I stared at myself in the mirror, tugging at my collar before adjusting my jacket.
This should work. No, it would. It would work.
My looked over the mirror as I scrutinised my outfit. I had the suit on, but over the top I wore jeans and a red jacket with the zip undone. Like this I could get away with not looking like I was wearing the actual Spider-Man costume and instead pretend I was too embarrassed to shamelessly wear a rip off. I furrowed my brow. I guess it wasn’t really a costume anymore, but if anyone got suspicious I had the mask in my bag. That was just in case though. I’d only wear it for photos or something like that. Yeah. Only for photos.
I stepped out of my bedroom into the hall as Dad tied Ryo’s shoelaces. He looked up at me and offered a smile. Ryo turned and looked at my clothes, his eyes lighting up at the sight of my costume.
"So cool" he said.
"Thanks" I said, failing to hide my grin.
“Have fun today” Dad spoke, offering a warm smile.
“Yeah, and beat up all the bad guys” Ryo added. I laughed and ruffled his hair.
“I will” I responded to both of them. I paused at the door, looking between my regular shoes and a set of red boots Aunt Mira had gotten me. They were a bit uncomfortable, but I guess they went more with the costume. I guess they couldn't hurt too much. I slipped into them, and with a wave goodbye, stepped outside. The boots thumped loudly as I made my way downstairs and out into the street. Ok. It was time to show off my costume at school. I was trying to hide it, but I was seriously excited.
-
Nobody cared. Not a single person. I’d expected this somewhere in the back of my mind, but not to this extent. I guess I’d oversold the “not a costume look”. Well at least I wasn't particularly out of place. Most students had made half-hearted attempts at dressing up, and basically everyone wore something superhero related. There were some pretty cool renditions of popular costumes and a few people wore more niche superheroes. The best costume I’d seen had been a replica of an Athena costume, and I’d had to do a double take on that one.
Some of the better costumes were giving me the itch to wear the Spider-Man costume in all its glory people, but I’m pretty sure that would do more than start conversation. People would start to notice. It really did blow everyone else’s costumes out of the water. Which made sense considering it was the real thing. It was way too good to just be costume for a dumb school event. Even putting on the mask would probably be too much, it’s why I’d kept it off.
Still it was kind of disappointing. Today had just been a boring day like usual. Probably even worse, because I’d been expecting excitement and had to attend for a full day. No lates either. I thumped my head against my locker. I didn't even need to be here. I'd just taken the long way just to stay out of lesson for longer. I really didn't want to go to a maths class.
With a sigh I turned around and found myself face to face with a skeleton. I jumped back in surprise, letting loose an unholy sound.
“S-sorry” the person said. I stared back at them blankly taking in their costume and face paint. “My locker” they said pointing past me.
“Oh” I said, stepping away. I cleared my throat as I glanced at the people around me, trying to act unembarrassed. Geez, that had caught me off guard. I really needed to pay more attention to my surroundings. Thinking and not looking was starting to become a seriously bad habit.
Instantly I crashed into someone and stumbled face first into a set of lockers. Ow. I stood from the floor, feeling at my face as people stared at me. Blinking through watering eyes, I winced as my nose throbbed. Ok that was just stupid.
“Yu? You alright?” a familiar voice said. I looked up to see Emma and her friend, both in costumes of members of the Vanguard. MedBay and Express. They were well made. Definitely not store bought. Wow. I didn't know Emma was the type to make her own costume. Maybe it had been her friend?
“Yu?”
“Eh? Oh, yeah I’m fine”
“You should be more careful. I didn’t take you for the clumsy type” she said with a laugh.
“Yeah. I should be. I’ll try to remember that” I chuckled.
“Oh, what do you think of our costume? They're great right?” Emma said with an air of proudness.
“Yeah. MedBay and Express. They’re well made. Pretty cool”
“Thanks” her friend said, “But seriously I’m never doing this again. They were a lot of work”
“Oh, come on. You just wanted to buy something from the store. Cosplaying is fun” Emma said.
