1 Halloween
(Author's note: As you all know, Spider-Man likes to talk to himself. When he is talking to himself, the text will be italicized like this.
Usually, I use a single apostrophe for thoughts, but I want to differentiate his "thoughts" and his internal monologue.
If you don't like that... sorry? Idk what to tell you.
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Day 1: October 31st, Halloween Night.
Every year on this exact date, crime rates in Gotham Skyrocket.
Among the thousands who are out for the holiday, some see it as an opportunity to crawl out of their holes and ironically unmask their true selves.
Drug dealers
Muggers.
Killers.
Rapists.
Sex traffickers.
This is their night to be who they really are, Their night to let their vile other halves roam free...
Waiting to strike.
This time, things will be different.
This time, I'll be out there with them.
For years, I have been preparing myself.
Getting stronger.
Getting wiser.
Becoming something that I feared so those who find me standing before them will know what it means to truly be stricken with fear itself.
I have become a ghost.
A phantom.
I have become a nocturnal animal, one that remains awake during the time that the most detestable make themselves known.
Will I make a difference?
I don't have the answer.
But I will try.
All I can do is try.
.
.
.
"Yay! Yay! Yay! Candy! Candy! Candy!" a little girl, wearing a Wonder Woman Halloween costume, was seen skipping around with her Halloween bucket in her hands as her parents followed just behind her with their arms interlocked, smiling at their daughter's excitement. With each step, her star-spangled skirt fluttered side to side. She truly felt like the Amazonian heroine.
Of course, it being Halloween night, the little girl had just finished her night of trick or treating, a ritual done by most American children in any city around the country.
The little girl was excited to finally be able to go home and enjoy the loot she received for the night and her parents were just happy to see that she was having a good time. Seeing she was getting a bit too far ahead, the father spoke out to her.
"Careful, Honey. Don't get too far from Mommy and Daddy, okay?" he told her, watching her twirl around like a ballerina with her candy in hand.
"Okay, Daddy!" she said, slowing down a bit.
"She's always energetic." the mother said softly, clinging to her husband with her head on his shoulder.
"Yeah. She hasn't even had her sugar yet." the father laughed as he said this, watching his little girl continue to twirl in front of them.
They were cutting across an alley to get home faster. They always went that way since it wasn't long. The father assured them both that it was safe, and most importantly, it saved time.
However, they would all soon find out that this wouldn't be the case this time around.
"Candy! Candy! Candy..." the girl stopped her singing and skipping upon seeing something moving in the shadows to her right. In the middle of the alley, there was an intersection that led to a dead end. The other part of the alley was pitch black. It was perfect for a predator to hide and stalk their prey.
"WAAH!" the girl screamed as a man jumped from the shadows and swooped her up.
"Cindy!" the father shouted, taking a step forward before four more men jumped out from the shadows. "Aht, aht!" one of the men said, pointing his gun at the mother and father. "Cute kid. What's she like nine or ten? Asian too? She's gonna be worth a lot." the thug had a grotesque smile on his face as he said this.
He was a sex trafficker, one of the many that roamed the streets of Gotham. It didn't matter what age the women were, these guys didn't care. The perverts who preferred them younger would pay a higher price than the rest.
"Cindy!" the father yelled once again, reaching out to his daughter who was being carried out of the alley with her mouth covered. She couldn't scream, even if she wanted to. Just around the corner, they had a van parked. They were going to throw her inside and drive away before anyone could even think about saving her.
The gunman smacked the man in the face with his pistol, sending the father to the ground before looking over at his wife. "In fact, I think we'll be taking this one too. Take her away, boys."
One of the thugs grabbed the woman roughly by the arm and started dragging her away. "Let go of me!" the woman yelled, as she struggled to break free.
"NO! LET GO OF HER!" the husband tried his best to break through the grip of those holding him. With his wife gone too, he was about to lose everything. The thugs laughed, making off with their cargo before the ones holding the husband began beating him senselessly.
Through the punches and kicks, the man could do nothing but watch as his wife and daughter were taken away...
"Who the hell are- aaagh!" one of the thugs screamed and the sounds of bones breaking could be heard from outside of the view of those in the alley. His body and weapon were seen sliding into the alley's entrance.
Footsteps, heavy ones, could be heard rebounding off the walls like thunder strikes. No, thunder strikes would be an understatement. Each step sounded like two planets colliding. An unstoppable force meeting an immovable object.
The footsteps continued, and a figure could be seen entering the alley. This man, no, this entity appeared to take the shape of a man wearing all black. On his head, he wore a black fedora and a black World War I inspired mask that covered his entire face. He wore glass goggles over his brown eyes, the only part of his entire being that seemed human.
He wore a black trenchcoat, buttoned all the way up to the collars, and black pants with grey stripes going down them vertically. His hands, covered in black gloves, were clenched in fists. With each step, his black boots boomed loudly on the ground, sending a shiver down everyone's spine.
"Who the hell is this guy supposed to be?" one of the thugs, the one holding the wife, muttered as he looked at his partners in crime.
