Marvel's Kid Arachnid: Vol 1

like, what's up danger

"Listen man, we had a deal. The boss isn't gonna be too happy about this."

"I know- but I'll get what you need by Tuesday! Just-"

"Get it by tomorrow, or you're done."

Harper slowly peered around the corner to catch a glimpse of the men who were grumlbimg to each other. She tried to think of who their boss was. Could it be some gang leader? Or someone more sinister?

She leaned in a bit closer and pushed a brick in the wall, causing it to fall on the concrete and crumble. The men turned toward the sound, the one in a lab coat looking much more scared than the other, who wore orange.

The second guy stomped toward Harper, who put her hands up in surrender. She didn't necessarily have a plan, but she knew she could fight if she needed to. If she could do it on command.

"Get out of here, little girl."

"Why are you bothering this guy?" Harper asked. "He's just some nerd."

"This isn't any of your damn business, so get the hell out of here before I-"

"Before you what? Beat my ass?"

Harper was trying to act tough but in reality, she was really, really scared. She tried to maintain eye contact and not freak herself out by overthinking.

"I just might."

"Come on, man, chill out." Harper said as she looked around, trying to figure out what was going on, searching for any items or files or something that might be around...

And, she was trying to calm her nerves by not looking at this huge guy directly.

Harper heard a few shouts and gasps as a vehicle pulled up on the street nearby.

"Are those your friends?" She asked.

"You little-"

"Look!" The lab coat exclaimed, "I'll give you these if you just leave us alone." He pulled a folder from his coat, hands shaking as he extended his reach to the man in orange, who ripped them out of the coats grasp. Harper caught a glimpse of the stamp on the folder. She could only make out 'OS'.

Without thinking, Harper snatched the files out of the man's hands. He lunged at her and she dodged, almost a second too late. She took a few steps back and raised a hand, the other holding the folder away.

"You have got to be joking me," the man grumbled, as he made a flounce toward Harper. She took another step and punched him, but that didn't stop him like it stopped those guys from before.

The lab coat ran away. Harper tried doing that, too, turning on her heel before the man grabbed her by the back of her shirt and threw her on the ground. Harper groaned and rubbed her side as she tried to stand back up. Her fingers still curled tightly around the folder, her eyebrows furrowed in determination, Harper rose to her feet.

"What do you want with Oscorp?" She demanded, glancing back down to the stamp on the folder.

"You ask too many questions. Stop trying to be a hero, little girl."

Harper sent a kick to the man's cheek, then followed up with a punch to the stomach, then to the chest. The man yanked her by the hair and sent her down again, but she used her legs to push him off and jumped back up.

Honestly, she was surprised by what she could do without even thinking about it. It was like instinct, like the buzzing in her head that told her when and where the danger came from.

It was probably beginner's luck. She had only been in such a situation twice now.

The man raised his fist but was met with a web to the arm and was introduced to the brick wall behind him. A hero adorned in red and blue hung down from a web on the railing of the building next to them.

Harper's eyes widened in surprise and she chuckled out of disbelief. "Spider-Man!"

Spider-Man landed on the ground, taking a deep breath and looking at the criminal on the ground before turning back to the teen in front of him, who's smile was as bright as a child on Christmas morning.

"You got that right, kid," he said, maybe smiling under the mask, but it's not like Harper could tell.

"You- you saved me! Thank you!"

Spider-Man laughed, nodding, putting his hands on his hips. "No problem." He walked toward the man, as if he were simply taking a stroll, and shot a few more webs at him to secure him to the wall.

"What've you got there?" He asked Harper, nodding toward the folder.

"Uhh- this guy in a lab coat gave him this folder. It looks like it's from Oscorp."

"Oscorp, eh...?"

Harper and Spider-Man both whipped their heads around at the incoming danger- more criminals on the way. Harper had gotten used to the tingly feeling, but then realized- was Spider-Man feeling the same thing, too?

"Alright," Spider-Man said, "Time to go, kid. Get outta here before you get hurt."

Harper paused. Her mind began to race, eyebrows furrowed. She turned on her heel and booked it toward the street, then started on her way back home.

"That spider," she mumbled to herself, breath heavy as she ran, "The spider- it must've done something- no! It was a normal spider. I'm just-..."

She turned the corner and kept her pace, speeding up a bit, passing through small crowded areas and groups of people nearby.

"-strong. And intuitive. It was a normal spider."

Sticky hands. Super senses- Spider senses? Strength off the charts...

"No, no, no, no, no-! It- it's not possible. It was just a normal spider."

Harper was desperate- trying to convince herself what she knew was true wasn't. This wasn't something cool anymore, not something that was simply weird thing, or some sort of trick-

She ran into the street-

"It was just a normal spider. And I'm a normal kid-!"

-and before she knew it, found herself leaping into the air and landing on the other side of the car that had almost hit her.

People cheered at the sudden display of agility, but Harper felt another cold sweat slick her face. She got on her feet and began on her way back home.

-
Harper locked the door behind her and threw her things down on the carpet near her bed. She sat down in the chair, set the files that had somehow remained in the folder, and panicked internally.

Well, more like externally now if you consider her quivering shoulders and head held in her hands. Without a clue of what to do, Harper took out her phone and opened Benjamin's contact.

"I gotta tell someone," she said, but quickly decided against it. "Not mom. Not dad, not Ben. Not Miles....Tanya? No, not Tanya, she'd freak out."

Then she remembered. The files.

"I forgot about these," she said, opening the folder and beginning to go over the files without a second thought. She didn't necessarily understand them- too sophisticated, classified, something she shouldn't have. But she did have them.

Something was going down. And she might be the only one who could stop it.

"What am I thinking?" Harper asked herself. "I don't even know the first thing about this!"

"Maybe Spider-Man? Damn, I should've given these to him when I had the chance..." Harper groaned and rested her elbows on the table, her forehead in her palms, staring down at the papers across her desk. "This shit is complicated."

"I bet if I found the guy who made these, I could get some answers. Or if I find the people who's looking for these..."

Harper sat up straight. She peered down at the files again and tucked them safely away in the folder, then into her bag.

"Time to be an everyday hero."

Or, a little more than that.