“Tell that to my bank account. Anyway, it was nice talking to you Yu, but we’ve got to go or we’ll be late”
“Ok. It was nice talking to you too”
“See you at climbing later” Emma said, as she walked away. ”Oh, and nice costume”
I paused, a smile playing on my lips as I watched them go, before looking down at the symbol on my chest. Maybe today wasn’t all bad.
-
With a hearty yawn I made my way through the streets of Astoria, the sounds of cars and people echoing out all around me. School was over and now I had nothing to do. I’d gotten on the bus like I was going to climbing before remembering Dad had put an end to that for a while. So on a whim I'd decided to walk home. Sure it was longer, but why not? I hadn't actually walked around in a while.
I hummed to myself, thinking of what I was going to do when I got home. The nanny would get home at four, so I could play with Ryo from then. But not without getting bored pretty quickly. No videogames meant we just had action figures and board games. Playing pretend with action figures was only fun when it was fair, and against Ryo I couldn’t win without tears and a firm suggestion from Dad. Well, what else was there? I guess I could try to do my homework? But it wasn’t the night beforehand, so I wouldn’t even feel motivated. It’d feel like I was actually a responsible student. That just sounded weird.
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Well, I guess I could play snake or something on the Nokia. Oh, maybe I could ask Dad if I could use his keyboard? I doubted it, but maybe if I played the educational angle I might be able to get away with it. But that would have to wait till he got home. I let out a sigh. I guess I was just gonna have to re-read all my Ajin volumes again.
The sound of a familiar shout cut through my thoughts, and I stopped in my tracks. I backpedalled slightly then peered around a building edge looking down into the alley. James and his friends stood around Thomas, kicking the shit out of him as he cried out, shielding his head. My heart dropped and I quickly stepped forward, out of view of the group.
My breaths felt heavy, my chest tight, as I put my head down and made my way forward. I didn't like what I'd just seen, but there wasn’t anything I could do. I couldn't beat them, and going to the school hadn't worked. There wasn't anything I could do. I had to live with that.
“There wasn’t anything I could do” I whispered to myself. It was true. It was.
I stopped and paused. But I had the suit, didn’t I? Wait what? No. No way. That was stupid. Really stupid. Beyond stupid even. It was insane.
What if they found out? I’d be screwed. The guy who imitated Spider-Man to try and intimidate some bullies? They’d kill me. My life at school would be over.
But wasn’t this a chance to redeem myself? I could stop Thomas from getting bullied. Sure it was risky, but the suit looked good enough. If I just put on some false bravado and deepened my voice, how would they know? Jake and his goons might not listen to me but they’d listen to Spider-Man. I looked down at the spider symbol on my chest, then clenched my hand tightly before rushing into an alley. I pulled off my bag and jacket, then my jeans, quickly pulling on the gloves before rummaging around in my bag and grabbing the mask. Dammit, dammit. Ok. I was doing this. I was really doing this. Oh wow. I pulled it on, and went to leave the alley before stopping and taking off my shoes. I stuffed them in my bag along with the rest of my clothes. I went to set it down before stopping. I’d just keep my bag with me.
I turned back to the alley exit and paused steeling myself before taking a deep breath and rushing out into the street. I ran past people ignoring the stares from the crowd as I sprinted through the street, before skidding to a stop outside the alley where James and his friends were beating on Thomas.
“Hey!” I shouted. They all turned and instantly froze upon seeing me. Trying not to shake as I stepped forwards towards them with a false confidence I cleared my throat.
“What do you guys think you’re doing?” I said.
“We- uh- I-” James stuttered, looking around. Holy shit it was working.
“Beat it before I give you guys a taste of your own medicine” I said. They all grabbed their bags and sprinted out of the alley at full speed.
I turned back to Thomas, the intense sense of relief that washed over me making my knees weak. Thomas looked up at me with awe and I offered him a hand. He pulled himself up and began dusting himself off.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yeah... t-thank you Spider-Man”
“No problem. You should stick it to those assholes” I said. He let out a small laugh.
"Are you back for good?" he said, hopeful. Crap. What did I say? What did I do? I couldn't say no, could I?
I nodded, instantly cringing internally. What the hell was I doing!?
“I’m glad your back. I was beginning to worry” he said. I felt an immediate and immense stab of guilt, but played it off with a small laugh. “C-can I get an autograph?” he asked.
