By Moonlight (P.P + M.J)

3. Late Night Hero

Once the final bell rang, Peter was out of the school before anybody else. Wasting no time, he jogged a few blocks before diving into an alley to change. He beat his current record of six minutes by 30 seconds, and after webbing his backpack to the inside of a dumpster, he took off into the afternoon sky. Peter, now the Spiderman, swung freely through the city, webbing onto buildings and flinging himself through the air.

Welcome back, Peter. Where to today?

Peter used to jump at Karen's voice, but he had grown accustomed to hearing the friendly A.I's greeting every time he went crime fighting. She proved to be a great help as well as a good friend.

The air felt so good today, that he decided to put off the deli store until later. He told Karen that he was just out for some free roaming. And he did just that for most of the day, all while stopping hold-ups and the occasional bike robber.

When evening finally set in, Peter addressed Karen.

"393 Broadway," Peter told her, remembering the address that Ned had told him earlier that day, and Karen set out a route for him to follow. He figured it was time he looked into that deli robbery. Just thinking about it made him hungry.

He took a shortcut to where the broken-in deli was, following the route that Karen had mapped out for him. When he eventually landed on top of a building across the street, it was night. Peter crouched on the corner of the building as he peered down at the scene.

The store had yellow tape wrapped all around the front, and there were a few investigators picking through the shattered glass that sprinkled the sidewalk. The glass door had indeed been smashed to pieces, as well as the large window. Karen instantly zoomed in on one detective picking up a thick tuft of black hair.

"Run a scan, Karen," Peter politely asked his artificial companion, and several animals crossed his vision as Karen searched for a match.

It's wolf fur.

"Wolf?" Peter repeated, surprised, "That can't be right."

Suddenly, he heard an odd snapping sound. He turned quickly, holding out his hands, ready to web up the intruder.

"Cool it, Webs," MJ said, lowering her black vintage Polaroid camera as she inspected the photo when it popped out, biting her lip in concentration, "You look good in this one. All brooding and serious."

Peter was silent as Michelle looked back up at him. She was wearing her usual black Chuck Taylors and dark jeans, with a dark green jacket. He tried to shake himself out of his initial surprise when she started to speak.

"Did Parker talk to you?" She asked him, and he breathed a sigh relief when he realized she hadn't recognized him. But then again, how could she, with the mask and all.

"Uh, yeah, he did. Said a friend of his wanted some pictures or something," Peter replied, attempting to make his voice sound deeper and gruffer. He didn't want to activate the voice scrambler because it made him sound like a some cliche 80's villain.

She hummed in agreement, lifting her camera once more to snap another picture.

"He's your friend, right?" Peter asked, taking the opportunity to find out just what MJ thought of him.

"Sort of. He never really talks to me, but he's an okay guy for the most part," she answered, using her hand to tell him to change position. He jumped off the ledge and straightened up.

She then gave him an suspicious look, and she lowered her camera, "He didn't say anything about me, did he?"

What could he say to that? Speechless, Peter wracked his brain for an answer that wouldn't completely give him away. She continued to stare at him, her head cocked to the side, making her bangs fall over her face. He kind of liked it when her hair did that, as much as he tried to tell himself otherwise. Would it be inappropriate to move it aside for her so she could see better? Stop focusing on her hair, Parker!

"He didn't say much, expect that you liked sneaking up on people," Peter said, trying his hardest to sound not like himself.

Michelle nodded in quiet approval, mumbling, "Well, he's not wrong."

Peter laughed, accidentally letting his real voice slip through the minor chuckle. MJ's head tilted up, and for one horrible second, Peter thought she recognized him. Desperate to divert her attention, he struck a corny superhero pose, one that looked like he was about to shoot a web and fly off the building.

And for the first time in his life, Peter heard her laugh. As she snapped the picture, he kept replaying the laugh in his head, and he looked back to see her smiling at the picture. Wow, she had a great smile. How had he never seen it before? He couldn't properly put into words what seeing it made him feel. All he knew was that he could've stared at her smiling for hours. A part of him protested this thought, but he couldn't help but notice such a stellar feature. She never smiled in school.

Peter, you're heart rate is rising. Shall I activate Instant Kill Mode?

"No!" Peter muttered angrily, wondering why the A.I always thought IK Mode was the only option.

MJ looked up in surprise, and Peter turned around, stumbling over his words to explain himself.

"I'm sorry, not you. Someone... else," he clarified, realizing how dumb that must sound.

"Well, while you tall at "someone else", I'm gonna go," Michelle said, giving him a two finger salute as she walked away, "Thanks again, Webs."

He waved as she disappeared down the ladder that led to the fire escape. He remembered her laugh and it echoed once again in his head.

Who was that, Peter? You seem nervous.

"A friend," he replied simply, jumping back on the ledge so he could look down at the crime scene once more. The investigators were gone and there was one patrol car standing guard. Peter shot a web, diving closer to the store but being careful to remain unseen by the cop. As he studied the scene, he felt a tingle, and goosebumps rippled through his skin. He turned his head, noticing that he sensed something coming from the direction that Michelle would have taken if she'd just gotten down the fire escape.

Peter didn't know how he knew, but something was very, very wrong.

Oh snap. Even I don't know what's gonna happen. I'm just winging it.

~Fargone5