Vigilante Squared

Chapter Four: Peter

Confronting the Arrow had definitely not been part of the plan, but Peter knew that in the moment, it had been necessary. The only problem now was how it would affect future run-ins with Starling's native vigilante as well as later conversations with Felicity.
As Peter swung over the last street of the Glades and into Downtown Starling, he felt every hair on his body stand on end as a sudden dull twinge began in the spot where his spine met his skull. Dodging to the left mid-swing and bringing his feet up and under his body to run along a nearby wall, Peter looked up and could almost see in slow motion the object that had tripped his Spidey-Senses; an arrow almost so black it would have been invisible in the dark was on a collision course with Peter's heart.
Peter pulled on his current webline as he fired the next, giving himself enough web to almost slingshot higher into the air getting him out of the way of the arrow, and giving him enough distance to turn and scan for his attacker.
Adjusting his goggles, Peter could see a humanoid shape of thermal energy was just barely visible around the corner of an intact but abandoned building. The shape had a smaller bow than the Arrow, but a sword hilt was visible beside the quiver on the shape's back.
Peter could feel the next arrow coming before he saw it let loose from the bow. In midair, Peter reached out, grabbed the shaft of the arrow, spun himself a full 360 degrees, then with strength he normally tried to reign in, sent the arrow back at its source. The shape ducked behind cover as the arrow embedded into the pavement all the way to the fletching, with cracks ebbing from the point of impact.
"Impressive," a demented sounding augmented voice called out from behind the building, "Most impressive."
"Are you gonna tell me you're my father or something?" Peter called back as he landed on an angled electric pole back on the Glades side of the street.
"Not very original," The voice answered as Peter heard another arrow pulled from the quiver and a throwing knife being pulled from a sheath, "Maybe next time."
Peter felt the shift in the air as the knife started spinning towards him followed by the second arrow. A well placed web line grabbed hold of the knife, allowing Peter to yank the blade upwards into the arrow, sending both careening through the air into a brick wall nearby.
"How are you able to spin that knife faster and further than the arrow?" Peter asked as he adjusted his goggles to scan the objects, "Is it a lighter metal, or was it a specialty arrow that I just deactivated?"
Before he could ask another question, Peter heard the archer draw their sword. The figure then stepped out from cover with the sword on the drawstring of the bow with a concealed notch in the pommel, and launched the sword towards Peter's face. With strength and timing that he had only exhibited a few times before, Peter clapped his hands together on the blade, stopping the tip only centimeters from his eyeline.
Peter got himself into a defensive stance and moved the sword to his dominant hand, when he heard an all-too-familiar buzz coming from the sky to his right. Before he could react, Peter watched as the archer started sprinting towards him, then turned too late to see a grappling line wrap around their ankles and pull them into the air feet first. Peter dropped the sword as he watched Vulture reel in the archer, and started remembering one of the earlier points in his life as Spider-Man.

<~<---------->~>

Back in the past, Peter landed on the ground outside his dorm with a thud. He had hoped he wouldn't have to suit up at college, but that was apparently wishful thinking since someone had been studying a symbiote in one of the biology labs. That lab was now completely burned down, and the scientist responsible needed a trauma unit, but the building itself was fine thanks to sprinklers and firewalls. Peter on the other hand was not in as great of shape, he had taken a few deep cuts from glass to his stomach which were now bleeding, a hard hit to his left arm and leg - the latter felt broken, his head felt concussed, and his back had been shot at by the SWAT team that was called in when campus security called for outside help.
Peter lifted himself up to look at the side of the building where his room was on the third floor. He then meant to fire a webline, but instead found himself blacking out with his last thoughts before unconsciousness being the feeling of the grass touching his hair through a hole in his winter beanie hat and the vague awareness of someone running towards him.
He woke up, unsure of how long it had been or where he was. With a groan, he tried to sit up, but yelped when he realized his left arm was broken too.
"Hey buddy," A familiar voice said as a young man in a red hoodie stepped over from a table lined with open laptops running medical readouts and Google searches on at home medical care, "Don't strain yourself trying to get up. You've been out of it for almost two days."
"Two days?!" Peter asked through a strained voice as he used his right hand to feel where his wounds were healing while trying not to mess up the IV in his arm.
"My girlfriend and I aren't the greatest medics on campus." Cooper explained as Peter felt stitches in his side where the gashes had been, and a brace and Ace Bandage for both his left arm and leg, "We thought you'd prefer us to someone who'd try to get your 'mask' off."
It was then Peter realized he'd been trying to focus through cracked and broken goggles. He lifted them up, but kept the bandana in place.
"Thank you." Peter strained - both from pain and trying to keep up the guise of being someone else, "I don't even know your names."
"Don't thank us yet." Felicity said from behind the bed as she set up another saline bag for the IV, "We still have to get the bullets out of your shoulder, and that painkiller is gonna wear off soon."
"How bad is it?" Peter asked.
"Not too deep." Felicity answered, "But they're still gonna be a bitch to get out."
"Just tell me when to turn over Doc." Peter joked before coughing a bit and grabbing at his stitches to keep them from tearing.
"Easy there Spider," Cooper said, "We don't have a crash cart if you start dying on us."
"I need to get back out there." Peter strained as he tried to sit up.
"Ha ha, that's funny," Felicity said she got a scalpel from an at-home first-aid-kit disinfected to get the bullets out, "But you can barely stand, much less fight someone right now."
"The symbiote didn't die." Peter said, "It took Dr. Pratt as its host so it could get out of the flames. It's susceptible to fire and sounds higher than human range."
"Wait, the what took Dr. Pratt where?" Cooper asked.
"Listen, if I don't go now," Peter started, "A lot worse is gonna happen on this campus than a lab being burned out."
Cooper and Felicity looked at each other and had an unspoken conversation that lasted only a minute. Cooper put his head down, shook it, sighed heavily, then switched one of the laptops over to a hacking software.
"What do you need us to do?" Felicity asked.

