Hey Dad. I’m sorry I’m skipping my curfew, but I’ll be back home soon. I just have to take care of a few things first. You don’t have to call the police or anything. Tell Ryo not to worry. See you later.
I read over the text one last time before sighing. I pulled away from my phone, covering my eyes and hit send before. Then I turned it off and shoving it into my pocket. The constant calls from Dad had been getting too much. I didn’t want him to worry more than he already was, though I doubted I could change that with a single text. At least it would give him some peace of mind. Anyway, that was that handled, now - hopefully - I could deal with everything else without a problem.
I turned to Jess. We stood at a street corner only blocks away from the incident with Scorpion. She looked unwell; her pale skin glazed with a layer of sweat that made her look almost inhuman. Her breaths were heavy too, and she held her side. It was clear something was seriously wrong. But I didn’t know what. And I definitely didn’t know how to deal with it.
I stepped forward to her, glancing around as people gave her strange stares, clearly aware of her deteriorating condition.
“Hey… do you want me to call you an ambulance?”
She shook her head.
“Jess, you’re hurt ”
“What if they have some kind of tracker in me or something? Maybe it activates cause of something in the hospital?"
“Jess you’re being paranoid”
"I'm not"
"Please, just for your own good let me call an ambulance. Or ask someone to take you to the hospital. Something"
She looked to the floor clearly dismissing my argument.
“Jess please. I don’t really know you, but I don’t want to just watch you die”
“I’m not dying” she said curtly.
I sighed. This was pointless. She was too headstrong to listen to me, and too paranoid to listen to her pain. I stepped back, looking down at the dossier. Sparing a glance at my watch, then at my surroundings, I felt my stomach twist in knots. Fire tucks had passed by minutes ago, but no police cars. They’d probably gotten to the scene a different way. We should’ve stayed there, waited for them to show up. But Jess hadn’t wanted too, something about Scorpion. It’d made sense at the time, but now I was starting to think she was being overly paranoid. Either way it didn’t matter. If she was coming with me, it looked like we’d have to go to the police department. Wiping the sweat off my hands, I turned back to Jess.
“Do you know where the nearest police department is?”
“I… a few blocks over I think. If I swing there, it’s two minutes tops”
“You’re not swinging anywhere, you can barely stand” I said, concerned. Jess forced herself off the wall but stumbled. I leapt forward to catch her before she fell. She felt frail in my arms. Even as she pushed me off with incredible strength she felt frail. I stared, watching as she picked herself up slowly. Why was she being like this when she was so obviously hurt? Was the real Spider-Man like this? Was he this stubborn about doing everything, even when he shouldn't? It seemed self destructive.
I shook my head. She probably wouldn’t make it to the police station.
“Jess this is an emergency. I’m calling an ambulance”
“N-no” she wheezed.
“Jess either I call you an ambulance or you fall unconscious and someone else does. Either way you need to get medical help”
“But I can’t… how will I explain myself”
“What’s there to explain Jess, you’re hurt”
“But I don’t have any records. I- don’t… no insurance, no identification, nothing. I’m not a real person Yu”
“What? So, what if you’re a clone? This is an emergency. They’ll help you”
“If you want to go then go. Just… just leave me here then. You don’t have to call an ambulance”
“I’m not going to just leave you”
“I can handle myself”
“Jess I-”
“Just trust my judgement ok? I-”
“Trust your judgement?! Jess you just attacked someone for no reason and got a bunch of people killed”
“T-that’s different”
“How?! He didn’t know where we were! We could have hidden. You were faster. We could have ran. I mean, come on, even if you don’t want to get treated for your physical injuries, don’t you think you should at least see someone for whatever’s going on in your head? Isn’t it dangerous someone as powerful as you is going around without proper judgement, looking for fights? I mean you’ve been having near constant headaches. Take a look at yourself Jess, something’s wrong! Isn’t it your responsibility to at least make sure you don’t hurt anyone else?” I said, gripping her shoulders tightly.
As soon as I said the words I felt guilty. Jess’ face fell, her eyes becoming watery, and then she hung her head.
“…ok” she mumbled.
“S-so I can call the ambulance?”
“…yeah” she mumbled still looking to the floor.
I stood felling a wave of relief wash over me. I pulled out the Nokia, and dialled 999.
“Hello this is emergency services. How can I help you?”
