"Hey Mum, I'm going out!" Harry called as he walked towards the door.
"Wait," Emily called, stepping out of the kitchen and stopping in front of him and the door. "Have you done all of your chores?" She asked.
"Yep," Harry smiled at her.
"You cleaned your room?" She asked, giving him a questioning look.
"It's as clean as a teenager's room is ever going to get," Harry nodded.
"Today was also your turn to clean the bathroom," She reminded him. "Did you clean that as well?"
"It's the cleanest bathroom in the country," Harry said with the utmost confidence in his voice. "Maybe even the world. Oh, and I did the laundry as well."
"I'll take your word for it," She said with a small smile on her face before she reached over and kissed his forehead. "Okay, go and have fun."
"I will, Mum, love you," Harry said as he walked out of the door.
"Love you too," He heard her response just before he closed the door. "What a lovely woman," He smiled to himself before he began walking to the elevator.
A few minutes later Harry was outside the building and was skating down the streets towards Peter's house, dodging the people and obstacles in his way with ease. Several minutes later he was still skating and had just skated past some old woman that he heard complaining about kids with skateboards, he ignored her comments with ease before he continued skating along.
He only stopped when suddenly a kid rushed out of an alleyway in front of him and began waving his hands wildly, signalling Harry to stop. Harry slowed down before stopping just in front of the kid.
"Hey, what's the...wait...Ryan?!" Harry blinked, recognising the kid.
"It's you!" Ryan gasped, also recognising him. "Please help me!" He quickly said, grabbing Harry by his hand before he tried and failed to drag Harry into the alley. Harry let out a small sigh before he got off the skateboard and quickly strapped it to his back before he allowed Ryan to drag him into the alley.
"What's going on?" He asked Ryan.
"I need you to help my sister!" He cried out.
"Your sister?" Harry frowned as Ryan suddenly stopped.
"I got put in a new family and I have a sister and we were walking and then these bad guys came and tried to take our money and she told me to run!" Ryan babbled with tears in his eyes. "Please help her! You saved me and..."
"Hey, it's okay," Harry cut him off. "Where is she?" He asked.
Ryan was about to answer when suddenly they both heard a loud crash noise followed by a bunch of swearing before slightly up the alley they spotted one rough-looking teenager being thrown on the floor, a second later a girl stepped out of the corner, she looked to be about Harry's age. She was wearing black shoes, black jeans and a black coat while wearing a thin, grey beanie hat on her head which covered the majority of her head but still allowed her long brown hair to spill out and fall down to her shoulders. On her shoulders, she wore a scarf covering the bottom half of her face, leaving just a pair of blue eyes currently darting around until her gaze landed on Harry and Ryan.
"That's her! That's her!" Ryan said quickly, pointing to her. "You got to help her!"
"Come back here, bitch!" A voice yelled, pushing the girl into action as she started running towards Ryan just as two more teenagers appeared and started chasing after her.
"Ryan, run!" She yelled as she got closer.
"Remember, don't tell anyone that we've met before." Harry quickly whispered to Ryan before he stepped to the side and started walking a few steps forward. He allowed the girl to go past him, she spared him a quick glance before rushing to Ryan, she barely stopped in front of him before she turned around, realising that the men that were chasing them would have caught up. She had adopted a fighting stance but it turned out to be unnecessary for her, she blinked when she saw that Harry had grabbed the closest boy by the hood of his hoodie with one hand and had raised him in the air for about a second before he tossed him at the other man, sending them both to the ground.
Harry let out a small whistle and he rolled his shoulders forwards and backwards before finally speaking.
"Alright, boys? We got a problem?" Harry asked in a casual voice.
"Screw you!" The one that Harry had grabbed yelled before he slowly got up to his feet and pulled his friend up to his feet, the two of them glared at Harry and the two behind him before they turned and ran to their other friend and helped him up so they could all turn and run.
"Welcome to the friendliest country in the world," Harry snorted before he turned back to look at Ryan and his sister, both were staring at him. Ryan with awe while the only thing Harry could see from the girl was a bit of surprise. "Are you both okay?" He asked.
"We're fine," The sister said quickly, no longer in a fighting stance but still looking fairly cautious, she was smaller than Harry, about an inch taller than Gwen whose head ended at the top of Harry's chest.
"If you're sure," Harry said, his emerald green eyes staring at what little he could see of her face. "Are you hurt?" He asked, not seeing any damage.
"They never laid a hand on us, right Ryan?" She asked Ryan who quickly nodded his head.
"Okay," Harry nodded as he pulled out his phone. "Give me a sec, I'll call the police for you guys."
"We don't need the police, we're fine," She replied quickly before Harry could say anything more.
"Yeah," Ryan agreed, though Harry suspected that he only did so because of his sister.
