Putting On The Mask - Volume: 1

Vale

Swinging through the air, I traversed buildings and streets, racing towards the location of a crime reported on the police scanner. The call described a woman being chased by thugs, leading me to a rooftop overlooking the area. The woman ran into an alleyway, but the thugs followed.

Perching on the rooftop above the alley, I watched. The three thugs were closing in on the woman. I jumped down and landed behind the thugs blocking their only exit. 

"Looks like we've got a couple of would-be bad guys here. Quick tip, fellas: life is full of choices, and the whole 'robbing innocent people' thing is a real dead-end career. How about you consider a change of plans? Maybe take up knitting? I hear it's therapeutic, and no one gets webbed in the process!"

The thugs look back at me, their expressions a mix of confusion and disbelief at my attire.

"What's with this guy?" Thug 1 questions, pointing his bat in my direction.

"I don't know, just be careful. I hear there are some weirdos here in Vale," warns Thug 2.

"Ah, why are you so worried? It's just some kid who thinks he's a hero," dismisses Thug 3.

They cautiously approach me, weapons at the ready. Thug 1 readies his bat, and the other two thugs pull out knives.

"Oh no! Knives, my weakness," I mock, earning a skeptical glance from the thugs. Undeterred, they advance, weapons in hand.

The thug with the baseball bat takes a swing, but I leap into the air, dodging the attack. Swiftly, I web the ground, propelling myself towards the thug and delivering a solid blow to his head. He crumples to the ground, and I quickly secure him with webs.

"Okay, who's next?" I ask, moving my finger between the two remaining thugs.

One of them charges at me with a knife. I drop to the ground, kicking up at his chin, sending him airborne. With a well-aimed web, I pull and slam him into the ground. Now, only one thug remains.

I glance over at the last thug, noticing a hint of fear in his eyes. An idea sparks in my mind.

"Oh, I almost forgot to set up my camera," I announce, turning away I jump up to a rooftop and get a good view of the alley and street then I grab my scroll, and secure it with webs. I turn back, and the thug hurriedly starts texting someone.

"Who are you texting?" I ask.

The thug fumbles with his scroll, I look closer at his face and it's just some kid buried beneath heavy clothes, making it hard to discern earlier.

"You know what? How about I let you go, and you stop robbing people? Sound fair?" I propose.

The kid looks at me, visibly surprised. "Oh, uh, thank you. But you probably should have told me that a little sooner. I just called for backup," he admits.

"Shit... Just go, I'll deal with them," I say. The kid starts running away, and I throw in some parting advice, "You better stay in school and find better people to hang around with than these guys!"

Suddenly, two cars pull up, and a horde of thugs exit. As I turn back, I hear something drop behind me and find the woman I initially came to rescue.

"Oh, I forgot about you," I remark, a touch of embarrassment in my tone.

I turn to the gang of thugs, discovering nine of them, each armed with varying weapons. Without hesitation, they charge at me simultaneously, ready to strike all at once. In response, I activate my pack.

Four spider legs shoot out from my back, forming a defensive barrier that blocks all their attacks. Then using the legs, I smack the guy in front of me, sending him flying into a nearby car. The legs retract as the remaining eight thugs slowly get back on their feet.

As they charge again. I web one thug's face and slam it into a nearby pipe, triggered by my spider sense. Leaping high into the air, I narrowly avoid two thugs coming at me from the left and right, causing them to collide and knock each other out.

Surprisingly, none of these guys have their auras unlocked.

Turning my attention to the remaining five, I decided to end this quickly. I spam webs at one thug, grappling him and swinging him around until I throw him into another. A third thug charges at me, swinging his fists, but I dodge onto the wall and jump off, delivering a punch to his jaw that knocks him out cold. For the fourth, I simply grab him and throw him into a web, quickly immobilizing him.

I glance around for the last guy, only to find him running toward his car, he pops the trunk and pulls out a rocket launcher.

"Oh, that's not good," I muttered to myself.

Reacting swiftly, I shot a web at his face, throwing off his aim. He fired, but his rocket veered off course, slamming into a nearby building. The explosion sent flames roaring through the structure, creating chaos.

The thug ran away, and the lady then escaped and ran for her life. Without a second thought, I swung into the burning building, my senses heightened as I navigated through debris and fire.

Amid the smoke and flames, I searched for anyone. Tossing aside charred remnants, I discovered no one until I stumbled upon a door where desperate screams emanated. I tore down the door, revealing a man and a woman, covered in ash and soot, barely able to stand.

I grabbed them both. With urgency, I swung out of the fiery inferno, navigating through the chaos to a safer location away from the burning and crumbling building.

I then web parts of the building to keep the fire slightly contained.

As I prepared to leave, the wail of Vale police sirens pierced through the night sky. Turning to make my exit, the woman's desperate voice broke through the noise.

"Wait," she implored, her eyes reflecting a mix of gratitude and curiosity, "who are you?"

"Just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."

With a casual wave, I bid them goodbye and swung away, navigating through the cityscape to reach the safety of a rooftop. I grab my scroll and check the pictures.

Each shot was perfect showing me beating up the thugs and saving those people.

As I perched on the rooftop, the police radio chatter rang through my scanner. Faint voices crackled through the speaker, detailing more crimes erupting across Vale. I couldn't help but let out a weary sigh.

"This is going to be a long night," I muttered to myself

-

After a long night of swooping down from rooftops, thwarting thugs, foiling robberies, and even taking on the notorious White Fang, exhaustion weighed heavily on me. The city, now somewhat quieter, greeted the dawn with a soft glow.

There were no huntsman at all to help with these crimes only the Vale police, and Ms. Goodwitch a couple of times. I wonder why that is.

Swinging onto a rooftop for a moment, I settled into a seated position. As I caught my breath, the first rays of sunlight broke through the horizon, painting the sky in hues of pink and orange. The warmth of the morning sun caressed my face, and it took me a moment to register the change in scenery.

"Oh, it's morning... it's morning!" I yelled, the realization hitting me, I have class in an hour.

I shot a web into the distance and swung away.