Web Swinger

One: Patrol Problems

Peter didn't ever think this thrill of this would ever wear off; swinging through the city at lightning speed, seeing buildings and streets fly by. The moments where he'd free fall, and catch himself moments before hitting the ground.

The times he'd run up the side of a building, just to backflip off it and swing away. The high vantage points where he could survey the city, the fact that he could just sit on the side of a building whenever he liked.

His Spider-Powers were amazing, in so many ways, and he found new ways to appreciate them with every patrol. Peter would never tire of being Spider-Man, would never tire of this. He didn't even mind saving the city every now and again.

He was glad his two closest friends knew who he was, along with all those who had helped in the Thanos fight. Ned had been supportive right from the start, and MJ was willing to help with his problems, Spidey related or not. If he was honest, he was kind of glad they hadn't ended up dating long-term; they really were better as friends.

Doctor Strange was really the only one from the Thanos fight that Peter regularly saw around the city, and he was... well, in many ways he reminded Peter of Tony, but in many ways he was so, so different.

Peter was glad for the support, in all the different ways it was shown to him, from all the different people who knew. It didn't stop him missing the support of Tony, but it did help lessen the pain.

Peter was jerked out of his thoughts by the sound of civilians screaming; he could have groaned at the sound. It had only been a few months since shit went down in Europe, and he just wanted a goddamn break.

But this was New York, and he wouldn't expect anything less from such a city. With a sigh, he began to sling his way towards the sound. It wasn't too far from where he was, and he arrived on-scene in less than a minute.

The sight he was greeted with is as follows; a heavy armoured super soldier, attacking without mercy. Civilians running for their lives, some escaping, others not so lucky. But by far the weirdest part was that the soldier seemed to possess similar powers to Peter himself.

The soldier was leaping onto the side of buildings, and running up walls like they'd been born to do it. They dodged anything that flew their way, sometimes even if it was coming from behind. They had an uncanny handle on their powers, almost a better grip than Peter did himself on his Spidey powers.

"Oh, shit. Karen, any idea who this soldier is?"

"The armour is covering his face, and from this distance I can't get body measurements to compare."

Peter sighed. "Okay, pinpoint his armour for weak spots."

"Pinpointing... no weak points found."

"Damnit." Peter's eyes stayed trained on the soldier. "Work out the best approach."

"A surprise attack from behind has the highest outcome."

"Alright, let's do this." Peter shot out a web to swing himself across to a building behind the soldier, landing neatly and quietly on the roof. Then he carefully aimed both his web shooters so that his webs would hit his target's shoulders.

He fired, and pulled himself onto the soldier's back with as much force as he could. This shove caused the soldier to stumble, and Peter was quick to shoot out another web. He used this to swing around and kick the soldier in the face; hard.

The kick didn't seem to do much to the soldier; it didn't even dislodge the mask the tiniest bit, and probably hurt Peter more than it did the soldier. It did, however, catch the soldier's attention, who took a swing at Peter.

He managed to dodge it just in time and swung away, but the soldier was now targeting him. "Karen? A little help?"

"He seems to favour his left side a little. Signs point to an old injury."

"So I go for his right then," Peter muttered as he swung back around to try attacking the soldier again. That was when he saw them; someone in a very crude, obviously homemade imitation of his own Spider-Suit standing atop a nearby building.

He tore his eyes off them to deliver a flurry of punches into the soldier's right side, managing to find a small chink in the armour that allowed him to deal more damage. As he swung out of the soldier's range, the person in the homemade Spider-Suit leaped forwards, jumping into the battle.

Peter was almost amazed at their stupidity; they clung to the soldier's armour for a moment before they were thrown off. Then they leaned onto the side of a building, sticking to it as Peter himself would, before launching themselves off it to barrel into the soldier again.

He could see that they weren't going to get out of this alive if Peter didn't help; he swung in to attack their right side again, and he only managed one punch before the soldier began to flee. Peter turned his attention from the soldier to the other spider-person.

He couldn't afford to worry about the soldier or why he'd given up so quickly when the person in the homemade Spider-Suit could have been seriously injured. It had been stupid of them to interfere with the fight. As Peter stepped closer to them, his Spider-Sense began to tingle.

It wasn't warning him of danger, though. It was telling him this person, whoever they were, was the same as him. His eyes stretched wide under his mask.

"You're like me," he breathed.

"Yep!" The other person, who was male as far as Peter could tell from his voice, seemed quite proud of this. And oddly happy.

"You shouldn't have joined in that fight," Peter said slowly.

"You needed the help," the other Spider-Man replied.

Peter frowned beneath his mask. "Look, kid, you almost died."

The other Spider-Man bristled, muscles tensing. "I'm no kid!"

Peter then realised that the other guy was probably around his age, and amended his statement. "You almost died, okay?"

"I did not," the Spider-Man retorted. "I was fine."

Peter sighed, and massaged his temples through the mask. "Jesus Christ."

"Anyway, I need someone to train me," the other Spidey continued, and when Peter just stared at him he added, "To be a Spider-Man, of course."

Peter sighed, and pressed his fingers harder against his temples. "Fine. But only because I don't want you dying, okay?"