Spider-Man: Web of Magic

by MetalJrock

Issue #3: Flight of the Vulture

Spider-Man tried to keep himself from looking down as the mysterious figure kept him in midair, "Okay, random flying guy. Can you please give me a hint as to who you are? Because I'm terrible with names, or guessing them for that matter."

'Really? You're joking with him when you're that high in the sky?' Trixie groaned in disappointment.

The green-clad criminal tilted his head as he looked down at the wall-crawler, "Call me... the Vulture." he revealed, his helmet filtering his voice so it sounded deep, monotone, and menacing, turning so that they would make a descent. Spider-Man screamed as they flew downwards back into the city, "And this will be the last time you will ever get in the way of my business!"

"What? I can't hear you over the loud jet strapped to your back and that stupid helmet trying to filter your voice!" shouted Spider-Man, his body flailing in the grip of Vulture's sharp talons. The Vulture sped up as they passed by the buildings of the city at an alarming speed.

Deciding he had enough of a joy ride, Spider-Man distracted his enemy by shooting a ball of webbing upwards, then he elbowed Vulture's knee, causing him to release his shoulders, tearing them. "Come on! Do you know how hard it is to stitch this stuff together? Or how much it's gonna cost?!" he whined, shooting a line of webbing one the side of a building in his fall, giving chase to the Vulture. He saw the Vulture turn his head, looking at the wall-crawler.

"The sky is my element, bug!" the villain declared, charging his gun, a purple aura emitting from the barrel. "You have no business being here, unlike me."

Spider-Man's lenses grew wide as he zipped to the side, dodging the purple beam as fast as he could. "You have one of those too? What store are you getting them from? Cause I checked Toys 'R' Us and Walmart and there were none in stock!" he wondered, running on the edge of a building before jumping again, continuing his chase. "And you know how Amazon is!"

Holding the gun out, Vulture turned around, "That is for me alone to reveal to you, wall-crawler! These weapons make quite a profit, and I cannot afford for you to ruin the business!"

With his Spider-Sense warning him, Peter ran on the side of a glass building and hopped off, seeing the beam move past him towards the sky as he jumped. "Pretty please?" he faked begged, kicking Vulture in his drop.

Annoyed, Vulture flared one of his metal wings upwards, cutting Spider-Man's suit again, revealing a small tear on his chest, "Oh man! What did the suit ever do to you?!" he groaned, "Are you really that petty, you buzzard?" he sighed, 'Now I gotta ask Mister Stark how he stitched it together in the first place.'

"Don't ever call me... Buzzard..." growled Vulture, insulted by Peter's new quip, as though he had heard it plenty of times before. He lashed forward and nearly tackled Spider-Man, but he hopped over his body and continued swinging.

"Ooh. Hit a nerve didn't I?" quipped Peter. He saw Vulture turn his body around, still unable to see his enemy's features. "Yeah, kinda looks like I did. I love doing that to people who hate me."

The Vulture swooped after Peter, the web-slinger swinging as fast as he possibly could, 'Is he behind you?' asked Ned.

"Yeah, he is!" shouted Spider-Man.

'Then move faster!' ordered Trixie.

Spider-Man grunted, zipping to another rooftop, where Vulture ascended with him, "What does it look like I'm doing?" he said in an exasperated tone, running now. He performed a frontflip as he jumped to the next rooftop, keeping his momentum.

'Well do it, faster!'

"Very well, your majesty." muttered Peter sarcastically.

Vulture flared his wings outward, "Are you ignoring me, spider?" he questioned darkly, suddenly, metal projectiles shot out, surprising Peter, who turned around once he felt his Spider-Sense go off.

"Woah!" shouted Spidey, moving his body so that each tip was dodged with precision. He rolled and flipped in midair, dodging each projectile before they magnitized back to Vulture's harness, "You got some serious toys. Can you share?" he asked, his focus on the jump in front of him ready to leap.

However, Vulture came by and tackled him, bringing him for another unexpected flight. Spider-Man freed himself in a moment and he swung off, dodging the Vulture as his wings scratched the surface behind him, sparks flying about, "Wow! Those wings are a wonder! Can they clip toenails too?" he flipped in the air and landed on the harness that connected the wings to the jet exosuit he was using.

"Can I check it out? Thanks!" he grabbed his phone and took a photo of it before leaping back into the air, continuing his swing.

"What are you doing?!" Vulture groaned.

