//------------------------------// // Dawn of a sidekick // Story: Shimmering Spider // by Sense of Humor //------------------------------// “You boys are late.” He scoffed at the bearded shrimp, or at least, he seemed to like it compared with his taller partner. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that the dark-skinned guy in the jacket wasn’t going to do much talking. “You said 3. Never said 3 am or 3 pm.” He snorted in response. The guy leaned back against the white van, arms crossed. “You mean to tell me that you came out here at 3 am and then wait?” “Shaddup and show us what you got. It took hours to get the parole trackers off of us.” O’Hirn glanced at Marko with a raised eyebrow. “And it was harder ta get yer pay down here too.” “Ooh, Gruff. Alright, I got ya some priceless stuff. Somethin’ for both of you.” The guy took a brief glance around for spying eyes, then reached into the large pockets of his jacket. His left hand fished out the world’s most detailed looking brass knuckles--only they weren't brass. They had small rivulets running in circular motions on the knuckles, like veins for a hand. Dark gold metal surrounded the purple grooves and highlighted their glow. O’hirn would know that look from everywhere--after that hole in the sky opened up, everyone knew what this stuff was. He caught it as it was thrown his way, listening as the guy blabbered on. “ Check it--that thing is small for travel convenience. It may take time to charge between hits, but it can knock a motorcycle back through the air, man. That Hulk level stuff.” Marko sneered as he tossed him the pay; namely a very thick stack of cash. “And what about me?” The guy opened the back door of the van and reeled in a metal baseball bat. Marko examined it closer when it was tossed into his hands, tapping the alien collar at the base of it's handle. “What’s this thing supposed to do? It don't look fancy.” The guy grinned. “Trust me, you gonna want to see for yourself when you go up against someone.” O’hirn exchanged a nod of satisfaction with Marko. “Yeah, well...We got someone in mind.” “Then happy hunting.” Okay. The Italian bakery on the left block. Sam repeated in her head and was glad that there weren't that many restaurants in the area, let alone ones centered around italian food. In fact, she couldn’t call it a restaurant based on what she observed; it was more like a gas station without the gas...A convenience store. A dollar tree-styled place that sold burritos and sandwiches for the bakery, and then random items likes chips or skittles to fill the aisles. She stood in front of its glass doors and swallowed, looking up at the title: Delmar’s Deli-Grocery. No turning back now, I guess. It was a pretty average store on the inside. The small rectangle of concrete floors was highlighted by small aisles of food and tiny items. She briefly glanced around the place, assessing the faces of shopgoers and a middle aged guy behind the counter, sporting a greyish beard. He glanced up from his register and met her eyes, nodding in greeting. She nodded back, lightly and nervously. She started to turn back around and look for Peter when he nodded at her backpack. “Midtown high?” He asked, his voice aloof and calm. Samantha blinked once. “Um,yes.” “Figured. Only school close enough to here to get kid customers. Name’s Delmar, like on the store name.” The man said something in another language, to an employee appearing from the office. It must've been about her, because they kept glancing at her from the side. She had a feeling it was about her hair color. “You happen to know Peter?” “Uh, Parker? Yes. Have you seen him today?” “Well, now I have.” She didn’t get the time to ask what that meant, because Peter walked in immediately after. He nodded to Delmar as if he didn’t notice her, sauntering right up to the counter. “Hey, Mr.Delmar. Whassup?” “Parker! Speak of the devil,” Mr.Delmar leaned over on the country casually. “Let me guess, Number five, right?” “Yeah, and with extra pickles, and can you smush it down real flat?” Peter clapped for emphasis and suddenly whirled on Samantha. “Hey. You want somethin’?” Blinking away her confused stare, Sam shook her head. “Alright, more for me.” “You want it, you got it, Boss.” His employee got to work behind him, and Samantha suddenly regretted not taking Peter on his offer. That sandwich looked delicious. “Say, how's your Aunt doing?” “I’d say she's doing pretty good.” Samantha quirked an eyebrow as Delmar slyly spoke to his employee behind him in that language, then went back to Peter. The teen immediately spoke back in the exact same language, and she stifled a snort as the man’s cheeky smirk fell. He bluntly said: “That'll be ten dollars, kid.” “Come on, man! It's five dollars!” “For that comment, it's ten.” “Nah, I'm joshing, I’m Joshing.” Peter laughed as he retrieved five dollars from his pocket. “Look, here’s five--” “Actually,” Sam piped up and shuffled around in the contents of her purse. When she fished out a card she walked