I sat in a café sipping at my hot chocolate. I shifted slightly, in my seat uncomfortable. I’d have to get used to this, but it was probably worth it. I didn’t want to have to change in and out of my suit every time something came up. If someone eventually stumbled in on me changing in the alley there’d be so many questions.

“Hey Pete, your zoning out again” MJ said.

“Sorry, just thinking about stuff”

“It’s fine. It didn’t seem like your so sad anymore”

I tilted my head pondering. Was I really not sad anymore?

“I guess. It’ll probably come back though” I said.

“Yeah” MJ said with a sigh. “But hey, at least missing her meant you loved her.” I nodded and took another sip from my hot chocolate.

“So… are you doing your theatre classes again?” I asked.

“Yeah. Everyone was more worried about me than I thought they’d be” she replied.

“That’s good”

“Kind of. They were a bit too worried”

“It just shows they care about you”

MJ nodded and took a bite out of her cupcake. She glanced out the side of the café into the street, looking on wistfully as people walked by. Then she turned back to me, frowning slightly.

“When did you get so old?” she asked.

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know I’ve been teaching for almost five years now”

“That explains nothing”

“I mean it feels like you were just graduating high-school yesterday. Sometimes I even have to actively remind myself that you’re not in college anymore”

“That’s… weird”

“Is it?”

“Kind of”

“It just feels like the world’s moving so fast” MJ said. I paused and let out a small chuckle as I set down my hot chocolate.

“Yeah. I guess I do get where you’re coming from”

“See it’s not that weird”

“Well I hope it is. If I still look like I just graduated high-school I must be doing something wrong”

We both laughed and MJ’s eyes darted to the TV in the corner.

“Oh, look it’s that superhero… what’s his name again? Spiderman?” MJ said, pointing at the screen. I glanced behind me. I glanced behind me to see myself fighting against Sandman, the last bits of our second fight being played on the TV. Before pictures of the damaged parts of the area flashed across the screen and it cut to the damned garbage video. I’d seen that at least fifty times now.

“What do you think of him?” MJ asked.

“Hmm?” I asked, turning back.

“What do you think of him?” he repeated. I paused, not sure how to answer the question.

“It’s not a serious question. Don’t think about it that hard”

“Uh… I don’t know” I said.

“You can’t think of anything?”

“Not really. I mean… he’s just a superhero right?”

“I guess” MJ said, her eyes flitting back to the screen. “My kids love him. He stopped a monster in a fight right outside our school”

“Huh” I said nodding as I finished off my coffee. I wonder what else Lucas had done before he’d given me the mask?

Suddenly the words breaking news flashed across the screen and it cut to a reporter in a studio.

‘We have breaking news it appears that the Sandman has returned, this time at Central Bank. ’

I pretended to check my phone.

“Oh crap, I think I have to go?”

“What’s it about?”

“Work. I’m going to have to sort out a new job”

“I thought you were going to work with Harry”

“Well he hasn’t said anything directly so I started looking around”

“Oh… well good luck”

“Thanks” I said, before quickly leaving.

I walked down the street normally, trying to keep my calm. He was back dammit. Well at least now I had a way to stop him for good. We weren’t fighting again after today. I came to a stop and glanced around then rushed into an alley. I ripped off my backpack and pulled out my web shooters. Rolling back my sleeves, I strapped them on. I took off my jacket then my jumper and finally my pants. I stared at the red and blue, with the white spider symbol on my chest. I fished my mask out of my jacket pocket and stared at it, my heart racing. I was still scared. But now I knew. This wasn’t just for me. That was more than enough to calm my nerves. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It was time to do this.

I stuffed my clothes into my bag and webbed it behind the dumpster, then with a leap I jumped upwards and ran up the side of the building, before diving off the roof and leaping out into the sun. I fired a web and swung through the street, feeling the sun on my back. I swung again, feeling my confidence grow with every web. For the first time since donning the costume, it didn’t feel like a weight. It made me feel stronger, more confident. It made me feel like more than just Peter Parker.

