Peter Parker / Spider-Man

Peter learned a short while ago that getting shot was not something he wanted to experience again. It seemed, though, the Universe was not listening to him. But when has it? He felt like he never really could catch a break. Not mention that this dude that was shooting at him, he had freaky good aim. If Peter didn't have his spidey sense to give him advanced warning, he'd have been dead thrice over. And this wasn't to sound morbid at all, but just the plain truth.

"Geez, does the guy ever run out of ammo?" Wondered Peter aloud, as he twisted to his body at the last minute to dodge yet another string of fire. Peter seriously needed to get off this rooftop like yesterday.

Pftt. Pftt. Another two bullets whizzed by Peter's head. That had been another close one. Way too close. There was suddenly a noticeable silence. Gotta move, Parker. Peter was pretty sure that the gap in fire wasn't for his benefit, but that the shooter finally had to reload.

"I recommend you take advantage of his reloading and make a break for it, Peter," said Karen suddenly, interrupting his thoughts.

"It's like you read my mind, Karen," said Peter as he made ready to take off from the rooftop. Suddenly, however, a figure landed in front of him, one that was poised and ready to fight him.

The figure slowly rose up and came closer towards Peter, and in the dim light, Peter could make out a deep crimson armour like suite. Is this the Daredevil of Hell's Kitchen ? thought Peter excitedly, momentarily forgetting the dangerous situation he was in. He suddenly couldn't hold back a grin. The Devil of Hell's Kitchen! Whoa, how cool was that! He had heard about the guy, the man who worked in the shadows, protecting the people in Hell's Kitchen with his lightning fast reflexes. But wait… since when did the guy have a glowing fist?

"Um, are you Daredevil?" He asked hesitantly as the glowy fist guy started to approach him. "Cause, I've always wanted to meet him. Upstanding guy, protects the people. Sure, he wears devil's horns, but you know, I'm sure he did that to be a intimidating. Cause you know, costumes are important." Peter knew he was rambling a bit but he couldn't help it, especially when he was feeling nervous, his eyes darting every so often to the man's glowing fist.

"No, I am the Iron Fist. Protector of K'un-Lun. Sworn enemy of the Hand," the man stated, still closing in the distance as Peter backed away each step the man took.

Iron Fist? Well, that explained the lit fist, sorta. K'un-Lun, what was that? And the Hand... okay... Most important thing was, was he a friendly?

"You should not be here, Spider-Man, not after you have caused so many deaths," he continued in a solemn tone.

Peter swallowed thickly at the accusation. I'm innocent! Why, and how could I even think about hurting anyone? But of course they didn't know Peter or Spider-Man. There had been attacks in the past done by in-humans, and Peter had been lucky so far not to get the burnt of any of the bad press – until now. He had watched the news with his aunt May, how this person masquerading as him had essentially killed over a hundred innocent lives at an Elderly Home party, on New Years Eve no less. There were several still in critical condition, and only a handful that had made it out unscathed. May had said then that Spider-Man was going nowhere near Hell's Kitchen unless he wanted to be grounded for life.

Well. Peter was now seriously never leaving his house – if he even made it back.

6 Hours Ago

Peter Parker / Spider-Man

While Chemistry class was usually pretty interesting for Peter, his mind was focused elsewhere. Things weren't going great in terms of his Spider-Man reputation, especially with the cops in Hell's Kitchen pointing fingers at Spider-Man being a murderer. Sure there was a fair share of defenders in Queens for Spidey, the local neighbourhood protector for the little guys, but there were also those that joined hands with the Manhattan police, calling Spider-Man a menace and a two-faced killer.

Killer. Peter had never in his life thought anyone would ever think of him as one.

"Hey, Peter, here" Ned said as he placed a few fluid containers on the lab desk.

"It wasn't me, Ned. I wouldn't hurt anyone," said Peter in a hushed tone.

Ned looked at him slight confused and taken aback for a moment. Then he suddenly realized what Peter was talking about.

"Um, of course not! I know that for a fact. And you were in Algebra class with me, remember? Last I checked you don't have the power to be in two places at once... um.. Do you?

"No, I don't, Ned."

"Ah, cool, I knew that. Was just checking."

