Chapter Text
Cap 5: Evil does not die
During the night a group of criminals tries to break into a warehouse to steal the merchandise inside.
"These materials are worth a lot in Diamond City; as soon as we get them there we will have more money than everyone in this horrible city." the thief who was breaking in the warehouse door said to his companions.
"Yes, I know that. But we have to hurry before someone knows we're here." a frightened thief warned.
"Don't worry; I don't think anyone is going to stop us." another thief said to his partner, patting him on the shoulder.
"I don't think these scientists would mind if we took some of their stuff with us." the thief who was forcing the door said.
At that moment, a huge red and white light illuminated the criminals, who were frightened by the sight of it.
"Let me tell you something, man, if you steal you pay for it and the price is that I have to kick you and your friends in the ass." a silhouette said to the criminals as he watched them from above.
"Oh no, it's Spider-Man!" the leader of the criminals said completely surprised to see Spidey.
"What gave me away? The suit or my new Spider-Signal?" the hero asked sarcastically just before turning off his signal.
Spider-Man immediately pounced on the criminals and kicked the leader in the face.
"All right, who wants to be the first to get beaten up?" Spider-Man asked the robbers, who were frightened by his mere presence.
"Forget about the merchandise! Run or he'll catch us!" the leader of the robbers ordered his companions, but it was too late.
Spider-Man apprehended the thieves without much hassle and left the scene after leaving them tied to the wall.
"Heh, this thing looks amazing; I'm going to thank Noelle." Asta thought as he looked at the Spider-Signal Noelle had made for him.
Meanwhile with Nero, she was looking at the construction plans for the ZograTec building she had secretly taken during the day; she was studying them to see where they might be developing the liquid enhancer inside the spider 00 to see if she could steal a sample to analyze.
Nero is not sure why they were developing something so dangerous, but if this thing gave her spider-like abilities, she doesn't want to imagine what they could do with more knowledge of how the substance works, that thing could become a weapon of mass destruction that would not only threaten the city, but probably the world as well.
The only thing she could do now was to find a flaw in the design of the substance, although Nero had nothing to do with this, as it was very likely that no one knew of the existence of her powers, she felt she had a responsibility to do something, as she was aware of the danger of the substance still being in production.
"I'll need help if I want to do this... Maybe I should also find a way to contact this Spider-Man guy." Nero thought as she looked at the plan.
The next day, on the news, a reporter was in front of an arrest.
"I'm standing in front of the crime scene, a huge group of arms dealers have just been arrested by the police, all of them were wrapped in what looks like red threads so we must assume this is another stunt done by the city's favorite superhero, Spider-Man." the reporter said as the criminals were being taken to the police patrols behind her.
30 minutes ago
"Attention, spider at home!" the hero shouted at the arms dealers as he burst into the warehouse.
While Spider-Man was fighting the arms dealers, Noelle was taking pictures while hiding behind some boxes, fortunately no one noticed her.
"During the last five months since he made his debut, despite the fact that several people including the police do not agree with his methods and the false accusations given by the former judge, Damnatio Kira, Spider-Man has been going around the city helping everyone who needs his help and it seems that he has been gaining the trust of the citizens due to his heroic actions." the reporter told the audience as she approached to talk to the people around her.
1 hour ago
A robber was threatening a man with a gun.
"Now, either give me everything you've got or I'll put a hole in your forehead, your choice, you idiot!" the robber threatened.
"Third option, I beat you up and you leave this gentleman alone until the police come for you." Spider-Man said as he shined his Spider-Signal at the thief.
"Spider-Man! Please save me!" the frightened poor man pleaded with Spidey.
"Don't worry sir, I already did it." Spider-Man said with a nonchalant tone after he had wrapped the robber in his webs.
A man was about to fall off a building.
"My husband is going to die if nobody does anything! Please help him!" one woman said in desperation as she wept.
"Don't worry ma'am, your favorite superhero is here to fix the situation." Spider-Man said as he swung toward the man.
Spider-Man easily manages to save the man before he falls.
"Don't worry sir, you are safe." Spider-Man said to the man as he left him safely next to his wife and swung away from the scene.
2 hour ago
The hero swings through the city stopping criminals while Noelle was taking pictures of him.
"This is great Asta, your image will be known all over the world and eventually the criminals will also feel scared when they find out what you do." Noelle told Spider-Man as she took pictures of him.
"I just hope your new bosses do justice to my image, Noelle, the first newspaper we tried to sell your photos to turned out to be the only place where they publicly hate Spider-Man." Spider-Man said.
"I know it was a bad idea to give those photos to the Bugle, but I'm 100% sure that in the Paper we'll do better, Mr. Parker seemed to be a good guy." Noelle said as Asta went after her.
"I just hope this means that I am not going to stop no matter what, all criminals who decide to confront me will go behind bars and that includes the Magan." Spider-Man said as he grabbed Noelle by the waist to take her with him, that made her blush.
"W-well... I-I don't think that's going to be difficult for you, a-anyway, you've beaten super criminals, you're not going to have a hard time with some two-bit terrorists." Noelle said blushing as she hugged Spider-Man by the neck.
"Yes, you're right, at this point I think I'm already a first class superhero, in this moment nothing and no one can beat me." Spider-Man said as he swung next to Noelle.
"Also remember that I will give you half of whatever I get paid for the pictures, after all your mom and brother need the money." Noelle said.
"Add that to what Liebe and I earn at our new job, and I guess we'll have enough money for a while. Thanks Noelle, I don't know how to repay you honestly." Spider-Man said to Noelle.
"Nonsense, you already do too much keeping the city safe, it's the least I can do." Noelle said to Spider-Man with a smile.
