"Vigilantism 101"
———
Jason exhaled loudly as he landed on the top of a water tower. While he didn't make any mistakes, the pressure on his knees was still a pain. Like the day before, he was wearing the slime suit, accompanied by another hoodie and some shorts as he darted across rooftops. He was growing addicted to this new power.
"I think I deserve a break."
He took a seat on the water tower, leaving his legs dangling off the edge. He took his phone out of his hoodie pocket and began scrolling on Twitter, just passing the time until he felt like moving again. He noticed a certain topic in trending but wasn't surprised—it was there every other day. "Spider-Man". Without much thought he clicked it, and saw the usual. People all tweeting about the poor state of the city and wishing that Spider-Man was still around. However, one tweet caught his eye.
["City's gone to total shit man. We need someone to step up and do something. We need someone to be Spider-Man."]
Jason stared at it for a moment before he chuckled loudly and returned his phone to his pocket.
"Yeah, that's what we need. Some jackass running around like Spider-Man."
He immediately thought back to his entire morning and the night before, and winced at the irony. Standing up from the water tower he sighed loudly and looked over the city. It truly was one big shining gemstone when you looked at it from so high up. With one look he saw the skyrail, bending and weaving above and between buildings as bullet trains sped through its tube. Instead of birds there were hundreds of drones, dotting the skys as they slowly flew through the city. However, the one feature that stood out the most was the skyscrapers. The city was littered with them—each some cooperation specializing in one product or another. Though the two that stood out the most were the OSCORP building, and the LIFE Industries building.
They were tall like a giant's fingers scraping the sky, and brilliant as if stars had crashed into the earth. Jason knew it well, his city was beautiful. Until it wasn't. Still, he had better things to think about than daydreaming about skyscrapers. He had to get back on the run.
"Alright. Time to go again."
However just as he was about to take off he paused. He had a thought.
"Hey, you there?"
The voice didn't talk much. Jason sometimes forgot it was there until he addressed it.
"What else can I do?"
'Always cryptic.'
However that was a weird prompt. Choose what he wanted to do? That got Jason thinking. From what it displayed so far, what should he do? Then it hit him.
'Spider-Man.'
"Can you shoot webs?"
The moment Jason asked the question, a tentacle shot from his palm and stuck to the building across from the tower. Jason marveled at the sight, barely holding in his excitement.
"Woahhhh–wait. Didn't I say we hold off on the tentacles?"
However the voice didn't respond. Jason took the chance then to examine his arm and mess around with the tentacle acting as a tether between the two buildings. He swung his arm around and tried pulling it back, though the tentacle seemed pretty stable.
"So, what do I do now?"
A moment of silence.
"Not this again..."
Another moment of silence. Jason took a deep breath as he looked over the edge of the building. It was a far drop. He normally wasn't that scared of jumping since he knew he could reach the other side, though this time he had to trust that a single tentacle could hold his bodyweight. Which granted, wasn't a lot.
"You promise I'll be okay if I jump?"
<...>
"Gee, thanks..."
After one final deep breath, Jason leaped between the two buildings, placing his full trust in the tentacle. Though to his thanks he didn't have to fall too far before it stopped him, leaving the boy dangling between the two buildings. Jason would've screamed, but he was past that. Still, dangling that high up was a bit nerve racking.
"Oh sweet Jesus, thank God."
The bou found it amazing how the tentacles could support him like such. He began wondering if he could use them to swing, but the matters at hand were a bit too pressing for him to think about that now.
"Okay, that was cool. So what do I do now?"
Again, the voice didn't respond, but to Jason's horror the tentacle retracted back into his hand. He didn't get to properly process what had just occurred before he began falling at great speeds towards the ground. While he could have made an attempt to reach and grab the wall while he was falling, the boy was far too panicked to think rationally and instead plummeted towards the concrete while screaming. After a few seconds, Jason squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself for his imminent demise, then slammed onto the concrete. The ground cracked beneath him and there was a large thud when he made impact—he looked like a spider crushed by a shoe.
Jason laid there motionless for a moment, but after a few seconds he simply sat up and rubbed the back of his head.
"What the hell just happened?"
While he did fall the height of a ten story building, Jason was surprised that there wasn't much pain. Sure he felt some of the impact and mild numbness in his head and back, but that was it. After a fall like that he was supposed to be splattered against the ground in a paste, instead he felt like someone had simply slapped him a bit.
"How did I survive that?"
He didn't respond for a moment, just thankful that he had survived and that no one was around to see him have his Icarus moment.
"Just...just don't ever do that again."
———
———
Jason had learnt the voice was right. He was stronger, faster, and far more capable.
"Too close!"
