Chapter 1: prologue

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This is going to be a marvel AU, I hope you enjoy, I've had fun with this one!

Though the darkness, a beam of light cascaded over the dusty bricks of the tunnel- Jason Feldman turned his head, cursing under his breath as he saw its source.

"Get to the side!"

The group of teenagers ahead of him instantly pressed themselves to the sides of the tunnel, making themselves as flat as humanly possible as the train flashed past them. In the glass, Jason could make out his reflection and the the almost dizzying speed it the windows let him question who he was for a brief second as his slightly curly hair whipped around his face. Suddenly the noise subsided and the tunnel seemed to be darker than before, the trains clunks echoing into background noise, and it seemed just too quiet.

"Are we all okay?" Someone ahead of him called.

The chorus of 'yes' was all he needed and they continued to walk along the tracks, careful not to touch them. The groups black clothes made it almost impossible to make out who was who, but soon enough they made it to a break in the tunnel where it became a bridge and the darkness subsided into the stars.

"Alright. How long have we got?"
"Seven minutes- give or take."
"Jesus, that's not enough time!"
"Why didn't we got the non-lethal, non- death way?"

Jason interjected through the bickering.
"Seven minutes just became six-" he quickly swung his backpack off of his shoulders, reaching into it and grabbing seventy five foot of rope, securing it to the support beams "- I know someone, who knows someone, who knows someone who works for Feldman industries- they nicked this for me."

Not exactly a lie

"This shit is shock absorbent, non-stick, thin and best of all- does not give you friction burns!"

He tested his weight against the knots he had tied, finding them strong and sturdy.

"I'll see you down there!"

With a wink and a smile, he leapt off of the bridge and for a second, everything stopped. The maths started to replay in his head. Whizzer said that according to the blue prints the bridge was eighty foot tall, so the slight stretchy quality of the rope would let him got doe to approximately seventy-eight feet. Then the jump caught up with him and his stomach plunged. He could not breath- moving too fast for the oxygen to reach him. He took big gulping breaths, taking in only the bare minimum when suddenly the impact hit him as the bungee like material of the rope pulled him upwards. He dropped to the ground in a superhero position, rolled to the side and began to pant, finally taking in oxygen.

"What are you waiting for?" Jason yelled up at his friends, a playful tone in his voice, he stood up only to fall face first into the dirt, "stupid iron deficiency," he muttered under his breath. One by one the others slid down the rope, taking a much more cautious approach than the 'just jump off and prey you do not die' method Jason took.

"Yo Jason, thanks for convincing everyone to go on his way. I owe you one." The boy pulled Jason into a bro hug and Jason could almost feel the relief soaking out of his friend.

"Pip, you're the closest friend I got, I am never going to let you become a victim because of your race."
"That's why you carry the weed!" Pip jokes
"No. You are the only person who knows who my Dad is. If you are in any trouble, ever - call me, I'm sure he has ties."

Philip and Jason had been each other's best friends and confidants for years, the fact of Pips safety had been subject to many a conversation, especially since the almighty dick had been voted into presidency and the final push of the black lives matter protests leading to the senseless slaughter and violence of young men and women of colour.

"Who has the weed?" Someone from the group shouted and pip and Jason took that as their lead to shy in the circle. A train tattled overhead on the bridge above them and Philip nudged Jason.

"Just in time, huh."

He took the joint out of the boy next to hims hand and took a long draw, coughing as it hit him and passed it over to Jason.

"Bro, isn't this bad for your asthma?" Jason asked him quietly. Philip only wheezed in reply. Jason did not argue, instead he passed the joint straight on before reaching into his backpack again and pulled out his own tobacco tin, filled with joints he hand rolled at home. The group stared at him.

"What? Germs are fucking gross!"

He lit it and took a few seconds to appreciate the edge it took off everything. Then he leapt up and rummaged through his backpack, finding his stencils and spray paint cans .Jason surveyed each wall- joint hanging out of the side of his mouth, and finally picked one. He removed the plastic backing and stuck the stencil down-grabbing the colours he needed. He only worked for ten minutes, but the paint fumes and the weed were beginning to get to his head and he realised he did not like what he was painting anymore and began to pick up different colours- ones he was not planning on using. Finally he stepped back, smiling as he admired his work.

"Holy shit!"
"Does this count as treason?"
"I think it's perfect!"

The comment came from Philip and Jason turned to snails at his friends who seemed to be the only person who's opinion mattered to him. He tuned back to his piece and added the final touch - a small copy of his initials in the corner, smiling as he did so. The spray paint dropped slightly down the piece and he had always liked the effect that it had given it.

He took a long drag from his joint and sat back down in the circle listening in on the group's conversation for a second before realising their stupidity. He wondered why her was even friends with them. Their conversations were hardly 'exhilarating' and tended to bore him with their simplicity.

Jason was a smart kid, getting good grades, taking a lot of extra curricular subjects, speaking three languages, but he hung out with what his mother would call the 'wrong crowd'. His only 'real' friends was Pip.

He was woken from his daze by a small spider crawling over his ankle.

"Oh shit-" he yelled leaping up and violently brushing his leg. His heartbeat rocketed as fear took a hold of him. "- get off of me you motherfucker!"

Jason began to hyperventilate and shake as he could not see the spider anymore and he started to sob, his body gave up and he fell to his knees. Philip was instantly standing by his side, enveloping him in a hug.

"Where's the weed?" He asked in an urgent manner.

Someone passed pip the joint and he gave it to Jason, stroking his hair and whispering calming words in his ear and slowly Jason calmed down, embarrassment taking over him.

"I'm so sorry" he whispered to Philip

Known you nobody the spider was still crawling up the back of Jason's leg and into his black t shirt. He took a shaky inhale from the joint and at the exact moment he closed his eyes he felt a sharp stinging sensation on the back of his neck. He opened his eyes to see the world spinning, neon colours spiralling and for a second he saw everything in high definition. The painting of Donald Trump as a clown coming to life and stepping towards him, arms outstretched. He could hear the next train coming from miles away so he quickly shut his eyes again, feeling sick. His eyes opened to Philips face in his, everything normal again.

That night he went home high and paranoid.
That night he became Spider-Man.
That night, his life changed forever.

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