Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. The sound of a clock moving in the back was the only sound made as the students took their test, minus the scribbles of pencils on paper. A fair-skinned boy in a hoodie whispered to a blue-skinned girl with silver hair, noticing that the seat in front of them was empty. "Have you spoken with Peter at all today? He's about to miss the test." asked Ned in a quiet tone.
Trixie shook her head and gave a disgruntled sigh, "You know what that idiot does when he's not here. I already tried calling him before the bell, but he didn't answer."
Ned exhaled, "Right. And he didn't let me be mission control this time."
Little creaks of a metal doorknob gained the attention of every student in the classroom. It opened up, and stepping into the classroom was a boy wearing a hoodie, small cuts on his face, and sweat pouring down his head. He held the strap of his bookbag over his shoulder, small marks seen on it as well.
"Mr. Parker..." Mrs. Harshwinny said, ready to scold him, "Any particular reason as to why you were tardy on test day?"
"Ha! Nice look, Parker!" Flash Thompson shouted from his seat, earning an elbow nudge from Flash Sentry to be quiet.
Peter pinched his temples, "Yeah... Yeah, I have a good reason." he replied awkwardly, rubbing his head.
Mrs. Harshwinny raised a brow, "Well, what is it? I'm sure the class would love to hear why you were late for school."
Peter frowned, "Well..."
'Crap. Crap. Crap.' Peter repeated in his head, running from rooftop to rooftop in his Spider-Man costume. He shot a strand of webbing and it hit the side of a building, allowing him to jump and swing as fast as he possibly could. 'Stupid train. I knew I should've skipped breakfast if it meant catching it on time.'
Spider-Man grunted, 'Now I'm gonna be late for a first period test. Just my luck.'
The wall-crawler pushed himself in midair as fast as he could, repeating his earlier actions to continue swinging. 'Calm down, Pete...' he told himself, 'If you keep going at the pace you're at now... You might just make it in time.'
A tingling sensation rang in Peter's head, and he noticed something going on below him, vehicles being pushed around and people running around in terror. 'Parker Luck at it again! And I can only guess who's causing this... Again.'
With a sigh, Spider-Man swung down and perched himself on top of a car, noticing a man wearing a red and yellow coat and mask holding a purple glowing glove, "Hey there, Shocky. You know, you have to take me to your tailor someday. Cause I wish my costume could get fixed that quickly."
"Spider-Man. You again." groaned Shocker.
The webslinger stood up, "Uh, yeah. I'm not Iron Man... Am I?"
Shocker yelled and used his gauntlet to blast Spider-Man back, the car he was standing on moving as a result as well. Peter got his bearings and flipped, holding the car over his shoulders before dropping it gently. "That's not how you treat an old friend, Shocker." he scolded playfully, using his webbing to block the gauntlet, but Shocker vaporized it before it could reach him.
"Aw, breadcrumbs." groaned Spider-Man, zipping away before Shocker could attack him. "So, what's the game plan, Shocker? More friends? New costume? Want a better name? Cause I can do all that without the collateral damage you know."
"Money, ya know? It's simple." replied Shocker. Spider-Man perfomed a flip and was about to kick the criminal, but his gauntlet collided with his chest, a purple glow covering him as he was pushed upwards. Spidey could be heard groaning as he was forced up, "And to finally take you down once and for all."
Spider-Man wheezed, backflipping onto another car. He saw bystanders watching the fight, cheering for him. His lenses widened, seeing Shocker raising his arm again, his gauntlet glowing. In a haste, Peter shot a line of webbing forward and zipped ahead, "Alright, Shockster! I gotta ask, who's the money for? Cause it sure isn't for your PR agent judging by your appearances."
"Can't say." Shocker answered, "It's a surprise."
"Ooh." Spider-Man pretended to sound surprised. "I love surprises! Is it for my birthday? Cause Christmas isn't for a long few months, we're in Spring, remember?" he asked, punching Shocker in the face, his mask offering resistance to the punch. "Then again, you can never be too early for Christmas shopping, as those stores would tell you... before Labor Day."
