AYYYE! Wassup! Happy 2019 everybody! :D :D :D

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Spider that Cried Wolf [Part 2]

Peter Parker was cold.

Which shouldn't have surprised him as much as it did, given that it was early spring and that New York had yet to shake off the clingy chill of winter.

Also, it might've had something to do with him sitting 1,776 feet up in the air, wearing nothing but a red and blue leotard that left but a thin barrier between him and the cold.

But it felt colder than normal. All he wanted was winter to get up and leave already so he could swing into the better - warmer - side of webslinging. Sure, snow and rain could be pretty to look at, but not so much when you're on a building thousands of feet in the air shivering your webs off.

Which was something he may or may not be doing.

Sitting atop the Bugle building, Peter fidgeted with his thin gilet coat, and, with a smile, listened to his daily lashing from Jameson.

"-many people have told me I've been too harsh on the Web-Slinger. Well, I'll tell THEM that they're being too soft! Spider-Man trapezes around our city, shooting his webs and making messes with his hooligan masked friends, and never answers for any of the trouble he makes. He's a menace! And I, J. Jonah Jameson, will not rest till the public is fully aware of his incompetence!"

Oh, if only Jameson knew how many lectures Peter has had to sit through. Nick Fury had a hard time letting go of how much property damage he's caused in his early superhero years, and always liked to bring it up whenever Peter was in the same room as the Academy students. The only person who made Peter more weary of a good old-fashioned scolding was Aunt May.

Peter snorted as Jameson brought up his "alliance" with the villains he's fought. Usually, Jameson's taunts and accusations would nudge at Peter. The type of pestering annoyance that grated on his nerves the longer he heard it. On a good day, they were irritating, on a bad day it felt as though his confidence was taking a verbal beating. But now they were harmless. Peter's gone through years of the Bugles torments, but it was in that time when he realized how insipid they really were.

Particularly, a few months back when he had been sitting on this exact same building after breaking up a mafia fight, listening to Jameson blame the nights' afflictions on him, when the clarity hit him.

He wasn't a menace.

He had taken the mafia down in the best way possible. There had been no casualties, every mafia member was accounted for and arrested, and, aside from a few bullet holes in an old building, there had been no property damage. The people of his city were safe from this mafia gang, and he had been the one to do that.

He wasn't a menace. Maybe a part of him has always believed in Jameson's ramblings about his imperfections. Maybe showing his every mistake to the public ingrained into his head that to truly be the Ultimate Spider-Man he needed to be a flawless hero.

But he wasn't flawless, yet he STILL kept his city safe. Jameson was WRONG.

It was a shining moment. Peter could almost hear the choir angels singing behind him.

After that, he found that it was a lot easier to ignore Jameson. Sure, on occasion, his media lashing still hurt. But it was a lot more bearable now.

To be honest, it was kind of entertaining too.

"Yeah, just get it all out of your system, Jameson," Peter grinned, patting the top of the screen. "That's a good boy."

"-thermore, I believe that the New York Police Department should be hunting down Spider-Man alongside his villain-buddies! When will you wake up, New York! He's a hunter preying on the good people of this city!"

"Oh yeah," Peter hummed, getting to his feet, standing so close to the ledge that, if not for his ability to stick, he'd have been blown off by the first hard gust of wind. The massive crowds below him intermingled like the worlds largest, craziest ant-hill. He zeroed in on a young girl stalking the back of an elderly man. "Watch out, New York. I just might stop that purse-snatcher from robbing an old man. So very menacing."

Peter propelled himself off the side of the building, humoring himself with a needless flip, just as the girl snatched the old man's bag, knocked him down, and ran for it. She barely got to the street corner when Peter's webline snagged the heel of her shoe.

"WHOAHHH!" she cried as she was lifted up, and dangled upside down on the nearest street-lamp. Peter landed on top of the pole, resting his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think that man was your Grandpa and I don't think he gave you permission to look for candy in his bag. Would you mind just passing it up here so I can give it back? It's rather cold out here and I have somewhere to be in, like," he glanced at his bare wrist, "I'm assuming 10 minutes."

"Wha - whatever. Take it!" she said, swinging herself from side to side as she nervously held the bag up. "I'm sorry! Just - just let me down, man!"

Peter took the bag and slowly lowered her back to the ground. Before she could take off again though, he grabbed the back of her jacket. "Hold up there, missy. You're not off the hook yet. Stealing is still bad, you know. Now, I'm gonna have to sit with ya till the cops show up, so - "

"Hey, don't worry about her Spider-Man."

Peter glanced to the side where a vendor stepped past his food cart, refixing his long hair into a bun. "I can keep on eye on her for you until the cops show up. I dialed them already. They should be here soon."

"Really?"

The man had a kind face. He smiled, nodding. "Of course. You have somewhere to be, right? I don't mind keeping an eye on her for you. It's the least I can do, anyway, with how much you've done for this city."

His spider-sense was pretty good at picking up ill-intent, which was something this man did not have. Peter nodded, webbing the girls' hands to the side of the cart.

"Thanks, that's - that's really nice of you."

The girl huffed at them both, turning to the side sourly as Peter jogged back down the street. A couple had already stopped and helped the old man up, who was smiling and thanking them for their kindness.

His smile turned on Peter as he drew near. "Thank you so much, young man," he said, taking the bag gratefully. "And you two wonderful ladies as well,"

"Of course," one of them said, tipping her head graciously, took her partner's hand, and they continued down the street.

"This was a gift from my daughter," the man said, still looking at Peter warmly. "It's - it's...thank you very much. It's very dear to me."

"No problem, sir. I'm happy to help."

"You're a good boy," he continued. "Very good. We could do with more people like you."

"Aww shucks," Peter snickered shyly, kicking his feet against the pavement. "You're making me blush."

The old man chuckled, holding the bag closely to his chest. He had smile-wrinkles around his eyes, and bright, intelligent features that reminded Peter of Uncle Ben.

A cold chill swept through the street, freezing the moment, and carrying with it the presence of unwanted attention. Peter's spider-sense tingled lightly.

Somewhat startled, he looked behind him. There wasn't anything particularly pressing or alarming, aside from the ghastly demeanor of a man as he clopped down the street, wolf-whistling a woman passing him. Aside from the jerk - whom Peter was going to have to keep an eye on - only a few people were staring at him, some snapping pictures as they walked, smiling at their phones, but nothing out of the ordinary.

There was a movement in the corner of his eye and he shot a look at a nook between two buildings where, if he wasn't mistaken, a person had been standing just seconds ago. It was empty now, but the chills Peter felt lingered. Another nudge from his spidey-sense, then it was gone.

"Spider-Man? Son, is there something wrong?"

Peter looked back at the old man, who was looking at him worried now. "Huh? Oh, no, sorry sir. It was nothing. Just thought I saw something." He shot him a thumbs up. "Take it easy out there, m'kay?"

With that he took to the skies again, feeling the sudden urge to get as far away from that street as possible. Still, holding true to his word, he waited until the jerk from earlier had disappeared into a bar before heading back out. Before he was gone completely, he snuck a glance back down between the buildings.

He could've sworn there was a dark figure staring at him from the shadows, too far away to distinguish details, when he blinked and it was gone.

Peter was feeling distinguishably colder.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The parts to these will probably be pretty short, but it is what it is. Oh well.

I think we all know who Spidey's little stalker was, but for the sake of mystery and suspense, we'll pretend we didn't read the chapter before this ;) LOL

-OfficialUSMWriter out!