At this moment as a police car was passing by....
Bang!
A gunshot was heard.
"What the..." Said one of the police officers as he turned towards the black warehouse they had driven by.
"It came from the warehouse we just passed!" Said another police officer.
"Turn the car around quick!" Shouted the third police officer as he immediately turned on their car's siren.
...
Upon hearing the police sirens, Axel who was still sticking to the ceiling couldn't help but feel a bit panicked as he thought: "I just beat up three large violent men... how do I explain myself?!"
As this thought crossed his mind, Axel suddenly spotted an open window near the ceiling.
"There!... But..." Muttered the Spider-Man masked boy as he then looked down towards the three unconscious men he had just knocked out.
With his eyes turning sharp, Axel made a decision.
BANG!
"Marvel City Police put your weapons down!" Shouted one of the police officers who had just kicked open the door.
When the police officers entered the building, they were surprised to see the sight before their eyes... it was a mess with large broken boxes and three masked men unconscious... one of them was even hanging from the ceiling.
"What the heck happened?" Said one of the police officers.
"Could it be they were drinking and a fight started?" Said another police officer.
"Doesn't matter... we heard a gunshot earlier so at least one of them should be armed... come on let's bring them in for questioning." Said a third police officer.
...
After silently escaping through the small open window, Axel ran as fast as he could as if he was trying to run away from everything that just happened.
"Hah..Hah..Hah.." After awhile Axel decided to stop at a nearby grassy field. Although he was panting, he wasn't actually physically exhausted... instead it was more like he was taking deep breaths in trying to make sense of everything that just happened.
"I've never ran so fast in my life!" Thought the boy as he removed his Quick Change Mask.
Ding!
However suddenly a holographic screen appeared before him once again, interrupting his thoughts and breathing.
System: "Congratulations Host for assisting the Marvel City Police in apprehending three kidnappers.... the System hereby rewards you with '300 Spider System Points'."
On the holographic screen the notification...
- Received 300 SS Points.
...could be seen.
By this point Axel couldn't help but stare speechless at the sight of the holographic screen that had once again appeared before him.
"This is all... real..." Softly muttered the boy as he slowly began to accept everything that had just happened.
Turning towards the Spider-Man mask in his hand, Axel couldn't help but say: "I...I have a System.... and spider powers!"
...
Upon arriving back at his house, Axel had a troubled and confused expression on his face... he couldn't decide whether to tell his family about what had happened or not... should he tell them he was kidnapped?... If so how could he explain to them how he managed to escape... How would he even explain things about the system and his powers... right now Axel's mind was a mess.
"What's up twerp, you don't look so good." Said a beautiful young girl with long blonde hair that suddenly approached Axel... it was his sister Celine.
"Oh... hey sis... sorry but I gotta lie down for a bit." Replied Axel as he immediately hurried to his room.
Watching her brother's back, Celine couldn't help but think: "Hm... he came home kinda late tonight... did he get into a fight with one of his friends?... Maybe I should be nicer to him tomorrow."
After entering his room and lying down on his bed, Axel took a deep breath and began to think things through.
Axel: "So.... I have a system, powers and some masked men just tried to kidnap me... question is why did those people take me... was it to get ransom from my parents or were they hired by somebody?"
Axel: "....."
After staying silent for a few moments, the blonde boy suddenly muttered: "System?"
System: "The Spider Suit System is here for any and all of your inquiries Host."
Hearing the System's voice sound within his head, Axel tried his best to calm down as he took out some spider shaped gadgets from his pocket then asked: "How do I use the Spider-Tracers?"
Must know that just before Axel left the warehouse, he had quickly taken out a Spider-Tracer from his pocket, activated it then threw it at one of the unconscious masked men.
System: "Each Spider-Tracer gives out a signal that can be tracked by the Host's Spider-Sense."
Axel: "Yeah that how do I do that?... How do I track it with my Spider-Sense?"
System: "The System believes that the Host requires some training in the use of his new abilities.... Initiating Simulation Realm Program!"
Axel: "What are you.... huh?!"
But before Axel could finish his words, he suddenly found himself feeling quite drowsy... with his eyelids getting heavy the blonde boy slowly closed his eyes and lost consciousness.
...
"Guh... What happened... did I fall asleep?" Muttered Axel as he opened his eyes and got up from the ground.
It was here that he was shocked by the sight before his eyes.... He was standing at the center of what looked to be a holographic city.
"Where the hell am I now?!" Said Axel as he took a step back in confusion.
System: "Please calm yourself Host. You are currently within the System's Simulation Realm Program. A special program meant to create a holographic realm that can assist the Host in training their powers as Spider-Man."
Axel: "Holographic realm?"
System: "Indeed... currently only your consciousness has entered this realm program while as your real body remains unconscious and resting comfortably on your bed."
"Y-You said this place is meant to help me train my powers?" Asked Axel not knowing really what to do next.
System: "Indeed... This holographic realm is capable of creating numerous scenarios where you would be required to use your new sets of abilities in various ways."
