CHAPTER 4. SCORPION

(Damien’s POV)

The restaurant I picked for a chicken burger with crispy, golden... was what I happened to refer to as ‘My Joint’ because of it’s almost exclusive nature and uncrowded-ness.

Burrowed between towering buildings in the 47th avenue, it was the perfect place for me to savor every bite without feeling judged by anyone, including myself.

The temperature inside was at just the right degree - not too warm nor cold, and the atmosphere was cooked to perfection.

And my order was nothing short of my expectations as I nearly drooled over the contents laid out before me. Without waiting a second longer, I dived in, forsaking all and any table manners I had ever cultivated. Luckily, the restaurant allowed for it.

“Mmmhhh..” The feeling of the golden fries in my mouth mixing with the chicken burger warmed my soul. The chicken nugget that followed after only made the experience more ethereal, and washing it down with the milk shake felt like I was spicing things up.

With every bite, it felt as if a gentle breeze was blowing over my face and ruffling my hair such that I would close my eyes to fully immerse myself in the experience.

“I don’t know why this feels so good, but I’m loving it.” I couldn’t help but comment on the experience that felt both cultivated and foreign at the same time.

However, my meal was not going to last forever, and after more mindful bites, a distraction bred in the air. First, it started with my spider sense, and then the sounds of screeching cars, and civilian screams from the streets.

The atmosphere in the restaurant hardly permitted for outside distractions, but I happened to have heightened senses. Although the meal I was enjoying was excellent, something more exciting yet serious seemed to be calling me.

“Uhm, excuse me.” I called out to pay my tab, but the waiter appeared distracted. After a few more attempts to get his attention, my patience wore thin.

Eager to find out what was happening outside, I hurried over to the waiter, handing him my debit card.

"Don't forget to tip yourself," I added, quickly making my way out of the restaurant.

"Note to self: Stop letting adrenaline drive my life decisions," I nearly regretted handing over my debit card, but only for a moment.

Seeing the unfolding scene outside swept away all my worries.

At the source of the commotion, dust was swirling above the ground with a mixture of smoke and cars, as the cars hooted at the top of their lungs in plea of what was being done to them.

You didn’t need a keen eye to spot the white lines pulling someone, in a blue and red, attire around the smoke as they navigated the tumult that seemed to be focused on harming them.

“Spider-man vs..” It wasn’t that hard to make out the modified freak causing most of the mayhem. “Scorpion.”

“Time to suit up!” It had been my first day in all of this, but I was more than eager to join in the fray and show some of those skills I had discovered while swinging around Queens for hours.

Incapable of holding my anticipation any longer, I put my black mask that rose up to my nose back on, tightened my hoodie and shot lucky webs to pull me up to the skies and on top of the buildings.

From the top, I could make out the figures more clearly. Scorpion was holding some sort of high-profile looking briefcase, and spiderman seemed to have his eye on taking it.

From what I could gather, it must have had something really life threatening for it to come to this.

“How hard is it for someone to perform a honest business transaction without getting in trouble.” I joked while jumping into the fret, knowing that Scorpion must have obviously stolen the briefcase.

“Oh come on Scorpie. We have been over this already.” I overheard Spider-man’s wit as he air-crouched higher to evade a cast vehicle.

Flipping while at it, he attached his webs to it and pulled it back to hurl it back to its source.

“A luxury sedan? This will not board well with my reputation.” He sounded a bit freaked out by what he was doing, but it was damn impressive how calculative he had been to predict Scorpion’s dodge. The car smashed on the villain, obscuring his vision.

“You’ll pay for this, bug!” Scorpion yell was strained and tinged with exhaustion, and his dullness obscured him from noticing something more damning hurtling his way.

“You don’t say.” I came in with a swing towards an unseeing Scorpion. Tensing my web line and bending my knees, I put in as much strength as I could to smashing Scorpion’s head with my feet.

Inexperienced, I missed a direct hit at Scorpion’s face, but got the jaw right, causing Scorpion to spin a bit, without falling to the ground.

Scorpion’s reflexes, as he struggled to recompose himself, seemed strained, and I reasoned that he must have been exhausted.

“They must have been fighting for a while.” I thought as I shot two webs on Scorpion’s sides and used them to pull my knees to his chest area for a more accurate and powerful blow.

“Poooww!” Scorpion’s body crashing on the tarmac had a resounding effect that it made him lose grip on the briefcase.

The briefcase darted on the ground for a bit before opening wide to reveal a red gem inside, the size and shape of a standard, rectangular ice cream.

I was about to go for the briefcase when spiderman webbed it and snatched it, before quickly and rapidly webbing up Scorpion to a post.

Approaching me, he noted. “I had it handled, but it’s good to see another spider-guy.” Spiderman said. “You are a spider-guy, right?”

I nodded in acknowledgment as I tried to process just how unique the moment was: being addressed by spider-man with a genuine level of curiosity.