Currently
"Thanks to Spider-Man, the crime rate has dropped considerably in recent times and the terrorist group that came to the city a few months ago, known as the Byakuya No Magan, has stopped its operations in many places and several of its members have been arrested, now a words from the public." the reporter continued as she approached a pair of boys, who were none other than Asta and Noelle.
"Excuse me, young people, what you think about Spider-Man?" the reporter asked Asta and Noelle, both of whom seemed nervous.
"Uh... I think the guy is super cool and all, but he could use a break every now and then, honestly." Asta said, noticeably tired.
"I think the same, I think we should not depend too much on Spider-Man, after all he is also a human like us." Noelle said as she and Asta left the scene.
"As you can see, the citizens have full confidence in Spider-Man and can go about their lives with peace of mind knowing that he is protecting them." the reporter glared at the camera before cutting the signal.
While all this was going on, Julius Novachrono was elsewhere meeting with other highly important people.
"So, this is the solution. Not only are we being attacked by terrorists and crime waves have increased considerably, but several mutants have left Heart to come here, our defense forces are inefficient to counteract this situation and our only real line of defense is a kid in red tights playing superhero." Augustus Clover XIII, the city's mayor said.
"Besides, Mr. Novachrono, your brothers have not finished the serum they promised us a year ago, if we had it now we would have a chance to defend ourselves." Morris Libardirt, the national defense leader said.
"If this thing were to be completed, it would be a worldwide catastrophe that would inevitably end in war. So, as I didn't want to be involved in any of that, I decided to abandon the project and not to continue helping my brothers in its creation." Julius explained firmly.
"Dr. Leto thought like you and looks where he ended up." Morris said as he mockingly tried to provoke Julius.
"We never talked about Dr. Leto; I thought I made that clear." Julius demanded.
"Emmm... In any case, the massive migration of mutants from Heart to Clover is because our containment forces were overwhelmed by the mutant rebels, for the protection of those who do not cause problems we sent them here since it is or was the safest place in the area while we finished the construction of the Sentinels to subdue the most dangerous mutants and prepared the Elysia area so that those who do no harm can be regrouped and can be in peace without the normal humans messing with" Loropechika, Heart's leader, explained the situation.
"But the Magan's went ahead and are now causing many disasters all over the city. Several citizens have already died by this point and they will start blaming the innocent mutants, this will end in a conflict where no one will come out well, besides the only one defending us at this time is a child of who knows how old who is dressed as an insect, which is almost as dangerous as they are." Morris said mockingly.
"We must begin to see this young 'hero' as a potential ally. Spider-Man may be an inexperienced kid, but he is very powerful, you saw what he did with that dragon mutant. He just needs a little practice." Julius said with great confidence and trust in Spider-Man.
"I see you have a lot of faith in this guy, Novachrono. But it does not detract from the fact that you have to be extremely careful with him." Morris said mockingly and pedantically to Julius.
Julius simply remained silent.
"I have faith that this boy knows what he is doing, our future is in his hands." Morris said sarcastically, since he didn't believe in the hero one bit.
A few hours later, Asta and Liebe were on their way home from work.
"Hey little brother, you were pretty good at work today, it seems like out of nowhere you got a thousand times stronger out of nowhere. You carried a lot of stuff pretty easily." Liebe said with much happiness, congratulating Asta.
"Things only I can do, Liebe, and if we add that to what Noelle and I will earn from the photos, we'll definitely are okay." Asta said with considerable satisfaction.
"What are they going to take pictures of? Buildings?" Liebe asked curiously.
"Anything they can pay us well for." the hero responded.
"That works for me; after all, the main thing is to help mom with whatever we can." Liebe said with relaxation.
"That's right, you'll see that she will be happy to see that we are not missing anything." Asta said very confidently.
While walking, Asta didn't notice a bump in the sidewalk and tripped and fell face first to the ground.
"Oh, shoot. Asta, are you okay?" Liebe asked as he approached Asta.
"Yeah, bro, it just hurt my face." Asta said while his face was still on the ground as he held up his thumb.
"The Amazing Spider-Man beaten by a bump, hehe, at least it wasn't Damny this time. Good thing no villain just saw me." Asta thought sheepishly.
"Hey, are you okay?" A female voice asked Asta.
"Of course, thank you very much, misssssssssssss..." Asta said before gawking at what he was seeing.
What Asta was looking at was a beautiful woman with black hair and blue eyes who had a mole on her face and was dressed as a nun.
"That's nice, I hope the fall didn't hurt." the woman said to Asta as she helped him up.
Asta just kept smiling and blushing like a fool while hearts were popping out at the sight of the woman.
Meanwhile with Noelle, she suddenly felt a tingling all over her body.
"Is this how Asta feels every time he senses danger?" Noelle thought fearfully.
"Hehehe…" Asta just laughed like a fool as he stood up.
"Uh, excuse me?" the woman asked in confusion.
"Uh... I meant... Thank you, miss." Asta said as he reacted.
"No problem, I'm glad you are well." the woman said kindly.
"How can it be a problem, if it made me meet you?" Asta said unconsciously with a smitten tone.
"Uh?" the woman asked confused.
"I meant... Yeah, sorry for the inconvenience." Asta said reactively.
Liebe just stared in confusion at the conversation.
"However... Brother, let's go." Asta said as he led Liebe away from the site.
"Well, goodbye, nun girl!" Liebe said, making Asta take him away faster.
A short time later, the brothers continued walking home, Asta still a little flushed from his encounter with the woman earlier.
"Are you OK, brother?" Liebe asked with slight doubt.
"Of course it is, Liebe, it was just a slight distraction." Asta responded with great confidence.
"By the way, you were kind of weirder out when you saw that girl." Liebe said, causing Asta to fidget.
"And by the way, Liebe, I think we need to find a way to get our money to mom without her getting suspicious." Asta said immediately to change the subject.