Shocker yelped, pushing Peter back with his weapon, the purple aura emitting a laser strong enough to launch him back. Spider-Man tumbled on the streets, webbing Shocker's bag of money towards him in the process while stunned. "Got it..." he moaned.
The costumed criminal cracked his knuckles, "You know, kid. You've been in a real thorn in my side for the past few weeks. It's about damn time I ended this feud before it escalates." his gauntlet was primed, charging while Spider-Man staggered to his feet. His lenses closed as he struggled to move at the moment.
But before Shocker ended it, a quiet vibration and song blared for all to hear.
"You better believe, I got tricks up my sleeve..." came the sound of a singing female voice.
Shocker lowered his glove, "What the hell is that?"
Spider-Man reached a hand into his bag and read the contact as the song continued playing, 'Not now, Trixie. I'll be there soon.' he groaned as he rolled to his stomach before pressing the stop button, ending the call. Finally, Peter got to his feet. "Sorry about that..." he mumbled, "Now, it's about time we settled this."
But he noticed Shocker was gone and saw a broken down truck making a getaway. "Oh no you don't!" he ordered, shooting a webline at the moving truck. What he didn't expect was the speed of the vehicle and so, he dropped onto his stomach, being dragged away. "Ow ow ow ow ow..." muttered Peter as his chest bumped the road.
The truck turned a corner, prompting Spider-Man to slam into a wall, "Ah!" he screamed in pain, his body sore. Kicking open the backdoors, was Shocker. "Oh no..." he moaned.
"Sayonara, wall-crawler." was all Shocker said. Then he shot a blast from his gauntlet, knocking Spider-Man back again. The webslinger fell with a thud and even blacked out for a second. His lenses opened wide again when he awoke from his brief moment of unconsciousness a minute later, and he held his sore head.
"Where did--?" Peter asked. The truck was gone, which meant Shocker was as well. Again. With a heavy sigh, he reached to his phone, checking the time. 'Oh crap! I'm almost late for class!' with that realization, Peter did all he could to swing to Canterlot High as fast as he could.
Peter shrugged and scratched his head nervously, "And that's what happened. Superhero battle ruined my commute. Some debris fell on me too."
Mrs. Harshwinny pursed her lips, and checked for any news update on her phone, all was silent otherwise. "It seems you are telling the truth. There are articles of Spider-Man and Shocker battling this morning. It is fortunate that you are alright. You may be seated for the test." she ordered.
The boy nodded and walked to his chair, "Thank you."
A few periods later, Peter, Ned and Trixie went to lunch, where they could discuss the morning's events. Ned nudged Peter lightly, making sure neither of them dropped their trays, "Dude. You fought the Shocker again and didn't tell us?"
Peter shrugged as they sat down, "It was a sudden thing." he smiled, "Maybe I'll let you join in next time."
"You better..." huffed Trixie while folding her arms, "Had us worried sick you know?"
The boy smirked, "I didn't think you cared."
Trixie rolled her eyes, "Believe it or not, we're friends. The last thing Trixie needs to hear is that you were defeated by Shocker or some no name crook on the streets."
"Don't worry, I think I'm getting better at this hero thing." Peter admitted, munching on an apple.
Trixie smirked, "Just be lucky you had a good alibi today and not mentioning the Stark Internship again. That excuse is starting to wear thin everywhere."
Ned nodded, "Yeah, what's up with that anyway?"
"I told you, Mister Stark came to my house to recruit me for this awesome airport battle against Captain America's team. The excuse now is that Mister Stark hired me for an internship when I'm actually out Spider-Manning." Peter reminded his old friend casually. "After the battle, he was perfectly okay with that excuse and gave me a contact with Happy just in case."
Trixie pursed her lips, "I don't think Spider-Manning a word."
Ned chuckled, "Well, it is now."
"Hey, Peter!" came another female voice. And to Peter, it sounded like a beautiful song from an angel. Standing across from them was a girl with purple skin, glasses over her eyes, unlike most kids, she wore a formal uniform and her hair was in a bun. "I'm sorry, I just heard about what happened to you and I-I came to check to see... if-If you were okay." she stammered awkwardly, a sheepish smile on her face.
