UPDATE: I realized I forgot to add a description for the guest judge. Its add now so you should have a much fairer chance to guess
Author's Note: I am SO sorry for not updating for so long. But there's good reasons for it. First I had a writer's block for awhile that only went away yesterday. Yes I wrote this entire chapter in two days. And finally, I've got two full time jobs right now, so expect updates to be slow. Oh and I can't believe no one caught the tiny bit of Kill Bill reference in the last chapter
PS: All Chapters have been updated, nothing big, just a few tweaks for better wording/ word choices minior ad ons as a well as better quips :)
Kyle: thanks man and yeah, I'm putting a lot of thought as to how the girls will discover the truth
lorenzo52lara: SHIELDS doesn't exist in my story so yeah WOOHP is their stand in. Any other marvel stuff in here will be just mere easter eggs like the Daredevil bit
JTD3: glad you had a good laugh. I was hoping to have that chapter be filled with laughters. that means I did my job right :)
Autobot00001: [SPOILER ALERT!] Don't worry, I've already set up the stage for him to come into the picture
TitanNinja2018: sadly, I'm not that big of a fan or am I that familer with Deadpool. I only got a good laugh watching his Death Battle with Deathstroke
Ryuus2: Thanks for the idea offers. Also, I was unaware that The Big Bang Theory actually took place in Califorina at the time I wrote that chapter. So it actually worked out well
Snorkackle: Yep ^_^ My main play champion as well
gunman: right now the girls are just trying to get close enough to him so that they can sit down and have a 'talk' with him really
Gundam Kaiser: Yeah thanks dude, I'm always going back to every chapter now and then. it doesnt help that certain words or punctations gets deleted for some reason every time I transfer the file copy from computer to computer. As for the quips, I'm really working hard on trying to find good ones. I'm using as many source as I can right here
Jebest4781: Yep, Kingpin I felt was a more fitting villian to start off with seeing as he's basically an international criminal, its a good enough reason for WOOHP to get involved. Of course, soon the stakes and difficulty is going to get higher and higher
Once she had become warm enough, Clover had given Jerry a call. The old man didn't even get a chance to ask the trio on their progress before the young girl gave him a piece of her mind for not giving them any offensive gadgets to use against the vigilante. Jerry had to tune Clover's voice down not only to spare his eardrums but to prevent his mother from hearing the teenager girl's voice. Once she was done blowing off steam, Sam delivered a still frozen sample of Spider-Man's webs for the old man to get more information on. In return, Jerry also transported the girls some more gadgets to better combat Spider-Man. However since then, the girls found themselves back in square one in encountering the masked superhero again. Assuming if their luck had even improved to begin with. For now though, the girl's concerns were not on that topic. Well... Sort of...
"It has been way over a month already and we're still nowhere close from when we started." Clover sighed as the three of them worked inside a dark room lit only by a red light that gave little vision.
"Well we probably wouldn't have this much trouble if you just agreed to draw him to us again." Alex said as Sam gently placed a picture into the chemicals.
"Uh-uh," Clover responded crossing her arms, "Like you saw what happened last time. There is no way I'm gonna let Mr. Webhead do that to me again."
"Mr. Webhead?" Alex said giving her friend a face at the nickname she had made up for the masked hero.
"Yeah...Well actually it's just Webhead, but that's so beside the point."
"Regardless, our mission with Spider-Man is going to have to wait," Sam finally spoke after she hanged their picture and waited for it to dry. Clover and Alex, remembering what happened last year, went to hold the door close just in case Mandy try to sabotage them again. Sure, Mandy's interference may have caused them to win last year, but that had been pure luck. "Besides, don't forget that Jerry assigned us to another mission."
5 weeks ago - Inside W.O.O.H.P. Headquarters
"Hello girls, thank you for coming in."
"Did you call us to share what you've discovered about the web samples I sent Jerry?" Sam asked.
"Yeah Jerry, because if you did, you so could of just called us on our compowders or something."
"Sadly no, that's not why I've summoned you girls today," the usual calm and humorous tone in his voice had disappeared. In fact, Jerry had on his rare serious face look as he flipped on the monitor, "Girls, this here is billionaire Wilson Fisk." He said. The screen behind him showed a picture of a large bald headed man in a white suit about to duck into a limousine to escape a group of reporters; his two bodyguards doing their best to hold back the paparazzi.