I pulled myself up a web and with a burst of strength flung myself up over a building, somersaulting through the air. I let out a cry of joy, spreading my arms out as I fell, the air washing over me brining with it a fulfilling freedom. I fired another web and swung landing on the side of a building, my entire body trembling with adrenaline.

This was incredible. I was shaken from my high by the sound of multiple police sirens. I looked around, spotting a trio of police cars zooming through the street below. Crap, I forgot what I was doing for a second there.

“Not the time to be having fun. Come on Peter, come on” I whispered before leaping from the building.

I swung through the street, overtaking the police cars as people below pointed up at me as I zipped through the air. I swung around a corner just in time to see the policemen standing by the barricade get blown back by a wave of sand. I fired two webs out and shot forwards, grabbing two officers. I landed slightly further back, setting them down. One of the cops glared at me and the other wiped sand out of his eyes.

I turned back to the bank to see the windows blanketed by sand.

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“What’s the situation?” I said to the officers.

“This an active crime scene. Leave now” the female officer said.

“I can help. I’m a hero”

“You’re a vigilante” she said curtly. “We don’t need your h-“

“Rosa! The guy’s made of sand” the other cop said.

“We can handle it”

“Or we can let this guy handle it”

“Shut up Martin. We need to focus and get the hostages ou-”

Suddenly my spider sense buzzed. Sand. Lot’s of it. I grabbed the two and leapt into the air, dodging as a large hand swept the air underneath us. I landed on the side of a building and watched it disappear into the pool of sand surrounding the bank. There was a lot of sand. A lot. There was twice as much as he’d had before just outside the bank. I felt my hands and feet grow numb as I broke out into a cold sweat. Dammit, I was getting scared again. I needed to distract myself.

“Did he stop at the beach on the way here? Geez”

The male cop, Martin chuckled.

“A construction site” the female cop, Rosa, said, shooting Martin a look. He stopped laughing.

“Now put us down” Rosa said.

I set them down, next to the building we were on and before they could say anything, leapt forwards. I heard a shot behind me but ignored it, firing two webs forward as my spider sense buzzed, warning me of the incoming sand. The webs landed on the wall and I pulled myself forwards, shooting through the air and smashing feet first through one of the windows. I landed in the middle of the bank and instantly my spider sense roared. Above. I flipped, dodging a large chunk of sand that came down with enough force to disintegrate the wooden desk I’d landed on.

I barely had time to land before my sense buzzed again. I flipped through the air, dodging a wall of sand.

“SPIDERMAN!!” a voice roared from all around me. I looked around. Shit. The wall were covered in sand, with a good portion of the floor covered in a thin layer too. That thin layer was steadily rolling towards me, a faint tingling. He was everywhere.

“Sandman! We can have our beach party alone! Let the hostages go!” I shouted back.

“Don’t lump me in with you! There just here so you don’t run away! You coward!” he roared, his voice echoing through the bank.

“Says the guy hiding!” I shot back. My spider sense buzzed again, and I leapt to the side as a javelin formed from the sand, narrowly missing me. Then it contorted, twisting into multiple spikes that followed me as I moved. I webbed them together to no avail. Shit. I grabbed a table and flung it through the base of the construct, the entire thing falling in on itself. That had been close.

He was pulling tricks he hadn’t before. He’d gotten stronger. I ignored my trembling hands and looked around. I needed to find him fast. If he’d developed this much in a few days, I’d be in real danger in a week. I looked around. I just needed to pick a direction. I rushed forward blindly, a shock passed through my brain, and I barely dodged a spiked ball. I landed and felt sand stab at my feet. I leapt upwards. Mistake. My spider sense buzzed as a pillar of sand slammed into me mid-air, sending me flying. I managed to grab onto the ceiling, stopping myself from crashing to the floor.

“Use your webs idiot” I mumbled. I fired a web at a pillar in the centre of the room and yanked myself towards it. I crawled around the pillar looking around the bank. Nothing.

