Chapter Three

I woke up at my desk, my head on my arms and my neck killing me. My phone was vibrating due to the alarm I had set only a few hours ago. Around three I got sidetracked by miscellaneous things on the internet then fell asleep shortly afterward. Peter, at least, had the wherewithal to have his alarm go off every morning. Good kid, he was.

I stood up from the desk and cracked my back, letting out a satisfied sigh. I had a feeling I would be falling asleep at my desk for at least a few more nights.

Speaking of, I needed to clean up my workspace. There were too many crumpled pieces of paper to count, with most of them being failed organic equations. On my desk were actual successes, though if any of them could be produced would be a miracle. I was going to see if I couldn't produce version 0.82 at school today and hopefully, it would work.

My spider suit, on the other hand, had been designed and I was proud of the product. Damned proud. It wasn't spandex, or whatever the material that Tony Stark used, and it obviously wasn't going to be. I didn't have the resources for that yet and if I did, the suit would have a completely different look and feel. As of right now, I was going with a hoodie over a balaclava. I wasn't sure what I would be wearing as pants, but something sturdy, definitely. I was really proud of the end result. I was going to be even more proud when I actually make the suit. I needed materials for that, though.

Materials I didn't have.

Eh, whatever. I could think of something within the next few days and if I don't…

Well, there was always just wearing all black and going out like that.

I was definitely going to get the materials I needed. All black was pretty boring. Though it would be scary.

Yawning, I moved to my closet and grabbed some clean clothing. I needed a shower. I needed food as well.

My stomach rumbling decided that I needed food first.

When I opened my door I heard cutlery clattering against glass and conversation between adults. Was Uncle Ben still home? Why? When I entered the living area, Uncle Ben and Aunt May were sat at the table, eating breakfast. "Uh, morning," I said, confused. "Why aren't you at work, Ben?"

Hopefully, he didn't lose his job. That would be really bad. Ben reassured me that that wasn't the case when he said, "Boss called in. They don't need me just yet. I'll be training a couple of new guys later on, so he told me to rest up."

I snickered, "Right. Training day."

Training day was a hard time for Ben. The new guys were usually idiots. "Are you laughing at my misfortune, Petey?" Ben said with a grin.

"I am!" I cried out as I walked to the kitchen. In a pan was breakfast, just enough leftover for me. I grabbed a plate and served myself.

"Hey Peter," Aunt May said, her tone filled with something that I really didn't like, "where are your shoes?"

Oh. Oh no. Right. My shoes. Hopefully, they were still lying in that alley. If not, well, I was out of a pair of shoes. "Someone took them when I was at school, I think. I guess it just slipped my mind when I got home," was my humble excuse.

"A bully?" Aunt May was worried. Aww, fuck she was so good to Peter.

I sat down finally, fork in my hand. "Maybe? Maybe it was just a really bad joke? I'll ask around, see if anyone knows anything."

She narrowed her eyes. Aunt May was really suspicious of me. First, it was my gorgeous body, now it was this. Yikes. "Well, you aren't going to be walking or going on the bus. Not without shoes. Ben can drive you."

"He doesn't have to!" I said quickly. "He has half a day off, Uncle Ben doesn't need to drive me."

Ben raised his eyebrow before saying, "Petey, it'll take barely twenty minutes. It's fine."

"But what about Ned? He's expecting me on the bus, like some sort of business meeting. Anyway, there aren't any heroin needles on the bus. Midtown is a good, clean school!"

"Really, Peter? Now it's going to be me driving and when we get you to school, I am going to embarrass you, so badly," Aunt May was nonplussed.

Her threat was also fairly terrifying.

Aunt May could embarrass like no other.

I mumbled, "Fine," before finishing my breakfast.

Heck, Aunt May reminded me of my mother. They were both threatening in their own way.

And now I'm sad. Fuck me.

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All throughout the morning, I wasn't feeling all too hot. My jokes were falling flat, my feet were dragging and my thoughts were clouded. I missed my mom. I missed my dad and my brother and my sister. Usually, I wouldn't miss my family so much. Obviously, considering that I would see them again after a while. Now, though? I had a feeling I wouldn't see them again for a long, long time and even then, I may not see them at all.