He leaped off the building and shot a tentacle to the next, and with a small "thwip" motion he swung over. However, his landing was off causing him to slide across the rooftop and crash into what appeared to be a small, wooden chicken coop. Thankfully, there weren't any chickens inside, but there were a lot of feathers.
"There's an idiom about this..."
With a grunt he got up out of the rubble and dusted himself off. Jason had been doing short building-to-building swings like this for an hour, and during that time he'd learnt one thing. He could really take a hit. While swinging in theory wasn't necessarily hard—he still had many issues in application—landing was quite the challenge. If he didn't trip and crash into something while he landed, he would miss his target completely and go flying into the side of another building. However no matter how much of a beating he took—which would be a guaranteed trip to the emergency room for the average person—he was quite fine. Sure he felt a bit bruised and sore but that was it.
"Can't you like...help me land?"
Jason clicked his tongue. He knew that was a lie. Infact, it could've probably cushioned his landing using the tentacles or some other odd method. Maybe even taking control over his body.
'That's a freaky thought.'
Hjs thoughts made the boy think back to the incident at school from a few days ago, and he realized his idea wasn't so far-fetched.
"Hey, I have a question. How come you don't just control my body like you did before?"
"What?"
'My individualism is too strong?'
He thought about the implications of that statement, but decided he had better things to do at the moment.
'Let's get back on the saddle.'
With another big leap, he hopped off the building and began free falling towards the street. However, before he fell half way, he shot a tentacle to a nearby building and pulled himself towards it. Then, he switched to another and with a distinctive 'thwip' he was sent flying over to it. Jason continued with this for about a minute, his smile growing with each successful swing.
"I'm doing it..."
He landed on a roof but quickly bounced off, attaching a tentacle to a nearby billboard.
"I'm doing it!"
This time he landed in a handstand, however before he could fall he used his momentum to push off again, sending him rocketing through the air.
"I'm-!"
He was now above a clearing. The buildings infront of him were a bit further than his previous attempts, but that didn't scare Jason. With another quick motion he sent a tentacle towards the building at the other end of the clearing, but to his dismay, it didn't reach. Slowly, he realized he was now falling out of the air unable to attach to anything.
"I'm not doing it!"
He fell about 70 feet and landed in a water fountain. There weren't that many people in the clearing, though those present still reacted when a black silhouette seemingly fell out of the air and crashed into the water. Jason slowly climbed out of the fountain, groaning softly after the impact.
"That's gonna hurt tomorrow..."
He muttered to himself while massaging his back, however he soon noticed the confused stares of persons around him. After a brief silence, Jason quickly hopped out of the fountain and sprinted away. The embarrassment of the entire situation was killing him.
———
———
Legs dangling off the building while he laid down on the roof, Jason lazily stuffed a doughnut into his mouth. It was a few minutes after his swinging blunder, and he decided he had enough of being a stuntman for the day.
"Couldn't you have like...saved me back there?"
At the voice's response Jason rolled his eyes and stuffed another doughnut into his mouth. He was still wearing the suit of course—he'd never be so close to the edge of a building if not, however it had retracted from his face allowing him to eat. The boy liked how much he was learning about it and how adaptable it was. However there was still the pressing question of what the suit truly was. Jason decided to sweep that under the rug for the time being.
'It's not like it'll answer.'
He stuffed the last piece of the doughnut into his mouth and sat up. He was chewing lazily when his phone started ringing in his hoodie pocket—the surprise almost made him choke. Quickly he retrieved it and saw that it was his uncle, so he cleared his throat and got ready to answer.
"Everything alright uncle Max?"
He tried to sound casual, like his usual self as not to raise any suspicion.
["Jay are you anywhere near that bodega by the Stacy mural?"]
The boy looked around his surroundings. He was actually quite a bit aways from his apartment and no where near the bodega. However with his new skills he could probably make it there in a minute or two.
"Why? You need me to pick up something?"
As he asked his question he stood up and streteched—his back was still a bit sore from earlier.
["Just some pasta. I'm planning on making spaghetti and meatballs tonight."]
"Really? Thought you wouldn't try that again after...y'know, last time."
Jason stifled a chuckle as he reminisced about the last time his uncle did spaghetti and meatballs. There was a small fire involved.
["I was tired, and that was an accident. Also it's not like you have the greatest track record in the kitchen."]
"...Touché. Alright, I'll swing by the bodega and pick some up."
["Thanks kiddo."]
After that he hung up and returned his phone to his pocket.
"Spaghetti huh..."
The boy looked down at the city below and mapped out where he was. The bodega was a few blocks away, so swinging would be the best option. However Jason really didn't feel like risking a fall again. Also it wasn't the best for him to be seen swinging through the city in broad daylight...again. So, he did more light stretching and started running across the buildings, slowly making his way towards the bodega. It was probably going to take a while.
