Am I (Not) a Hero?

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...

[Peter Parker's POV]

I jerked awake when I woke up. It wasn't really, but I definitely shuddered all over.

My eyes hungrily absorbed reality, trying to convince me that the nightmare was over.

"Fuck."

I hissed, covering myself with a blanket.

I wanted to defend myself from the outside world while still shaking from the dream I had experienced.

I dreamt of such horror as if Grandfather Nurgle decided to become the scriptwriter of my life and somehow began editing it right from the prologue.

'Well, do good for people since it comes back to you…'

I thought sulkily.

I could have considered this a warning from above, but the spider-sense didn't respond.

Apparently, my subconscious simply decided to ruin my mood for the entire day.

Great…

'Why couldn't it have been a dream where I'm falling into an endless abyss or one where I'm slowly escaping from someone? I swear, the old scripts didn't hit me this hard psychologically.'

The clock read nine in the morning, and I'd say I got enough sleep.

I got up and went to the bathroom to wash myself. Afterward, I went to the kitchen to get breakfast.

While I was having breakfast, my mood was so clearly reflected on my face that Ben even asked if one of my experiments had gone wrong.

"Well, you could say that. Its effect is too short, and that's critically important. So I'm thinking about how to solve this…"

I replied without giving details.

"Boys, come see what the news is saying!"

Aunt May called us.

We grabbed our cups and headed to the hallway.

It was nine in the morning, and J. Jonah Jameson was already spouting some ridiculous nonsense.

"May, darling, I asked you not to turn on that madness. The Daily Bugle would sell their own mother for a hit."

Benjamin Parker didn't like that place, and there were good reasons for it.

"But Ben…"

They started to argue about something.

Meanwhile, the TV continued to broadcast.

The screen showed videos and pictures from dashcams that showed Cindy and me in suits.

"…new so-called superheroes have been spotted."

J. Jonah paused dramatically.

"However, our reporters have learned that after intervening in police matters during the late-night escape of prisoners, they refused to take off their masks and fled the scene of the crime...

Old Jonah Jameson is slowly portraying us as threats to order and obstacles to the police, even though there's no reason for it.

We'll see what happens next.

'I remember that Spider-Man had Twitter in the game. I may be should start one too?'

It seems it hasn't turned into a social justice dumpster fire that ruins people's careers yet... Or maybe a YouTube channel would be better.

It would be easier to refute Jonah's broadcasts there.

I need someone who can manage public opinion and protect my reputation, but where would I find such a person?

Of course, that's not for now.

I need to build a reputation for now and gradually gather who will support me.

I left them arguing by the TV and returned to the lab. Since I planned to head out in the afternoon, I could improve the pheromones neutralizer.

"What if it doesn't work? I'll just make more liquid."

I thought of the obvious solution.

"We'll spray more often. It's no big deal."

This is how I spent my time.

The work was somewhat interesting, especially for someone who had no clue about it before, but… to be honest, I was bored.

But the boredom had to end sooner or later, and it did.

I sent a message to Cindy and headed towards the hangar. I haven't managed to improve the neutralizer, but that's okay for now.

The main thing is to find the right approach. After all, this isn't deodorant, and similar methods just don't work for some reason.

However, I received a text saying that she couldn't come right now.

It turns out Cindy is going to some family restaurant with her parents and won't be able to meet until the evening.

Well, fine.

I can chase down some troublemakers by myself.

Then I got another text from her.

"Be careful, I have a bad feeling about your daytime patrol."

'Okay, maybe today a supervillain will show up? That means today I have a boss fight.'

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

It took me a minute or two to change and jump into my suit, and now I'm swinging through the air, ready for trouble.

It's pretty hard not to notice the hologram of my mask hovering over some building.

Who's this interesting person using my brand?

The roof also turned out to be a helipad where some jerk in my suit just ran out with a strange gun at his waist and a tube in his hands.

The imposter quickly reached the helicopter I had already latched onto with my web.

But first, he pulled out a small holographic projector with his other hand, about the size of an old cassette tape player that had originally caught my attention.