"I don't care but he can't take all of us!" one of the thugs mindlessly ran toward the trenchcoat-wearing mystery man, though he did not make it too far.
Webs, like that of a spider, shot from the man's wrists and attached themselves to the overzealous thug's face. "MMM! MM! MMMMM!" the man tried to scream as he released the woman from his hands, but the webs closed his mouth shut before he was yanked forward by the costumed ghost. "MMMMMMM-"
The man's muffled screams were cut off by the man in black's fist meeting his face. Almost instantly, the thug's back hit the ground and his screams ceased. However, this mysterious man did not cease his assault. As the thug lay unconscious on the ground, the vengeful spirit continued to punch him in the face.
It was as if this man shrouded in black was releasing eons worth of rage with each strike. Everyone was speechless, the fear of god, no, the fear of the devil was now filling their hearts, along with dread.
What were his goals?
Who was he aligned with?
Was he a hero, like Superman or the Flash?
Or was he a villain like those aliens that attacked the world just a year prior?
"Shoot him, boss!" one of the thugs shouted before the only gunmen aimed his weapon at the mysterious phantom. His muzzle flashes lit up the alley, showing the man in dark clothes running to the side with his trenchcoat fluttering behind him as he fled into the other section of the T-shaped passage, narrowly dodging the bullets with the speed of that greater than any human.
A single bullet managed to graze the man despite his incredible speed and superhuman reflexes. As he fled into the other section of the alley, the gunman and his gang followed right behind him. Once they turned the corner, the gunman started emptying the magazine of his gun into the dark alley.
His muzzle flashes lit up the pitch-black dead end, showing that there was no one to be seen. "Where the hell did he go?" The gunman spoke as he continued to aim his gun down the alley.
Suddenly, a drop of a red liquid fell and hit one of the men in the face, prompting him to look up at the man above him, bleeding from the gunshot wound he received. Before anyone could do so much as make a sound, the man dropped down with his jacket fluttering behind him and began beating them with his fists.
They tried retaliating, aiming their weapons at him as soon as he landed, but he was quick to disarm them. As he dodged their punches, kicks, and melee attacks with their guns, the mystery man beat them all senseless.
Within seconds, all three thugs were laid out on the ground, and the only one left standing was the man in the trench coat. Holding his wound with his hand, the man walked out of the alley and toward the man and woman. He looked at them and pointed down the alley. "She's over there..." he said, pointing down the alley's opening and toward their daughter as she peaked around the corner.
Using his webs, the man webbed his wound shut. He then shot his webs at a nearby building and zipped away, leaving the family behind.
.
.
.
Beneath the moon shining through the smoggy air of Gotham City, a bunch of teenagers could be seen wearing various superhero costumes on top of a roof, all gathered around the loot they pillaged through their ruffian methods. A boy dressed as the hero Green Arrow, wearing a tactical green costume with a hood covering his face, laughed as he looked at their spoils spilling all over the rooftop. "Those punks didn't even see us coming!"
One of his friends, dressed in a black Superman costume, black cape included, chuckled alongside him, digging through the candy to find a favorite. "Halloween ain't for the kids no more! Heheh!" the boy was, of course, referring to the fact that all of this candy was stolen from children far younger than them.
"You see the way that punk kid had snot running down his nose? Pure comedy!" another boy, wearing a red Flash costume with fake muscles on it, spoke confidently as he began unwrapping one of the candies he stole. "Scare Crows?" the boy in the Flash costume mumbled, taking a look at the green and yellow wrapper in his left hand, along with the crow-shaped chocolate in his right. "Any of you heard of this?"
"Scare Crows? No, I don't think so." the Green Arrow dug into the pile and pulled one out himself, looking at it closely. "I haven't seen this in my life." he began unwrapping his Scare Crow, compelling the boy in the Superman costume to do the same.
All three boys shoved a Scare Crow in their mouths and began chewing it as they would any other candy. All three of them looked at each other with wide eyes upon feeling the sweet caramel from the center pooling inside their mouths. The candy was absolutely delectable, with some of the best flavors they'd ever experienced from a candy.
"Holy shit!" the Flash shouted before digging into the pile for more. Like a drug, the Scare Crow candy almost instantly entranced them, causing all three of them to succumb to its addictive nature.
Like animals, the boys ravaged the pile, tossing aside any candy that was not a Scare Crow candy until they found that chocolate gold. They began shoving their faces, losing themselves in the chocolate as they began consuming dozens of them in less than a minute.
Just moments later, one of the boys began screaming violently. "AAAAAAH! AAAAAAH! HELP! HELP ME!" the Flash screamed as he backed toward the edge of the building they were on top of. "GET AWAY FROM ME! GET AWAAAAY!"
His foot slipped and he fell off the building and plummeted to his death, smashing into the ground and breaking almost everything in his body. A pool of blood began to form around his body as the screams of his friends could be heard in the distance. Before long, the Green Arrow joined him, slamming face-first into the ground and snapping his neck. A few seconds later, Superman's body splattered on the ground, and the last bit of movement seen by any of the boys was his cape slowly settling on his back.