"Oh, that's right. If mom finds out we're working to help her with the bills she's going to be upset with us. I guess we'll have to give her the money on the sly." Liebe said thoughtfully.
"I think I can do something about it, just leave it in my hands." Asta said.
A few minutes later, Asta and Liebe arrived at their home and tried to look as unsuspicious as possible.
During the night, taking advantage of the fact that his mother was asleep, Asta moved along the walls and ceiling with his legs to sneak into her room and give her the money without her seeing him.
"Maybe Asta is not good enough for this... But Spider-Man is." Asta said to himself as he went back to his room.
Meanwhile at night, the Zogratis had made a surprising discovery that would have secured their future.
"Finally, after several months and according to what we have seen and heard. We have discovered the identity of Spider-Man." Zenon told his brothers firmly and coldly.
"According to several witnesses, every time Spider-Man appears, this young man in the image disappears and every time Spider-Man leaves, he appears again at an inexplicable speed." Vanica said with mischievously.
"In reality he is a boy named Asta Staria, who was bitten by the spider 00 when it had the ZT formula inside him and that is why he got his powers." Zenon told his brothers while showing a picture of Asta.
"We had better not tell Lucius yet that we have discovered his identity, or he is likely to interfere with our progress." Vanica suggested to her brothers.
"I hate to admit it, but you're right. Besides, thanks to young Staria we have been able to see the ZT formula at its best." Zenon said while watching a recording of how Asta was bitten by the spider 00.
"When the formula was mixed with the spider's venom, it caused a reaction that created an adverse effect in the boy's system, thus giving him the abilities of a spider." Dante explained mischievously.
"If the combination of the formula with the spider's venom gave the boy the abilities of a spider, if we combine it with our own blood and inject it, it will give us enhanced abilities." Vanica said, inferring what Dante wanted to do.
"So, I guess it's all settled then. Once our experiment is successful we will have to tell our brother what we have discovered, including the identity of young Staria." Zenon said as he drew three docis from the ZT formula.
"In the meantime, I am going to look for more information regarding the people close to the boy; they may be useful in case of an emergency." Vanica said as she smiled mischievously.
"Let them prepare the laboratory, today, we, the Zogratis, will make history." Dante said as he called a group of scientists to inject him and his brothers with the formula.
Soon, the evil Zogratis would gain a power beyond their comprehension that would make the city burn.
The next day, Spider-Man can be seen swinging through the city while carrying Noelle in his arms.
"Do you really think your new bosses won't mess with me? We don't need any more enemies than we already have." Spider-Man asked Noelle suspiciously as he carried her in his arms.
"Trust me, Spidey, I'm sure Mr. Parker and his friend will be happy to write nice things about you, you just worry about looking good in the pictures." Noelle said to Spider-Man as she hugged him.
"Well, you're the expert on that, Noelle. I'll try to find you some good stuff like... ehhh..." the hero said as he unsuccessfully searched the surrounding area for a crime.
"Leave me on the ground; it will be easier if we both search." Noelle told Spider-Man as a suggestion.
"As you say captain, just be careful." Spider-Man said to Noelle as he carefully lowered her to the ground.
The first thing Noelle saw was a man trying to force open a car, so she alerted Spider-Man to take care of him.
"Agh! What's going on?! Release me now, you humanoid insect!" the car thief angrily demanded of the hero.
"Don't worry; you'll be free in an hour, too bad the police will be here for you before then." Spider-Man said mockingly to the criminal as he walked away.
Noelle took advantage of the shot and snapped a photo of Spider-Man leaving after apprehending the thief.
Later, Spider-Man saw a thug threatening a man in an alley with a knife, so he went to intervene.
"Stay back, kid, or I'll be forced to put a hole in your stomach." the criminal said to Spidey while threatening him with the knife.
"You're kidding, right? I've fought bigger guys more dangerous than you; you're easy compared to them." Spider-Man said to the criminal as he shot his webbing at him to snatch the knife.
The next second, Spider-Man fired his webbing at the criminal again to bring him closer and give him a powerful punch in the face that left him defeated on the ground in pain, so he wrapped it around him to prevent him from escaping.
Noelle saw the perfect opportunity to take another photo, so she did.
Soon after, Noelle saw several men forcing a door, so she alerted Spider-Man to stop them.
"Excuse me, criminal gentlemen, but I don't think you are allowed to enter this place." Spidey said to the criminals as he appeared in front of them.
"It's the spider! Quick, kill him!" the leader of the robbers said to his subordinates, afraid to see the hero.
Spider-Man immediately hit the leader leaving him unconscious, then kicked two thieves at the same time making them fall to the ground, then one tries to shoot him with a gun, but the hero detects him and takes away his gun with his web and then hit him in the face to leave him defeated on the ground, finally there is only one thief who tries to escape but Spider-Man prevents him by shooting his web in his feet, making him stumble.
Noelle was attentive throughout the fight, so she made sure to take pictures of the hero's best moves.
"Sorry guys, you just fought a top superhero." Spider-Man said as he left the scene after pinning down his enemies.
At the end, Noelle walked by a shoe store, but we'll leave that for later.
"Okay, I won't deny that last one could have gone better, I hope no one misunderstands what happened there." Spider-Man said as he took Noelle away again.
"Don't worry, with your testimony we will make them understand your position about it, besides I think I already took enough pictures of you for the Paper." Noelle said sympathetically as she hugged the hero.
"Well, I don't think one more photo would hurt." Spider-Man said as he momentarily removed his mask while he and Noelle swayed.
Noelle took a selfie of Asta and her swinging through the city as they smiled.
"Not bad, do you have plans for later? I'm going to go deliver the photos to Paper later." Noelle told Asta cheerfully as she looked at the photo.
"I'm going to go to a certain place to see someone, I'm also going to check on my mom and brother, but if you want I can take you home first so you can prepare the photos." the hero said to Noelle as he put his mask back on.