———
———
Panting softly, Jason did one final leap onto a watertower. He was across the street from the bodega, meaning all he had left was to crawl down the building and remove the suit. Afterall he couldn't be seen like this.
"Hey, take off the-"
He paused when something caught his eye. A car suddenly came to a screeching stop infront of the bodega, and some masked men—about four in total—got out and entered. Jason watched for a few moments, and soon a bunch of people—probably customers—came running out. That was his queue, and the boy immediately lept off the building and landed infront of the bodega. Since the customers fled it was completely empty, however through the window Jason saw that the masked men had the owner at gunpoint, forcing the elderly man to fill a bag with money from the register.
'A robbery? Seriously?!'
While he couldn't hear what was happening inside, he saw the robbers shouting at the owner and performing motions that were clearly meant to be threatening. Jason's heart started thumping in his chest as nervousness set in. He had to save the guy—he knew he did—but this was way more dangerous than his last scuffle. This time there were multiple men, and they were all armed. What if he got shot? The risk was just too high. However...
'I have to do something...'
Something deep within compelledhim to act—to stop them. He had the power to save someone, so he had to use it.
'I hope this works out.'
After a deep breath, Jason stuck to the wall and crawled into the bodega. He stuck to the roof, evading the view of both the robbers and the owner. Since he was now inside, he could finally hear their voices.
"Hurry the fuck up! Don't try anything funny!"
The guy pointing the gun screamed at the top of his lungs. The others were either looking around the store or aiming at the owner also.
"We need to hurry this up...Cops are probably on the way."
"He ain't had time to phone them or hit the emergency alarm. We're in the clear."
"What if one of the customers from earlier called when they left? Y'know, a good samaritan?"
The owner was shaking like a leaf, stuffing as much money and change as he could into the bag. Jason's heart was ticking in his chest like a bomb, but he decided he had seen enough. He detached from the roof and fell onto the robber shaking down the owner, delivering a powerful kick that knocked the man to the ground—his gun fell out of his hand. Immediately the other three turned towards the commotion, the sight of Jason momentarily stunning them. Noticing that, the boy took the chance to punch the nearest robber, sending the man flying into one of the stalls—knocking it over.
The boy winced at the damage he caused.
"Sorry!"
He shouted to the owner and turned to the last two robbers.
"Who the-?! What the fuck are you?!"
The man pointed his gun at Jason, priming a shot. However the boy charged at him before he could take it, punching the man in the stomach. He slumped down onto the ground—the wind was knocked out of him—and Jason turned to the final robber. He quickly slid across the floor to cover the distance, and kicked the man in the stomach—launching him up against the ceiling and destroying some of the lights.
"Again, sorry!"
Jason looked at the defeated robbers and released a sigh of relief. He wasn't that confident in his combat prowess, but he managed to pull it off. Thankfully they seemed as inexperienced as he was. He turned to the owener who was still shaking and panicking st the sight of Jason.
"Are you okay sir?"
The man didn't respond, Jason assumed he was in shock. However behind his back, the first robber—who hadn't properly been knocked unconscious—slowly got back on his feet and took up his gun. Looking around, he noticed his beaten crew and quickly caught sight of the boy responsible. Silently he aimed his gun at Jason's head, all without the boy's knowledge. Before the man took the shot however, Jason was issued a warning.
The boy at this point knew the severity of the warning, however just like in his first encounter he was much too slow in response. The robber pulled the trigger and a loud bang echoed throughout the small store. Jason's eyes widened. Was he hit? He didn't feel anything, but perhaps that was due to adrenaline. He quickly turned to look at the gunman but was surprised to see the gun pointed in the air with smoke leaving the barrel—a small hole pierced the ceiling directly above. A tentacle had extended from his back and pushed the man's hands upwards before he could take the shot on the boy.
There was a brief pause after that, but Jason quickly got his bearings and charged at the restrained man. He delivered a strong kick to the gut which sent the robber bouncing off the wall, after which he fell to the ground unconscious. Jason looked around at his work and sighed loudly, loud enough for the owner to hear. He looked towards the old man who was still just shaking and staring at the scene with wide eyes. Jason turned to him while rubbing the back of his head awkwardly and said:
"You should probably call the police..."
Then he quickly ran out of the bodega leaving the owner behind with four unconscious bodies. Though after a few moments, he came back when he remembered his original plan. He walked sheepishly up to the counter and stared at the owner with his large white eyes.
"Um...do you have any pasta?"
