- Black Tarantula - Male Reader x Marvel

Chapter 41: Camouflage

[Lower Manhattan...]

"You got any sign of him?" Johnny asked, the flaming Human Torch flying through the air, just along the outskirts of Manhattan, travelling the edge of the city. If Black Tarantula had tried to flee the city then maybe he did so by boat? Or perhaps he was hiding out in an abandoned warehouse by the shore. It wouldn't be easy to spot him, but it was worth a shot nonetheless...

"Nope, no, nu uh, oh wait!" Peter called out, getting Johnny's attention. "Never mind, that's just some guy with a funky-lookin' afro..." It had followed along a similar line for a while, the pair trying their hardest to find Black Tarantula, but the longer they tried the less likely it seemed they would actually find the vigilante. "Do you really think he stole from the Baxter Building?" Spider-Man asked, swinging up next to Torch. "Like, are you one-hundred percent, without a shadow of a doubt, absolutely positive that it was him?"

"We have him on recording creeping about, there aren't any other options." Johnny responded. It was a solid argument, but couldn't anyone be under that costume? "Sure, that's good an' all, but like, how do we know that it's really him underneath that get-up?" There was a small silence between them. "I'm sure a lot of people could have made a suit that looks almost identical to Tarantula's, and we wouldn't be able to tell the difference." Torch contemplated what Spider-Man said for a few moments. "It just doesn't sit right with me. Tarantula seems like a stand-up guy, he wouldn't turn rogue all of a sudden, that isn't him..."

"You seem pretty close with him." Johnny noted. Spider-Man shrugged. "I've only really spoken to him a few times, he doesn't talk much, but he's super serious about the vigilante business. It'd have to be something really bad to force him to switch sides." Serious was an interesting way to describe someone. Spider-Man seemed to hold him in high regard, and didn't make one witty quip, which was unusual considering his inability to keep quiet. If he was so committed to his crime-fighting then why would he have stolen from them? He shook his head. When they found Tarantula they could ask these questions, but thinking about it now was only going to make it more difficult to focus.

While he was deep in thought, a strange sight from one of the towers below caught their attention. A helicopter broke from atop a landing pad, and quickly ascended, disappearing towards the coast. Through the building's stairwell a few armed police officers rushed through the door, heaving, desperate for air. It appeared like whoever it was in the helicopter was in a hurry, fleeing the scene with haste. "I'll go see what the fuss' all is about!" Spider-Man shouted, diving down without hesitation. Johnny nodded, keeping his eyes trained on the helicopter, making sure it didn't leave his line of sight.

"Hey, fellas..." Peter called out, perched atop the tower's roof. "What's the situation?" A large officer marched towards him, red in the face. "Freeze, Spider-Man! You won't get away with stealing those documents!" And, before he knew it, all the officers had drawn their weapons, levelled at the vigilante. "Woah, woah, woah!" Spider-Man shouted, waving his hands about. "Plans? Steal? What're you goin' on about!" However, the guards didn't seem to accept his defence, their guns trained on him...

What was going on? This all felt a bit like deja vu. Now people were saying that he had stolen documents? That was just a lie! He hadn't done anything like that, and the Human Torch could attest to it, they had been together the whole time! Peter was beginning to smell a rat, a big conniving rat, one that was using both Spider-Man and the Black Tarantula as simple facades to hide their own crimes. It couldn't be a coincidence, and now he was even more confident that his friend was being falsely accused of crimes he hadn't committed.

Peter fired a few quick webs, snapping the officer's hand against their weapons, unable to move even a single finger, and they murmured and cursed at him, demanding them to be removed. "I don't know what this is all about, but nobody's framin' me for anything!" He told them before swinging away, trying to find Johnny's trail high above him. That helicopter that passed them, it had to be whoever was behind this string of identity theft...