on her face.
“Okay Octavia, anything you need advice for?” Peter said with a smirk.
“I don’t know? You got any good advice about dads?” Octavia said, sarcastically.
“Sorry, I have two moms, I can’t really help you there,” the other teen said with a chuckle. Peter and Octavia started laughing, as they got in line for the hot chocolate vendor. As they waited for their drink, both teenagers had the exact same thought:
“Maybe, I’m not so alone after all.”