"Are you sure you're okay, kid?" He asked Ryan. "You don't want an ambulance or anything?"
"I said we're fine," The girl replied.
"And I'm asking the kid, not you," Harry responded before staring at Ryan, Harry was pleased to notice that Ryan definitely was looking better in the short time since Harry had seen him.
"Don't worry, I'm fine!" Ryan smiled brightly. "This is my sister, she's really nice!" He chirped, grabbing his sister's hand.
"Okay," Harry sighed before turning to the sister. "I'll trust your judgement on this but if the kid looks even a bit off then I want you taking him to the hospital, deal?" He offered, the sister stared at him for several long moments.
"Deal," She eventually agreed. "Now, excuse us." She gave him a short nod before walking away while holding Ryan's hand.
"Bye-bye!" Ryan said happily as he waved at Harry before he and his sister turned a corner and went out of Harry's sight.
"Did you know that guy?" She asked Ryan once she felt that they were far enough away,
"Umm...nope," Ryan said with an innocent expression on his face.
"You're a horrible liar, you know that, right?"
"You're early," Devil said as he and Harry both met up at the train station, both in their costumes.
"Eager to learn, sir," Harry said, saluting Devil.
"I'm not a soldier, you don't need to salute," Devil smiled.
"Sorry, just trying to ease the mood," Harry replied. "Anyway, what are we starting with?" Harry asked excitedly.
"I am a big believer in learning through experience," Devil said, definitely smirking now.
"Cool!" Harry said just as excitedly before pulling out a notepad and a pen.
"Are you really going to use those?"
"I might need notes," Harry protested defensively, Devil stared in his direction for several seconds before staring up.
"God, give me strength," He muttered.
"If he does, can I have some as well?" Harry asked hopefully.
"Do you have any fight training?" He asked, hoping to get back on track.
"Not really," Harry admitted. "But I have been in a few fights." Harry frowned under his mask, thinking back to his days with the Dursleys. "I can dodge hits with the best of them, can take a few too."
"Then we've at least got something to start with," Devil nodded.
"How many martial arts do you know?" Harry asked curiously.
"Aikido, jujitsu, judo, taekwondo, muay thai and boxing, just to name a few." He answered without even trying to brag a bit.
"Blimey," Harry blinked under his mask. "Someone's busy."
"A bit," Devil couldn't help but agree.
"So, you're going to teach me all of that?" Harry asked.
"No," Devil shook his head. "Unfortunately, I don't have time to teach you everything I know. I have a day job and my time at night is limited."
"Oh," Harry frowned, "Fair enough, I suppose. So, what do we start with?"
"First, I'll teach you a few fighting moves," Devil began. "Then, we're going to go somewhere together."
"Where?" Harry asked. "Is it..."
"Later," Devil cut him off. "First let me teach you a few moves."
"Oh, are we going to start with Muay Thai?" Harry asked curiously. "I heard that that's really good for street fights along with Krav Maga. Or am I supposed to forget about all I know? Like that 'empty your cup so you can fill it' crap?"
"You talk a lot," Devil noted, staring in Harry's direction.
"Are you criticising?" Harry asked.
"Not at the moment,"
"Well, this looks inviting." Harry snorted as he and Devil stood on top of a shipping container at a shipping dock where it didn't look like there was much work going on. Instead, Harry saw several armed men walking up and down, patrolling the area.
"We're here for a specific thing," Devil whispered to Harry. "Do you know what it is?" He asked, much like a teacher would ask a student.
"I'm guessing it's something to do with these people," Harry looked around. "I see at least ten people in front of me, there might be more."
"There's definitely more," Devil said confidently. "There are currently eighteen men here, all of which are packing at least one gun."
"What are they after?" Harry whispered, wondering how he knew that.
"They're not after anything, they're guarding something they already have." Devil pointed to a specific container. "In there."
"Hmm." Harry turned his right ear towards the container. "Fuck!" Harry hissed suddenly.
"What is it?" Devil asked.
"There are kids in that container!" Harry growled.
"How many?" Devil asked him.
"I count at least four," Harry glared in the direction of the container.
"How?"
"I can hear them," Harry explained. "My senses, they're heightened. It was a bitch of a time waking up and hearing damn near everything around me, I have got it under control though now, luckily."
"How good are your senses?" Devil asked curiously.
"If I focus I can hear that fly going around that guy's arse," Harry said, pointing to the man closest to the container. "And you knew exactly how many kids were in there, didn't you?" Harry asked, noting the lack of surprise from the man.
"You're not the only one with good hearing," He spoke in a soft, almost soothing voice. "Anyway, let's focus up. These men are part of a human trafficking ring. First things first, don't just rush in unless you have to. Look around, spot vantage points, and ways to escape, and don't forget to use your senses to keep track of everybody. We're going to take them out, one by one."
