//------------------------------// // Protecting the Neighborhood // Story: The Amazing Spider-Blitz: The High School Chronicles // by KingYakko5991 //------------------------------// A couple of weeks have passed since Lightning's encounter with the Prowler. In that time he had become closer with Sunset's friends and felt more comfortable around them. However, he rarely interacted with them outside of lunch, except for Pinkie Pie, who now wouldn't leave his side in Chemistry. This made any further development of web fluid difficult for Lightning, but he figured it wasn't too big of an issue and he'd find a way to work around it. Besides, it was nice to have a cheerful friend like Pinkie around in what would otherwise have been a lonely class. Lightning also shared a class with Rarity, English to be exact, but rarely spoke to her unless she approached him first. Despite having a new sense of confidence from his new circle of friends and having super powers, the idea of approaching Rarity just seemed so... daunting. These new social skills weren't the only new thing to come up, however. Word around Canterlot was that some sort of super powered masked "crime fighter" was going the city at night performing numerous heroic tasks. From stopping robberies and assaults to saving people from fires, if there was danger, this mysterious figure was almost guaranteed to show up. Many reports claimed this person was spider-like, able to climb walls and even shoot "ropes" from his wrists. Some called him a hero, some called him a vigilante, and others even speculated that he organized these disasters so that he could paint himself to appear as a hero. Be it good talk or bad talk, nearly everyone had something to say about this "Spider-Man," as many were calling him, that was making himself apparent in Canterlot City. But no one spoke more of him than Rainbow Dash. She could hardly go a single lunch without excitedly talking about his most recent activities with the others. "Okay, but did any of you actually see the YouTube footage from the ATM robbery?" Dash asked, looking around at the table. "He fought off four armed guys!" Lightning couldn't help but chuckle to himself over Rainbow Dash's excitement. It was a strange feeling suddenly becoming the most popular student at school, without anyone realizing it was really him they were talking about. He figured it would probably still be best to keep that identity a secret. "Ah just wonder who he is," Applejack commented. "And how he is able to do all those things that he does!" "It does seem pretty incredible that anyone could do what they say he does," Fluttershy added. "I bet he's super cute under that mask!" Pinkie Pie said, seemingly out of nowhere. "Whaaaaat?" She asked, noticing that her comment caught the attention of everyone at the table. "Well I for one don't see what all the fuss is about," Rarity said, her attention turning back to her sketchbook. Rarity was one of the few students at Canterlot High that didn't seem to have much of an opinion on Spider-Man. "Are you kidding?!" an exasperated Rainbow Dash asked. "Just look!" she said, showing Rarity the video she had mentioned earlier. After only a few moments of hesitant watching, an expression of disgust quickly grew on Rarity's face. "Blegh. Does he really go around saving people in... that?" "I don't understand, what's wrong with it Rairty?" Lightning asked with a chuckle. "I think it looks charming!" This sarcastic comment earned an eye roll from Rarity, but before she could respond, Applejack added in a comment of her own. "Rarity for crying out loud, he's trying to help people! Nobody cares what he's wearin!" "Oh but on the contrary, darling!" Rarity replied. "If he's going to save the world, I say he should do it in style!" "And I suppose you're going to design a new outfit for him?" Sunset asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Rarity's face suddenly lit up in response. "Why, that... is not a bad idea darling!" She said as she frantically flipped to a new page in her sketchbook and started scribbling down ideas. Everyone else had a good laugh at Rarity's antics. But as the laughter died down, Lightning began to descend into thoughts of his own. Rarity did have a point. As "charming" as his outfit was, he couldn't wear it forever. A wardrobe update would definitely be needed at some point going forward. The issue is, he didn't have much experience designing or making clothes. But Rarity on the other hand... But how would I even accomplish that? he thought to himself. It's not like I can just go to her as either myself or Spider-Man and just say 'hey, I need a new outfit.' My identity would most definitely be compromised. But, if I were to ask for lessons... That could work! But timing is key here. Obviously I can't bring it up right now, that'd seem pretty suspicious... With the lunch period now ending and a plan formulating in his head, Lightning got up with the rest of the group to throw away trash and finish up the school day. Yeah... This could work, he thought to himself as he made his way out to class. ... It was much later in the day, long after school had let out. Suited up, Lightning was going around his now usual "patrol" posts. Slow day, he thought to himself, thinking over the nonexistent action he had seen thus far. He sighed as he perched upon a high point on a nearby building. At least I'll get a chance to watch the sun set over the city this time. He had tried many times to watch it previously, but some sort of trouble had always come up. But as he began to relax, his spider sense began to tingle, alerting him of something going on nearby. He immediately began to look around the nearby area until he spotted some thugs harassing a woman for her purse. "Finally, some action..." Lightning said to himself. He then took off his backpack and leapt from the building he was on to quickly make his way to