"That would be great, thanks." Noelle told Spider-Man with a smile.
After a while of swinging and after he took off his Spider-Man costume, Asta dropped Noelle off at her house, through her bedroom window.
"Thanks for the ride, Asta; I hope it wasn't too much trouble." Noelle said happily.
"Not at all Noelle, rather... I'm the one who should be thanking you." Asta said as he rubbed the back of his neck with some embarrassment.
"Nonsense, I haven't done much for you." Noelle said a bit apologetically as she gestured with her hands.
"No, I mean it, during this last time you have done so much for me, keeping my secret, the Spider-Signal, that clever name for my pang, helping me get money, listening to me, encouraging me, while I haven't done much for you if I'm honest." Asta said with sincere gratitude to Noelle.
"Come on Asta, don't say that, you have helped me a lot since we are friends and now you are helping everyone in the city with your powers, the least I can do for you is to help you a little with the burden you have now." Noelle told Asta with a slight blush.
"That's true, but I still have two priorities besides protecting the city." Asta said in a lively tone.
"And what are those priorities?" Noelle asked with some curiosity.
"Protect my family and... Protect you, my most trusted ally, my most precious partner... My best friend." Asta to his dear friend with a firm and sincere tone.
At that moment, Noelle's heartfelt faster than ever, her face was hot and very flushed, she had never felt like this before, she had just confirmed that her love for Asta was genuine and sincere.
"Asta…" Noelle said as she approached the hero.
In that instant, Noelle embraced Asta, with all the love she had in her heart.
Asta didn't notice Noelle's love, but still enjoyed the hug, so he hugged her back.
Noelle summoned all the courage she had to try to kiss Asta on the lips, but just as she was about to kiss him... an unexpected guest appeared.
"Noelle, I'm home and... I think… I'm interrupting... something." Nozel said in confusion as he looked at Asta and Noelle.
Noelle noticed her older brother and also noticed that Asta was very close to her and he was hugging her waist, for which she blushed not because of her crush on Asta, but because of the embarrassment she felt at the moment.
For his part, the hero detected the danger approaching him; unfortunately he did not react in time.
"Ah… Ahhh… Kyaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Noelle shouted very flushed and full of embarrassment just before slapping Asta in the face which sent him flying off comically.
"O-ouch…" Asta barely managed to say as he lay on the ground, sore from the slap Noelle had just given him.
"I-It's not what it looks like, brother! He and I weren't doing anything weird! He only hugged me because I hugged him first and then...! Oh, how embarrassing!" Noelle said with too much embarrassment as she covered her face so that Asta and Nozel wouldn't see her blushing.
"I don't feel my face..." the hero said in extreme pain as he struggled to articulate his words.
"It is well... I think... I didn't expect to see you here, Asta." Nozel said while still confused by Noelle's attitude.
"Don't worry; I was already going somewhere else." Asta said as he got up from the floor and rubbed his face in pain.
"Yes, that, ehhh... Take care, Asta, and sorry for the blow..." Noelle said with an uncomfortable smile.
"I'll be fine, Noelle, don't worry... Staria, out." Asta said as he walked disoriented due to Noelle's slap.
The next second, Asta hit a wall and fell back to the ground, quickly got up and left, causing both Noelle and Nozel to drop a drop of embarrassment.
"I think you went a little overboard with your slap, Noelle." Nozel said bluntly.
"Yes, I agree with you, brother..." Noelle said as she covered her face again in embarrassment.
Meanwhile, Asta's pain had finally subsided.
"Agh... That jerk Noelle's brother had to show up and ruin everything like always, at least this time he didn't try to shoot me." Asta thought angrily as the pain left him.
Being honest with himself, Asta didn't like Nozel at all, not only because he leaves Noelle to her own devices with Solid and Nebra almost all the time, but also because he was against Spider-Man, I mean him, not to mention that he almost killed him when he shot him.
But still, Asta couldn't say that to Noelle, since she is very fond of Nozel and he didn't want to ruin his friendship with her just because of that, and it wouldn't be fair to her because, Noelle has always shown respect to his mother and brother.
The hero decided to stop thinking about how much he disliked Nozel and went to the nearest alley to put on his suit.
After a while of swinging, Spider-Man arrived at the city's maximum security prison, Ryker's Island.
Spider-Man was only there to make sure that his most recent enemy, Damnatio Kira, was still locked up, it would be a huge problem if he got out since, as you may recall, he knows the true face of the hero.
"Well, it looks like Damny is still in there; I hope he stays that way for at least a few more millennia." Spidey said to himself as he watched the prison from a safe distance.
Once he was sure that Damnatio was still locked up, Spider-Man swung back into his house.
But at that moment, Spidey saw something that caught his attention, a chubby man stalking a woman.
The man seemed to be preparing to attack the helpless woman who was cornered, but just as he was about to do something to her, Spider-Man attacked him by surprise and kicked him in the head while he was swinging.
"Attention fatty, I think you are making this lady uncomfortable." Spider-Man said to the man as he landed heroically in front of the woman.
"Agh... That hurt, you meddling fool." the man said with an angry smile as he looked at Spider-Man.
"Miss, get out of here. I'll take care of this oaf." Spider-Man said to the woman, who immediately heeded him and ran out of there.
"That beauty and I were going to spend some quality time together, insect, now you're going to pay for it by dying." the fat, burly man said to Spider-Man angrily.
"Yeah, whatever, the only thing I'm going to do is leave you tied up so the cops can arrest you, fatso." the hero said as he got into a fighting stance.
"You better stop calling me fat, disgusting insect, I'm Robero Ringert, but you can call me, The Toad!" the man said just before sticking his tongue out at Spider-Man.
"Asta tingle, that means... Danger!" the hero thought as he detected the danger approaching him.
