Journal Entry #4
Friday night rolled around after a pretty boring few days at school. Really the only thing interesting thing was Trixie Lulamoon getting attacked by a rabbit when she tried to pull it out of her hat during one of her magic show (turns out she "borrowed" Angel Bunny from Fluttershy. Bad move on her part. At least he wasn't rabid.)
So with my homemade costume and Web Shooters shoved in my backpack, I told Aunt May and Uncle Ben that I was going to hang out with Thorax (feeling a little guilty about lying to them but I figured the three grand I'd be bringing home would make up for it) and made my way to the address that was on the back of the flyer.
Once I got there I ran into Thorax outside by the entrance. "Okay dude, you got your camera ready?"
Thorax nodded, pulling out the small video camera from his coat. "Just put in a fresh SD Card. We'll be good." He then looked at me with concern. "You still sure this is a good idea," he asked.
I nodded. "Yeah. What's the worst that could happen?"
"About two minutes ago they wheeled out some poor sap who had both of his legs broken."
I winced. "Yeah, let's try and avoid that."
I changed into my costume in the bathroom, putting my other clothes in my backpack and handing it to Thorax. "Wish me luck, dude."
He nodded. "Yeah. Try not to get killed out there."
I rolled my eyes at that. "I'm not gonna get killed. I'll be fine."
I was starting to have second thoughts when I saw who it was I'd be fighting.
The man stood seven feet tall and was seriously beefed up, with bulging muscle all over his body. He wore a pair of blue shorts and a helmet on his head that looked like it had bull horns. According to one of the posters I saw, this was their champion Iron Will. Also known by his stage-name, the Minotaur (which would explain the stupid helmet.)
As I got closer to the ring, I could hear the announcer saying some things about how Iron Will was unstoppable and all that happy WWE horsecrap. Seriously, do these guys really expect people to buy this garbage?
Then again considering how the stadium was packed and the crowd was roaring, I guess they did.
Finally the announcer said "And now for our next victim! I'm sorry, I mean... opponent! No, really I mean victim."
I heard the crowd laugh at that, rolling my eyes behind my mask. Jerk.
Once they stopped he continued "He's a newcomer to the wrestling world. From what we saw he's a bit scrawny but he says he's strong enough to tangle with our champion. Give it up for... THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN!"
I decided to enter the ring with a bit of flair. So I shot a Web Line onto the roof of the building, zipped up about halfway before breaking it, pulling off a pretty sweet flip before pulling off the tried-but-true superhero landing in the ring. Looking at the announcer I said "Thank you, thank you."
Almost immediately the crowd started laughing at me, more than likely because of my homemade costume, but also probably because compared to the no doubt steroid abusing Iron Will in front of me I looked like a toothpick.
Iron Will laughed at me and asked "Is this a joke? Shouldn't you be in bed by now, kid?"
"Oh, that's just cute," I said into the announcer's microphone, after I had yanked it out of his hands. "But not as cute as your outfit. Did your husband make it for you?"
There was a collective gasp from the audience. Even Iron Will seemed shock at what I just said. I looked at the audience and said "Hope you guys are ready for a show, because this spider-" I pointed at myself before pointing at Iron Will "-is gonna take this big ol' bull to the slaugherhouse!"
The crowd went crazy at that; some gasping, some doing that Rap Battle Parody "OHH!", some just laughing.
Iron Will actually laughed at that. "Itsy-Bitsy here's got guts. But Iron Will ain't going to the slaughterhouse anytime soon!"
I looked right at him and said "Keep telling yourself that. Because tonight, I dine on steak!"
Having said all I wanted I dropped the microphone, just to look like a badass.
Once the announcer got out of the ring the bell was rung, and the fight was on!
Iron Will swung at me with that beefed up arm of his, but I easily ducked under it and slammed a fist into his chest, being sure to dial back my strength a bit so I didn't end up breaking his ribs. But I did end up knocking the wind out of him if the gasp he released was any indication. I quickly followed this by getting behind him and slamming my foot into his back, sending him flying into the wrestling ropes at the far side of the ring. Surprisingly he managed to get back up without any problems, barely even phased by the hits I got in. "Wow, I'm impressed."
Iron Will laughed. "Not bad. But the warm up's over!"
And with that he charged at me like a raging bull (which is fitting considering his stage name) but I jumped out of the way.
Sadly, he managed to grab a hold of my ankle. And promptly slammed me down on my back, which hurt. A lot.
He then attempted to smash his fist down into my chest, but I managed to roll out of the way. I got back up to my feet, just in time to see one of Iron Will's fans toss him up a folding chair. "Seriously? What is this a Looney Tunes cartoo-URK!"
My sentence was cut off when he chucked the chair at me, nailing me right in the head and knocking me on my ass. And making me see plenty of stars. Oh look, it's the Ursa Major.
As I got back up and shook the stars out of my eyes, I looked right at Iron Will. "Of course you realize, THIS MEANS WAR!"*
Since apparently Iron Will decided to use furniture, I decided to use my Web Shooters. Then he charged at me again I fired a Web Shot in his face, blinding him as he tried to rip the stuff off of his face. Taking advantage of this I punched him two times in the chest, followed up by a kick to the face. He managed to rip off the web, but when he tried to swing at me again I dodged and webbed his fist to the mat, leaving him stuck. Before he could say anything I nailed him with another punch, then jumped onto his back. Using his back as a springboard I jumped up high into the air, shooting two Web-lines on either side of him and slingshot myself into his back feet-first, slamming him into the ground. Hard.