the ground level. "Hey fellas, you get lost on your way to the frat party too?" The sound of Lightning's voice caused the thugs to all stop in their tracks, turning to look at him. "The hell are you?" one of them called out. "You a cop or somethin?" "A cop? Really?" Lightning asked, slowly approaching the others. "What, you think it's because of the red and blue outfit? Wow, Sherlock, you... you really are something else." "Oh shit!" One of the thugs exclaimed as he began to back off. "He's that spider-dude off of YouTube! Listen, I don't want any part in this!" He then turned to run away from the scene. The other three turned to face Lightning. "Ah, looks like my charming personality scared him off!" He commented. "Yeah, well the rest of us ain't scared of ya!" One of the thugs said as they all began to approach him. "Suit yourselves." Lightning said with a sigh, getting into a defensive stance. He kept his composure as the thugs began to run towards him. Due to his experience with part-time crime fighting over the past few weeks, Lightning had picked up a few things when it came to combat, especially against multiple people. Before he knew it, he had found himself surrounded by the three thugs. Underneath his mask, a small smile grew on his face. One of the guys ran at him from behind, but Lightning immediately reacted and warded off the attack by throwing him into one of his accomplices. Then with one quick motion, he turned towards the third thug, sweeping his feet from beneath him and kick him towards a wall. He then began to rapidly shoot webs until the guy was stuck to the wall and unable to break free. "That all you got?" He asked cockily, turning to face the other two men now standing back up. "Guess it's time to put this fight into overdrive!" Lightning then proceeded to shoot webs on either side of one of the thugs, using the elasticity of the webbing to launch himself forward and deliver a knee to thug's face, knocking him unconscious. He then turned towards the last man standing and used a single web to launch himself once again this time connecting the palm of his hand to the thug's head and making him fall to the ground with a loud thud echoing throughout the alley. Standing back up, Lightning then turned his attention to the woman who was being harassed. He slowly walked towards her, picking up her handbag that was on the ground. "Here you go ma'am," he said, handing it to her. "Thank you," the woman said simply, shook by everything she had just witnessed. "Anytime," Lightning replied before turning to make his way back up to his perch on top of the building. "All in a day's wor- oh come on!" He exclaimed as he made it back to his perch, only to realize that the sun had just set over the horizon. He let out a sigh as he relaxed himself atop of the building, looking out across the city skyline. His attention turned to a building off in the distance as a small explosion went off, causing a burst of flames to be visible from his position. That can't be good, Lightning thought to himself as he leapt from the building he was on and made his way across the city towards the slowly growing ball of flames. As he got closer, Lightning soon began to recognize the building as an apartment complex and thus sped up his pace a bit. Meanwhile at the complex, there was nothing but chaos as residents and visitors alike ran around panicking. First responders tried their best to maintain order and help as many civilians as they could, but many were still concerned as several people were still inside the building, trapped by debris that had collapsed from the now crumbling building. As Lightning arrived at the scene, he quickly surveyed the area to get an understanding of what was going on. He noticed a large area where the building had collapsed where several people were trapped behind a few large slabs of concrete. He hastily made his way towards the cavity in the building. He noticed that he could just manage to wedge himself underneath one of the lower concrete slabs and did so without hesitation. "Okay everyone!" He called out. "I'm going to lift, and when I do, I want you all to make your way out as quickly as you can!" As Lightning finished speaking, he began to lift the rubble onto his shoulders. But in doing so, he aggravated more unstable debris above, causing more layers of concrete to fall on him. Not letting this deter him, he once again began to lift, slowing raising the several layers of broken concrete and rubble into the air until it was just high enough for everyone to pass underneath. "Go, go, go!" he called out as everyone passed underneath the passage he had just made for them. After everyone had made their way through, he then threw the debris into the air then jumped towards the inside of the building as it all came crashing back down. "I can't believe he actually did it!" someone commented from the other side. Lightning then looked around to see if he could find anyone else still trapped inside before making an exit. He soon spotted someone who had tripped and fallen while the others were escaping and quickly made his way over to the person. "Hey, it's alright," he said, trying to comfort them. "I've got you. You're alright now." He then picked the person up with ease, then looked for the best exit. He spotted a window that he could easily get through with the person, but it was surrounded by flames. "Brace yourself," he said to the person he was now carrying. "It's about to get real hot!" He then ran towards the window and jumped through, turning himself that he took the majority of the impact rather than the person he was carrying. Making it though to the other side, he then gently placed them down. "Are you alright?" he asked? Satisficed with the simple nod he got in response, he looked around. But despite the intense heat from the flames, he still felt a chill when an eerily familiar voice cried out for help. The