"I meant the arson -"

"Peter, you always spend New Years Eve with your Aunt. She'd be the witness if they ever ask, but you know, they won't ever because they don't know that your secret identity." Then in a quieter voice, he added, "Besides, I know you Peter. You wouldn't hurt anyone, ever. Don't let those news people make you think otherwise."

"Thanks Ned." Peter felt relief. He needed that. He knew that Ned would always be on his side, but there was always that inkling of fear, that everyone he cared about would turn his back on him oneday.

Peter took one of the containers that Ned placed on the table and began to mix two chemicals in it, when suddenly, Principal Morita entered their classroom. He spoke softly to the teacher who nodded, his face very serious.

"Miss Brant? Can you please come with me to my office?" asked Mr. Morita

Betty looked surprised at the request, but she nodded and set flask she was holding down and followed Mr. Morita.

Once she left the room, there was immediate noise, whispers.

"Oh what's going on?"

"Did she do something?"

"I heard her dad's a bus driver."

"Wait, you think he's on that bus?"

"Yeah"

"That must suck. Bomb and all."

"Yeah."

What the heck was going on, wondered Peter. By instinct, he slipped his cellphone out of his pocket checked for any breaking news notifications. And just as he feared, the top story on twitter was a bomber had rigged a bus to explode.

Peter immediately clicked on the link for further details on it; Ned also curious, read it with him.

There was apparently a bomber in Queens that decided to use an idea he'd seen in a movie and make it a reality. Seriously, even Peter knew things shouldn't be taken literally, especially from television! They had caught the man, but the problem didn't end there. The bomber had rigged the bus to explode the moment it dropped in momentum, and at the moment it was going at 150 miles per hour. They had cleared a route for the bus to keep going, but they had made a little mistake in their calculations, and the path hit a road that was under construction. Oddly enough, Peter recalled that happening in the movie too. Okay, maybe the cops need to watch more movies than the bad guys in this case.

Peter knew that things were not good in terms of Spider-Man's reputation with Hell's Kitchen, but a. He had nothing to do with the murders or the arson that had happened and b. He was in Queens. And c, those people on the bus, their lives were at stake.

Peter had promised his aunt May he wasn't going to Hell's Kitchen anytime soon and he wasn't breaking it. The cops in Queens, they were defending him, they knew Spider-Man was a good person. Mr. Stark's voice popped into his head, though, like a little reminder, "There are people who can handle this. Let them." Yes, it was true, they had a bomb squad heading up with the bus. But at 150 miles per hour, it was going to be dangerous for the person. Whereas for Spider-Man, he could just cling to the bus, crawl under there easily and just diffuse the bomb.

Peter looked at his friend who nodded in understanding, "Go for it Peter. And be careful."

Peter nodded, "Thanks."

It was during class time, so he had to get a Hall Pass. Peter only hoped he could get back quick enough to avoid doing detention for skipping class. But it really was a small price to pay if he saved those people on the bus.

Once he'd gotten to an alleyway and changed into his Spider-Man suit, he immediately asked Karen to tell him where to find that bomb squad team. Spider-Man was great at a lot of things, but his knowledge in diffusing a bomb was slim to none. Peter knew he could rely on Karen to do that, but if he made an error because he didn't seek help when there was help available, then if things went south, it would be his fault. If left with no other options, he would go with Karen and solve it, but Peter had the NYC Bomb Squad as a resource. Not using them would be foolish - even though he was not exactly on their friend list at the moment. Karen, out of concern, also reminded him of it more than once as he made his way to the location provided by the A.I.

To say the meeting was awkward, was an understatement. The Bomb Squad had just readied to head out when Peter, as Spider-Man showed up to offer help. They had discussed it in hushed tones. After a moment, they reached a consensus, that the lives of those on the bus was more important at the moment than catching Spider-Man for a crime based on circumstantial evidence. Quickly, the bomb squad team briefed Spider-Man on what he needed to do and then handed him a cell phone. This way they could communicate and also Spider-Man could send them a live image of the bomb, to ensure that they were cutting the correct wires to diffuse it.

Once briefed, Peter asked Karen approximately where the bus was and he was off in an instant.