"Wow, the guy totally needs to go a diet," Clover noted, both her friends nodded in agreement. Clover then remembered something, "Hey wait a minute, I've heard of him! He's donated his money to many charities and foundations. Quite generously too might I add. He's not afraid to voice out how much he gives to help out a cause."
Jerry nodded, "Clover's right, don't let his appearance or his reputation fool you. He's actually New York's number one crime boss and has many mobs all over the United States. Authorities call him the "Kingpin of Crime" and for good reasons too. He's known for smuggling and dealing with many different types of illegal drugs as well as having many other illegal activities. This man is one of the most wanted criminals out there but always manages to slipped away from arrest or evade a guilty verdict in court. He's never spent a day in jail too always being able to pay bail. Even both the FBIs and CIAs are unable to take him down. Any undercover agent that had been sent to infiltrate his business has never been heard from again. He's very dangerous and should not be taken lightly."
The girls nodded their heads hearing Jerry's description of the man's crimes, "So where are you sending us?" Sam asked.
"Actually girls, we've have a tip he's been recently spotted at Beverly Hills."
"Wait what?!" Alex cried out, "You mean to tell us that a dangerous man is in our hometown?"
"Precisely, this is why I chose the three of you for this mission."
"Hold on Jerry," Sam cut off the old man, "Does W.O.O.H.P. suspect that Spider-Man and this Kingpin guy could somehow be connected?"
"It has crossed our minds Sam. However, all we have right now are just speculations. They could be working together or it could just be a mere coincidence."
"Or maybe, Spider-Man stepped into his territory and he's not too happy about it." Sam offered and Jerry considered the possibility.
"Like whatever the case, wouldn't that mean we might run into Spider-Man?" Clover asked, hoping if they did, he would be on their side.
"There is a good chance you girls might, but if you girls have to choose, Wilson takes higher priority," Jerry said and the girls nodded in understanding, "Now then to your gadgets..."
Present Time
Beverly Hills Photo Studio, on a normal day, they would be serving their customers. Their choices went from family photos, baby pictures, senior graduation photo, and their most popular one, wedding photos. However, today was not a regular day for the studio. Beverly Hills High had booked the place to host their Photography Contest this year. The staffs instead were busy preparing and decorating the place for the students who were soon going to flood the building with the pictures they had taken as well the family members and teachers who were going to attend as well. One certain staff was filling up balloons with helium gas from a tank. Finishing up a batch, he started working on another until a co-worker came in his direction.
"Hey Simon, I got a question." he asked the man who was busy with balloons.
"Yeah sure go ahead." he said opening up a bag of fresh balloons.
"Who is this special guest that's showing up?" Simon looked at his co-worker while still filling up the balloons with gas. What he didn't realize was that he was now using a different gas tank.
"I have no idea as well. The only person who knows is the school principal." he said tying up the balloon in his hands before filling up another one.
"Who is this guy supposed to be anyways that his identity has to be a secret?"
"All I know is that he's some kind of big shot photographer or something. He's supposedly a guest judge and will be presenting the prize to the winner," Simon said as he finished up the last balloon for the new group.
"Sure... Egotistic then huh?" Simon merely shrugged, "I'll leave you to finish up then." with his co-worker gone, Simon gathered all his balloons and left as well. With Simon gone, the words on the gas tank he had recently used became visible. Hydrogen.
School ended early for the day at Beverly Hills High allowing the students competing in the contest to return home, dress themselves presentable, and then head straight to the studio to set up their photo in place as well their station. In the home of the Parkers, both Peter and Aunt May were getting dress while they waited for the girls and their mothers to pick them up. Up in his room, Peter was just finishing up getting dress. He was wearing the same white dress shirt he had worn to Uncle Ben's funeral, as well as a few formal events that the three of them had attended back in New York. After he finished tying on his tie, Peter exited his room. Aunt May seemed to have finished about the same time as well since she too also came out of her room. Her hair was done, and she wore a purple dress with matching heels.
"Don't tell me you just finished getting dressed Peter." she teased her nephew at the chance he could take as long as a woman to get ready.
"What? I was waiting on you Aunt May."
Aunt May just laughed a bit, "Got your picture dear?"
Peter went back to his room and grabbed the framed photo that was covered up in a white cloth, "Right here."
"What could you have taken that you refused to show even me?" she asked. She thought she would have been the first person to see the picture. But her nephew had kept silent about it.