Spider-Man swung and kicked Vulture back, "Just a little inspection. You should get those things checked out, they do not look healthy to lift around on your back." he observed, seeing the bird-themed criminal get his bearings, the gun now charging again. "Are we really doing this again?" he asked no one in particular.

The gun shotted off again, forcing Peter to change directions again. His Spider-Sense rang and the weapon fired off, causing him to use his reflexes to his advantage. "Okay! I'm starting to think you hate me. Is it the costume?"

"No. It's your stubbornness." Vulture growled. This wall-crawler was really starting to grate him.

Spider-Man smiled under his mask, "Why thank you!"

Trixie replied, 'Complimented by your enemy?'

'Just don't question Peter when he's in the zone.' Ned replied.

'...Sure.'

Spider-Man swung his feet upwards, narrowly dodging a blindsided attack by the Vulture, seeing his entire body fly underneath his legs. "Yikes. Swing and a miss!"

Vulture spun around and glared at Peter under his helmet, "Persistent bug. I cannot wait to leave you a bloody smear on the pavement." he snarled.

"Oh. You're an edgy one." quipped Spider-Man, raising his legs again to avoid the flying criminal's weapon. "Now, I gotta ask. Where did you come from? What's your origin? Petty criminal? Tragic origin story? Revenge against me? All three at the same time?"

"None of your concern!" Vulture shouted. Another blast came, forcing Peter to land on a rooftop, seeing the beam create a hole in the cemented surface. "All you must know is that it's just business with me." he elaborated while hovering, the jets on his wings facing downward to keep him up while staying still.

While his enemy was talking, Peter refilled his web cartridges and began to shoot some webbing onto Vulture, the flight-capable villain swerving around to avoid them, charging his weapon once more. Spider-Man's lenses widened again, performing a cartwheel to the side, missing the beam, which hit the surface where he once stood. Landing back on his feet, Spidey aimed a web-ball at the Vulture, seeing him clip apart the gossamer with his metal wings.

'Daredevil never has to deal with this.' groaned Spider-Man inwardly as he watched Vulture raise his weapon. 'I get stuck with the guys with the big guns. Literally.'

Spidey watched as Vulture flew away, "Hey! Where are you going? You call yourself Vulture? More like chicken!"

'Okay, that was pretty clever.' Trixie quietly admitted, hoping Peter didn't hear her.

"Heard that."

'Crud.'

Ned asked, 'Heh. Why do you think he's retreating? Did you scare him too bad with your powers?'

Spider-Man pushed himself higher than usual with the last swing, "No clue. That's what I'm gonna find out." he extended another arm and continued his chase, "Hey, Vult! Can I call you Vult? Why the big getaway? Did I kick your butt too hard? Because I barely touched you back there!"

Vulture chuckled darkly, "Oh, I'm not scared of you at all, bug."

"Then what's with the hasty escape?" Spidey wondered, feeling as though as path was familiar.

"This."

Suddenly, without a moment's notice, and a familiar sensation in his head, Spider-Man felt something hit his back painfully, causing him to collapse onto a helipad. He saw red boots come to him as his vision became shaky. "Shocker..." he murmured. His foe didn't say anything as he blasted him while he was down, making him tumble and near the edge of the roof, another tear in his costume made, exposing his chest this time now.

His lenses narrowed, feeling pain on his chest and arms, having never taken the attack that up close before. His ears rang as Vulture pinned his talons on his stomach and scratched, creating red marks on his skin as he tore through the suit, knocking the wind out of him again, causing him to wheeze. "Ow..." another blast to his side when Vulture ascended, pushing him backwards this time. Grunts were heard as he flipped backwards on the hard surface.

Spider-Man felt himself lose consciousness, his chest heaving. Vulture glared down at Peter, seeing his torn costume. His ears still ringing from the noise of the Shocker's gauntlets. But he could still hear Vulture through his helmet, "Let this be a warning, Spider-Man." he kicked his hip, earning an audible groan, "Do not mess with my business. Do not mess with the Big Man. Otherwise, I'll tear apart everything you hold dear." he threatened.

He lowered himself so that he was face to face with Spider-Man, "I am giving you this offer once... Get in my way again, and I'll follow through with it." he warned.

Vulture faced Shocker, "Come on, we should tell the Big Man of what went down tonight."

"But we can end him!" Shocker suggested.

Toomes narrowed his eyes, "No... Not yet. We got the money... We'll see if he's smart enough to turn a blind eye to the rising empire." with that, the Shocker was lifted by Vulture as they made their way to their boss, leaving Spider-Man on the helipad.