“Hi, I’ve got a friend on the sidewalk. She’s awake, but she got hurt bad by some debris from that accident near Prospect Park. We’re a few blocks east. It hit her in the side. I think she needs and ambulance”
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“Alright, one is on it’s way now. Can I know how old is she?”
“I… my age. Fourteen”
“Are her parents there?”
“N-no”
“Does she have any medical history I should be aware of? Any allergies?
“I don’t know”
“Alright. Thank you for calling sir, assistance will be with you shortly”
“Thanks” I said and hung up. I turned to Jess, as she stared up at me, her eyes distant as small tears streaked down her face.
“Don’t worry Jess, an ambulance will be here soon. I’ll stay till it comes”
“No. Just go you idiot” she mumbled. I frowned then nodded.
I turned to a random couple on the sidewalk.
“Excuse me. Could you watch my friend? An ambulance is on its way but I need to go”
“What?”
I didn’t wait for answer, rushing off
“I’ll be back!” I shouted out, clutching the documents tight in hand.
-
The police department stood across the street from me, the lights outside warming as sunlight stared to fade. It was cold today. A lot colder than it had been yesterday. My breath steamed up in front of my face as I stood there, heart beating in my chest. I was hesitating. Why was I hesitating? I glanced down to the dossier. Was I afraid they wouldn’t take me seriously? That I’d show up, they’d ask a ton of questions, then call my dad? How was I supposed to explain this to him. How was I supposed to explain any of this? Did it matter if my life got thrown into disarray, as long as the cops stopped whatever god awful things were going on in Alchemax?
A thought rushed to the forefront of my mind. I didn’t need to worry about this. I still had the costume, didn’t I? They’d be more likely to listen to me like that, more likely to take this seriously. I took a deep breath. Ok. I guess I was doing it again. This would be the last time. I looked around, jogging away as I looked for a good spot to change.
I found one two blocks away, and quickly pulled the costume out of my bag, and took my clothes off. I pulled it on, the suit warming me against the cold winter air, then pulled on the mask. I slapped the sides of my face, before grabbing the document.
“Third and final time” I muttered to myself.
I looked around, then rushed out the alley, dossier in hand.
I came to a stop outside the police station again, earning more stares this time. I cleared my throat and with the dossier in hand, stepped inside.
The department was louder than I expected, the sounds of calls and people talking over each other bouncing from wall to wall. A ton of people waited to be seen or spoken to in the waiting, and there a kid sat, his eyes widening as he saw me.
“Spider-Man!” he called out.
People turned to me, and most of the noise grinded to a halt. I walked through the lounge awkwardly, everyone moving out of the way as I made my way towards the reception desk.
“I-I’d like to report a crime” I said, to the lady at the desk, deepening my voice. She just stared at me blankly, unsure of what to do, when a voice spoke up behind me.
“Spider-Man. To what do we owe the pleasure?” A female cop said off to the side.
“I brought something, I think you’d like to see” I said, holding up the dossier. She squinted, then looked around at everyone.
“Alright everyone, back to work. You’ve seen him on TV enough already” she said to everyone. She turned back to me as the sounds of the lounge began to return, albeit quieter than before. “Follow me Spider-Man”
I followed her as we made our way into a corridor, slightly away from everyone else. She turned to me and took the document, opening it up. He face grew serious and she quickly closed it.
“Just take this to the news or something. Not here, ok”
“What?”
“Get out of here, quickly. I’m serious” she whispered. I stared at her dumbfounded. What? She’d just seen the pictures, why was she being like this?
“Spider-Man?” a voice said, from behind us. I turned to see a tall older gentleman in police uniform step forward with a warm smile. He held out his hand.
“Captain Reece. Kevin Reece” he said. I shook it tentatively.
“What a lukewarm handshake!” he said laughing out loud. “I thought you were supposed to be strong? Or is it me? What’s Lieutenant Danvers been telling you, eh?” he said still, grinning.
I glanced back to the other officer. She was white as a sheet.
“Can I see that?” he asked. She handed him the dossier. He flicked through it, letting out a whistle.
He let go of my hand and patted me on the shoulder.
“A real catch huh? Come talk to me somewhere more private” he said, making his way towards a room. I frowned, hesitant, but he only opened the door to an office, and gestured me inside. I stepped inside looking around.