"So... this is really a place for me to try out my new powers?" Muttered Axel as he turned towards the holographic skyscrapers around him.
System: "Initiating Training Task 1."
Axel: "Wha?!"
With a flash of light, Axel was instantly transported at the top of one of the holographic buildings.
Before Axel could even say anything, the holographic screen appeared before him and on it was....
- Training Task 1 - Web-Swinging.
- Learn how to web-swing from building to building with relative ease in order to clear this Training Task.
"....." Seeing what was written on the holographic screen coupled with realizing just how high up he was, Axel couldn't help but be speechless.
....
Several Hours Later.....
Back at the black warehouse a masked man with a blue bird symbol on his chest was investigating the scene where Axel had fought the three masked men earlier.
"It's me." Muttered Nightwing as he tapped on his earpiece.
"How is it?" Replied the voice from the other end of the line with a dark tone.
NIghtwing: "A mess... but the police seem to have cleared it of most evidence."
"The three men hired by Falcone claim that they were taken out by some sort of masked freak." Replied the dark voice.
Hearing this Nightwing couldn't help but show a slight smirk as he said: "Yeah a lot of that going around lately... any clues on who it was."
Dark Voice: "Not yet... however during interrogation one of the three thugs also said this person was sticking to the ceiling."
"The ceiling huh?" Muttered Nightwing as he raised his head to stare up at the ceiling, it was then that he noticed an open window high up next to the ceiling.
Nightwing: "If that's really the case... then maybe I think I know how he got out without being noticed."
...
"GAAAAH!!" Shouted Axel as he slams onto a holographic building in his attempt to web-swing.
Safely landing on the ground, Axel couldn't help but say: "Damn it!.... I was so close to doing five consecutive web-swings."
After the system transported him on top of the building once again, Axel calmed himself down as he stared at the large group of holographic skyscrapers in front of him then muttered: "To web-swing with ease huh... wonder how long it'll take me to actually do that?... It's already been three and a half hours since I've been trying."
Indeed during this time Axel had learned and understood many things about his powers... some of which was how to wall-crawl by the side of a building as well as how to properly land when descending from high buildings... at first he was extremely scared, however after falling dozens of times and being saved by the System just as many times, he eventually got the hang of it.
"To be like Spider-Man..." Thought Axel as he closed his eyes as if trying to comprehend something.
It was here that he once again began to see the image of another Spider-Man... this time it was Miles Morales.
It was the image of Miles Morales taking his leap of faith.
Indeed it was his Spider-Instinct allowing him to tap into Miles Morales' own experience.
"The freedom of web-swinging... the freedom of being able to swing and jump around the city with nothing holding me down." Muttered Axel as he opened his eyes not realizing he was now wearing his Quick Change mask.
After this Axel simply jumped off the building with a calm demeanor.... must know that Axel had tried to web-swing based on what he had seen from the Spider-Man games, movies and cartoons from his previous life, but now after tapping into Miles Morales' experience, he immediately understood that that was the wrong way of going about it.... He had to web-swing his way, not try to copy what he had seen!
As he was descending down from the tall building at great speed, Axel suddenly turned towards the nearby building and shot out a web-line without wavering or hesitation.
kachi!
Grabbing tightly onto the web-line, Axel swung his lower body forward with finesse.
Before even comprehending what he was doing, Axel already found himself web-swinging flawlessly from building to building.
- Training Task 1 - Web-Swinging(Clear).
- Reward: Doubled Capacity Web-Shooters.
Axel Narration: "Without realizing it, I had already taken my first small steps in becoming my own Spider-Man."
...
Within a dark office somewhere in Gotham City....
A well suited man with a cigar in his hand could be seen staring towards the window.
It was here that a man wearing a black fedora hat suddenly enters the room and says: "Boss..."
Tapping on his cigar Carmine Falcone asks: "How did it go?"
"The three idiots are in the hoosegow." Replied the fedora hat man.
Carmine Falcone: "And the kid?"
Fedora hat man: "Some of our guys said they saw him walking home."
Bam!
After throwing his cigar at the wall, Carmine got up from his chair and said: "So not only did they not get the kid, they also got themselves caught by the coppers... You said those three knew what they were doing."
Fedora hat man: "Sorry boss... didn't think they'd mess up this bad."
Carmine Falcone: "We've lost most of our power and influence here in Gotham thanks to that Bat freak and his sidekicks... it also doesn't help that Cobblepot and that two-faced Harvey Dent have been poaching from us every chance they get."
Fedora hat man: "I know boss."
Carmine Falcone: "We need a fresh start... and Marvel City is just right for the pickings... the only thing we were missing was a foothold on the place... inconspicuous millionaires like the Rivers couple are the perfect targets for us."
"Don't worry boss.. this time I'll handle things personally." Said the Fedora hat man as he took out a tommy gun from one of the hidden drawers.
"You'd better." Muttered Carmine as the fedora hat man exited the room.
The Mafia Don then turned towards his table where the pictures of two teenagers were placed.
Carmine Falcone: "Well if going after the boy was a bust... let's try the girl."