“I’m spiderman.” He pointed as he introduced himself. “I was bitten by a radioactive spider--”

“Gah... I will clear this bug infestation if its the last thing-.” Scorpion had stirred and was ranting threats, but spiderman closed his mouth with a web, leaving his remaining words to come out as muffles.

However, that wasn’t enough to keep him quiet, as his suit dissolved Spider-man’s strong webbing.

“That’s new.” Spiderman noted genuinely.

“Give me the crystal you pesky bug!” Scorpion was lunging at us with speed, causing both our spider-sense to go haywire with the danger alarm.

“Scorpion guy looks well acquainted with your webs.” I observed as I snatched a quick web line to the side to evade. “How long have you been doing this?”

“A year and half months?” Either spiderman wasn’t sure, or he was second guessing telling me. However, our combo as we both swung and rammed Scorpion’s sides with our feet at the same time felt satisfactory.

“Awesome. It’s as if you read my mind, spider-guy.” Spiderman said as we detached from an incensed Scorpion.

“I hate for that to stick so, I’m gonna pick a name off the top of my head for you to use.” I said. “I’m thinking, Lucky Spider.”

“Lucky Spider. Well, that’s a uniquely great name.” Spiderman approved, despite Scorpion’s intense focus on damaging him. “Is it because of your gold-colored webs?”

“It’s more about how they work that makes the name.” I was more liberated from Scorpion’s attacks, and I took it as an opportunity to demonstrate how they worked.

I was pretty sure that spiderman would have loved to know how I swung from nothing but air and revolved around a preoccupied scorpion while pulling him up to suspend him in the air, but he was otherwise engaged with keeping the briefcase safe.

“Bet you regret paying your full attention to only one of us.” I taunted the Scorpion as he struggled to free himself.

“That’s also new.” Spiderman observed as he came down the building he had crawled to, to protect the briefcase.

“What’s the meaning of this!” Scorpion rebelled, but the webs kept him in his place. “I should be able to get out of this.”

“What? Your chemicals not working to dissolve them quicker?” I mocked Scorpion with a chuckle.

“Yeah, I’ve been wondering how he made that happen.” Spiderman said. “He’s not smart enough to conjure something so effective.”

“Just guessing, but my gut says Doctor Octopus has everything to do with it.” I hinted, although I wasn’t sure about the timeline.

“Been thinking the same thing.” The name and suggestion coincided with Spiderman’s though.

“I’ll get you for this!” Scorpion threatened as a blue chemical fumed from his blue suit. “None of you bugs can stop me. I am Gargan-”

“Who’s the bug? Us or the scorpion caught in a spider’s web?” I interrupted Scorpion, while trying to match spider-man’s webs.

“Nice one.” Spiderman approved. “But what are your webs made of? Scorpion’s chemicals don’t seem to be working on them.”

“Told you they were lucky webs.” I replied coolly.

“Are they synthesized by lab chemicals or naturally augmented from your web fluid? I’ve been dying to ask.” Spiderman quickly smuggled the question to the conversation as the source of the sirens in the distance came to view.

“I was bitten by a suspicious-looking spider that I don’t believe even science can explain.” I replied with a cliche. “Gold-colored.”

“You have a really good grasp of your abilities though.” Spiderman noted as he shot a web to pull himself up. Scorpion was nabbed, and spiderman had a crystal to return.

As he described, while beckoning for me to follow him, the cops could take care of the scorpion’s prison-escape details. I didn’t have it in me to decline a swing-along with the man who practically invented the art, and I found it to be enjoyable.

“And you can also swing in the air. How lucky.” The jealousy in spiderman’s words wasn’t so subtle. “Very useful while fighting in a desert. And believe me, that happens.”

“So, what’s the crystal Scorpion was after?” I asked.

“Some museum artifact that’s nearly useless.” Spiderman mentioned.

“Doctor Octopus isn’t dumb to waste his resources retrieving a piece of junk.” I pointed out.

“Except, he just discovered his chemical composition can dissolve my webs at a faster rate, from wherever he was watching.” Spiderman said with a hint of circumspection. “I don’t think it was a waste of resources for him.”

Spiderman’s explanation made sense, and I remained quiet while digesting the details.

“So, are there more spider-guys like you?” I finally got around to asking. “You know, like one big happy spider-fam?”

“Haha. But I’m beginning to think there might be more spider-people than I know.” Spiderman speculated. “But the ones I do know, they are cool to hung around.”

Good. I had gotten the information I needed to understand a bit about the timeline. I wasn’t experiencing spiderman’s early days.

After swinging for a bit longer, spiderman’s phone buzzed and he said he had to ru- swing. Our actual identities remained a secret through out, but I was glad that I had spent some time with the main man.

However, despite know his real name to be Peter Parker, I was curious to know which famous face was underneath the mask.

We patted ways in great terms, with spiderman saying that he was looking forward to seeing more of the Lucky Spider.