No Ordinary Hero

Chapter 2: Alleys & Allies

It is a crisp, October afternoon in New York City. Among the crowded, bustling, streets, Peter Parker and Ned Leeds are in an intense discussion about Star Wars.

"I was reading an article that physics professor from UC Berkeley figured out by using "heavy ions" this could "form part of the lightsaber!", exclaimed Peter Parker (P), his hands mimicking a lightsaber.1

His friend, Ned Leeds (N), shakes his head in disbelief, "No way dude, really!?"

P nods vigorously, "And the article says, "at high enough energy..." P trailed off, feeling his Spidey sense trigger as they rounded the corner.

N sees P's serious expression and stops beside him. "You sense something dangerous is about to happen" he states. P nods in response. N tries to look ahead, squinting to find any 'shady' characters that could be trigging P's Spidey sense.

"Where?"

P points behind N, as a man with a trench coat and fedora hat approaches. N shudders, feeling a hidden gun being placed on his back.

The trenchcoated men's green eyes glared at P through a red mask that covered the upper half of his face. He orders in a stern Italian accent, "No sudden movements now and your amico won't be harmed." A woman in an identical beige trench coat, minus the fedora hat, emerged from the nearby alleyway.

"Good Antonio, you got the boy and some leverage." an Italian lady (IL) spoke. She gestured for them to follow her into the alleyway. N notices P flinching, and his body tensing up each step they took, indicating that more danger lied ahead.

They arrived at the end of a shaded alleyway. A couple dumpsters lined one side and stairwells leading to the back of run-down apartments, ran the other length of the alleyway. Standing in front of P and N, were three more beige trench coated gang members wearing matching fedora hats ready to meet them. As the IL conversed with her associates in a hush Italian tone, P focused on other details that his heightened senses picked up on. A look at their trench coats, he spotted a simple emblem, indicating this was an undercover gang. It was a dead-end alley with no side alleyways that he and N could escape to. Well, seeing that Peter Parker cannot escape this predicament, I know that my other identity can help us out. N is breathing rapidly and casts P a worried glance. P leans close to N, whispering, "It's going to be okay; I'll get us out of here." N sees in P's brown eyes sincerity and determination. This calms his breathing down and he whispers back to P, "I trust you P that you have this situation under control." P nods back reassuringly.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves down, P confronts the IL.  

"What do you want from us?" demanded P in a loud tone.

A little shocked of the teen's surprisingly calm voice and courageous demeaner, the Italian lady responds, "Only your cooperation in coming with us."

"If we choose not to go?"

The IL Looks down and fiddles with her gun, her red lips curving into a sneer, "If you refuse to come, your friend over there," gestures to friend with Antonio holding an exposed gun at N, "might have to suffer the consequences of your defiance." She pauses for effect to see how P responds. When P only glared at her she continued, "But since you still have not given me a direct answer...," gives a hand signal to the three other gang members, "...a little bit of force might be an order for your decision to be made faster."

The three gang members pulls out a stun gun, a sleeping dart and a knife. Sinster snickers and bearing teeth can be seen by all three of them.

N whimpers and is visibly shaking now with the gun shifting from his back, to his head. He starts breathing nervously, as he sees his best friend being approach with lethal weapons. P gulps at the odds. His alter ego has faced down such chances before, even a couple supervillains for that matter! He could take down these gang members. Confidence restored, P turns towards IL with the slight smirk on his face.