'...Peter... Peter?... Peter!' shouted Ned from the speaker.

The voice snapped Peter awake and his lenses grew larger, hearing a cracking sound on his hip and he groaned, "Ow..." he exhaled, "Y-Yeah, Ned..." he panted, finally sitting up, hopong the authorities or someone would pick up the fallen Enforcers soon. "I'm fine... I think... My hearing's back at least."

'Thank God. You were out for a good five minutes. Trixie and I were worried.' Ned explained.

Spider-Man smirked, 'Well, I'm fine. Except for the pain in my ribs. Shocker and Vulture got away though... I'll..." he inhaled, "I'll explain everything when I get back."

'Don't push yourself too roughly.' Ned warned.

"Too late for that..." groaned Peter, beginning his swing back, his arms still sore.

---

Crawling back into his room, Spider-Man collapsed on the floor from the ceiling, a loud thud heard as he did. "I'm okay..." he moaned, picking himself back up. He forced himself to stand and removed the costume, changing into some night clothes.

"You sure? You look like crap. Luckily your Aunt won't notice the bruises on your hips." Trixie said bluntly.

Peter gave a deadpan stare, "...Thanks. I guess."

"Gotta admit, you do look better than you sound." Ned admitted.

Peter sighed, "Except for the pain in my chest. Luckily that should be gone with a good night's sleep."

"So what the heck happened out there?" Trixie asked, seeing Peter's phone on the desk now. "You were doing all right, then you were just suddenly kidnapped."

Deciding to answer her question, Peter replied, "The Vulture... Not sure who he is... He had an exosuit with metal wings. But I managed to nab a picture of the harness he used."

Holding out his phone, Peter showed the picutre he took. Ned's eyes squinted, looking over the details. "Hold on... I think I've seen this tech before. Give me a minute to search." he began typing on his laptop, hoping his theory was right.

Trixie folded her arms, "He tore your costume, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did. I gotta stick with the original until I get it stitched up, since this got roughed up a little too much to be out in public. Luckily, he only touched the non-tech areas." Peter mused, "I should ask Happy about that tomorrow."

So, after saying that, Peter reached a stick to the ceiling, revealing an entrance to a secret attic. Something came down on a string, revealing a costume tied up, his original. "I should find a better hiding spot for this thing in case Mister Stark decides to make a random visit again." he told himself.

Trixie's eyes widened, "Good lord. Trixie may not be Rarity, but even I must admit that looks tacky!" she took the costume from his grasp, noticing that it was the hoodie, "I forgot how... weird it looked." she added.

"It was a good attempt." countered Peter.

The girl looked at the mask, "How did you even see through these? These goggles are small and looking rather dusty."

Peter pointed to his head, "Spider-Sense. Look, it kept through when I caught a speeding bus. It will have to do until I get the new one fixed back up." he snacted the costume back and looked at it, "Maybe showing you was a bad idea."

He tied it back up and hid it back in the attic. "You do know Trixie was just jesting, right?" seeing her friend's annoyed face.

Peter nodded, "Yeah. Mister Stark did the same exact thing, so I can't be mad. At least you didn't go through a list of names and call it a onesie like he did. And I love the new one way better!"

"Aha!" Ned declared, "I think I found it." he spun the laptop around and showed a picture of what looked to be the exact same harness. "It looks like the one in Oscorp."

"Oscorp..." Peter hummed, putting his index finger on his chin, "I wonder how Vulty got his talons on those."

"Perhaps he's a vulture in more ways than one." Trixie suggested seeing the harness, "Stealing tech from big corporations like Oscorp? That doesn't seem too farfetched." she reasoned.

A bulb suddenly lit up in Peter's head upon hearing those words, "Wait a minute... That's how he, Shocker and the Enforcers got those Avengers-level tech! Whoever this Vulture is, he's been scavenging weapons and stuff from past battles, selling them on the black market, like that power core I found! And somehow it goes back to Oscorp. Nice thinking, Trixie!" he complimented.

"Well, Trixie has been a master of ideas before!" the girl bragged.

"Sure you have." said Ned, Spider-Man's mask suddenly on his face when they weren' looking.

Peter looked back then to his friend in a confused manner, "How the heck did you do that?"

Ned shrugged then removed it, "The mask is cool. I just nabbed it while you were looking at the picture."