“S-sure” I responded. Crap. Could I properly copy Spider-Man’s autograph?
Suddenly a scream cut through the air, sending a chill through my entire, right body down to my bones. I spun around frozen in place as I heard panicked shouts from down the street. What the hell was that?
“Spider-Man?”
“Eh?”
“Aren’t you gonna go?” Thomas asked confused. I stared at him blankly before my eyes went wide. Shit! SHIT! What did I do? Did I come clean? Reveal myself to him? I mean it’s not like James and the others would know. I reached for the mask when a voice rang out behind me.
“Spider-Man? Thank god! Someone just got mugged” a bystander shouted. I spun around, spotting a person staring at me in the alley. A few other people glanced inside upon hearing their words. All of them looked at me expectantly.
Shit. This was bad. This was seriously bad.
“Spider-Man? He’s getting away!” one of the civilians shouted. Crap. Crap, crap, crap. I had to do something.
I rushed forwards out of the alley.
“Which way!?” I said frantic. They all pointed and I broke out into a sprint, shouting for people to clear a path. My heart hammered in my chest as my body pumped with adrenaline. What was even happening?! What was I doing right now?! People all across the street stared at me. They were all looking at me. Crap. They thought I was Spider-Man!
I pushed the thoughts out of my mind as I continued running, spotting the robber up ahead. He’d been slowed by the crowd. That was good, I guess? It’s not like I could actually do anything when I got to him. But everybody was expecting me to. Crap. What did I do when I reached him?! Why was I even doing this?! What sort of stupid life decisions led me to this point!?
I continued running, following the robber as he turned the corner. He was slower than me. I’d nearly caught up to him. That was good. Was that good?
“HEY!” I shouted. “Stop! Just stop!”
He glanced behind at me and his eyes widened. He continued running, in more of a panic now, knocking people out of the way vigorously. A lady fell into the road and a car barely managed to stop in time, honking it's horn loudly. Crap. He could hurt someone. I had to do something. What could I do? Oh wait! The web-shooters! I raised my hand and hit at the metal notch desperately.
"Come on, come on!" I cried.
Suddenly it extended outwards, the trigger clamping onto my wrist. I pointed my arm forwards and with the best effort I could muster, fired a web. The crook glanced behind him as I did so and dived for the floor, barely avoiding the stream of silk. It latched onto the ground as the theif rushed out into the street, snaking through cars to get away from me. Dammit. I disengaged the first web and I came to a stop. I lined up the web shooter again as he struggled to get through the busy road. I fired and it shot out catching him in the shoulder. Woah! That was perfec-
Suddenly I slammed into the car next to me, dragged forward by the web. Ouch. I held the web tightly, pushing myself off the car as the line went taught again. My arm jerked violently and then the crook cried out as he was yanked backwards by the shoulder, crashing to the asphalt. Holy shit. I was actually doing this. Wait, wasn’t this actually my chance to stop him?
I disconnected the web, leaving it stuck to the car I'd slammed into and rushed forward into the road. The cars had all been stopped by the line of web cutting across the street. The crook struggled to stand, awkwardly trying to pull against the web before spotting me in his periphery. He cried out and reached for his waistband.
Everything seemed to slow as I realised what he was doing. A gun. He had a gun. The realisation brought with it a cold chill that cut through me. My body reacted instinctively. With as much force as I could muster I wrenched my bag off my back, threw it at him and dived to the side all in one smooth motion. A crackle of gunfire echoed out through the street and people cried out as I rolled across the floor. I panted, the fear that coursed through my body heightening all sensations as I looked up.
The robber lay still in front of me, unconscious. My bag had knocked him out. Oh right, it had the heavy boots inside. Thank god I’d taken off my shoes. I stood up quickly and rushed over to the guy kicking his gun away from him before tying him up with a strand of web, my hands trembling.
I stood, knees shaky as stars shot across my vision and my elbow throbbed from slamming against the pavement. As I pulled my bag back on my back, my heart thumping wildly in my chest I looked around. A lot of people were watching.
“Spider-Man’s back baby!” someone shouted before cheering. Other people began to cheer as well before the entire crowd broke out into applause.
Holy shit. What the hell had I just done?