(Attendance please…)
….
Queens, New York:
A man clutching a knife suddenly found himself stuck against the side of a brick wall in an alleyway, in broad daylight, somehow.
"What the hell are you...?!" the mugger yelled, squirming against the white material holding him. "You little shitty frick bastard, get this thing off m…"
Thwip!
Before he could finish his sentence, another glob of white stuff landed squarely on his mouth, shutting him up. It wasn't anything weird. It looked exactly like a spider's web.
He couldn't speak, much less do anything, practically glued to the wall by his shoulders and now his mouth.
"Wow. That's... that's how people talk nowadays when meeting somebody for the first time, huh?"
The voice belonged to someone standing a few feet away. From the tone and height, it was just a boy. The boy turned his head toward the mouth of the alley, looking at the lady who was still clutching her purse.
"Ma'am, are y…"
Before he could even ask, the terrified woman stormed off, running past the alley in a hurry like her life depended on it.
"...Okay?" he finished, dropping his hand. "Well, happy to help... uh... citizen. Be safe and call the cops, please!"
Standing before the trapped mugger was a person wearing strange clothes. It was a blue and red hoodie and pants, tucked into boots. He wore a mask over his face with goggles over the eyes. One might wonder how he could even see through them, but the boy clearly wasn't bothered by it. He also had a crude spider painted on his hoodie, and some kind of mechanical devices strapped to his wrists over his gloves.
It was none other than the Spider-boy... or Spider-Man, as he had been somewhat of a headline in the news and newspapers recently, even gathering a few fans in the city.
Thinking back to the robber's previous choice of words, Spider-Man looked back at him. "Wow, that's... that's how we talk nowadays to someone who just stopped a crime, huh?"
He crossed his arms. "I wasn't really expecting a 'thanks' or anything, but still, starting like that and calling someone you met for the first time a 'frick'? Many people would really take it to heart. You are lucky it was me this time."
The robber glared at him, muffled protests escaping from behind the web. "Mmph!" He groaned, thrashing against the wall.
"You know, this is a good day for you," Spider-Man said. "You're going to tell your friends a story after your reformation, like how I stopped you from a robbery, and you will thank me then."
"Mmph!"
"Don't be angry. I mean, I have dealt with people, quite some people, robbers included, and I have to say that you aren't cut out to be one. A robbery in broad daylight? With what, twelve witnesses just outside the alley? Just admit it, you aren't really cut out for this."
Spider-Man pointed toward the knife that had fallen to the ground. "See? Armed robbery? Not really your thing."
The robber grunted angrily.
"Statistically speaking, you're making some questionable career choices. Like, very questionable." Another muffled growl came from the wall. "I'm not saying, 'Try it at night.' Don't hear only that and think that's advice." He quickly waved his hands. "That would be highly irresponsible of me. I'm just helping you see through this."
"MMPH!"
The distant wail of police sirens echoed through the area. Spider-Man looked up as the robber groaned louder.
"Well, take my advice if you can," Spider-Man said, "but that sound is my cue to get out of here."
He fired another web at the building and casually walked up the vertical brick wall as if it was quite the normal thing to do. At the top, he looked back down.
"Happy to help... you."
With that, he sprinted across the wall, leaped onto the rooftop, and disappeared from sight.
Seconds later, police cruisers screeched to a stop outside. The officers rushed forward, staring in confusion at the robber glued to the wall, his mouth webbed shut and his knife on the ground.
Behind them, the visibly shaken young woman returned, pointing toward the trapped criminal. "H-He was trying to rob me! He pulled a knife on me... If that strange masked man hadn't shown up when he did..." She looked toward the rooftops where Spider-Man had vanished. "...I think he would've stabbed me."
...
Later:
"Hey, May."
"Hey, Peter," May said from the living room. "Why are you this late? I don't think it takes this much time to get something from a five-minute walk. Oh, and Ned is in your room waiting. He just came, I sent him to your room."
Peter rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry about that. There was a somewhat long queue at the cashier. And yeah, we promised to meet today, sorry I forgot to tell you."
"There is no need for sorry, Peter. You don't have to tell me everything, you know... you are big now."
Peter let out a small, awkward laugh. "Hahaha, really."
"No. You are big, but not big enough," May said, her tone shifting slightly. "Do you know what is going on outside nowadays? See what is in the news."
Peter walked into the room. "What are you watching?"
May was watching the news as usual. In almost every channel, it was about the Sokovia Accords and the meeting of world leaders and representatives.
A news broadcast was playing with the title: ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AT WORLD SUMMIT.
"Authorities have confirmed that an assassination attempt took place earlier today during a high-level international summit held at the United Nations Headquarters," the news anchor stated.