"Won't they start noticing that their numbers are going down?" Harry asked.
"Most likely," Devil nodded. "Sometimes they don't, but a lot of times they do. If that happens then you need to either take them out before they can act or keep the pressure on, stay hidden and take them out one by one. They'll get scared, when they're scared, they make mistakes and they don't think straight. Now, how do you want to go about it?"
"What?" Harry blinked. "I thought you were taking the lead here."
"As I told you, I believe in learning through experience," Devil smirked. "Besides, I won't always be there to hold your hand, you need to learn to do this on your own."
"Fine," Harry rolled his eyes before taking a look around, noticing several high lamposts and vantage points. "Okay, I've got a plan."
"Let's hear it," Devil replied, gesturing for him to continue.
"I'm going to go high, starting on the right, I'll take them out and web them up, meanwhile, you go on the left and we'll take them out one by one with a pincer movement until we got the ones standing by the container. From then on I'll try and create a distraction, to draw their attention to me, I'll distract them long enough for you to get the kids out or for you to come and help me take out the rest, whichever you think would be better."
"And if it goes wrong?" Devil asked.
"I'll wing it, that's how I do all of my best work," Harry shrugged. "Let's get to work."
"Good luck, Spider."
"Don't call me that, please." Harry sighed, "Last thing I need is for the name to stick."
"You'll need to give me some name to address you with," Devil pointed out.
"If I must," Harry growled before pulling out his phone.
"What are you..."
"Wait!" Harry hissed before dialling up Peter's number and calling it. "Hey," Harry spoke into the phone as soon as it was answered. "You know how we were discussing names for me earlier?"
"Yeah, why?" Peter's voice asked.
"Give me one, quickly," Harry requested.
"How about 'Arachno'?"
"No."
"Arachnid?"
"No,"
"The black spider?"
"You racist shit!"
"Are you seriously doing this now?" The Devil looked at him with disbelief.
"Whose that?" Peter asked.
"The devil, not the one with the horns," Harry answered.
"Oh, the vigilante guy?!" Peter asked in an excited voice.
"Yes and he just told me I need a name, give me a good one," Harry replied impatiently.
"Oh right, umm...how about 'Webby'?"
"No,"
"We're wasting a lot of time, right now," Devil glared at him.
"Oh, how about the one I suggested before, 'Spiderman'?" Peter asked.
"I...okay, fuck it, I'll go with Spiderman."
"Great."
"Okay, thanks, bye-bye." He ended the phone call and placed his phone away before turning to face his unimpressed, crime-fighting companion. "What?" He asked defensively.
"First of all, that friend of yours knows your identity?" He asked.
"Yeah, I wanted him to help me make these." Harry gestured to his webshooters.
"I'd be very careful with who you're telling your secrets to," He responded in a serious voice. "It could end up going bad for both of you,"
"It's not like I'm broadcasting it to everyone, I'm wearing a flipping mask." Harry pointed out as he pointed to his head.
"Second of all, don't ever just suddenly decide to call someone mid-way through trying to stop a crime." He admonished.
"Right, got it, so...shall we proceed?" He asked, earning him a small glare.
"Yeah, let's get on with it, 'Spiderman'." Devil snorted before leaping off the container.
Spiderman shook his head before he leapt up into the air and shot out a pair of webs before pulling himself up and landing on top of a tall lampost, once perched there he found the nearest available goon and aimed his wrist at the man's direction. A web shot out from his webshooter and grabbed onto the man who was barely able to let out a surprised gasp before he was yanked into the air and tied up against the lampost, just under Spiderman, his whole body wrapped in a web cocoon before Spiderman covered his mouth with webs. "Just sit tight right there, and stay quiet or I'll eat you..." Spiderman whispered menacingly into his ear. "...because I'm a spider. Do you understand?" The man let out a small squeak before he quickly began nodding his head. "Oh good, thought I was being too subtle." Spiderman leapt off of the lampost and swung over to the next one where he saw two gunmen standing beneath him.
'I could probably get the jump on them,' He thought, feeling tense. 'But the objective is to take them out quietly, if I jump them then they might make noise. Got to separate them.'
He aimed a webshooter to his left and fired a short web shot that flew a small distance away before impacting against one of the containers.
"Did you hear that?" One of the thugs whispered to the other.
"I did, go and check it out," The other thug replied.
"Why me?"
"Why not? Go check it out."
"You're a dick," He huffed before walking off to search for the source of the noise.
"Yep." The remaining thug nodded to himself. He let out a small sigh before he suddenly found himself pulled high up into the air, he was spun around in mid-air before a web grabbed his chest and pulled him towards Spiderman who knocked him out with a single punch before webbing him to the lamppost.
"There wasn't anything there," The thug complained when he returned, only to find that his friend had gone. "What a dickhead."