Peter smiled awkwardly as well, "Y-Yeah, I'm fine, T-Twilight..." his eyes turned to focus on the other table, seeing Twilight's friends smirking over something and Sunset Shimmer looked to be giving a proud smile. He wasn't sure why though."T-Thanks for checking on me though." he added, his voice randomly going deeper as he tried to hide his nervous emotions. He cleared his throat. "S-So... Have you taken that Spanish quiz?"
Twilight adjusted her glasses, "N-No, not until next period. I heard it was a little difficult though."
Peter smiled as he dug his spoon into his mashed potatoes, "For someone as smart as you. Nah." he waved off a simple compliment. "But good luck though."
"T-Thanks..." was all the girl said.
Twilight giggled and then walked back to her table in silence. Ned and Trixie chuckled at Peter's expense. "...What?" he asked, his demeanor back to normal.
"You're so into her." Trixie teased.
Peter shook his head, "What? No...?" he stumbled his words.
Ned patted Peter's shoulders, "It's alright, Peter."
"Guys..." said Peter, "I don't have a crush on Twilight. Yeah, she's smart, a bookworm, adorable when she figures something out, have a cute smile, and is really pretty. But I do not have a crush on her. Got it?" he dismissed in a atern tone, not noticing Ned and Trixie's evergrowing smirks on their faces like how his face turned red with each word slowly spoken. "Oh come on."
"Tell her you're Spider-Man." said Ned, "That should earn you a chance for a date."
Peter snorted, "Yeah, right. Hey there, you wanna go on a date with me? Oh by the way, I'm Spider-Man."
Ned frowned and took a look at his sandwich, "Well, when you put it like that, it sounds stupid."
"Honestly, Parker, be glad Trixie is here to guide you." Trixie bragged, wrapping an arm around her friend, "Because whether you're Spider-Man or Peter Parker, I'm here to make sure you don't screw up."
"Gee, thanks." the boy replied in a sarcastic tone.
Trixie smiled proudly, "Anytime, Peter. Now, shall we go back to discussing your little... adventure this morning before you become a slurring mess?"
"R-Right." Peter agreed.
Ned took a bite of his pizza, "So, did you plant a tracer on him before he got away?"
"No, I blacked out before I could reach him." he cracked his wrist, "Those gauntlets of his are becoming stronger by the second. It's like everytime we fight, he becomes more of a challenge."
Trixie tapped the table with a finger, "Seriously?"
Peter shrugged, "Yes. Luckily, he's the only big crook I've fought. Sometimes I'm glad I'm not like the Avengers and have to fight off aliens, gods and robots every week."
"Thankfully." muttered the stage girl.
Ned smiled, "But it would be awesome."
The wallcrawler cleared his throat, "Anyway, maybe next time we meet, I'll finally figure out what his game plan is. And judging by his track record, it will probably be tomorrow."
The truck pulled into the garage of a secret warehouse on the dock. The vehicle slowed down as it stopped and kicking down the door was Shocker, holding a bag of money in his hands. "At least he's not here anymore..."
The villain removed his helmet, revealing his bearded face. The dimly lit room was obviously hard to see in. The only source of light was the lam on top of a desk. In the room was what looked to be jet propellers attached to a green exoskeleton suit and two people sitting on said desk near the suit.
Looking over was an older man wearing a furry vest, seeing the other man tinker with the devices. The older man acknowledged Shocker, "Well, well. If it isn't Schultz. I take it the robbery went well?"
Herman nodded, dropping the bag and the gauntlet he used, "Right here, Toomes, the sum is enough for the Big Man to be satisfied until we can develop more weapons. The Spider-Man showed up again, by the way. Luckily, these little gloves did him in again."
Toomes smirked, "The little bastard in red showed himself again? Hm, he could be a danger to our little business in due time." he looked to Mason, "Luckily, those little scraps we nabbed from Oscorp could prove useful in our hopes to stop him."
Adrian noticed the different guns lying about on the shelves and then focused on the green exosuit and pilot helmet and he chuckled darkly, his palm curled into a fist. "If he becomes a nuisance again. I'll be sure to step in this time."