《Spider's Odyssey》Chapter 14: Opportunity Versus Responsibility
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A couple of hours later…
Cindy: So your mom does this everyday, or is it every Friday and today’s just a little special?
Jacob: It’s more a Friday thing that started with my dad since he had wanted to make time just for us every at least once a night where we’d talk and support each other. My brother and I still try to attend every Friday still, though I think it would be preferable everyday for my mom, if she just ever let herself get the chance to relax.
Cindy: I agree
Cindy: By the way, I am sorry for today, I know you tried your best to talk to me but Stephanie for some reason is just really cold towards new people, she considers me like a sister and you a Tyrannitar. Once I told her that we are taking things slowly she relaxed.
Jacob: It’s fine, we can always talk another day.
Jacob looked up from his phone and saw the supposedly empty building that was labeled Nuvo-Gen. Once part of the companies that were a shady front from Cadmus projects, this particular building being here was bit abnormal though. He wanted to get back at the people who had did this but more importantly, he wanted the full list of abilities from the spider that he had been bitten from or at least the spider itself to do some testing, just in case there was any serious side effects. Jacob leapt the gate in a single bound after making sure that no one as well as no cameras were around. It looked like a shut off construction site with all of the steel I beams, rebar, and various wooden beams lying around. He made his way straight to the entrance door that had been locked off by Chains.
“Did we go in through a different entrance?”
Jacob thought about looking around for one but not wanting to increase he chance from being spotted from outside, decided to break the locks holding the chains in place. The locks broke as easily as cutting butter, and the chains were as easily discarded. Jacob opened the door and when inside he quickly realized the shift in his vision from the absence of light. He looked around trying to find a light source but not being successful, he decided to use his Phone’s flashlight and camera so Link could see. Jacob looked around but only finding the empty facility trashed, he tried to look for any recognizable or salvageable items but the place had been long gutted out. Jacob quickly went to the back after a short while of digging through the obstructing garbage and saw an open part of facility.
The smell of mold became a part of the room as water had found itself on the floor of the part of the building as well as on the walls and the broken ceiling from which is came. Dull grays and dirty browns had made their homes everywhere else in this small place, but what interested Jacob was an unleash light that come from the boarded up windows, and slightly ajar door that looked like it hadn’t been clean in decades. Graffiti became paintings, and empty pizza boxes became part of the furnishing to make the place go from abandoned to someone’s dumpy head quarters.
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‘Though my abandoned station, isn’t exactly the Batcave either.’ Jacob thought as he step further into the asbestos filled room. He took another scan around before seeing the spot where he laid. It was a lot less wet than everywhere else and it seemed that people had sat their for awhile before leaving. He sat down before reading.
‘Maroni’s Pizza’ on the box. Most of the boxes here had came from Maroni’s which didn’t exactly excite him but it was a clue.
“I wonder if I can find the people if I stake out Maroni’s. Maybe Sal wanted to test something on me, but why leave me for dead?” Jacob thought before looking around for any clues. He didn’t find anything interesting or out of place so he decided to go out through the back.
“Sir, doesn’t the graffiti look familiar?” Link asked causing Jacob to pause mid stride. H returned around trying to spot any similarities, but he couldn’t immediately tell until he heard something from next to it. He step a tiny step back, and it happened again. Knocking the tower of pizza boxes over with Rats scurrying to their next.
“Nast- is that what is similar?” Jacob looked at the design of the pizza box and felt it was the same as the art. Taking pictures of both, he decided to analyze them later. For now Jacob wanted to suit up, before stalking Maroni’s. He quickly left the facility the same way that he had came. He walked past the facility for a while before putting his stuff down.
“A contact named Mom is calling, should I answer?”
“Yeah” Jacob sighed. He had totally forgot about dinner.
“Hey, baby, I know that you might be on your way home but I can’t make it. There was an accident in one of the banks today, and so they need all hands on deck at the hospital for a double rush hour. I already told your brother so why don’t you go over to his for dinner? I have to go, I love you bye” His mom hanged up as soon she had called, and he had felt a mixture of regret and sympathy that he had for his mom.
‘I need to talk to her soon. I really do’ Jacob noted, before seeing a bunch of messages.
‘Gwen has invited you to group chat’
Gwen: Since we didn’t finish planning, I was wondering when you guys wanted to meet to plan everything?
Tim: Tomorrow maybe? Stephanie and I could work on the robot today and then you guys can come over tomorrow. If that’s okay with you guys.
Stephanie: Definitely, I was wondering what I was going to do tonight anyways and hanging out with you is the best case scenario.