I was stuck in the MCU, with a family that wasn't mine, a body that was foreign and friends that were different. It was also absolute trash that I had Peter's memories as well. I know for a fact that it would be so much harder for me if I didn't, but the familiarity with Aunt May, Uncle Ben, and Ned made me miss all of my friends from home even more.

Fuck me.

Feeling like shit was terrible for me. Most times I got over my melancholy within a few hours. Being happy and excitable and overall in a good mood was a given for me. Yet what I was feeling right now was nothing like the usual.

What I was feeling was longing. I wanted normalcy. I wanted home.

I didn't want to be here.

Too bad for me. I was here and it seemed like I was here to stay.

I needed to get these thoughts out of my mind and I had a pretty good idea of what to do.

First, I had to find my shoes. Second, I had to buy some stuff. And third, I was going to sneak out of my apartment.

While I wasn't Spider-Man just yet didn't mean that I had to sit on my ass and do nothing. I mean, I was still going to do nothing, but I was going to do something while doing nothing.

That made absolutely no sense.

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The black fabric against my face was starting to itch. Everything else was comfortable, especially the sweatpants. At least the wind whipping in my face kept me sane.

Cheap balaclavas were cheap and felt terrible.

While I wasn't swinging through the streets just yet, there was still a certain freedom from jumping roof to roof. It was absolutely amazing, actually. Being able to clear a street with one jump was great. Doing it over and over again never got old, either, so that was what I did.

Over and over.

It wasn't without a purpose though.

It was one part training, one part reconnaissance and one part pure fun. It was so fun and it kept my mind off of the self-defeating thoughts I was having earlier. Thank goodness for that.

My mind was especially focused on something else as well. Someone else, really. The building across from me had a woman in black, with a shoulder bag bouncing against her side. Her platinum-blonde hair was flowing behind her as well. Was this Black Cat?

She blended in with the darkness really well, but her hair really fucked it all up. It made it so easy for me to track where she was going and even then, I still would have been able to see her. Advanced senses and all. She stopped at the edge of the roof she was on and I could tell she was relaxing. It seemed like she thought she got away.

Too bad I was Spider-Man.

I flexed my legs and leaped across the divide between the buildings. Landing behind her, I said, "Hey, what's up?"

The woman in black quickly turned around. If she wasn't wearing a mask, she would probably look surprised. Or scared. Probably surprised because I was still only fourteen and not very tall or big. Her voice was muffled when she replied, "Uhh, who are you supposed to be?"

Spider-Man, duh. "Well, I don't have my costume just yet, but you can call me the Amazing Arachnid Ass," I joked.

"Are you serious?"

I chuckled, "Of course not. I'm Spider-Man. Who are you?"

"Doesn't matter who I am," she said, annoyance lacing her voice. "What matters is if you're going to try to stop me."

"Depends. Are you doing anything bad? Villainous? Evil?"

With that, Black Cat turned tail (ha!) and started running. I shouted at her before she disappeared over the side of the building, "You're not going to get very far!"

From the roof, I jumped. Straight down into the alley, in which the woman was climbing down to. I looked up at her and she looked down at me. "Nice butt," I said, but my compliment fell on deaf ears.

"Are you serious dude? What the fuck?!"

I shrugged before saying, "I mean, I don't know. Are you serious? I'm not the one who's just chillin' on the side of a building."

She screamed before climbing up the building. Really? Did she think that was a good idea when I could clear the building in a jump? I did so, but I wasn't expecting her to be kicking at me when I reached the roof. The itch at the back of my head should have warned me, yet it was so hard to focus on that when there was so much else going on.

Her foot connected with my chest and because I didn't have anything to ground me, I was pushed off of the building. I threw out my hand at the last second and grabbed the edge of the roof. "Hoo boy, that could have ended really bad," I breathed out, sighing in relief.

The woman took a step back, her hands shaking. "What the hell are you?"

"Whoa, whoa. I ain't gonna hurt you," I tried to reassure her. She didn't believe me because the next thing she did was punch me.