last voice he wanted to hear in a situation like this. "Help! Please! Someone please help!" Lighting whipped around to see Rarity calling out for help. She must've been one of the people who were just trapped inside, he thought to himself. But why is she calling for help? But Lightning's question was soon answered. "Please, anyone! My sister is still in there! She's trapped on the third floor!" Immediately, Lightning turned back towards the building and used his webs to slingshot himself through a window on the third floor. Luckily landing on somewhat solid flooring, he looked around to try and get his bearings. "Hello?" he tried calling out. "Is there anyone here?" Lightning listened for a response of any kind, but received none. He began to move around, searching everywhere he could for a sign of life. As he reached one of the rooms, he heard a faint cough, and began to rush to where he believed the source had come from. "Hey! Is there someone there?" he tried calling out again. This time, he merely received a whimper as a response, but it was miles better than nothing but roaring flames. He found his way to the source of the noise and found a little girl, trapped underneath a door and some rubble weighing it down. Her pale body was covered in ash, her two toned pink and purple hair a mess, and her bright green eyes filled with tears. "Hey," Lightning said softly. "It's alright. I'm gonna get you out of here, okay?" The girl simply nodded in response. "First, we've gotta get this mean old door out of the way. Ready?" Another nod. Lightning then lifted the door, pushing the rubble away, the tossed the door to the side. "See how easy that was?" He then picked the girl up who then held on tightly. "Alrighty, now to get you out of here." Lightning looked around for an exit. He went to go through the way he came, but the floor had collapsed, creating a large gap. Here goes nothing, he thought. He gave himself a running start then leapt across the gap with ease. "Don't worry, we're almost there!" he said to the child, who was still holding on for dear life. Making sure to secure the girl, he then dove out of the window he entered from and thwipped out a few webs to gently swing down to safety. Landing on the ground, he then spoke softly to the little girl. "Hey, it's okay now. You're safe now," he tried. But she refused to let go. "SWEETIE BELLE!" Rarity called out, running towards the two. The girl opened her eyes and turned to look at her sister calling her name. Finally letting go of Lightning, she then turned and went to hug her sister, who received her in a big embrace. "Thank you so much!" she said to Lightning. "Oh my goodness Sweetie Belle! I'm so glad you're safe! Oh, heavens, I was terrified half to death!" Lightning couldn't help but just look in awe as the two sisters reunited with one another after what was most likely a traumatizing experience. Lightning turned to his attention back to the fire, only to see that it was now fully under control and everyone was evacuated safely. Now ready to take off again, Lightning then turned, only to be stopped by Rarity. "Wait!" she called out. "Do I know you from somewhere?" Lightning smirked underneath his mask. "Of course you do," he replied in a low voice. "I do?" Rarity asked, puzzled. "I'm you're friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!" With that, Spider-Man then turned and leapt into the air, to swing off into the distance, leaving everyone behind to just watch in awe. Unbeknownst to everyone at the scene, on an adjacent building stood the Prowler, his dark figure being hidden by the night, those menacing white glowing eyes just scowling, watching all of the events that had just unfolded. After seeing Spider-Man take off, he himself then turned to leave, to attend to matters of his own... ... Spider-Man had soon enough made his way back into his neighborhood before he had come to dreadful realization! Drat! I forgot my backpack! He stopped on a nearby rooftop, making sure to try his best to stay hidden. It's too late for me to go back for it, Aunt Hay might to start worry about where I'm at. Besides, I don't think I have enough web fluid left to make the trip anyway. But I can't let her see me dressed like... THIS! He let out a defeated sigh. He was going to have to sneak in, without being seen by anyone of course. He quickly and quietly made his way to the all to familiar house. I've heard of sneaking out before, but sneaking in? That's just ridiculous! He made his way to his bedroom window and slowly opened it, checking back to make sure nobody was watching him. Once the window was open enough, he climbed through and onto the ceiling, using his foot to close the window behind him. Got to be as quiet as possible... He crawled on the ceiling over to where his door was at then shot a web on the corner to slowly pull it to a close. After the he had finally closed it, he dropped off from the ceiling, landing softly onto the floor and let out a deep sigh. Easy enough. He thought. Now to get changed before someone sees me... A few minutes later, a normally clothed Lightning slowly opened his room door. He slowly crept down the hallway to his Aunt's room and was pleasantly surprised to hear the sound of faint snoring coming from the room. Oh thank goodness old people like to sleep early! He then made his way downstairs to raid the fridge and pantry for any food he could find. Hey, being a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man sure does work up an appetite! After finding an adequate amount of anything edible, he made his way back up to his room. He was excited that he saved the day, or night, yet again, but something seemed off. That fire... Something didn't seem right about it. Sure it was probably a gas pipe explosion that started it, and thankfully nobody got hurt! But I get the sense that somebody WANTED that fire to start. But who... and why...