<~<---------->~>

Peter had opted to follow Vulture from a distance and had seen him entering the Starling Oscorp building. After remotely taking down some security nodes for a few seconds, Peter entered the vent system and made his way to the penthouse office.
"--fill the void you've created, Archer." A bone chillingly familiar voice was saying as Peter enabled the recording function on his goggles.
"My intention was never for Kraven to be captured." The archer replied as Peter was able to find a grate to peek through, "I knew the Spider would eventually side with the Arrow creating more problems for all of us - though I didn't know you were all here."
"Then why give him the information at all?" The voice asked as a metal claw slowly snaked into Peter's view.
"I saw it as a means to an end, nothing more." The archer answered.
"Enough with the theatrics Merlyn," a new, warped but unaugmented voice spoke from behind the desk just out of Peter's view, "Take that ridiculous thing off, and tell us - tell ME plainly if you are going to fill Kraven's spot until we can get him back, or if we have to look elsewhere for a body to fill the spot. I should mention that if this is the case, we will be dropping you off at the SCPD's doorstep in zip-ties with enough tranquilizer in your system to keep you passed out for the majority of your trial."
The archer, apparently someone named Merlyn, chuckled as they took off their cowl. Peter almost gasped out loud as he now realized the former head of Merlyn Global Group - Malcolm Merlyn - was standing in black ninja-archer gear with at least three of Peter's biggest baddies in the same room talking about a fourth.
"Well, when you put it like that." Merlyn replied, "Where do I sign?"
Another metal claw came into Peter's view and stepped in front of Merlyn bringing a heavyset, long-haired man wearing a partially armored suit with it.
"I'll take you to your quarters," Ock answered as he led the way out of the room, "You'll have to excuse the hunting trophies for the time being." 
After Ock & Merlyn had left, Vulture and Mysterio - both of whom Peter didn't even know were there - stepped towards the desk.
"We're bringing that guy on?" Mysterio asked from under his large bubble-like helmet, "Was Marco busy building sand castles in Jersey?"
"You're questioning my authority?" The voice behind the desk asked.
"No, questioning the logic behind it." Mysterio answered quickly.
Peter heard the chair behind the desk squeak as the speaker stood and walked around the desk. A pair of metallic-green armored boots came into Peter's view followed by a suit of armor of the same color, covered by a dark purple trench coat with a green helmet bearing elfish features in the speaker's right hand.
"Maybe you want to ask Shultz how it feels to question what I do and how I do it?" The armored speaker told Mysterio getting into the face of the bubble-helmeted man.
Peter wanted to scream as he finally realized who the Goblin was. Everything over the past few years finally made sense, and everything pertaining to this adventure in Starling had just taken a very wrong turn.
"I don't think he meant anything by it, Norman." Vulture croaked, "You know how he tends to mouth off when he's confused."
"Yes, an unfortunate habit he and Aleksei both share." Norman responded as he turned and set the helmet on the desk with a small metallic thud.
"So what's the play here, Boss?" Vulture asked.
"We'll use Merlyn for all his usefulness," Norman began, "Then dump him on the Arrow or the SCPD. By week's end, he'll either have rid us of the Spider and the Arrow, or he'll have given us the keys to his company letting us have a greater hand in global affairs. Now go to your quarters and wait for word from either me or Otto."
As Vulture & Mysterio left the room, Peter did his best to silently make his back out of the vents and out past the building until he was further downtown. He copied and uploaded the recording from his goggles to his phone, then played it back the three times, just to make sure his tired eyes weren't hallucinating. Unfortunately, they weren't. His best friend's dad was the Goblin, Merlyn was moonlighting as the Black Archer, and there was now a group of possibly six different baddies all out to get Peter AND the Arrow within a week.
Peter began typing out as much of a summary as he could to text Felicity before giving up and opting to send the video accompanied by, "Arrow and I need to talk, now!"
After a few swings, a response came.
"He's on his way to meet you." Her text read, "Third and Nelson. I had to tell him we've worked together, but I didn't tell him I know who you are. STAR finished the new suit. He's not happy about it, but he's bringing it for you."
"Wow, note to self, don't get in Felicity's way when something needs done." Peter chuckled as he put his phone back away and swung to the meeting spot.