Robero threw his long tongue at Spider-Man, but he dodged it and while in the air he propelled himself with his webs towards him to kick him in the face, but he dodged it.
"So, in addition to being a heavyweight fool you have a long tongue, huh? No wonder you're not so popular with the masses." Spider-Man said to his enemy as he tried to attack him again.
"You'd better shut up, you silly insect, so it will be more satisfying to kill you!" Robero told Spidey.
Spider-Man dodged Robero's attacks with great ease while shooting his webs at him to immobilize him, but even so, Robero did not give up and continued attacking him uselessly.
Spider-Man took the initiative this time and shot his webs into Robero's mouth to stop him from using his tongue to attack him, then began to hit his enemy several times until he managed to push him back too far.
"Tired already, long tongue? Shall I slow down a bit?" Spider-Man asked Robero mockingly, making him angry.
"Damn insect, I'm definitely going to kill you!" Robero said with too much fury as he tried to break Spider-Man's webs.
Without listening to Robero, Spidey continued hitting him several times until he knocked him to the ground, and finally to finish him off, the hero shot a lot of web in his mouth to disable his tongue, jumped and shot web to where Robero was to propel himself towards him and crush him to the ground, leaving him unconscious.
"And that's why you have to respect the ladies, especially in the presence of a superhero like me." Spider-Man said to his unconscious enemy as he tied him up and left him ready to be taken away by the police.
The surrounding people who had seen the fight were amazed and astonished at the hero's prowess; several of them looked at him with respect.
"Always remember this citizens, The Amazing Spider-Man will always look out for the safety of all of you and will always protect you from anyone who would want to harm you, don't forget that." the hero said to the spectators as he left the scene swinging in his red nets while the crowd cheered him on.
"You're the best, Spidey!" a thuggish-looking guy shouted to Spider-Man with much admiration.
"You are my idol!" a blond boy yelled at Spider-Man as he watched him swing.
As he walked away, Spidey saw people cheering for him and was moved by it.
"These people really love me, one more reason to keep them protected from any threat." the hero said to himself as he left for home.
"Stay tuned villains, because here he comes, the one and only Ultimate Spider-Man!" the hero declared bravely as he swayed and the crowd cheered.
Meanwhile, in the Byakuya No Magan guardhouse, Licht was watching various news reports, all talking about Spider-Man's recent exploits.
"Hmmm... I seem to have underestimated the protector of this city too much, he may only be a child, but he is very skilled and powerful." Licht said to one of his subordinates as he intently watched Spider-Man's recent fights.
"Agrrr... I still can't believe that bug could defeat Fana." the subordinate said as he looked at Spider-Man with fury and contempt.
"Not to mention that several of our divisions have been arrested thanks to him, if we let him continue to grow stronger, our plan to turn this city into our new nation will be thwarted." Licht said with genuine concern.
"Licht, please let me go fight that insect. I'm sure I can defeat it with ease." the subordinate said to Licht with determination.
"You will do it in due time, Vetto, but before you go after him we must study him a little more, we must hit him where it hurts the most if we want to finish him off." Licht said to his subordinate named Vetto, agreeing with him.
"Hey, Licht, you've seen the real face of that guy, haven't you? Then just threaten someone close to him and it's a done deal." Another man told Licht as he entered the room where he and Vetto were.
"I may know his face, Rhya, but I don't know his real name or where we can find him and thanks to his constant meddling we don't have enough resources to look for him." Licht said with some frustration.
"Don't worry about that, I can look for him and once we know his true identity, we'll finish him off." Rhya said confidently to Licht.
"That would be great, are you sure you can?" Licht said to Rhya with a confident smile.
"It will be a complete bummer, but, anything to help you in your goal." Rhya said to Licht in a somewhat lazy but determined tone.
"Well, I will continue to study him to find a weakness, Vetto, you command our men to take the city, we are not going to lose against that disguised vermin." Licht told his two subordinates.
"I will do so, Licht. Rhya, we trust you, don't let that bug get you too." Veto said to Rhya.
"Don't worry, big guy, that kid playing superhero has his days numbered." Rhya said to Vetto with much self-confidence.
The Byakuya No Magan would prepare to destroy Spider-Man.
Later with Noelle, she was organizing the photos she had taken of Asta so she could give them to her new bosses at the Paper.
"I hope these photos are okay for Mr. Parker's friend." Noelle thought as she organized a small stack of Spider-Man photos.
Shortly after Asta revealed to her that he was Spider-Man, Noelle began looking for a job as a photographer to spread the word about Spider-Man's exploits around city. After several rejections due to her lack of experience, she was finally hired by a man named Ben Parker as a photographer for the Paper, a new newspaper that had been founded a few months ago.
"I didn't know Asta could be so photogenic wearing tights." Noelle thought as she carefully analyzed her photos.
Ben was the co-founder of the Paper and its editor-in-chief, Noelle had impressed him and his nephew, Peter Parker, who was also a photographer like her, so he gave her a job as a photographer almost immediately, but she had yet to show her photography skills to JJ Jameson, Ben's partner and head of the Paper, to make it official.
Ben had told Noelle that JJ was a little too strict, but she was determined to get the job, so she went out of her way to take good pictures of Asta during her Spider-Man fights throughout the day so they would have no choice but to accept her on the job.
Although she would have to explain to Nozel why she took such a dangerous job as a photographer, but she was sure he would understand, she just didn't have to tell him anything related to Spider-Man.
"I think... I'd better keep this one, it's my favorite." Noelle thought happily as she held up a specific photo.
It was the photo she taken with Asta today as the two of them swung through the city.
After choosing her best Spider-Man photos, Noelle left her house to go secure her new job at the Paper.
Back to the hero, he had made it home, but apparently his mother and brother hadn't noticed that he hadn't been home for most of the day.
"Mom, is something wrong?" Asta asked Licita with concern.