Things had gone according to Peter's plan as he easily landed on the roof of the vehicle, despite it going at such high speed. If Peter didn't have the mask on, he was sure he would have felt the skin on his face pull back - like being on a rollercoaster. Except this was nowhere near fun. The route, Peter could see, was definitely ending soon, just past the bridge there was some construction and the bus would be forced to make a turn, which in turn would slow the car down. Peter had to act fast.

As he made his way towards the base of the bus, his presence was made known to the passengers on the bus. "Oh, Hey guys," he said waving in a friendly manner. They were all astonished though they didn't seem all that happy to see him. They probably think I'm up to something bad. But like Ned said, don't let the news affect me. I am who I am.

When Peter crawled under the bus, belch, boy did it smell bad! Ignoring the smell, he focused his eyes on what appeared to be a sizable innocuous object attached to the middle of the bus. Karen also confirmed it was the bomb and told him to proceed with caution, but also quickly as according to her calculation, the bus was reaching the end of its straight route.

Nodding to noone in particular, Peter moved quickly and was suddenly underneath the bomb. As the bomb squad had told him, he unclipped the phone from his side and called them. Once they connected, Peter showed them a visual of the bomb using the phone.

There was a flurry of noise as they discussed it between them, all the while, Peter couldn't help but ask Karen's opinion. Which wire should he cut? There were three options, white, black or red.

As Peter expected, Karen gave him the highest statistics based on the model and make of the bomb. This, however, was assuming that the bomber hadn't tampered with it. Karen said the red wire. Peter, however, waited. Hesitant. It was a statistics. Probabilities. He should cut it. But he couldn't, not even when the A.I. reminded him, they were closing in on that turn. Beads of sweat formed on Peter's forehead, he could feel himself sweat underneath the mask. Come on guys, just tell me what to do. Peter was scared, not for himself, but for the occupants of the bus. If he made the wrong choice, they all died. Patience, his inner voice spoke up. Let the experts do their job. That last part definitely sounded like Mr. Stark's advice, but the man's advice hadn't been wrong in the past, and it wasn't wrong in the present either. Peter had lots to learn and going solo wasn't always the best way.

"The black one," the voice said over the phone.

Peter, with his heart thumping against his chest, listened, and snapped the black wire. Almost instantly, the bomb shut down, the red lit timer went black. Relief flooded over Peter as he relayed to the squad that the bomb had been diffused. Now, Peter just had to tell the bus driver he could finally hit the brakes.

But if only life could ever be easy for Spider-Man. While there were cheers on the bus, after Peter gave them okay sign, the bus driver started crying out that the brakes were out. Given the speed they were going at, there was no way they could make the turn without the bus flipping. Evacuating the people wasn't an option either, there was too many, and there were young children and babies on board as well. Peter knew the only way was to stop the bus and he had to do it fast.

"Okay guys, I'm going to stop the bus, so you guys will have to come to the front here, and hold on real tight. Don't let go, okay? The bus might flip vertically. I don't want anyone to get hurt." he said through the open window by the driver's side.

The passengers on the bus nodded and quickly hurried to follow his instructions, the stronger folks blocking and securing the children and babies from harm.

"Good luck, Spider-Man," the driver said once everyone was in position.

Peter nodded, "Thanks, Man. See you in a bit." Just as he started to make his way to the front hood of the bus, he saw a picture on the dashboard. Betty Brant and the driver. This is her dad, thought Peter. Don't worry, Betty, he's coming home today.

He crawled to the top of the front hood and swung himself several meters ahead of the bus, and rapidly fired his web shooters to literally form a shield. The shield was backup reinforcement as he braced himself to stop the bus coming at him at full speed. And boy was it approaching fast. You've got this, Peter!

Just as Peter suspected as he gripped tightly onto the hood of the bus, the bus flipped vertically. There were cries in the bus, but more of being startled, not of pain. This lasted for a minute, maybe more, but once it flipped vertically, the wheels of the bus had nothing to keep its momentum. The web shield that Peter had put up, helped keep the bus from completely flipping over. There were cheers within the bus, and Peter smiled in relief, as Karen spoke in his comm, "That was a close one, Peter. Another minute or so it would have been forced to turn. Good job."