———
———
Jason sat across the table from Max and stared down at the plate with reservation. It looked like a perfectly normal plate of spaghetti and meatballs, but looks could be deceiving. With a bit of hesitation, Jason took up his fork and placed a piece of meatball and some pasta in his mouth—Max watched with anticipation from his end. He chewed for a moment, his face twisting as he savored the dish. After what felt like years, Jason finally swallowed and looked towards his uncle with a blank unreadable expression. Max tensed up, however the boy soon cracked a smile.
"It's good."
Max sighed in relief before he began eating as well.
"I knew it would be."
"No you didn't."
Jason chuckled as he took another bite.
"Can't ever trust you when it comes to cooking something new."
"Hey, give me a bit more credit."
The two laughed, enjoying each other's company. In the background, the television was on and the nightly news segment was playing. Again, the vaguely familiar red head was on the screen, giving the report. Jason wasn't paying much attention, though he perked up when he heard mention of a bodega.
["The owner says someone dressed in all black swooped in and took down the criminals before they got away. The four men are now in police custody awaiting trial for their crimes."]
The boy's eyes widened as he realized the news was talking about him. He couldn't believe it was actually happening.
'I feel like a celebrity.'
He mused to himself, however the next segment was something far more interesting.
["In more news, earlier today around 3:30 PM, a bunch of gunmen were found stuck to a wall with what appeared to be spider we-"]
"Wait, that isn't the same place I sent you earlier right?"
Jason perked up hearing his uncle's voice and chuckled nervously.
"Yeah, it is."
"Jesus, you didn't see anything like that when you were there did you?"
Jason gave a strained smile and a dry chuckle.
"No, I guess it happened after I left. Sounds like I should've stayed around though. Could've seen a vigilante from the sounds of it."
He couldn't help but find it cool how he was being covered on the news. However Max was being more serious about it.
"If you see something like that, run the other way. Alright kiddo?"
"Yup."
There was a bit of silence after that since the two returned to eating, however Jason soon asked another question.
"Isn't it kinda cool though?"
"What?"
"Y'know, what they just talked about. A vigilante saving people."
Max rose an eyebrow at the boy, but chuckled.
"You're awfully excited about this. But I don't really have much to say about it. I mean, it's nice to think that someone is out there protecting people. We know how bad things are getting. But some guy running around in a suit isn't really a smart thing to do. Might just get himself hurt."
Jason stared blankly at the man after his answer, then quickly returned to eating.
"Yeah I guess."
"..."
"..."
"Still pretty cool though."
Max chuckled at his nephews enthusiasm and nodded his head.
"Yeah, I guess it's kinda cool."
———
———
Jason walked through the hallways with a bit more confidence than usual. Sure, it was a Monday or what he often considered the day of reckoning, but this time things were a little different. His recent vigilante exploits had given him a bit to look forward to, and last night's news segment had done well in boosting his ego. Jason wondered if he'd be hearing people talk about him and if a few rumors had spread yet. The anticipation of such was making him giddy.
'This is super cool!'
He walked past two boys chatting, and what he heard made a wide grin spread across his face.
"Dude, it's crazy. Apparently he took down a bunch of armed guys!"
"No way."
His grin had grown to the point of being creepy, the fame was going to his head a bit too fast. Walking past some girls chatting next, he heard even more delightful rumors.
"Yeah, apparently they were stuck to wall with webs. So cool!"
Jason rose an eyebrow at that detail, but continued his strut.
'Tentacles, and I beat them into the ground, but close enough.'
He didn't worry too much about that minor discrepancy. After all, stories were always exaggerated and a few details were always changed. Still, it was nice to be the center of attention for once. This was all like a dream come true for the antisocial, unpopular boy, and he wasn't going to let anything ruin that. However, another conversation he overheard made him start questioning things.
"Red suit and all. He's totally back."
"Yeah, it has to be him. It's trending already!"
Jason paused, his previous confident smile wiped clean and replaced with a look of confusion.
'I...don't wear a red suit...'
That last detail was just too far wrong for the story to be right, and Jason finally started to doubt himself. Quickly, he pulled out his phone and opened Twitter, but what he saw shocked him. At the top of the trending list was "Spider-Man". Now that in itself wasn't very odd, however what he saw when he opened the tag made him want to slam his phone into the concrete. The first post read:
[Spider-Man is finally back! Get ready New York!]
It was accompanied with a picture. It seemed like someone shot a picture from the ground of this "Spider-Man" as he swung through the air. It was very blurry with horrible detail, though the key feature of the image could still be made out. It was someone wearing a red suit swinging through the sky. It wasn't Jason. The boy stood silent, just standing in the hallway as people passed him. He continued to stare at the picture in shock, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.
'I...I wear black.'
———