Peter merely shook his head, "Sorry Aunt May, but it will be a better surprise if you saw it at the contest." Before either one of them could say anything else, the doorbell rang signaling that the girls and their mothers had arrive. The two of them went downstairs to greet their friends. The moment they opened the door though, both parties were in for a shock. While Peter and his aunt were both dressed up, the girls and their mothers were simply wearing casual clothes.
Sam was the first to speak, "Oh my god we forgot to tell you. The contest isn't a formal event."
Peter and Aunt May looked at each other a little embarrassed that they were overdressed for the occasion.
"Give us a minute." Aunt May said and was going to close the door before she and her nephew went to change into something more fitting. Carmen held the door opened though as Stella pulled them outside.
"It's okay, really. C'mon we better hurry or else we're all gonna be late," Knowing from experience that it was better not to argue, they got in their respective cars. Peter rode with Sam, Clover, and Alex while Aunt May joined Gabriella, Stella, and Carmen. Aunt May at first, didn't want them to go to the trouble of using two separate cars, but had given in when they wouldn't have it any other way.
The studio was bustling with people. The place was lit by flame torches and had balloons and other party decorations all over. Despite that, Sam wasn't kidding when she said it wasn't anything formal, everyone was wearing casual clothes. Kids, parents, and teachers alike. It only made Peter and Aunt May more uneasy for being overdressed.
After getting more reassurance and some good luck, Peter, and the girls soon left to go set up their stations. Peter placed his picture on the stand that had been set up for him, making sure the cloth still concealed his photo. Soon Arnold and David both came over to greet him.
"Peter," David called out and Peter waved.
"Wow, you look nice. Pete." Arnold complimented
"Uh... yeah... thanks..." Peter nervously said seeing that even the two of them were wearing casual.
"No really I mean it! Why didn't I think of that? You're sure to earn bonus points for sure."
"Arnold's right Peter, don't sweat it. You might just impress Principal Jenkins and the judges for suiting up."
"Right, thanks guys." Peter said, happy for their support. The two of them wished him luck before returning to their own stations.
Over at the girls, Sam, Clover, and Alex had just finish setting up their station. Their framed picture displayed in full view for people to see. The picture had been taken by Alex, who had set up the camera to go off on its own before running to join them. In the photo, Alex is about to knock down her two friends after tripping. The three of them were wearing miscellaneous types of hats, clothes, and accessories in the photo. Alex's hat had slipped off her head as she fell but was still in the shot. Originally, the photo was going to show them striking random model pose. Clover had retaken it and they had gotten the intended photo. But they later changed their minds after seeing the 'mistake' photo.
"Wow, I can't believe you losers are actually entering with that picture. You're making this almost too easy." came the all too familiar voice of Mandy's.
The girls faced their rival with a challenging look. "Don't be too sure Mandy, Sometimes the best photos are ones that aren't planned." Clover said crossing her arms.
"We'll see about that, you losers may have somehow managed to beat me last year, but this year I'm taking that honor." she said before returning to her own station. Her picture was of her hugging a white Siberian tiger who seemed to be enjoying the attention.
Principal Jenkins' voice soon echoed in the microphone, "Students, the contest is about to begin, before we start though, I would first like to thank all the family members who could join us today. No matter the outcome, I'm sure you're all very proud of them. And of course, I want to thank the owner of this place for letting us use it to host this year's contest. It's only fair for him to be a judge for this contest as well. Everyone, please give a big round of applause for Mr. Morris," Everyone clapped while Mr. Morris rose from his seat and bowed his thanks. "We also have a very special guest today who will be joining me as a judge. However, he wishes to reveal his name as he presents the prize to the winner. Now without further ado, let the contest begin!" With that said, Principal Jenkins came down to look at the photos of all the contestants, being joined by the two men.
Clover eyed the nameless judge curiously. He had short brown hair and wore a black leather jacket with a white button-up shirt, green khaki pants and brown shoes. For some reason, despite being one of the judges, the man had his camera around his neck. "Like for some reason girls, I know I've seen that guy before." she said as the judges looked over all the other student's pictures.
"You sure you didn't date him before?" Sam teased, Alex giggled at that.
"I'm serious! I know I've totally seen him before! I just can't remember where."
"Worry about it later." Sam said, Clover nodded, but it was killing her for not remembering who the mysterious man was.
The judges came over to Mandy's photo; she put on her best smile as they looked at her picture. They then went over a few other students' pictures. Eventually they came to Arnold's then David's, before finally stopping at the girls' station. Principal Jenkins' and the studio owner eyed the picture, trying their best to remain professional. The guest judge however burst into laughter.