"Thanks Karen," said Peter as he released his hold on the bus and slowly moved to settle it back in a horizontal position.

"Hey, everyone okay in there?"

"We're good, thanks Spider-Man!" Peter was glad they were all smiling, and grateful. He was worried at the darkened expressions they had initially when he had appeared.

Sirens in the background, Peter knew the authorities were on their way. Although they had called it a truce because they needed him to help him, Peter didn't want to press his luck that this time the cops may decide otherwise. Besides, he still needed to get back to Chemistry class... "Karen, what time is it?"

"If you mean to ask if you can make it back to Chemistry class without being detected, I am afraid 4th period has already started." Great. Physics class was on, that meant the Chem teacher probably had a write up on him already. Peter let out an inward sigh.

Yet looking at the passengers who were now safe and sound, an hour of detention on Saturday wasn't that bad. With a last look to check that everyone was okay as they exited the vehicle, Peter made his quick exit from the scene.

Peter ended up with two pink slips, one for Chem and on for Physics. So two hours of detention was up for him, and he got that look from MJ as he walked in late for Physics. She looked at him with such knowing eyes, like she knew his secret or something. Bit paranoid much, Peter?

Meanwhile Flash was still being the asshat he was, snorted as Peter walked passed him after the teacher gave him a talk.

Peter chose to ignore Flash, since he had other things on his mind. Throughout the class, he browsed news on what authorities were saying about Spider-Man playing a part in rescuing the bomb strapped bus. But there was nothing on it. Not a word. All that was said was the Bomb squad team managed to deal with the incident and that everyone was safe. What the heck was going on? Was he on a news blackout or something? Was saying that he did anything good taboo? Was Spider-Man a name that could not be said, like that Voldomort guy from Harry Potter?

Yet evidence of him being at the bus scene was available on youtube, as one of the passengers had used his/her phone to record Spider-Man as he stopped the bus from crashing. The comments below, however, to Peter's dismay were outcries of "Fake", "he's a murderer!", "killer", "He's putting on a show!", "Fake news!".

Feeling upset, Peter didn't want to read anymore of the negative comments, the accusations, so closed his laptop and forced himself to focus in class. I'm not the bad guy! Tears burned in his eyes, but he refused to shed them. I'm not the bad guy, he repeated to himself, almost like a mantra.

When the final bell rang, Peter left without a word, not even to Ned who looked surprised at his mood.

Ned followed him all the way to the lockers, concern on his face. Peter tried to hold his emotions back, he didn't want to be upset. He did good, that was what mattered. But seeing those comments on him, still claiming that he was a killer, a murderer, it hurt. It was like someone had socked him in the stomach.

"Hey, Peter, you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said quietly, not looking at his friend, focusing on putting his books away and switching out what he needed for his homework that night.

"You don't seem okay. I saw the news coverage... they're just being asses, Peter. You know you helped, and those people, they know you saved them!"

"It's... it's not that Ned," Peter finally made eye contact with his best friend. "They're calling me a killer. A murderer. Even though I'm doing good, they're fixing the story, hiding the truth. It makes me so... frustrated," he said, his fist balling up in anger.

"I think it's because with the inhumans thing that has been popping up, they're just being paranoid."

"Just because their inhuman doesn't make them evil, Ned."

"I know that, but a lot of people don't. Their reputation hasn't been the best."

"Only because they haven't learned to control their powers, that's all. It took me time too."

"You have to admit, a lot of them went kind of nutso too."

"Not all of them. Daisy Johnson... "

"Quake? She's pretty," added Ned with a blush.

"Yeah. She turned out okay."

"Well, statistically speaking... anyway, I'm just saying, like earlier, don't let those ignorant people get to you, Peter. I know, May and Mr. Stark know and trust you're not some psychotic arsonist. You don't need to prove to anyone else that. Maybe lay low for a bit. They'll come to their senses."

Peter finished packing his books and nodded. "Maybe you're right. I should lay low. They'll realize that I have nothing to do with it."

And Laying low was exactly what Peter had planned to do.

That evening, however, Peter's hand was forced to do otherwise, and Hell's Kitchen suddenly became his eventual destination.