Little Spy | Peter Parker ✓

[13]

THE SUIT WAS MORE THAN JUST A 'SUIT' TO THE PARKER BOY.

It was a whole other identity, of course, that much was obvious to anyone - it allowed the boy to show who he truly was under the protection of the red and blue and white armour. It allowed him to shed his quiet and awkward skin and lighten up, cracking jokes and shooting webs as he 'flew' through the air. He could wear a mask and leap around the city without a care, and anyone could understand that from a surface view, looking at the boy, but there was more to the story than just that.

The suit made him a hero, something that I had never been or even known, and someone people wanted to know. Everybody seemed to absolutely love him; even at Midtown High School, students wore homemade shirts with his 'face' on it, supporting the now-beloved character that was supposedly saving New York. While in the beginning, he had been not much of anything, simply stopping petty crimes and helping old women across the street, the Parker boy had stepped out of an invisible shell and become an icon of New York. I had heard conversations on the street about him, people who would never know Peter otherwise gushing about their very own Spider-man protecting them, as though he personally shadowed and acted as the city's guardian angel. It was such a strange concept, yet I could also understand why he loved it so much; he had so much worth, and it could be intoxicating. 

Over the past two weeks, I had managed to observe him multiple times as he whizzed through the city, following him carefully and doing my best to capture as much photo evidence as humanly possible. I was not so stupid as to look at him openly, but kept to the shadows and followed behind as much as I could. Leaping from building to building was near impossible without enhancements as he had, and I lacked his 'spider-like' abilities to keep me going, but it was something.

The tracking device in his bag as well as in his shoe certainly helped. From my vantage point in an alley or in the shadows on a New York rooftop, I could easily watch the boy and wait for him to come back and get his backpack or zoom off to the next location. Sometimes, just waiting in the shadows for him to collect his belongings at the end of the day, was as good as it could be.

It only took minutes for him to whiz back here one day, dropping down off a stray web and behind a dumpster, where I knew his belongings were. I remained hidden and where I could not see his exact actions but knew he was still there, simply for he had to come my way to leave the alley. He was not hurt or harmed in any way, surprisingly, and from my position, I could vaguely make out terms of congratulations towards himself and his work. The Parker boy was a lot of things, but apparently, humble was not one of them - not in his suit, at least. As though he was a totally different character altogether.

"Ah, there you are."

The thud had echoed behind me, and I watched in fear from the shadows as a monstrosity of a man came from nowhere. Peter poked his head out, still half-dressed in his Spider-man costume, and stared in shock just the same as me.

"The Spider-boy."

It was huge - or, rather, he was huge; an enormous man, blue all over and covered in a black suit of a material I didn't recognise, with what seemed like little sensors hooked up all over it, doing something him that neither us knew. However, that wasn't what was most terrifying; the scariest part was his head, for all over the rippling purpling skin, what seemed like electricity sparked and jumped inches off of him, crackling menacingly. All in all, it was a mix of a bad nightmare or some sort of hallucinated dream, nothing I expected to exist in this world or time.

Peter grunted and slid out from behind the dumpster, wearing an expression of fear, shock, and anger quite apparent on his unmasked face. I could tell he was just about to leave, with his jeans covering his lower half and pack slung across his back. "Whoa, okay. Who - what - are you?"