"Nothing happens, Asta. It's just that work is quite exhausting these days." Licita said rather tiredly, apparently she was so tired that she had not even seen Asta.
"I think you should ask for a few days off, I don't want anything bad to happen to you because of fatigue." Asta suggested dubiously.
"No, Asta, I'm fine. I don't want you to worry about me, just worry about your stuff; I'll manage on my own." Licita said trying to look better than she really was since she didn't want to worry her son.
"Still, I can't help but worry about you, mom, I wish I could help you more." Asta said with a nervous tone.
"You already do too much for me by being a good son, the only thing I ask of you is that you don't cause problems, I don't want anything to happen to you either." Licita said in a sympathetic tone to put Asta's mind at ease.
"Well... If that works for you, I'll do it." Asta said resignedly, feeling quite helpless.
At that moment Liebe arrived to calm the situation.
"Hey, mom, little brother, why so glum? Cheer up; I have very good news for you." Liebe said in a strangely happy tone.
"What is it, Liebe?" Licita asked her eldest son curiously.
"I have obtained a scholarship at school for the next semester, that should lighten our expenses." Liebe said to Licita, surprising her and Asta.
"That's great, brother! That's just what we needed!" Asta said excited and happy.
"I'm proud of you, Liebe. Thank you for working so hard in school." Licita said happily for her son.
"All so you don't have to worry about money, mom." Liebe said with satisfaction.
"That's pretty sweet of you, Liebe, but as I told Asta, you don't need to worry about that." Licita said to Liebe gently.
"Mom, as your son I have to tell you that I care about you too, and I'm sure Asta feels the same way I do." Liebe told Licita firmly.
"That's right, my brother is right, mom." Asta said with determination.
"I thank you for your concern, children, but I am your mother and my duty is to always look out for you, not for you to look out for me, I would never forgive myself if I made you put me first in your lives before your personal goals." Licita said in the hope that Asta and Liebe understood.
Asta and Liebe were silent for a few moments when they heard Licita's words, feeling a little bad that she didn't want their support.
"Its okay, Mom... We understand you." Liebe said to Licita with some sadness.
"I don't want to be hard on you two, but as your mother you are my responsibility. Don't feel bad, I love you and you are good children." Licita said to her children in a sympathetic tone.
"Yes, mom... Thank you for that." Asta said a bit crestfallen.
"Although the world was amazed by Spider-Man's formidable power... Asta Staria will continue to be mocked." Asta thought in frustration as he saw that the support he was trying to give his mother was in vain in his eyes.
Meanwhile, at the same time with Lucius, he was still looking for a way to cure Yuno.
"It seems my brothers want to go behind my back. I don't care as long as it helps me to capture Spider-Man to perfect the ZT formula and start the Paladin project, although it seems that Julius is also planning something with him... Just wait a little longer Yuno, you will be the first of many to benefit." Lucius said to Yuno while Yuno was still locked in the tank with the green liquid.
Lucius Zogratis was also getting into action with his plans, the peace of the city had its days numbered.
Meanwhile, Noelle arrived at the Paper building and mentally prepared to talk to her new bosses.
The first person Noelle saw entering the building was an older man dressed in a very formal gray suit; he was one of her new bosses, Ben Parker.
"Noelle, good afternoon, it looks like you have made up your mind." Ben said to Noelle, shaking her hand.
"Yes, it will be a pleasure to work for you and Mr. Jameson, Mr. Parker." Noelle said smiling, trying to give Ben a good impression.
"Come on, girl, don't be so formal. Call me Ben." Ben said to Noelle as he walked with her toward JJ's office.
"Thank you for the offer, but I prefer to be as respectful as possible with you." Noelle said to Ben as she took a closer look inside the building, it was quite dilapidated.
"Don't worry, we are in the process of remodeling, the profits are not yet big enough for that, but we are going at a good pace." Ben explained to Noelle.
"Excuse me for asking, Mr. Parker, but how many people are currently working here?" Noelle asked while still looking inside the building.
"Well, currently it's just Peter, Jonah and me, with you it would be four." Ben said to Noelle.
"Are you sure you can afford someone else? I don't want to cause problems." Noelle asked Ben with some hesitation.
"Sure, the wife of a friend of Peter's is currently funding us, that will do for now." Ben told Noelle so she wouldn't worry.
"I guess it's okay then..." Noelle said to Ben with a little hesitation, though not as much as before.
"By the way, Noelle, why do you want the job? It's not normal for a girl your age to be looking for one." Ben asked Noelle with a smile.
"What happened is that I wanted people to be more supportive of Spider-Man who has been doing a lot for Clover, I also wanted them to know that there is someone protecting us because of everything that has happened with the Magan and the appearance of people with powers, besides... A friend of mine needs money and I want to support him a little bit with that." Noelle explained to Ben.
"It's understandable, in these difficult times people need something to pin their hopes on, and what better than a brave young man in red spandex?" Ben said to Noelle casually.
"That's what I thought, Mr. Parker, by the way, that little tree over there looks nice, it adds a little cheer to this place." Noelle said to Ben as she looked at a bonsai sitting on one of the tables in the place.
"Ah, that. Peter's wife sent it to us to spruce up the place a bit." Ben explained to Noelle as he too looked at the plant.
At that moment, another person arrived with them, it was a bearded adult man of about thirty-five years old, dressed in a brown trench coat, it was Ben's nephew, Peter Parker.
"Hey, Ben, and it looks like you're here too Noelle." Peter said as he entered the room with Ben and Noelle.
"Mr. Peter, it's good to see you here." Noelle said to Peter, waving.
"So you decided to accept our offer?" Peter asked Noelle as he joined the conversation.
"That's right; I hope Mr. Jameson will accept me as part of the business." Noelle replied to Peter with a bit of assurance.
