Scorpion charged like a tank, each thunderous step rattling the ground as he tore through debris. Spider-Man vaulted over him in a blur of red and blue, flipping into a back handspring. Mid-air, he fired two web-lines one to the ceiling, the other at a loose crate stacked on a high shelf.
WHAM!
The crate slammed into Scorpion's back.
Scorpion barely flinched.
"Okay," Nathan muttered, clinging to a beam, "definitely skipping leg day."
Before he could regroup, a blast of kinetic energy slammed into his side like a freight train. Shocker's gauntlets pulsed with light, smoke trailing from the barrels.
Spider-Man twisted in mid-air and landed on a rusted catwalk. The metal groaned under him, protesting his weight.
"Shocker," Nathan called out, wincing, "You upgrade those gauntlets or just polish 'em real good?"
Shocker fired again.
BOOM.
The shockwave tore a hole through the support beam. The entire catwalk gave out under him.
Nathan dropped fast.
He fired a web-line, swung beneath the collapse, and kicked Scorpion across the jaw mid-flight.
The villain staggered.
"Hey, Scorpion," Nathan said, flipping backward and landing in a crouch, "I thought scorpions were supposed to be stealthy."
"Keep talking," Mac Gargan growled. His mechanical tail snapped forward like a whip.
Spider-Man ducked. The tail punched through a concrete pillar behind him, sending rubble raining down.
"Right," Nathan said. "Super subtle."
Another shockwave exploded from Shocker. This one caught Nathan mid-swing. Energy surged through his body like lightning, his grip faltered, and he crashed through a wooden crate, landing hard on his ribs.
Pain exploded through his side. Bruised, maybe cracked.
He rolled, groaning. "Ow. Okay. Not a fan of interior design by explosion."
Scorpion leapt at him like a beast.
Nathan rolled again, narrowly dodging the metal tail that buried itself in the ground where his head had been.
"Vision's overrated, right?" Nathan quipped, firing a web into Scorpion's faceplate and yanking hard.
Scorpion snarled, momentarily blinded.
Spider-Man flipped over him, landed behind Shocker, and threw a punch.
Clang.
The armored gauntlet blocked it.
Shocker smirked. "Bad move, kid."
He fired point-blank.
Nathan was launched like a cannonball, slammed into a wall, and dropped hard. His suit sizzled with residual heat. His ears rang like alarm bells.
Okay. Cool idea. Definitely stupid.
He crawled behind a crate, gasping.
Scorpion ripped the webbing from his visor, his voice seething. "You're starting to get on my nerves."
"Mission accomplished," Nathan wheezed.
Shocker advanced, gauntlets glowing hot.
"Let's crush this bug," he sneered.
They came at him together.
Nathan was on defense and he was dodging, ducking, rolling under tail slashes and shockwaves that blew chunks from the floor and walls. He fired webs like a madman, trying to delay them. Anything to buy time.
Then an idea.
He launched upward, bouncing off support beams, staying unpredictable.
"Hey, Shocker!" Nathan called, voice echoing through the rafters. "You ever seen what happens when you shake a soda can real hard?"
Shocker frowned. "What—?"
Spider-Man kicked a suspended drum of fuel off a rack. It crashed beside Shocker, cracking open, releasing a fog of mist and fumes.
"Boom," Nathan whispered, webbing a hanging wire and flicking it toward the cloud.
ZAP.
The spark hit the vapor.
WHOOOOM!
A fireball erupted around Shocker, sending him flying backward. His gauntlets sparked and fizzled. The blast wasn't lethal but it fried the electronics.
Shocker hit the ground, twitching.
Nathan dropped behind him, panting. "You should really carry a fire extinguisher."
He webbed Herman's gauntlets to the floor, then swung his leg around and kicked him in the helmet.
THUNK.
Out cold.
"One down."
Suddenly, his spider-sense screamed.
He spun—
Too slow.
Scorpion's tail struck like lightning, slamming him across the chest and launching him through several shelves.
He hit the ground hard.
White-hot pain screamed through his ribs. He gasped for air.
"Okay," he groaned, coughing. "Definitely cracked now."
Scorpion loomed, stomping closer. "You're tough. But not tougher than me."