Tim: Great, how about you Jacob?
Stephanie: It doesn’t look like pretty boy has seen these messages.
Gwen: He’s just been busy lately. I’ll call him to see if he can come over to my house tonight. Otherwise we’ll figure something out.
“Well that’s just my luck. Even with my plans canceled, someone makes more plans for me. Though I can just pretend to not see it” Jacob amused himself by looking into the rest of the conversation. It was full of weirdly funny attempts of Gwen and Stephanie arguing before Jacob had gotten long bored of reading what they had to say for each other. He put the phone away before suiting up, and slinging through the depressed streets of Gotham. As he did he saw that the people looked overwhelmingly stressed. He came down for a time or two to help out even stopping a bar fight from one of the more local bars.
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He wanted to go on top of the building across from Maroni’s to work on his projects but he heard snickering, and someone groaning. Jacob got on top of the closest building, and looked down the alleyway. He saw kids kicking the living daylight out of another kid and so Jacob jumped down to sit on the ledge of the fire escape.
“Do you guys really have to bully him? If you guys wanted to kick something go play football” Jacob frowned. He remembered in both lives he was never truly bullied but he also wouldn’t stop the kids who would try to bully others either. He was one of the many who let it happened just glad it was never him. The snotty kids looked at him, being in costume with his head resting on the crook of his wrist and they all took a step back. One of the kids immediately went for piss the pants maneuver while the rest tried to act brazen.
“He deserved it Mister.” Boy 1 said, while some of them nodding in agreement.
“Yeah, he told the teacher on us and now we’ll all get in trouble by our parents.” Boy 2 said.
“That doesn’t give you the right to bully - him..” All of the kids took run for it, making their way out of the alley like the rats he had seen before. Jacob let them go knowing that they were still kids who would hopefully or eventually learn that what they were doing was wrong. Or not, Jacob just hoped they did.
He leapt of the fire escape, twisting to the wall to stick to it before sliding down and jumping off of that. The kid looked like he had been ran over with a car, Jacob turned him over the front before looking at his injuries.
“You are awake aren’t you” Jacob asked.
“Are they gone?” The kid asked, peeking with one eye
“Yeah, they ran away before I could say anything”
“I see. Your the Scarlet Spider that’s been going around helping people right?” The boy asked curiously. Jacob nodded prompting the kid to sit up.
“So do you work for batman or something?” The kid asked. Jacob wanted to knock the kid out with a pluck to the forehead but deciding not too, he just lifted the kid up setting him down on his feet.
“No, I work for myself.” Jacob ruffed the kids hair. The kid tried to fight back and fix his hair which Jacob let him.
“Hey at least you have some bite to you. What’s your name Kid?” Jacob asked. The kid looked down before saying.
“Miguel”
“Interesting,” Jacob began to think about the possibility that the kid was something special but not interested enough for him to waste anymore time, He decided to walk the kid home and then head to Maroni’s.
‘Good thing that Kid lives in the same direction’ Jacob said as he saw nothing going wrong, He propped himself up on the building parallel and started working his projects.
“Link what’s up with that commotion” Jacob asked, he had been distracted from his work many times but nothing was more annoying the current one, with it pulling him out of even the slightest focus. Looking up he saw nothing was going on in Maroni’s, nothing he thought would be out of the ordinary and his body became weary, sitting for so long doing nothing.
“According to some of the nearby reporters. There’s currently another bank robbery but it’s from Gotham National Bank.” Link reported. Jacob thought about it for awhile.
‘Should I help them? What about the thugs in Maroni.. I have been here for 3 hours and nothings gone awry. I can always come back.’ Jacob thought before closing his laptop and putting it in his bag before webbing it up. He moved his dreads of the way before slinging on his mask, and jumping off of the building. A smile crept on his face as he felt the wind hit his body. Swinging building to building, Jacob quickly got to a good vantage point. The police had already blocked out the pedestrians from getting in the way with roadblocks while lining up their cars in a formations that gave them a good amount of coverage and vantage points while shooting. Far off into one of the brightest corners were the News reporter and the news channel van. The streets were oddly full while being casted in an neon tinge of Orange where streetlight turned on their magic.
‘I should wait to assess the situation, if the police can handle it. They should be allowed the opportunity too..right?’ Jacob thought. He looked around and saw nothing of note besides a car in a corner that held a couple of gruff men who looked like they wanted to put the hurt on someone. They were parked suspiciously close to the bank but not to close to get to any action. Jacob then shot back to the police, where the presumably the one giving the shots spoke.
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