"Jonah can be a bit of a curmudgeon, but he's a nice guy, I'm sure he'll give you the job." Peter said to Noelle quite confidently to his boss.
"Speak of the devil, we shouldn't keep Jonah waiting or he'll get irritated." Ben said to Noelle and Peter.
"That's right; no one wants to irritate their boss before they meet him. Good luck with the interview, Noelle." Peter said to Noelle with a smile.
"All right, thank you, Mr. Peter." Noelle said respectfully to Peter.
Soon after, in the meeting room, Noelle's other new boss, John Jonah Jameson (JJ to friends), was looking intently at the photos Noelle had taken.
"I love this. This is... This is great! Did you really take it, girl?" JJ told Noelle as he watched in awe as he looked at a photo she took of Spider-Man punching a man in the face.
"That's right, Mr. Jameson, I hope it's enough for you to take me on the job." Noelle said respectfully to JJ.
"How did you get this work of art?" JJ asked Noelle with genuine curiosity.
"Well, it was quite interesting... It was during a robbery. I have already given all the information I have on the subject to Mr. Parker." Noelle nervously rebelled to JJ.
"Could you tell us the story, Ben?" JJ asked his partner and friend.
"Okay, according to the police..." Ben began to count as he read the report Noelle had given him.
(Flashback)
Taran Keegan, a 34-year-old African-American woman, was leaving the Roder Sporting Goods store and was closely followed by an employee named Warren Hepburn.
It seems that Warren had seen Keegan pick up a pair of slippers, a pair of children's slippers to be exact, put them in her purse and quickly left the store.
Warren approached Keegan and asked her what was in her purse, but she tried to keep walking without stopping so Warren held her back and pushed her against the wall of the store, at which point Noelle arrived.
Noelle watched as Warren grabbed Keegan tightly and told him that he knew she had stolen the shoes and that he would call the police if she didn't return them.
"Don't touch me! Let go of me! I'm pregnant! I'm pregnant!" Keegan screamed desperately for someone to help her.
"Please, ma'am! Let's not make a scene out of this! Please, someone call the police!" Warren cried out for help.
"Girl, please! Help me get this pervert off my back! Please, I'm going to be a mother soon!" Keegan demanded of Noelle as she rubbed up against Warren.
"Don't listen to her, girl! She wants to steal some shoes! Better call the police to help me!" Warren pleaded with Noelle, who was watching the scene very uncomfortably.
Noelle considered the possibility that Keegan was telling the truth and Warren would be hurting her and her son, but there was also the possibility that she was involved and if she helped her she would let her escape.
"Listen, I think it's best to calm down and resolve this in a civilized ma..." Noelle said before being pushed back by a very tall man named Clarence Wilson.
"If you're not going to help her, don't get in the way, brat." Wilson said to Noelle as he rudely pushed her away.
Immediately afterward, Wilson grabbed Warren by the head like a rag doll and pulled him away from Keegan.
"You can't stop her, you don't have a badge." Wilson said to Warren as he grabbed his head too hard, as if he wanted to pop it off.
"L-let me go! I'm trying to..." Warren tried to tell Wilson, before being interrupted by the pain Wilson had just caused him by his attempt to crush his head.
"You. Don't. Have. A badge!" Wilson said sternly to Warren as he gripped him even tighter.
"Hey, don't do that, you're hurting him." Noelle told Wilson, concerned about what he was doing to Warren.
"I told you, get out of the way, silly girl!" Wilson told Noelle rudely as he continued to torture Warren.
"You can't come and touch me!" Keegan said in a very indignant manner.
"Just return the shoes!" Warren pleaded in pain as Wilson continued to punish him.
"I don't have your shoes, stupid!" Keegan said to Warren as he released her from the pain Wilson was causing him.
"Say you're sorry and I'll let you go." Wilson demanded Warren as he squeezed him even harder.
"Who are you? Her husband?" Warren asked Wilson as he desperately tried to break free from his grip.
"No, I'm just not going to let you mistreat this lady." Wilson said angrily to Warren as he squeezed him even tighter.
"Quite ironic what you say considering that you are treating me quite rudely, silly." Noelle thought feeling offended by Wilson.
"Tell this lady you're sorry or I'm going to smash your head in this second." Wilson threatened Warren in a rather serious tone.
"H-help! Help! Please! Help!" Warren begged for help as he began to cry from fear.
"You're lucky I don't stab you." Keegan said indignantly as she slowly left the scene.
That seemed very suspicious to Noelle and made her wary of Keegan.
"I think I know who to help here." Noelle thought as she approached Wilson.
"Hey, big guy." Noelle said to Wilson, causing him to turn to where she stood.
The next second, Noelle slapped Wilson very hard, causing him to stumble and release Warren.
"What the heck is wrong with you, you stupid brat?" Wilson asked Noelle in pain and anger.
"You were about to kill this innocent man just to impress that woman, so logically I had to stop you, you clumsy fool." Noelle said bravely as she approached Keegan.
"D-don't come near me, you stupid girl! I'm warning you!" Keegan said as she frantically searched for something from her purse.
Noelle realized too late that Keegan was carrying a knife and about to stab her, and Wilson, behind her, was about to hit her.
"This is what you get for being nosy and gossipy, brat!" Wilson yelled at Noelle, being seconds away from hitting her.
(Cue Marvel's Spider-Man main theme by John Paesano)
But just as both attackers went for Noelle, another person appeared from the sky, delivering a punch to Wilson's face that knocked him back and a kick to Keegan's face that sent her sprawling backwards and knocking her knife away.
It was nothing more nor less than... The Amazing Spider-Man.
The hero landed in front of Noelle and covered her with his hand as a sign of protection.
"Don't worry, Miss, I'll take care of them from now on." Spider-Man said to Noelle as he stood in front of her to protect her.