“I’ll have a word with you after Lieutenant” he said before closing the door.
“Have a seat, have a seat” he said. I hesitated.
“I just need to talk about the papers and be off”
“Please. I won’t be long” he said with a chuckle. ”I’m well aware you’ve got a lot of crime fighting to do” he said. I shrugged and sat down as he made his way around the desk.
“You know Spider-Man, you’re my grandson’s hero” the cop said, his expression strange.
“That’s nice” I said awkwardly. He smiled nodding, before wiping at his brow. I frowned. He went to say something but stopped.
“You… you really are something. This… wow” he said, dropping it onto the table. He went silent, smiling at me as he rested his hands on his belt. He licked his lips the smile fading. I frowned, something was wrong.
Time seemed to slow down as I saw him reach for his gun. Without a thought I dived against the desk, slamming it into him as gunfire shook the room. He cried out and I fell back. I looked up in time to see him, as he fell to the floor, level his gun with my head. I tried to move, but it was too late he was faster. The gun fired and the bullet grazed my face, cutting through my ear as he slammed to the floor.
I didn’t even have time to realise I’d dived away before I crashed into the far wall. He tried to stand to get another shot at me, but I leapt towards him, clearing the table and slammed into him as he fired a wild shot at the ceiling. We crashed to the floor and I grabbed the gun, struggling to wrestle control of it from the cop. He cried out, pushing back against me as my ear burned, ringing echoing through my head. I forced the gun away and slammed my elbow into his face repeatedly, but he held it firm, trying to twist it on me.
“He’ll kill my grandson! Kingpin will kill my son!” the cop shouted desperate. I headbutted him, shattering his nose. I headbutted him again and the back of his head hit the floor as he gasped, his grip on the gun loosening.
Suddenly the door burst in and two cops rushed inside guns out. With as much strength as I could muster, I flipped the captain on top of me, putting him between us.
“HANDS IN THE AIR! HANDS IN THE AIR!” one cop shouted. My heart thudded dangerously against my chest. The captain was unconscious, and they wouldn’t fire at him, but I couldn’t go anywhere. Holy shit. What did I do? What could I do? I was fucked!
Then the sound of shouts echoed through the building. All our heads turned as gunfire echoed through the department. Then something smashed through the office window and gunfire echoed through the small room. The cops cried out and then the captain was wrenched from off of me and slammed against the wall hard. Jess stood over me, eyes wide.
I scrambled up and grabbed the documents off the table. Jess grabbed me and then leapt out of the room freakishly quickly, jumping and diving through the building as gunfire echoed out. And then we were out into open air, and swinging. I clutched Jess tightly, my entire body in shock, before our feet touched the ground. We were on a roof somewhere. I fell to my hands and knees, then pulled off the mask.
“Y-Yu?! What happened?” she said.
“I thought you were in the ambulance?” I mumbled, body shaking.
“I got a bad feeling, and decided to follow you” she said, coughing. I hung my head, clamping my eyes shut as I gasped for air.
“Thanks” I wheezed. Stars floated across my vision and my ears burned. I could barely think. And my ear fucking hurt.
“Yu, what happened?”
“We… we need to find… Peter guy... Spider-Man... Fuck” I said, still breathless. I’d nearly died. I’d nearly fucking died.
“Yu what happened?”
“The captain fucking shot me. He… I-” I threw up over the roof and pulled back coughing.
“What?! Where?!” Jess said, grabbing me tightly. I pointed to my ear. “Nowhere else?”
I shook my head. I went limp, feeling lightheaded.
“Yu? Yu?”
“Tired…” I mumbled.
“Yu don’t fall asleep” Jess said. “Just tell me what happened?”
“He saw the documents… he saw them then… he just fucking shot me”
“Why?”
“He said… he said something about… a pin? King pin?” I said, slowly feeling the adrenaline start to fade. “Do you know him?”
“No” Jess said.
“Shit” I said, sitting up, my entire body as heavy as lead. “This problem is big. We need to find Spider-Man. Tonight. Whatever’s happening your too hurt to help, and I’m too fucking… normal”
“O-ok” she said.
I felt at my ear, wincing.
“I can’t believe he shot me” I mumbled, staring at the blood on my fingers. My breathing had slowed now, my mind clear from the fog of panic. I was done. Once we found Spider-Man, I was going home.