"I must say, that's one of the most honest pictures I've seen yet. Very natural!" The other two judges gave him a look before continuing on.
After going through a few more students. The judges finally made their way over to Peter's station. Aunt May was close by, Gabriella, Stella, and Carmen looked on, even all the other students had left their station to see what Peter's picture was. He had kept it hidden the whole time, everyone was curious as to what could be behind the cloth. After feeling uncomfortable for being overdressed, Peter had debated taking the fabric off seeing as everyone else's were revealed, but after Arnold and David's encouraging words, he chose to leave it on.
"So kid, you're going to show us what it is that you've been hiding the whole time?" the guest judge asked. Everyone, even Mandy was on the edge of their seat as Peter went to remove the cloth. As soon as he pulled it off as everyone tried to get a good view of it. Aunt May immediately tear up upon seeing the picture.
The photo showed the old house of the Parkers back in New York. Standing in front of the house were Aunt May and Uncle Ben. In between the two of them was Peter, still wearing his glasses at the time the photo was taken. The house itself gave off a welcoming vibe to it. It looked like one of those humble homes families would gather together during the holidays. When you looked at the family standing in front of the house, you could tell they were a happy one.
The little kids who were too short were fighting among each other to get through, pushing and shoving. In the struggle, a boy knocked over one of the burning torches. The torch fell over as the flame began to spread on the floor. Nobody noticed the accidental fire that had just started. Everyone's attention was focus on seeing Peter's mystery picture. The fire soon spread to the balloons. Most of the balloons burned through without a problem, but when the flame hit a different one from the set, it gave out a loud explosion. All the guests spurned around surprised by the sound. Flames had already begun to engulf the place as even more balloons began to explode feeding the fire even more. Everyone panicked and screamed as they race to the main exit of the building at once, desperate to get out.
Peter grabbed Aunt May and ran to one of the long glass doors trying not to collide with anyone along the way. Breaking it with a chair, he got rid of as many shards as possible to prevent Aunt May from getting cut before they got out. Peter's actions allowed some people to get out safely as well. The owner of the studio and the mystery judge managed to calm some of the guests down as they escorted a group of people to the nearest fire exits out of the building. Gabriella, Stella, and Carmen quickly found their daughters as they all formed a group of their own. Clover, being familiar with the place easily found them a fire exit to escape.
Outside of the building on the street everyone looked on at the burning building. Passerby also stopped at the scene to watch. The studio owner wasted no time calling the Beverly Hills Fire Department. Everyone who had made it out safely had the same questions on their minds. What had caused the fire? Did everyone get out okay?
A news van soon got wind of the fire and raced on location to the get the story. Soon the fire department arrived. Some of them quickly prepared the hose to get the fire under control. A woman ran to one of them and grabbed his arms.
"Please my son is still in there! You have to get him out please!" She cried hysterically.
Nearby Peter heard the woman's pleas. A kid was still stuck inside the burning building somewhere. Some of the firefighters were still dousing the fire with water. The rescue team were still waiting for the fire to die down enough before they attempted to enter and save anyone who was still inside the building. There was no telling if the kid or possibly anyone else who was still in the building could wait that long. Peter was at a dilemma, if he didn't act, a child could die. But did he really want to risk exposing Spider-Man to the public? Peter shook his head, what was he thinking? A child's life was at stake! Scanning his surroundings, Peter slowly slipped away unnoticed before ducking into an alleyway. Aunt May's heart went out to the woman crying for the safety of her son. She didn't realize her nephew had disappeared.
Alex became frantic, "A boy is still inside, we've got to get him out!" she said as she readies herself to jump back in.
"No Alex, we can't," Sam stopped her friend, as much as she agreed with her, "If we do, we may risk exposing ourselves."
"But-" Alex was going to argue, but knew Sam was right.
Clover then gasped, "Girls! Look!" she called out and the two of them looked where she was pointing before gasping themselves.
A man had heard Clover and looked where she was pointing then pointed as well when he spotted what the girls saw, "Look up in the sky!" Everyone's attention shifted.
"What is it?" A woman asked shielding her eyes and squinting to try and focus on it.
"It's Superman!" a boy said excitedly while jumping.
"No its- Actually... I have no idea."
A man was swinging on a rope as he came closer and closer towards the burning building. The mysterious person was wearing a red and blue suit. Before anyone could get a better look, the stranger broke into one of the windows at the higher levels and entered the building.
