petey on patrol
god, im getting really fuckin tired of rice, peter thought.
he was sat on his squeaky chair in front of his desk, feet up on the table, shovelling the food into his mouth. he was absolutely starving.
he was proud of the setup in front of him - several battered old computers linked up to various devices that allowed him to listen in to police radios, and a mess of many vials and beakers of chemicals he used to make his web fluid.
amongst the mess of notes scattered on the desk were many pages of computer codes and evaluations peter had written to create his very own AI
it had taken him months to scavenge in alleys and dumpster-dive to retrieve his computers, and he felt guilty about stealing the chemicals from his old school lab, but he needed it more than they did.
peter sighed as he felt the gauze on his cheek rip from his energetic chewing, and he set down his empty bowl beside the battered microwave he'd managed to construct himself, and padded along to where he kept his medkit.
he had encountered a particularly rude gang of teenagers in a rough area on patrol last night, and they happened to be quite fond of bricks.
reapplying the bandage to the gash in his cheek, he wished he just had a little more money so he could eat enough to have actual strength.
of course, peter had some savings in his account, just a couple hundred dollars he had left from the money aunt may had left him. he didn't want to dip into that unless it was an emergency, though.
peter stood up and stretched, joints popping in his arm and back. he checked the cracked watch on his wrist. half nine.
it was around this time muggers were most active in the city, so peter jogged over to where his homemade suit was drying on the washing line he'd found a week ago. really, much more convenient to dry his suit in his own home than to sneakily climb up on to a building and flap it around like a madman.
a few moments later, peter was suited up and shutting down his little workstation and plugging his camera in to charge, before climbing up the pipes to the top of the warehouse.
he hauled himself up and shut the little trapdoor below him.
he breathed the night air, taking in the familiar view of twinkling lights and the sound of traffic, and took a running jump off the roof into the wide, illuminated street below.
peter checked his watch again as his stomach rumbled. 11:21pm.
he'd saved several people that evening, even managing to stop a minibus from colliding with a preschool. that was fun.
he closed his eyes , concentrating on expanding his senses and focusing.
while peter waited for a disturbance, he thought of ways to improve the system he was developing for his suit.
he'd finally managed to create a technical layout that could resemble some sort of skeleton for the AIast night. a little computer that could help him with his superheroing, aiding him by tracking bad guys and scanning for injuries, that sort of thing.
he was close to finishing, he just needed to work on the AI's access to his spidey suit's functions, as so far the most it could do was give him directions and keep him company.
peter snapped his eyes open as he felt the warning buzz in his neck, and he leapt up.
a fire had started on a bridge a few blocks away, creeping up the support cables and causing cars to swerve and crash.
he wasted no time swinging over, it could get a lot worse.
peter landed with a roll on the tarmac where people were getting out of their cars and panicking, and he sprinted straight for the massive blaze.
he stopped briefly, skidding across the gravel to yank a young teen who was stupidly filming away from the fire with a "get back! it could explode!"
peter's voice had been loud enough for several other people to get the message, and the wave of civilians retreated back.
peter jumped and used the momentum of kicking off the side of a cable to send him flying across the flames, scanning the area for people trapped.
he heard wails, and bounded over to a car that was about to tip off the side of the burning bridge.
a ginger kid was shrieking, clambering desperately to the front of the car as it groaned and tilted over the edge.
peter fired webs, slowing the car, but was yanked forward and he had to dig his heels into the side of the bridge as he strained to secure the vehicle.
peter yelled words of encouragement as the kid scrabbled to find a hold to hoist himself up over the seats, but turned and looked down at the black surface of the water.
"no no no! kid, you're fine, okay? cmon, we gotta get you out!" peter shouted, hoping his false confidence would rub off on the boy.
the kid nodded, tears staining his young freckled face, and peter swapped both strings of web to one aching arm so he could stretch out an arm.
the boy sobbed but grabbed peter's gloved hand, and he tugged him out of the car and onto the smoking ground.
peter had realised after a few minutes of saving people that he'd forgotten to replace the filter that allowed him to breathe in smoke without harm.
his head swam as the smoke filled his lungs gradually, and he choked on ash as he shoved aside cars to make a way for the people to escape the bridge.
peter was glad to see paramedics dashing towards the group through his hazy vision, and he gave them a clumsy thumbs up as he turned back toward the raging flames.
he swung round the area one last time, checking to make sure he hadn't missed anyone, before vacating.
that was the plan, anyway. petey had just leapt down from the suspension cable when he started spluttering, coughing up ash from his sore throat.
oh god, it stung. he'd never had to get so close to fire before, and he'd had his filter in his mask.
he wheezed as he stumbled away, his bleary eyes unaware of the crowds of people on the side of the bridge watching him.
"spiderman? are you okay?" a shrill voice cried out, and peter turned to see a couple of people who were looking at him with concern.
he nodded, still spitting out bits of ash, and he took a few breaths.
soon he'd have his AI, who could scan his injuries and recommend medical help.
peter knew he had to leave right now before people began taking more photos or videos of the hurt vigilante, so he waved off the two fellas who'd moved toward him to help and ran away across the street.
he blinked away the black spots dancing in his vision, suppressing the urge to cough his lungs up.
he jumped up and started to climb the bricks, soon reaching the roof and looking back at the fire, which he saw with some satisfaction was being blasted with jets of water by firemen lugging hoses.
peter allowed himself a small smile as he spotted the small gathering of people he had saved from the blaze being tended to by an ambulance. the boy he had pulled out of the car was waving madly up at him, and he waved back, before leaping off the roof yet again.
as peter swung back across the city, roughly twenty minutes from his home, he was unaware of the pair of light blue eyes watching him from atop stark tower.