Peter hummed, "Now there's just one more thing--"

A knocking sound snapped Peter out of his line of thinking. He sat on the bed and hid the laptop and the costume undrneath his bed, "Oh, uh, come in!"

Opening the door was May, a smile on her face, "Hey, you three." she blinked, "Sorry about me being late again, Peter. I chose to help at the FEAST organization. I'm sorry I forgot to tell you this morning." she apologized.

"No, it's cool, May." Peter assured with a wave of his hand, "FEAST?" he repeated, "Isn't that the charity thing hosted by Martin Li or something like every week?" he wondered. "What did you do?"

May nodded, "Yes. I offered food to those in shelter. It was simple."

Peter smiled, "That's great!"

His aunt nodded then yawned, "Well, I just wanted to check on you guys. It's getting pretty late though, so no loud noises. We got neighbors." she playfully said before closing the door.

Ned scratched his head, "She is right. It is getting late."

"Trixie could use some beauty sleep. Should we discuss this at the Sweet Shoppe tomorrow?" asked Trixie.

Peter rubbed his shoulder, "Yeah, we can do that. Because I'm just about ready to collapse in pain." he yawned, "Thank God tomorrow's Saturday!" he cheered.

Ned and Trixie nodded, standing up, "Well, we'll see you tomorrow, Pete. Around Noon?" Ned suggested.

"Yeah, that'll work." after that, the two friends left Peter, where he dropped himself on his bed, holding his phone. He turned off the light with his webshooters, leaving himself in the dark with only his phone as a source of light.

Bored, he dug under his bed and looked at the power source he stole yesterday, seeing its purple glow in the dark room. He had to figure things out, before more of those were used, before him, vigilantes like Daredevil and any other hero could be overwhelmed whether in Canterlot City or the world.

"Avengers weapons... how does one scavenge stuff like that anyway?" he whispered, "Whoever this Vulture is under that helmet, he must have some good connections." he added, hiding the core again.

Peter hopped back on his head, debating what to do now, but his exhaustion reminded him.

'Tomorrow...'

---

A dark room in a skyscraper, with only a lamp as a lightsource. There walked in two men, one wearing a green suit, the other clad in a yellow coat. They walked in the dark room, where they saw a chair turned to its back. It turned as a shadow formed and they saw pale hands fold in the only light source, "What matter do you wish to discuss with me?" came a deep, monotone voice.

Toomes spoke, "Spider-Man."

"Ah, yes, the new hero. How does this meeting of ours concern him though?" asked the shadowy figure, his voice calm, collected.

Adrian replied, "For years, we've swept this business of ours under the rug, away from Daredevil, the X-Men, and even the Avengers themselves. But this little bastard in red shows up, and suddenly he wishes to be the next best thing and hopes to ruin everything we built."

Schultz nodded and revealed, "It's true, sir. He even caught your Enforcers off guard."

The figure's eyes narrowed and he stood up, facing his body outside the window, turning to face the others, "I see. Well, as of now he has yet to put a dent in our little business deal. It will, however, become a problem should he dismantle this little deal of ours. Those weapons you find and upgrade make quite a profit in the black market, and I have use in you being alive in order to supply those."

"Should Spider-Man put a stop to it, however..." the boss held up a pencil and shattered it with two fingers, leaving dust where it once was. "Maybe I won't be so generous next time we meet. Do I make myself clear?" he warned in a menacing tone.

Toomes nervously nodded, "Y-Yes, Big Man."

A smirk could be seen, sharp teeth on the man, "Good."

Comments

[Fluffy-Boi]

Very nice chapter.

[Boltstrike58]

"No, it's cool, May." Peter assured with a wave of his hand, "FEAST?" he repeated, "Isn't that the charity thing hosted by Martin Li or something like every week?" he wondered. "What did you do?"

Wait, Mr. Negative exists in this universe? Oh, damn.

[ScarletRhine]

This is looking good. BTW will the events that happen in Legend of Everfree happen during this?

[Equestrian Defender]

Opening the door was May, a smile on her face, "Hey, you three." she blinked, "Sorry about me being late again, Peter. I chose to help at the FEAST organization. I'm sorry I forgot to tell you this morning." she apologized.

"No, it's cool, May." Peter assured with a wave of his hand, "FEAST?" he repeated, "Isn't that the charity thing hosted by Martin Li or something like every week?" he wondered. "What did you do?"

Wait, that's in the video game!

OH PLEASE GIVE HIM THE ADVANCED SUIT! IT'S AWESOME!