However, I had to stick it to my back with webbing.

I need to find out who this imposter is right now. Meanwhile, the helicopter ascended into the air.

"CATCH SPIDER-MAN! POLICE! HE'S A THIEF! CATCH HIM!"

A man shouted and ran out of the same doors onto the roof, and someone started shooting at the "thief" forcing me to dodge while dangling on the web.

After gathering my strength, I pulled myself up to the back of the helicopter and climbed up it.

In the meantime, we had already flown beyond the city limits, somewhere toward the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean.

It was no trouble to rip the door off, and the imposter was thoroughly scared.

"Leave me alone, spider freak!"

The criminal shouted, aiming his strange gun at me.

He immediately fired, but thanks to my quick reflexes, I noticed that a gray liquid was flying toward me, not a bullet.

I managed to raise my hands in time… which got tied up with a version of my artificial web, but it was so weak that an ordinary person could tear it apart.

It's not exactly weak, but rather someone who occasionally works out. Still, It didn't stop me for a second, and I instantly knocked the pistol out of his hand.

"Damn! Spider, if you touch me, I'll drown us both!"

He screamed, trying to steer the helicopter somewhere.

I grabbed the imposter by the shoulder and sank my claws into him.

"AAAAH!"

"That was an advance, and if you don't turn back to New York right now, I'll give you your entire salary and even a bonus."

I released the sting with my other hand right in front of his eye.

"Believe me, I'll pull you out of the water and butcher you like a pig."

"Oh, Ебать!"

He swore in Russian but obediently sat down at the controls.

"I give up…"

I kept my clawed hand on his shoulder to control the situation while I assessed the fugitive.

He was wearing some kind of advanced technology belt with a tube dangling, and I immediately yanked off.

"Don't touch that!"

He shouted, but his disguise had already fallen away. He was dressed in a tight-fitting white suit and a brown vest.

The Spider-Man mask on him was gone, revealing another mask beneath it, this time white and featureless, with narrow slits for eyes.

'This is Chameleon, a guy with a rather unfortunate Russian surname.'

"Don't get distracted."

I tugged at my claws, and he screamed, returning to fly the helicopter.

"That's an interesting belt; I'm taking that. The vest too."

The vest was also quite interesting as it adapted to the strange technical belt.

"What did you steal under my face? Answer me!"

I put pressure on him with my claws, causing him to scream in response.

"Blueprints for missile defense systems! Let me go, you bastard!"

He screamed.

We were just approaching that very building with the helipad, and Chameleon took advantage of this.

He suddenly directed the helicopter down to crash it while simultaneously tossing a smoke grenade on the floor.

Forgetting to retract my claws, I released bioelectricity through my hand. I threw Chameleon with all my strength into the only intact door, covering him in webs while the helicopter fell.

Time slowed as I frantically tried to turn the control stick in the other direction, almost damaging it. 

With mixed success, I managed to do so, and we crashed into the helipad, landing on the belly, breaking only the tail and landing legs of the helicopter.

We were shaken up pretty badly, but the helicopter didn't explode. Well, it wasn't supposed to; this isn't a game.

We were immediately surrounded by several armed men in military uniforms.

I raised my hands in the air.

I probably should have hidden one behind my back since it still had a heavily bloodied piece of fabric from his clothing.

"I apologize for the helicopter, but it couldn't be helped."

I said, noticing they were not in the mood for jokes as they pointed their guns at me.

"Alright, look."

I tore Chameleon off the door and wrapped his arms and legs in webs again.

"I'm the real one; I don't need a gun to shoot webs. And I brought you a villain, along with the stolen goods."

After dropping the unconscious criminal and the tube at their feet, I slung his belt over my shoulder and picked up the pistol.

"Put it down!"

One of them said.

"Those are pieces of evidence."

I slowly backed up to the edge of the roof.

"First of all... these are my trophies!"

I jumped down, doing a somersault and latching onto the nearest building with my web.

These things need to be properly examined, but taking them home is out of the question since they might have bugs in them.

I'm not sure why or how, but I can't rule out that possibility.

Who knows who he was working for?

...

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