And now for the finisher.
Using my adhesion abilities I attached my hands to his back, before lifting him up over my head. Spotting a table on the outside of the ring I said "Stupid, party of one. YOUR TABLE'S READY!"
And with that I chucked him out of the ring, with him soaring through the air and smashing down on the table, shattering it and falling through to the ground. "Ooooo, that looked like it hurt." Peering over the ring I asked "Hey, are you okay?"
One of the medical attendants came over and checked him, flashing a thumbs up to show he was okay.
The announcer came and raised my arm up, and said "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new champion! Give it up, for the Amazing SPIDER-MAN!"
The crowd burst into applause, chanting my name amongst the cheers. It felt great. It was one thing to get applause from a gymnasium filled with high schoolers, but it was another thing to have hundreds of people chanting your name. I felt on top of the world, nothing could knock me down...
...THAT SLEAZY, CONNIVING, CHEAP-ASS MOTHER-F&^*ER!
Sorry, sorry. You guys don't need to read me swearing.
Allow me to explain why I was.
So, remember when Bulk gave me the flyer? I read it and it said that if I lasted in the ring three minutes with Iron Will, whether I win or or lost, I'd get $3000 dollars. In cash.
But the sleazeball who owns this place showed me some small print underneath those words (that nobody without a magnifying glass would be able to read) that said, and I quote "The wrestler in questions must last at least three full minutes in the ring. If the wrestler in question or the champion are KO'd before the full three minutes, the wrestler in question will only receive $100 dollars."
This was a problem for me, as I took down Iron Will in 2 minutes.
Meaning that technically HE didn't last the full 3 minutes.
Meaning I was only getting $100 dollars.
Now, anyone with half a brain could tell that this whole "Fine Print" thing he was trying to pull off was complete and utter B.S. But rather than blow up on him, I decided to I try and appeal to his sympathy, telling him I needed the money for my family.
He said "I missed the part where that's my problem."
What. An. ASSHOLE!
Sadly I couldn't make a big scene of this seeing as how I was underage (and technically I wasn't even supposed to be there. As it was I hadn't even taken off my costume.) So I just took the $100 dollars and walked out.
Once I found Thorax and changed back into my normal clothes, we left the building. I told him about what happened and he agreed that the guy was being an absolute bastard.
As we did though, a guy came running out wearing a ski cap and holding a large duffel bag. I got a good look at his face before he ran off down the street, a few dollar bills falling out of the bag as he did so. A few seconds afterward the guy in charge of the place came out, saw me and asked "You gonna help?"
Angrily, I retorted "I'm sorry. I missed the part where that's my problem."
And with that we walked away, eventually splitting up to go to our respective homes. All the time I was thinking that the bastard got what he deserved and that this wouldn't come back to bite me in the ass.
But, spoiler warning, it would. In fact, it already had.
As I rounded the corner I remembered that Uncle Ben usually came out around this time every Friday for some grocery shopping. This was usually the night you could get the best deals on some good pastrami. So I figured I'd swing by (Ha ha.) and see if he needed any help.
But as I came upon the grocery store there were several police cars parked outside, lights flashing, and a crowd of people gathered around something in the front. It wasn't my Spider-sense but I could immediately tell something was wrong. So I started to wade through the people, saying quick "Excuse me"'s and "Pardon me"'s as I tried to see what was going on.
Eventually I got to it.
And...
......
............I'm sorry.
It's just... looking back on this is hard for me. Not just because of what happened, but also because no matter how many people say "You couldn't have known this was going to happen" or "It wasn't your fault", I can never convince myself otherwise.
What you're about to read, WAS my fault.
Lying on the ground was my Uncle Ben, a small hole in his shirt just to the left but still very close to his heart. The shirt around the hole was a deep scarlet red. His eyes were closed, and he wasn't breathing.
My memory's kinda fuzzy from that point. I remember the EMTs trying to hold me back, the people reacting in shock when I screamed Uncle Ben's name, and eventually one of the officers, Davis I think his name was, telling me that my Uncle had been shot by a carjacker. The EMTs tried their best, but it was all for naught.
On November 21st, 2018 at 10:05 PM, Benjamin Sentry passed away due to a gunshot wound from a carjacker.
Everything after that was numb for me. I could barely register anything except for the tears rolling down my face.
And then I heard officer Davis speaking to another officer, saying that they found the carjacker driving my Uncle's Plymouth Oldsmobile down 5th Avenue towards the Old ACME Warehouse.
The numbness went away as a fire surged through me.
That son of a bitch killed my uncle, a good man. There wasn't any way I was going to let that go unpunished.
Without really thinking it I ran down an alley and changed into my suit, hastily shoving my clothes into a backpack and webbing it to a wall out of reach. I then ran up the wall and started swinging to my destination.
The ACME warehouse had been abandoned for years since they went out of business. In the past it had been used as a safehouse for street gangs and crime bosses, with several of the doors being welded shut and barricaded to keep out the cops. If he holed himself up in there, he'd be able to put some distance between him and the cops and possibly even escape before they'd have time to call in the SWAT units.
But that place won't stop Spider-Man.