Tick Tock

Chapter Five

UNCLE BEN'S DEATH CALLBACK IN THIS CHAPTER IS PURELY BASED ON 20 SOLID MINUTES OF RESEARCH ABOUT SPIDER-MAN HOMECOMING AND WHAT THE DIRECTOR JON WATTS HAD TO SAY ABOUT UNCLE BEN'S DEATH SO FAR IN THE MCU

"Any more crimes I should know about, Costa?"

Charlie hadn't spoken in a while, taking in the sun starting to set and preferring to listen to the hustle and bustle of Manhattan than her own voice. She was still thinking about Tony calling her a munchkin, not knowing the real reason why she disliked being called that. Charlie had given him a fake reason when she first came to the Tower, saying that she was too old for that name, and Tony had understood for all of three days.

"There is a mugging taking place at Queens near your school. I have a path lit for you if needed." Costa said informatively. "My scans indicate that there are three attackers and one victim. Weapons include a small handgun and pocket knives."

"I don't need the path, but thanks anyway, Costa." Charlie said. She changed course, taking the Queensboro bridge. Some pedestrians crossing looked up to see her easily recognizable grey suit with the signature bright red webbing pattern, a large blue spider in the front, and the big blue bug eye lenses.

"Mommy! Lookit! It's Tick Tock!" A little girl excitedly said. "Hi Tick Tock!"

Charlie didn't have time, unfortunately, to stop and give the kid a high five, but she did twist her body to the side to face the child and wave while swinging past. The girl's squeals of joy did not slip by unnoticed by the teen, who neared the last tower and shot a web higher and flung herself through the air.

Ten seconds later, she had landed in the alleyway where the mugging was taking place. The criminals were easily dispatched with a few webs, and Charlie was giving the woman a hand collecting her things from the goons.

"Here you are, ma'am. Have a great night." Charlie said, walking with the woman to the opening of the alley. The woman smiled kindly at her, holding her belongings tightly.

"Thank you so much. I'm surprised to see you down here, Hourglass. This isn't your normal area, right? I see you on the news in Manhattan, not Queens." The woman said. Charlie nodded, her eye lenses closing just a tiny bit.

"Yeah. I think there is a seasonal migration of bad guys down here because Manhattan has been pretty quiet lately. You'd think they'd keep it down in the neighborhood, but they don't." Charlie commented. "Well, I gotta jam. Say hi to Spidey if you see him!" She called out, slinging a web to the building next to them. The woman nodded with a wave.

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Peter had waited until Charlie was out of sight at the train stop before departing to Mr Delomar's sandwich shop. He got the usual smushed sandwich and slid it into his backpack, leaving in 6 minutes and heading to his usual alley to change.

He was surprised that there were more crimes than usual, and he mentioned this to a shoplifter he was webbing up.

"It's getting pretty busy here. Right, Gum Girl?" He asked the shoplifter who had a piece of gum she was chewing on for some reason. The woman simply frowned at him and tried to get free of the webbing attached to her wrist and a wall.

"I don't answer to Gum Girl, ripoff."

Peter was offended. "Ripoff? I'm not sure if you've heard, but the name's Spider-Man. Also, what do you mean 'ripoff'?"

"The Original's here in Queens. I'm one of her bloggers."

Peter frowned to himself. "What's she doing here? When did she decide that Queens was her turf?"