“Sandman!” I shouted, getting desperate. “Enough with the sandcastles! Fight me like a man!”

“You think you can talk about being a man you bastard!” he roared back. He stepped out from behind a wall of sand, hatred filled his eyes. Bingo. I didn’t hesitate, catapulting myself over to him with my webs in an instant. He stepped back, his eyes widening as his arm became a shield. I slammed into him and we both crashed to the floor.

I hit him but the shield didn’t break. Crap. I leapt back, grabbing onto the ceiling as spikes shot upwards. He was tougher. I probably couldn’t break his constructs without obliterating him and I didn’t know exactly how I felt about that. I looked around, searching for the hostages. My spider sense buzzed and I dodged a large spiked ball, then swung through the lobby, avoiding the floor. It seemed like more and more sand was coming into the building. Soon the entire floor would be covered in it. I needed to end this quickly. My spider sense buzzed and by a hairs breadth I dodged a spike, before a wave of sand crashed into my back slamming me against the ceiling. I yanked myself out of it and crashed to the floor as another wave of sand slammed into me. I was flung through the air and crashed into a window where I felt the sand start to crush me. I pushed my hand out, trying to grasp at the air before firing a web and pulling myself out. I skidded across the ground, in a clear part of the bank as I coughed, shaking the sand off of me. The sound of advancing sand filled my ears, as my brain buzzed. I looked up to see all the sand in the bank approaching me. I had nowhere to go. Panic gripped me, but the sound of a shrill scream cut through the haze. I needed to rescue the hostages.

“Feel it Pete. Feel it” I whispered. I took a deep breath, feeling outwards with my spider sense. I could feel it as the sand shifted around, hear the fine grains roll off one another as the constructs shot towards me. I dodged them effortlessly, feeling out further. I could hear panicked breaths, and feel the echoes of beating hearts. Front door. There were three people by the front door. Ok, that was kind of smart. They were trapped by walls of sand. If I made my way over to them he’d have to get close to stop me, he had limited control over distances. He didn’t want me to run away, so if I go the hostages it was over. He’d show, and then I had to put the inhibitor on him. I just had to trust he wouldn’t hurt them. His actions wouldn’t make sense if he did.

I webbed myself forward, ducking and weaving as more sand constructs flew at me.

“NO!!!” Sandman roared, a feeble attempt at a wall of sand forming between me and the sand box. I vaulted over it and then my spider sense buzzed. Something was coming from left side. It was him. I managed to stop myself, but Sandman extended his shoulder, clipping me and we crashed to the floor together. He grabbed me with a large hand and I kicked through his arm, leaping up as he brought a hammer down where my head had been. I didn’t have time to worry about hurting him. The sand sprayed over me as I pulled out the inhibitor, and dived at him. I clamped it around his neck and he cried out both of us slamming to the floor. My joy was cut short as my spider sense screamed out, warning me of an attack on my gut, I spun, pushing off sandman’s legs, and felt a spike stab through my side. I ignored the pain and tried to kick him in the side of the head.

He blocked with a enlarged arm and I dodged as he swung back. I was bleeding, but that wasn’t what I was focused on. The inhibitor hadn’t worked. That was seriously bad news. Had I calculated wrong? I must have. Or maybe it had been broken as I’d been thrown around. Dammit I knew I should’ve made it out of sturdier stuff. I shook my head. Didn’t matter, he was distracted. I leapt backwards and fired a web swinging through the lobby to the sandbox. I dodged a wild elongated arm swing and smashed through the wall of the flimsy box. I grabbed the trio and dived through the other side of the sandbox towards the door. My spider sense screamed and I felt my heart run cold. He was attacking us. He was attacking the hostages. I’d messed up. I flung the trio forwards and fired a web to catch them as a wave of sand slammed on top of me, almost crushing me under its weight.

