Spider-man: Alone in New York

~ Chapter 3 ~

Perched at the top of the building, I gazed down at the people moving. Despite it being 12 AM, people were bustling about. Through the windows of buildings, light shone and figures of people moving around could be seen. The city was alive, day and night.

A scream cut through my thoughts. "Help!" My heightened senses easily picked it up, but the people walking below me were completely oblivious. I reached up and put on the mask again. After a couple of steps, my body flew off the ledge with momentum. I let myself fall before reaching out and shooting a web that attached itself to the top of a skyscraper.

"Help! Please somebody! Hel-" She stopped yelling. I swung quickly, shooting webs from both my right and left hand. I landed with a soft thump in front of a gate that led into the Central Park. I heard a muffled scream and quickly jumped over the gate easily. I ran towards the sound of two people scuffling and saw a man pushing a woman into a tree, hand covering her mouth.

He whispered, "Sweetheart, stop struggling." I didn't waste another thought before I sprang into action. I shot a web at his back and pulled back, lifting his body and throwing him over my shoulder. He yelped when he landed on his back on the grass. He was about to stand up, but I shot a web at both of his feet and then his hands as well.

"Let me go!" He yelled, struggling against the restraints. He continued shouting at me, so I sent another web at his mouth. "Mmpf! Mm!"

"That's better." I smiled and turned around to find a shaking woman who looked at me, jaw wide open. "Are you okay?" I walked towards her, palms up to show her I mean no harm.

She quickly nodded. "Y-yeah. Thank you!"

I didn't want to leave her here alone with Mr. Creepy, so I asked, "Can I call the police for you? Or would you like me to take you home?"

"Um, the police would be good, right? Here, I can call them." She took out her phone but had to enter her password several times due to her shaking hands. She explained the situation to them and after a minute or so, the red and blue flickering lights alerted us of their presence. I heard their doors slam closed as they made our way to us.

I told her, "I think that's my cue to leave." I tried to avoid the police as some of them didn't like the thought of me, a vigilante, hanging around and doing their job.

"Wait one moment. You're the Spider-man, right?" She asked and after I nodded she continued, "Thank you. Really. I don't know what would've happened if you weren't here."

I smiled at her, even though she couldn't see my face behind the mask. "Of course, ma'am. Have a good night." I took off running, opposite of the approaching police. I exited Central Park and swung to the top of a building.

I wasn't there long. I heard a car alarm blare from a couple of blocks away, so I swung over there. I dismissed it as a false alarm when I saw a mother scolding her child. Her child, a young boy, looked down at the ground in obvious shame. His lip puckered, about to cry. I could hear the woman let out a loud sigh and watched her as she placed a hand on his shoulder. All seemed fine. However, when I was about to move on, I heard the mother yell in fright. Two people who had been walking on the sidewalk beside her pull out guns and walk toward her.

"Just give me your money, and you and your child will be fine," Criminal One told her.

The woman gasped, grabbing her child by the arm and tugging him so he was behind her, protected by her body. "Okay, okay! I have money in my purse!" She threw it at them, and the other one, Criminal Two, caught it.

He dug through it, pulling out a wallet and throwing the purse on the floor. His fingers quickly pulled out a couple of paper bills as the mother and son inched backwards.

He barked at them after counting how much she had, "That's it?"

"I-I don't have a lot-lots of money. Just-just take it." Despite her stammering voice, she stood strong and brave in front of her child.

"Liar! Where's the rest?" Crimanal One walked closer to her, aiming the gun at her face. I had hoped that they would let the mother and child leave, so when I attacked them they would be out of danger. Apparently, however, they weren't about to let them leave. With two leaps, I landed in front of the two criminals, arms crossed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?" I asked, smirking at them. Their mouths fell open as they realized who I was. One of them turned the gun towards me. "Nah-uh. Guns are a big no-no." I reached out, sending a web at the gun and tugging it towards me. It flew out of the guy's hand and ended up in mine. My spidey sense told me to dodge to the right, so I did. Less than a second later, a bullet whipped by me.

Criminal Two's mouth gaped open. "What the-"

"What did I say about the guns?" A moment later, the other gun was in my left hand. I didn't like guns. They allowed people to easily kill other people. I slid them into my pockets but not before making sure the safety was on. "Now back to..." I looked up and saw them fleeing. Great.

Glancing back, the woman and her son were already in their car, starting it up and the woman slamming her foot on the gas pedal. I had almost no time to jump out of the way as she sped, the opposite direction of the criminals. Before swinging towards the two robbers, I made sure to memorize her license plate.

I caught up to them quickly. That's how it worked when you were almost flying through streets. Swinging was really much more advantageous than walking or running. Faster, more fun, and it had a great view.

I dropped in front of them. "Where are the two of you going? The party's was just getting started." Criminal Two wasted no time as he raised his fist at me, ready to punch me. My spidey sense tingled, telling me to crouch. I followed it and glanced up as the fist hit empty air. Criminal One joined the fight, trying to kick my right kneecap. I grabbed his leg midair and tugged him. That was enough to send him flying into the wall.

Criminal Two tried to punch me again, but I simply brought up my hand to meet his. He growled when he found his hand completely still in the air because of me. He tried to get out of my grip, but the only thing that did was causing me to clench it harder. I heard a crack of a bone in his hand breaking, causing him to let out a bellow of pain.

In the meantime, my other hand shout out and grabbed the wallet he had stuffed in his jeans pocket. "This doesn't belong to you." I let him go when I heard sirens coming closer to us. The woman must have called the police. I sent webs at Criminal One, pinning him to the ground and at Criminal Two, who was near a dumpster. I took out a piece of post-it notes and a pen I kept stored in one of the pockets of my hoodie and wrote: 'Stolen Wallet. Stealing is bad. - Spider-man'. I put it beside Criminal One and then climbed up the building beside us. I watched as the police pointed their guns at the two criminals and one of them finding the note.

The job here was done.