"Representatives from more than one hundred nations had gathered to continue discussions regarding the proposed Sokovia Accords, legislation intended to regulate the activities of enhanced individuals following the catastrophic events in New York, Washington D.C., Sokovia, and most recently Lagos."
The footage switched to show the outside of the UN building.
"But an assassination attempt was made during the starting of the meeting... but gladly no one was harmed. We don't have too much information, but what is confirmed is that it was halted by none other than the man that you and the many people of the world know. Yes, it was none other than Satoru Gojo, the recent year's infamous man, who stopped the attempt and saved not only others but also the Wakandan King."
A picture of Gojo in his dark glasses and white shirt was shown on the news as the anchor continued to speak.
May looked at the television and sighed. "Thank God no one was injured. I didn't know he was in the Avengers. Poor boy. I heard that HYDRA experimented on him for years in the news. I think he is around your age, Peter."
Realizing she had been watching the screen for too long and that Peter was waiting, she picked up the remote and turned off the television.
She turned to Peter, walked over to take the grocery bag from him, and said, "Well, Ned is waiting for you in your room. You should meet him."
Peter nodded. "Ah, yes."
There was hardly anyone who didn't know about the man named Satoru Gojo. The word "famous" would be wrong in his case, as for a few months all he ever appeared for were theories of him being with HYDRA and whatnot. Though many did speculate that he was in the Avengers, after that initial incident, he never appeared with any Avengers, or with anybody like Iron Man or Captain America. And after a few months, his news had disappeared suddenly.
"Well, go ahead," May said. "I will get you and Ned some drinks and cookies to your room in a moment."
"Okay, thanks, May." Peter turned and went to his room.
...
Somewhere: Unknown
A man sat alone in a dimly lit room. The television was the only source of light as he quietly watched the news. Today, there was hardly anything else being discussed other than the Sokovia Accords and, later, the assassination attempt that had taken place during the summit.
He watched everything unfold in silence.
It had been a rather simple plan. Assassinate the King of Wakanda, and allow the consequences that followed to take their natural course. Once the first piece had fallen, the rest would have moved exactly as intended.
Yet, once again, the very first step had been interrupted by the only variable he had been unable to properly account for. It was... unfortunate. But not enough to be called a failure. What had happened was that the last player had come in the beginning... and that was all.
A player that was to come at the middle or at the very end in the climax suddenly appeared in the very beginning.
But it was nothing short of a possibility he didn't think of. Any plan built around a single outcome deserved to fail. A proper plan demanded alternatives, and every possibility required another path toward the same destination. The result would simply take a different route now.
His eyes remained on the television as the image changed, settling on the picture of the white-haired young man.
Long before today, he had already considered both possibilities. One where the assassination succeeded, and another where it did not. Neither outcome truly changed the objective. They merely changed the sequence of events required to reach it.
During the past year, he had studied the Avengers as thoroughly as circumstances allowed. Their habits. Their relationships. Their disagreements. Their strengths. Their weaknesses. He had learned enough to understand how they functioned... and eventually, how they could be broken.
The only individual who remained beyond his reach was the very person responsible for the incident that had started all of this.
For almost a year, that man had disappeared from the middle of those people almost entirely. He rarely maintained contact with them, lived separately, and gave him almost nothing to work with. While he knew where the man lived, what he was doing, and all, there was nothing meaningful to exploit without exposing himself.
More importantly, whatever past existed before his appearance seemed to have disappeared alongside HYDRA. Any remaining records would most likely now be locked away within highly secured databases under the protection of Stark or the remnants of S.H.I.E.L.D. Retrieving them would be close to impossible without revealing his own hand.
In the end, there was almost nothing he truly knew. A dog. An unusual preference for sweets. And little else that could be used against him. Which made him... troublesome. Not because he could not be defeated. But because he could not yet be understood.
Though now... he had returned to them suddenly, without any sign. And had involved himself once again with them. That alone changed the plan somewhat.
Though the outcome and the last or middle of the plan remained unchanged.
"Whether he wishes to or not..." the man quietly said, turning his head toward the figure standing silently beside him. "...it is time for him to choose a side. Don't you think so...?"
Standing there was another man. Cold eyes. An empty expression. Long hair hanging over parts of his face. A mask covering the lower half of it. The man neither moved nor responded. He simply stood there... waiting for his next order.
And perhaps the most recognizable and distinct feature of the man being his metal arm.
….
A/N: :) :)
you can join my discord server: https://discord.gg/5Y7uZ2kN2Y
Or in short just click in join via invite link in your discord and enter this code: 5Y7uZ2kN2Y