"Pretty much," He heard someone say, he turned around and received an unhealthy knuckle sandwich that knocked his lights out. The Spider looked around while also using his senses to keep track of the goons around him, he heard one walking in his direction. He turned around just as the thug turned a corner and appeared in front of him, he shot out a web and pulled himself towards the thug and knocked him out with a flying sidekick. "This is surprisingly fun." He whispered to himself.
A few minutes later and a bunch more thugs were knocked out and webbed up before the Spider met Devil by the container where the kids were being kept.
"We got everyone?" Spiderman asked.
"Just need to free the kids," Devil confirmed, casually punching one man who looked like he was about to wake up.
"Right, and which of us is going to greet these scared kids?" Spiderman asked. "Because you look like the fucking boogeyman and I hardly look that much more welcoming." He finished by gesturing to his black and red costume.
"You'll do it," Devil decided.
"Why me?"
"Why not? Go and do it." Devil smirked.
"You're a dick." Spiderman huffed before he walked over to the container and unlocked it, he gently opened it slowly.
Once the doors were open he saw a sight that in the simplest of terms, angered him greatly. He saw several frightened children in the crate, all covered in dirt and wearing clothes that looked old and far from clean. They were all frightened and huddled in a corner, the smell of the container alone nearly made Spiderman vomit.
"Give me a minute," He told the scared kids before he closed the doors again, once the doors were closed he turned his attention to the nearest thug who looked like he was starting to wake up. Spiderman casually placed his foot above the man's hand before stomping down hard, causing the man to scream out in pain and release enough noise to wake up the dead.
"My hand, my hand!" He cried.
"What are you doing?" Devil asked, looking somewhere in between wanting to stop Spiderman and joining in with him.
"These assholes hurt those kids," Spiderman growled. "I think it's fair to share the pain," He said, sure that every bone in the man's hand was broken.
"I don't blame you for wanting that," Devil spoke, his voice as soothing as always but also filled with understanding this time. "I want to do a lot worse than break his hands. But there's a line you can't cross, especially with a bunch of kids able to hear every one of his screams."
"Well, that's just not fair," He muttered before silencing the man's screams with a kick to his head, knocking him out. Spiderman tilted his head to the right, staring at the body in front of him for several seconds before he suddenly straightened up and clapped his hands together. "So, let's go help those kids," He said in a cheery voice before turning and walking back to the container, if his sudden change in mood bothered Devil then the man didn't say anything about it.
Slowly, Spiderman opened the container once more before he knelt down on the floor and stared at the children.
"Hey, I'm Spiderman," He greeted them politely. "My friend and I have come to rescue you." His words didn't seem to inspire much confidence in the kids. "Hey, look," He lifted his mask up just enough for his face to become visible. "I'm just a normal guy." He told them, not really worried about being remembered. It's dark, they're frightened and he doesn't really have anything that would particularly stand out except maybe his eyes. Once he was sure that showing his face had at least some sort of positive impact on the kids, he pulled his mask back down. "Come on," He said, holding out a hand. "Let's get you out of this place, and hopefully somewhere with baths. Yeah? Whenever you're ready." He kept his hand out for them.
Eventually, one child, a small boy with black hair, slowly broke off from the rest of the children and cautiously stood up. He gingerly walked over to Spiderman before placing his hand in his.
"Nice to meet you," Spiderman greeted him. "What's your name?"
"J...James." The boy timidly replied.
"Nice name," Spiderman said warmly.
"Morning," Harry yawned as he sat down for breakfast with his parents.
"Morning," Emily replied. "Someone looks tired," She noted, staring at Harry.
"Didn't sleep much," He shrugged.
"Bad dream?" Norman asked.
"Yeah, in it I ended up looking like you," Harry casually replied.
"Would be much better than how you currently look," Norman smirked.
"Mother, tell him his eyesight isn't working properly," Harry requested before he continued eating.
"Don't bring me into this," Emily said simply before reaching for the remote and turning the TV on.
"And in other news," A reporter started speaking. "It has been reported that just last night, the mysterious crime-fighter that has burst onto the scene had struck again." Everyone turned their attention to the TV. "The masked vigilante, dubbed as 'The Spider', had previously been seen assisting the police in stopping a car filled with armed criminals. However, we've received info that the man has been working with the vigilante known as 'The Devil of Hell's Kitchen' AKA Daredevil."
'Daredevil,' Harry mentally repeated with a small smirk on his face. 'Definitely calling him that the next time I see him.'
"The two of them together had stopped a gang full of human traffickers, rescuing multiple children. The children reported that the masked vigilante had identified himself as 'Spiderman'." The reporter added, wiping the smirk off of Harry's face.
'I knew that name would stick.' He mentally sighed. 'Still, all in all, not the worst name around.' He thought to himself, truth be told, the name was starting to grow on him.