Parker Luck

Private Spider

*Crack* Spider-Man was slammed into a brick wall, a vice-like hand around his throat. What little breath he had in his lungs was driven out as a powerful fist went into his stomach. The webslinger desperately tried to free himself but the attacker was too strong and his hands were in too much pain. Slamming into the wall again Peter heard another crack and felt agony in his ribs, adding yet another injury. The man drew his weapon back. "Time to die Spider!" he hissed, plunging it forward, aiming straight at the hero's big heart. And Peter's day had started off so well.

**A few hours earlier**

It was a fine day in New York City, the sun was shining, the skies were clear and the motorists' angry cursing and honking was at a minimum.

Peter woke up in a good mood. With a smile on his face he threw open his curtains and looked out. It was the nicest day NY had seen for a while and Peter thought it was fine day for patrol. Throwing on his clothes Peter dashed out his room, almost bumping into his aunt. "Sorry May." he said over his shoulder. May watched as her nephew prepared breakfast and began wolfing it down. "You're certainly excited today." Peter nodded and, between mouthfuls, said "Yeah it's a nice day and I wanna go out on patrol."

As soon as he'd finished his morning routine the teen wasted no time pulling on his red and black costume. "Bye May." he called. As he went by Parker saw a black haired woman sat of the sofa with a serene expression. Apart from the charging cable plugged into her arm she looked perfectly normal. "Hi Karen. Bye Karen." Peter said to the LMD.

Sliding open the window Spider-Man prepared to leave before May called out to him "Be careful okay Peter? You know I worry." With a smile Peter hugged his aunt. "Yeah I know May. Don't worry I'll be fine. What could go wrong?" and with that he returned to the window and thiwpped away into the city.

The busker looked around, this was a good spot; no other buskers around, a good crowd and he had a new song he'd written himself. Strumming his guitar he began to play "Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can. Spins a web, any size. Catches thieves just like flies. Look oouuut! Here comes the Spider-Maaaann!" he sang. He had a good feeling about this song.

A chinking sound came as some coins fell into his guitar case. Normally that wouldn't be surprising but this time they came from above him. Looking up revealed the webslinger himself swinging overhead. The busker briefly stopped to call out to and wave at the hero who waved back.

As he swung off Peter felt good as he heard the song continue. It was nice to know that, despite J. Jonah Jameson's smear campaign, some people still believed he was a hero. Spidey once again thanked his lucky stars (or at least whoever had done it) that the feed had been cut off and Mysterio's footage deleted before his identity had been revealed to the world.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. The man in question's face popped up on the screen and began his usual rant about Spider-Man being a menace. Parker tuned most of it out until something the presenter said caught his attention "That's right folks, the Daily Bugle will be offering a cash reward for any pictures of Spider-Man. By which we mean actual physical photos, not blurry camera phone c**p!" A voice apparently spoke in JJJ's ear "What d'ya mean I can't say c**p? I just did. It's my show, I can say c**p as much as I want!" he ranted before regaining his composure. "Ahem. Once again, you bring in pictures of the webslinging menace and if they're good enough we'll pay you."

To Peter this was a golden opportunity to make some money. Leaping off the rooftop he webbed onto a nearby building and headed home to grab his camera.