up to the counter beside Parker. “I’ll go ahead and try one of these, same stuff he has. I'll pay us for us both.” Delmar grinned his widest and winked at Peter. “Lotta luck today, kid. Insert in the chip,” He instructed. As she did so, a surprised teen blinked at her and adjusted his backpack awkwardly. “Uh, I coulda paid for both of ours.” “Well, its the thought that counts.” Sam watched as Delmar went to aid his employee with the sandwiches. “I thought you weren't going to show up for a sec.” “You were only in here for half a minute before I showed up.” Peter shot back, brushing past her to a white cat nestled on the counter. He scratched behind its ears, and it purred. “How do you know that? It's not like you’ve been watching me.” She pursed her lips after a moment of studying his expression. “You were watching me?” Peter gave her a sidelong glance. “Had to make sure you weren't blabbing about Spider-man at random. Especially out in public,” It suddenly occurred to her that his being a vigilante was probably a secret, one that she had carelessly talked about in front of whole bunch of people in school. She cringed, bu nervously laughed. “Ha, yeah. Sorry about that.” To get off that subject, she continued. “Um, about that...What were you planning on teaching me? The things in...this line of work?” Peter thought about the question, then shrugged. “Hmm. Where to start?” “Alright, so...Superhero stuff is fun sometimes, but its always a responsibility. People rely on us to save them, so it's our job to do just that.” Down a long stretch of sidewalk, Peter led her onto an unused path on a beeline for an alley. “Nothing serious has happened for a while, but that's what puts people in a false sense of security. There are a lot more crooks and thieves and stuff in Queens. This is ain’t Kansas anymore.” Sam rolled her eyes but continued to follow him with a mouthful of sandwich. “One: I moved here from Oregon, thank you. Two: Oregon probably has a lot more crime than Queens.” “Be that as it may, the fact remains that danger lurks everywhere for citizens.” They stepped into the alleyway and he tossed his backpack at the left wall, after removing his costume. A flick of his wrist had a spray of webs pin it there. “So, occasionally, Heroes like me wait till after school to don their suits and get to work.” “There are more people in high school that--” “No! No, I was...It's just me in high school. And you,” Peter hopped on one leg as he started putting on the suit. With both legs in, he started to work on the arms. “but you don't really count as your own hero, yet.” “I don't?” “Nope. You’re like, junior sidekick level. We’ll work you up to my level soon.” He patted the spider emblem on his suit and it tightened around him to a comfortable degree when it zipped up. With his mask in one hand, he held the other out to her. “Uh, do you have any questions, by the way?” “As a matter of fact I do,” She began as he climbed on three limbs and used the other to carry her up. She glanced at the ground leaving her behind and swallowed. She might grow a fear of heights working with this guy. “Is your line of the work the only thing a hero can work in the department of?” “...Line of…?” Sam bit her lip as she tried to think of how to explain it. “Well, you do work in terms of fighting crime and apprehending criminals. Sure, I’d like to save people that way but...Could I be like, The fireman superhero while you’re The police officer superhero?” As he pulled her up onto the roof, Spider-man’s lenses blinked once. “Huh. “ When she asked about his simple response, he said: “That’s how Mr.Stark and I are grouped. He does the world saving stuff, and he has me do stuff on the streets.” Sam scrunched her nose. “I thought you were an Avenger.” “Who says I'm not? I'm the backup. They just...have me stashed for a rainy day. They wouldn't be the Avengers if they needed me all the time, you know?” “Oh, I get it. The Avengers are like the military, you’re the police and I'm the fire department!” “No, you’re my intern, junior sidekick.” “Oh...kaaay.” Spider-man gestured to his surroundings, and for the first time, she noticed the many things assorted by hand. Old bed bunks in one spot, a few worn out nightstands in the middle and a slip and slide next to his feet. “Well anyway, today we start your training. For the police side. Maybe in a month, you can be a fire girl or whatever.” Samantha flinched at his nonchalant words--A month?! She didn't expect this to be a days work, but she didn't expect this to take a month either. “I...Well…” Instead of thinking about backing out, she pointed to the old junk around them. “What’s with the...hobo water park?” “Ha. Hobo Water Park. Funny…I pulled this stuff out of the local junkyard and brought it here.” Spider-man walked to the other end of the roof where the two rusty bed bunks were stationed. He took a running start, jumped through both and rolled to a halt on the other side like an Olympic champion. “Can you do what I just did?” Samantha rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “If I take these heels off, I can. I took Gymnastics for years before I came to Queens.” Peter nodded, pointing at the spaced-out nightstands. “And can you double-leap over these?” “Yes.” “And do a controlled slide on that water thingy?” “Yes.” Spider-man nodded, clearly skeptical but withholding his judgment for the time being. “Well, good. Cause you're gonna be running through his course for a week to build your agility up to par with mine.” “I just said I took Gymnastics for years! My agility is probably better than yours!” She said with exasperation, but when he didn't look ready to budge, Samantha sighed. “Look...If I can run through this course in eight seconds at least, then consider making this once a week.” Spider-man scoffed. “Eight seconds? Not happening. “ When she set up the timer app on her phone and handed it over, he laughed. “Wow. You're really serious about this.” Samantha tossed her heels over to a corner of the roof. “I didn't agree to this just so I could get sweaty after school. I agreed so I can figure out how to control my powers.” She stood poised at the two-bed bunks, crouching before the first one at a close range. Peter tilted his head. “I'm starting the timer. Maybe you should take a running start before--” A blur shot from the ground and vaulted between the bed bunks, before spinning on a heel and making two hops over the nightstands. The momentum made the blur lash a foot out to propel from the roof’s edge, and she made a controlled crash onto the Slip N’ Slide. A forwards roll had her back on her feet in seconds. “Whoo! Maybe I shouldn't have done that after eating...What's my time?” “Uh...oh.” He glanced down at the phone and handed it back to her. “Its...Seven point ninety-three” Peter looked over the course he’d set up and tried to reimagine her sprint through it. “Geez, where'd you take gymnastics: The military?” “Now you have to consider once a week training.” Sam smirked with an air of smug superiority. “And maybe fill in the rest of the time by taking me with on a...uh, patrol of yours. When you fight crime and stuff.” He sat down with a displeased huff. “Fine. Maybe I’ll let you tag along today. But I'm gonna have to web half your face to conceal your identity. If anyone sees you with me--” “Not to worry, I brought some stuff. See, I had this cool idea of using these sunglasses,” She unzipped her purse and pulled out dark red shades, then promptly put them on. She held up a finger briefly. “Hang on. Not finished!” Grinning the slightest, she fished out a yellow bandana with red streaks in it. She tied her hair back in a ponytail and then concealed most of her hair by tying the bandana around it. After putting on fingerless red gloves, she struck a hands-on-your-hips pose and smiled. “Huh? Huuuuh? Do you like it? I’m thinking of calling myself: Firecracker!” His lenses blinked but they would never be able to convey the deadpan look on his face. “...You...expect me to go out every day, and listen to people yell: ‘It’s Spider-man and Firecracker’?” Sam’s face fell into a dramatic pout. “ What’s wrong with Firecracker? I like Firecracker.” “Firecracker sucks. That's like a stripper name or something.” She gave an offended gasp. “What?! It does not sound like a stripper name? It sounds like a really cool superhero in training! And maybe when I quote and quote Graduate, I can be Missle-girl!” Spider-man hung his saddened head. “No. That is worse. That is so much worse.” He suddenly flinched. A light tingle at the base of his skull flared up, and he grimaced at the familiarity if it. “Shit.” Now her offended expression deepened. “Okay, now you’re just being mean.” Shushing her, Peter leaned over the edge of the opposite side of the roof. His lenses zoomed in a truck slowing to a halt in front of the old laundromat on the street corner. His view magnified to get an up-close look at the two bozos getting out if the car. “Uh, why’d you stop talking?” “We might be witnessing a robbery in progress.” “What? You can't just spring that on me!” “Those guys,” He pointed down at them. “Are some small time crooks I know. They're usually good with getting away with things. Almost as good as Turk Barrett.” “Who?” “I’ll school you on all the big names later. Right now, we gotta get down there and stop them before they make off with the money. “ He hopped onto the ledge and glanced back at her. “Too bad you can’t fly. Guess you’ll have to jump and I’ll catch you.” “Uh, these guys...aren't dangerous, are they?” She called down to the leaping hero, secretly admiring his professional landing. “They won't try to...shoot us?” “Or stab us. Yes. Just stay in the background, try not to fight and let me do the talking. You and me,” He gestured to themselves. "We got this.” Samantha gently lowered herself on the edge of the roof, about to jump into a whole new world. Adventure and Danger awaited her, in an ocean that could change her life forever. "Famous last words," Sam quipped and jumped from the roof.