Spider-Man wasted no time and began looking for the kid. Jumping down to the first floor, he called out for the boy. Spider-Man soon found the boy crying for his mother. The boy had been trapped in one of the studio's many rooms The boy was frighten when he saw Peter in his suit but Peter quickly put his fears to rest. With the boy in his hands, Spider-Man exited the room and dashed to the main exit as debris started to fall. The two of them managed to get outside without a problem. The boy's mother ran to in their direction as soon as she saw her son and took her boy from Spider-Man. The two of them glad to be reunited.
Things weren't over yet though as Peter heard a scream coming from the inside of the building. He recognized this voice though. It was Mandy's! The girl may have mistreated him, but even she didn't deserve to die. Spider-Man ran back into the building to look for her. Parts of the building were falling down now and the smoke was getting thicker as well.
"Where are you!" Spider-Man called out, doing his best not to address her by name "Call out if you can hear me!"
"Over here! Please help me!" Spider-Man raced to where Mandy's voice had come from and soon found her. The girl had run to save her picture during the fire rather than escape. Unlike the boy earlier, Mandy didn't care that the person who came to save her was masked, she was just happy someone had came to rescue her.
"C'mon we're getting out of here!" he took hold of her arm was about to make a getaway but Mandy stopped him.
"No wait, my picture! I'm not leaving without my picture!" she went to grab her photo but Spider-Man pulled her out of the way just as soon as a part of the ceiling fell on top of where Mandy had been standing earlier.
"Forget it, there's no time! What's more important? Your picture or your life?" Mandy looked back at her photo then reluctantly followed the masked man as he tried to lead them out.
They were about to make it to the exit when his spider-sense began to flared. On instinct, he tackled Mandy down just as more of the ceiling collapsed, sealing off the exit they were going to take. Mandy screamed as they both fell. Spider-Man got up and knew they had to find a different way out. He saw a window and hoped the floor higher up could hold on long enough. Grabbing Mandy, he shot out a line and swung to the floor the window was on.
"W-What are you doing? Are you crazy?" Mandy yelled and braced herself as they both crashed through the window to the other side.
Outside everyone had been watching and thought the man was doomed when the entrance had been blocked off. They didn't expect him to burst out of a window with a young lady clinging on to him all the while screaming her lungs out. Peter let go of his first line, fired a new one then swung the two of them to the safety of the street before setting Mandy down. The girl's eyes were tightly shut. When her feet met with the pavement, she popped them opened in shock before feeling herself to ensure she was still alive.
Peter breathed a sigh of relief and was going to leave. Until he was surrounded by new reporters. All of them asking him the same exact questions?
"Are you that Spider-Man guy?"
"Are you webs organic?"
"How long have you've been in Beverly Hills?"
Peter looked from reporter to reporter. He knew nothing was going to change no matter what he said, "Yes I'm your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man," Peter confirmed then fired another line and swung off ignoring all the follow up questions that had been asked afterwards. Mandy fainted as soon as he disappeared.
Sam, Clover, and Alex had watched the entire scenario unfold. Spider-Man was now known to the public. The three of them looked at each other from the corner of their eyes. They weren't sure how Jerry was going to feel about this.
Elsewhere in Beverly Hills
"And there you have it folks. After months of hiding in the shadows, Spider-Man has publicly revealed himself and heroically prevented a possible tragedy. I'm Robin Scher-"
Wilson Fisk turned off the breaking news that had came on his television and turned his chair around. Reaching for the phone on his desk, he dialed a few numbers before he waited for the person on the other line to pick up.
"Get Joseph in my office right now," he simply said before hanging up.
Author's Note: This chapter went through a lot of changes. Originally, the contest was going to take place at the school itself. But I decided burning down the main setting for the story was probably not the smartest choice. Also, Mandy was suppose to be the one who caused the fire. Her intent was scaring Peter to make him look like a fool as he comes up to get his prize. I just could not get it to work then later realized although Mandy is mean, even she wouldn't go that far. Nor would she even be smart to know that much about Hydrogen gas. When I later changed it, it was going to be direct sun ray shinning down on the hydrogen fill balloon. But then figured that didn't make sense for a studio that took pictures as a business. Finally Mandy was also suppose to be the only person inside the building during the fire. But I figure it would make more sense if a kid was the reason why Spider-Man became known to the public.
Lastly who can guess who the nameless mystery judge is? Answer will be revealed next chapter when I get it done.