Noelle's eyes lit up with wonder and awe at the imposing figure of Spider-Man rising up in front of her, so she quickly pulled out her camera and snapped a picture of him attacking Wilson.
"What the heck...? Agh!" Wilson said before being punched in the face again by Spidey.
Immediately after, Spider-Man shot his webbing at Wilson so he couldn't escape and launched himself at Keegan.
"D-don't come near me freak! Or I'll kill you! I'm serious!" Keegan yelled at Spider-Man as she threatened him with her knife and tried to flee the scene in desperation.
Immediately after, Spider-Man easily removed Keegan's knife with his web and immediately kicked her in the back of the head to render her unconscious and tied her in his web to prevent her from escaping.
After that, Spidey approached Wilson to talk to him.
"You know, dude, I don't judge other people's tastes, if you like criminals like that crazy lady over there, that's understandable, but me, I prefer people like this lady here, who no matter the danger, do what's right." Spider-Man said to Wilson as he looked at Noelle with admiration.
Noelle couldn't help but blush at what Spider-Man had just told her.
Immediately after, the hero knocked Wilson out with a hard headbutt, reached into Keegan's bag and pulled out a pair of white kid's sneakers.
"Hey, mister, I think this is yours." Spider-Man said to Warren as he tossed the shoes back to him.
"Thank you very much, especially to you, Miss." Warren said to Spider-Man and Noelle as he returned to the tent in tears of joy.
"It was nothing; I just did what anyone would do, just like Spidey." Noelle said while smiling with her head held high.
"So, miss, would you like a ride?" Spider-Man asked Noelle as he held out his hand.
"It will be a pleasure, Mr. first-class superhero." Noelle said to Spider-Man as she took his hand.
Immediately after, Spider-Man grabbed Noelle by the waist and carried her away swinging.
(Stop Music)
(End of flashback)
Back in the present, Noelle was blushing and grinning like a fool while hearts were in her eyes and floating around her as she thought about Spider-Man, or to be more precise, Asta.
"Asta is so cool... I need to be with him right now..." Noelle thought as she remained lost in her crush on Asta.
"Noelle? Are you okay? You started smiling in a scary way just as Ben mentioned Spider-Man." Peter said to Noelle with genuine concern.
"What? I mean... Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you for asking, Mr. Peter." Noelle replied to Peter a little embarrassed as she snapped back to reality.
"Anyway, that's pretty much what happened, Ms. Keegan is currently under arrest for robbery and Mr. Wilson for aggravated assault. I'm glad you got out of there, girl." Ben said as he finished recounting Noelle's report.
"Excellent! Let's put the model on the front page! The headline will be: Spider-Man attacks a mugger in treachery!" JJ said with very obvious enthusiasm.
"Yes...! Wait... What?" Noelle said rather confused.
"That's right, young lady! I want this published as soon as possible. Ben, Peter! We have a lot to do." JJ told everyone with too much enthusiasm.
"But it wasn't exactly like that..." Noelle said to JJ in a flustered manner.
"In addition, there is one more testimony." Ben said to JJ as he pulled out one last piece of paper.
"One more testimony? What does it say?" JJ asked Ben in disbelief.
"Let me see..." Ben said as he began to read the latest testimony.
"I was about ten floors above where the action was taking place, I heard the woman screaming and the store clerk calling for help, but even though I knew there was a good chance that anything I did could be misinterpreted just because I was wearing this mask I decided to take a chance." Noelle listened to Asta's voice as Ben read the testimony.
"Yes, I know very well that society can be cruel to celebrities, so much so that even our most beloved leaders and celebrities are called into question for anything we do, but I want to use this power that destiny gave me to help my people, that's why I wear the mask in the first place, to prevent those I love from being in danger just because they are related with me." Spider-Man said as he swung across the city.
"I admit it, I don't know what to do all the time, I don't think there is a manual to be a superhero or something like that, that's why I think I made a mistake, I hit that guy who was attacking the store clerk, but he wanted to do the same as me, he wanted to help someone, the bad thing is that who he wanted to help was that woman who was stealing, who by the way was not pregnant, luckily I was able to stop her, but I ended up hurting him in the process." Asta explained as he removed his mask and began to look at the horizon.
"I do not expect you to accept or understand my actions, but my reasons, now I have many people to worry about, people who have great expectations of me, even if they do not know it themselves, so I cannot afford to do nothing, even if there are those who do not accept me, even if there are those who hate me, I will always try to do the right thing, I will continue to help, I hope that with this testimony you can come to understand what I am trying to tell you." Ben said finishing reading the hero's statement.
JJ thought for a few moments, but finally made a decision.
"Alright, I guess I can think of another title for the front page. As for you, Silva, you're a silly brat, but you've got guts, that's something a lot of people don't have these days and you're fully committed to the job from what I can hear. Congratulations, kiddo, the job is yours." JJ said to Noelle as he shook her hand.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Jameson, I promise I will not disappoint you." Noelle said happily to JJ.
"Congratulations, Noelle, welcome officially to the Paper." Ben told Noelle with genuine joy for her.
"And you, Peter, print this! It's art!" JJ said to Peter as he handed him Noelle's picture.
"As you say, boss." Peter replied with enthusiasm.
For her part, Noelle allowed herself to smile with happiness and pride at having been accepted into her new job, but neither she nor Asta knew that this happiness was about to come to an end.
(Post credits scene)
Asta was still a little sad in his room, as he thought about how useless he felt, until he received a text message from Noelle.
Noelle: I made it, we're officially in.
Asta couldn't help but feel very happy for Noelle.
Asta: Very well done Noelle, congratulations, thank you so much for all you do.
Noelle: Don't worry, Bakasta, I'll always have your back.
Asta immediately after talking to Noelle he felt wonderful, but what he didn't know was that someone else was watching his house from afar.