Drawing the Wildcard

Chapter 10: Training Days Part 2

"OK. While Ari is out doing her thing, now would be a good time to test more of your powers." Kit says as him and Jake make their way to the apartment.

"Fair enough. So far, I have increased reflexes, agility, speed, wall-crawling, and this danger-sense of mine. What else can I do?" Jake asks. Kit shrugs as the two keep walking. Jake kicks a metal pipe out of the way. Kit watches it roll away and gets an idea. He chases after the pipe and picks it up.

"Here. Try to bend this pipe." He says, handing it to Jake. Jake shrugs and takes the pipe into his hand. It looks like it is four feet long. Jake gripped both sides of the pipe and slowly began bending the ends toward each other. Kit watched in amazement as Jake bent the pipe from a long, straight piece of metal to a coil.

"OK. Adding super-strength to the list." Kit says as Jake throws the pipe away. They enter the apartment building and begin to walk up the stairs.

"Bending that pipe wasn't that hard. Wonder how much I can lift." Jake muses as they walk into the apartment. "Putting a pin in that for now. What's the homework that we need to do?"

"Math and science." Kit replies, making Jake groan in protest. "Come on, JP.  You know we have to do it."

"Can't we just bribe some nerds to do it? Offer them a date with Ari or something." Jake suggested. Kit rolled his eyes and smacked Jake upside the head lightly.

"I'm not making my girlfriend put out just because you don't want to do homework." Kit says, shaking his head. "It still surprises me on how you and Peter are polar opposites."

"What's to be surprised about? Peter's responsible, I'm not. He's smart, I'm not. He can't talk to girls, and I can." Jake replies coolly. Before Kit could make his rebuttal, a feminine scream interrupted him. The both of them went to the window and saw a woman surrounded by 4 thugs trying to rob her.

"Oh my God." Kit mutters in shock.

"I know. Someone should do something about this." Jake says casually. He looks over to see Kit staring at him expectantly. "Son of a bitch. I'm that someone, aren't I?" Jake slumps his shoulders.

"Yes. Yes you are. But first..." Kit walks into his room and returns with a long-sleeve blue shirt, black sweatpants, a blue ski mask, and swimming goggles. "Put these on." He says, handing the clothes to Jake. Jake looked questioningly at him but obeyed, getting dressed quickly.

"I look like a dork." Jake says, looking at the clothes.

"It's so no one can recognize you. Now get going." Kit says. Jake nods and runs out the door, down the flight of stairs. He walks out of the building and up to the thugs. One of the thugs noticed him and started laughing.

"Hey boys! Look at this clown!" He chortles. "Kid, it ain't Halloween." He says, making the other thugs laugh. Jake rolled his eyes under the goggles.

"Funny. A real Kevin Hart. Look guys, just let the lady go. I don't want any trouble." Jake says.

"Well too bad for you. Since you decided to play hero, now you got trouble. Let's get him, boys!" The leader says. Two of the thugs immediately rush him. One sends a punch towards Jake, who leans back to dodge and counters with a strong kick to the stomach, sending that thug into a wall unconscious.

"One." Jake say cheekily.  The other thug tries to sneak up behind him, but thanks to a buzz from Jake's 'Danger-Sense', he was swiftly subdued with a punch, knocking him out.

"Two." The third thug pulls out a switchblade and slashes at Jake, who leans back to avoid the blade. He kicks the blade out of the thug's hand and knocks him out with a swift kick to the jaw.

"Three." The last thug, seeing his crew get knocked out by someone in a goofy outfit, decided to retreat. Jake smiles under the mask and picks up the woman's purse, handing it to her.

"Here you go, ma'am." Jake says. The woman smiles and opens her mouth to speak, only to gasp in shock when, unknown to Jake, the thug returned with a knife.

*DANGER-SENSE: TURN AROUND, YOU FOOL!*

Jake turns around just a millisecond too late as the thug buries the knife deep into his shoulder. Jake lets out a brief shout of pain.

"MOTHER-FUCKER!" He yells as he sends a punch to the thug's jaw, breaking it and knocking him out. Jake pants slightly and looks at the blade embedded in his shoulder. Groaning slightly, he begins to walk away.

"Wait!" the woman calls out, making him turn to her. "Who are you?" she asks. Jake remains silent for a few moments, looking at his clothes.

'I need a name. I'm wearing blue, that spider bit me. Hmm...'Blue-Bomber?' Nah, that's Mega-Man's alias. 'Kid-Arachnid?' Nope. 'Aracho-Man?' Hell no. 'Blue-Spider?' Close. Wait! I got it!'  Looking at the woman, he grins. "I'm the one and only Friendly Neighborhood Cerulean-Spider." Jake says, continuing his trek to the apartment building. He winces from the dull throbs of pain from the knife as he climbs up the side of the building, crawling through Kit's window and closes it. Kit and Ari look up from whatever they were working on.

"Hey Jake. How did it- Oh my God! You have a knife in your shoulder!" Ari says, rushing over to him.

"Yeah. Thug got lucky. But I saved the woman and got her purse back." Jake says, sitting on the couch. "Ari, do me a favor and yank out this knife, would you?" He asks. Ari nods and gets a firm grip on the knife handle.

"1....2.....3!" Ari says, yanking out the knife. Jake lets out a shout of pain and grips the couch handle.

"Thanks, sweetness." Jake says weakly, looking at the stab wound.

"Hang on. I'll get the first-aid kit." Kit says.

"I don't think he needs it, babe. Look." Ari says. Both watch as the stab wound begins to heal up right before their eye. After a few second, the wound was gone, not even leaving a scar.

"Wow. That's another handy power added to the list." Kit says, wiping off some of Jake's blood from his shoulder. Jake chuckles slightly as he gets up and walks to the kitchen. He opens the refrigerator and grabs a few bottles of root beer.

"Not a bad first day in crime fighting" He says, handing a bottle to Kit and Ari. "I'd like to propose a toast. To the newest crime fighter on the block. The Cerulean Spider."

"Cerulean-Spider, huh? Sounds like an awesome franchise." Kit muses with a grin.

"To you, Cerulean-Spider." Ari grins as they clink their bottles together in a toast.