Or tried too, considering I dodged it. Then I dodged the next punch she threw. Before she could attack me again, I flipped over her, grabbing her shoulder bag and pulling it off of her. I back-pedaled until there was quite a bit of space between us. She yelled at me, "Give that back!"

"Hold on," I said. "I want to see what you stole."

"Why are you doing this?"

I looked at her. Why was I doing this? "Doing what, exactly?"

It was a really open-ended question. Why was I out there without my costume? I was bored. "Why are you harassing me?" the woman clarified. Oh.

"Is that what you think I'm doing? Really?" I asked. Me, a harasser? "I mean, yeah that comment earlier was crass and all, but I didn't think it was harassment. I would never say something like that to anyone real. If I did, my Aunt would probably hit me. Or I would get detention. Both, probably. And you obviously stole something as well, so it can't be harassment if you're a criminal."

"Detention? What? What the fuck is going on here?"

What was going on here? I had no idea, actually, so I ignored her by opening her bag. A bunch of old coins was inside of it, heirlooms probably. They were all in good shape as well, so if she sold them to the right person, she could be rolling in cash. I told her, "Good haul! Pretty smart going for the coins. Have you done this before?"

"Why are you just asking questions? Are you supposed to be something, someone? Where did you even come from?" she asked. She was really hecking irritated.

"In order," I explained, "you're not very threatening. I'm just a kid wanting to be a hero and I came from that building-" I pointed across the street, "-over there. Any other questions?"

Black Cat's demeanor flipped 180 real fast when she said, in her sultriest tone of voice, "So you're a hero? Then you wouldn't mind me stealing from bad, bad people?"

What the fuck? "Whoa, lady, calm down there. First of all, no, do not ever use that tone of voice in front of me again. You gotta wait four years before you can try to flirt with me. I'm outright uncomfortable. And second? Yes, yes I do mind. Stealing is stealing is stealing and stealing from bad people is still stealing."

A moment later I added, "Unless you're Robin Hooding it. Then it's somewhat more acceptable, but I would still try to stop you. Are you the modern day Robin Hood or what?"

"I can't say that I am," Black Cat was backing up real slowly as she said this. "So, can I have my bag back?"

"If you answer a few questions I have, sure."

I saw the slightest of nods, so I went on with my questioning, "Is this your first time out and about? And are you going to have a name and costume when you start gaining notoriety?"

She stopped in her tracks. "I'm not answering that first question. The second one is stupid. I don't want or need a name. Or a costume."

"Huh. Okay," I said as I turned around. "Well, see you later. I'm going to drop this off at the nearest police department. Some douchebag is going to be sad his coins are gone."

The woman started yelling at me as I jumped off the building. My laughter was the only response she was getting.

I smiled as I ran. While no doubt I would feel bad time and time again, at least being the 'Amazing Arachnid Ass' was fun. I really needed tonight. And it was a night of firsts too! I absolutely couldn't believe that Hardy had stolen from such a juicy target before this night. She, like me, was way too inexperienced. I only had the edge because I was Spider-Man. If I were a normal guy, she would've laid me out flat.

I dropped my smile. Fuck me. I needed to start training in all sorts of martial arts.

Just another goddamned problem.

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Notes: I feel like this is a meh chapter. The Black Cat portion of it I had written first, mostly out of me wanting to get that meeting across. She was always going to be introduced as the first sort of "villain" Not!Peter was going to face. Basically, these first few chapters are going to be an introductory arc. Each arc will have one villain in it, and I plan on exploring a question or a theme with each arc. The theme for the introductory arc is "Am I ready to be Spider-Man?" and I chose Black Cat as the first "enemy" due to the fact that the night in this chapter is also her first night out. The difference between the two is that Black Cat was ready to go out. She has training, the right mindset and everything. Except she came across a very unready Not!Peter and it ruined her plans.

The first part of this chapter is what I had trouble with most, then the second part was really quite personal so I don't exactly know how to feel about it.

I'll be asking for a villain when I start writing the second arc (which is still a few chapters away) that accurately represents the theme I am going for. I still need to centralize that theme, of course, so expect the question in the next couple chapters of this first arc.

Hopefully I explained that well enough. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. (I still don't feel too great about it.)