I felt a panic overcome me and quickly scrambled forward through the sand, but I could tell already; This was it. Well… dammit. At least I’d saved some people. But even though death was certain my body continued scrambling and clawing at the dirt. Instead of spikes trying to drive themselves through me the pressure lifted as I felt the sand shift slowly backwards. I crawled forwards faster, gasping for air when I pulled myself free from the sand. I didn’t know what was happening but I was glad to be alive. Immediately I froze. One of the hostages had been caught in the sand. Their legs were mangled as they lay crying on the floor. The other two lay in the web, looking on in horror. I hadn’t been fast enough. I grabbed the guy, and he clutched onto me, breathing heavily, his eyes darting everywhere.

“I’ll get you to the hospital, just… just hold on” I said. He nodded, gasping through the pain. I glanced down at his legs. I couldn’t move him properly like this. I looked up at the onlooking crowd of policemen.

“Ambulance! Somebody get an ambulance!” I shouted. Rosa darted forward, her gun raised slightly. She was followed closely by Martin.

“It’s his legs he-“

“We’ll stay with him. Just deal with that guy” Rosa said glancing up at me. I nodded. I glanced behind me, to see that the sand had retreated, but still blocked the windows. I needed to end this here. I dived forwards, pulling myself through the sand with my webs. I landed down.

“Sandman!” I shouted, angrily.

“I’m here” a calm voice said.

He sat on the floor, leaning against a pillar staring at me. I faltered.

“I hurt one of them, didn’t I?” he said.

“…yeah” I said. I walked over to him cautiously. He looked human now, brown hair, brown eyes. He was sweating buckets and breathing deeply. He looked me up and down.

“You’re not even him, are you?” he said, chuckling.

“What?”

“You’re not the guy. I’ve watched the footage hundreds of times. You don’t move like him” he said. I looked him up and down. Was he doing this to lower my guard. No, something told me this was genuine.

“I’m… not” I said. He let out a small bout of forced laughter, bringing his hands to his face.

“I thought so. I thought it the first fight, but I was too angry to care” he said. I watched him as he coughed violently. He sat still looking at the floor for a few seconds.

“He killed my daughter. In that big fight. Crushed her under two tonnes of concrete” he said, his watery eyes far away. “There wasn’t even anything left to bury” he said tearing up.

“I’m sorry”

“Don’t pity me you fuck” he said, looking back up at me, a mix of anger and sadness in his eyes. I didn’t say anything, just watched him carefully. He coughed again. “I knew what I was doing. I was prepared to hurt the guy. But not someone else. I never meant to hurt anyone else” he said. He closed his eyes for a few seconds. “Where even is he?”

“He… quit” I said

“Great” he replied, his voice dripping sarcasm.

I looked at him closer. He just looked like an ordinary guy.

“What’s your name?” I said, surprising myself.

“Why do you care?” he asked.

“I’ve been calling you Sandman. But that’s not who you are. I just want to know your name”

“Finnick, but everyone calls me Flint” he said.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what was your daughter’s name?” I asked.

“Sarah” he said his voice raw. He closed his eyes again, tears falling down his face.

He opened his eyes again.

“You can take me in now”

“You’re not going to resist?” I asked.

“I’ve already done enough damage” he said. He seemed docile now, but there was no guarantee he’d stay that way. I glanced at the inhibitor collar, and double checked it. It was still on the lowest setting. Idiot. I turned it all the way up and Flint winced, before coughing again. The sand fell from the windows and illuminated the entire bank.

“That’s what that was for” he said. I helped he stand up, then led him outside, hands behind his back. An ambulance was already outside, thank god. I walked him over to the cops and they watched him warily.

“The collar stops his powers, don’t take it off” I said.

“I won’t resist” Flint said, defeated.

“I’m not gonna take your word for it” Rosa said, grabbing him and slapping handcuffs on. I watched, uncertain as she led him away to a police car. I guess even the bad guys were people too in the end. I looked around at the mess of sand, and the crowd watching the me, their phones out.

“Thanks Spider-man. We owe you one” Martin said, offering his hand. I nodded and shook it.

“I’m just glad I could help”