Nathan wiped blood from his lip and grinned. "Nah. Just better looking."
Scorpion lunged.
Nathan sidestepped, webbed his leg, yanked hard the villain stumbled.
Spider-Man jumped, landed behind him, and unleashed a flurry of punches to a weak seam in the armor.
One. Two. Three—
WHAM!
The tail swept sideways, hitting Nathan mid-combo.
He crashed into a wall.
Scorpion growled, stalking closer. "Persistent."
Nathan groaned. "You should… see me when I'm really annoyed."
He pushed himself up, vision blurred. Pain in every limb. But he wasn't done.
He glanced around.
Crane. Chains. Hooks. Beams.
He fired a web-line to the crane's hook and swung wide, dodging another tail jab.
Then—three shots.
One to Scorpion's tail.
One to a high beam.
One to the crane's chain lever.
YANK.
The hook dropped. The chain pulled tight.
Scorpion's tail was yanked backward. He stumbled.
"Come here, come here, come here—!"
Nathan dove in, grabbed Scorpion mid-stumble, and with one final heave, launched him into a metal support beam.
CRACK.
The beam shattered. The structure groaned.
Above them, a tower of crates teetered—
CRASH.
They collapsed, burying Scorpion in a mountain of steel and wood.
Silence.
Dust clouded the air. Nathan dropped to one knee, panting. Every joint screamed. His mask was ripped. Blood trickled down his chin.
But he stood.
He limped toward the wreckage and muttered, "Man… someone's gotta scorpion-proof this place."
From the corner, Shocker groaned again.
Nathan marched over and webbed him to the wall for good measure. "Stay down."
Sirens wailed in the distance.
Nathan turned, limping toward the exit. Victory tasted like blood and fire.
Later that night…
Norman Osborn stood in his darkened office, glaring at the TV. News footage played over and over: Spider-Man defeating two criminals now dubbed "Shocker" and "Scorpion."
"Spider-Man stopped two major attacks in a single night," the anchor said. "The masked vigilante remains unidentified."
Norman's eye twitched.
Then he snapped.
He hurled his glass across the room. It shattered.
Then the chair. Then a lamp.
"CURSE YOU, SPIDER-MAN!" he screamed.
Meanwhile…
Nathan landed on Peter's balcony. Battered. Sore. But alive.
He walked to the window and raised his fist to knock.
Then he paused.
Inside, Peter and MJ were on the couch.
Kissing.
Nathan blinked. "Well, okay then."
He backed up, rolled his eyes, and shot a web-line into the night. "Go get her, tiger."
Back home, Nathan climbed in through his window, collapsed face-first on his bed, and passed out.
The next morning
Sunlight streamed in.
Nathan woke with a groan, rolling onto his side.
He grabbed his phone. The bruises ached with every movement.
"Okay," he muttered. "Come on, Drake. Eight words. Just eight."
He stared at the message screen.
Then he typed:
Will you go to the prom with me?
He threw the phone across the bed and stared at it like it might explode.
It dinged.
He snatched it.
Ava: Sounds fun. See you Saturday :)
He stared.
Then blinked.
Then "She said yes… SHE SAID YES!"
Nathan leapt to his feet and started dancing around the room like a lunatic. A half-spin, a dab, a backflip attempt that ended in a painful flop.
Then he stopped.
"…I don't have a car."
Panic.
He grabbed his phone and called Harry.
"Harryyourrichcaniborrowacarbecauseavasaidyessotakinghertothedance?"
"…What?" said a woman's voice on the other end.
Nathan froze.
Looked at the screen.
"Oh no… Ms. Storm. Sorry. Wrong number."
Sue laughed. "I told you. It's Aunt Sue."
Nathan chuckled nervously. "Right, right. Aunt Sue."
"You have a date?"
"Yeah. Prom. Just asked her out."
"And you need a car?"
"Very much."
Sue turned and shouted, "Johnny! Nathan needs a car!"
Johnny Storm grabbed the phone.
"Well well well. The virgin wants to get laid."
Nathan groaned. "Go die in a lava pit."
Johnny laughed. "Come by tomorrow. Pick one."
"Thanks. And seriously fuck you."
He hung up, fell back into bed, and smiled at the ceiling.