Issue 6: Rumble in Hell's Kitchen Part I

Peter smiled as he watched Sue read through the formula, she then took a few samples of the material from the broken cement, moved to her lab, and placed it under a microscope. After concluding her findings, she came back out to see Peter getting along with Johnny.

"So, you're a fan of cars too?" Johnny shouted as Peter shook his head.

"Well, I like engineering, and engines are always fun. I haven't had time to get my driving permit, but my first car has got to be...amazing!" Peter said while looking over one of Johnny's pet projects.

"I get what you mean when I look at an engine, I think how can I make it move faster? Can I make it lighter without comprising the structure, stability, or engine performance?"

Peter laughed and said, "Funny! When I think about an engine, I'm thinking about how to make it fly."

Peter then thought of Lola; Shield Agent Phil Coulson's L.O.L.A. (Levitating Over Land Automobile)

"Hmm, 'o' sweet, Lola," Peter thought to himself.

If Peter Parker was going own any car, it should at least fly.

Johnny laughed as he patted Peter on the back before saying, "Now that'll be the day!"

Peter laughed and replied with a knowing smile, "You have no idea."

Ben also started to get in on the conversation, it appeared that they all shared a common interest in engineering, the three of them chatted for some time before Reed appeared next to Sue looking rather exhausted.

Mr. Fantastic had been exploring the Negative Zone and looking for new resources for months now. Recently, he managed to find a few good materials to study, but most of the time was spent wasted. When he looked over to see Peter making the two of his closest friends laugh, Richard leaned in close to Sue and asked, "Who's the kid?"

Sue smiled and gave her husband a kiss before she looked back and handed him Peter's Papers. Reed grabbed the documents and started reading over them, as his eyes scrolled down the content, they widened in surprise as he pieced together Peter's formula.

"This is amazing Sue! It even has usage in space, it has so many applications," Richard shouted with stars in his eyes.

"Yeah, that boy is the one who made it. He wants us to patent the material for him. His name is Peter Parker," Sue said holding half her arm around Reed.

"You don't say?" Richard looked over the cost of making the adhesive and almost choked, "Sue do you know what this means?"

Sue nodded her head and smiled as she replied, "It means we can finally make a steady source of income."

Reed walked up to Peter and smiled before saying, "It's a pleasure to meet another up-and-coming scientist. The work you've asked us to patent is revolutionary, and I can promise that we will only take 10% of the funds for endorsing the product."

"Richard! At least fight for twenty percent!" Sue complained.

"Nonsense! This adhesive has countless uses, it can be used to help support buildings, build lightweight plastics, concrete filling, surgical applications, construction materials outer space and underwater environments, over the counter super glue, and can even be made into a fabric. Ten percent is plenty."

Johnny counted up the money in his head, "Whoa, little kid's gonna make us some money!"

"Hey, I'm sixteen and a few months from turning 17! You're only a year older than me, fire farter," Peter joked as he turned to Richard and shook his hand.

"I will roast you like a shishkabob," Johnny declared while grinding his teeth.

Ben laughed and slapped Johnny in the back as he said, "That's a good one! Do you really fart fire when you flame up?"

Peter chuckled before he turned his attention back to Mr. Fantastic, "It's an honor Reed, I follow all of your work. Your most recent review on folding space inside those crystals you discovered has me very interested! I've been mulling over the idea if there were any commercial uses for it. It's a rock of pure spatial energy, what if you cut them and stabilized the spatial environment by surrounding in a magnetic field. That way you can control the empty space through the magnetic field with a machine, and if my calculations are correct, a ring-sized piece of the spatial crystals could create a hammerspace that can fit up to a little over 300 meters of materials. I was also wondering if it had any applications for CPU enhancements and Data storage as well. If you could supply the power needed to a motherboard without needing power routers or circuits, you could place them directly where they're needed and you don't have to worry about over-heating," Peter couldn't help but prattle on.

"This boy is a godsend. Finally, I can keep up with all of our expenses!" Sue thought as she started to cry and held herself back from hugging Peter.

Reed had a blank look on his face as the wheels in his head started turning.

Seeing the look on his face, Peter scratched his head and said, "Sorry, I sort of geeked out there."

Reed started laughing before he said, "That's no reason to be sorry, Mr.Parker. Minds like yours are quite hard to find these days! The idea I had in mind for the Temporal Crystals...well, let's just say it was far less lucrative than your idea."

"Were you thinking of some massive transdimensional storage facility, I admit that they could be used in this manner, but you could only sell it to high-ranking government officials and personal. I admit they might be useful for making farming space for agriculture and wildlife preservation, but those sound more like charity cases. If you focus on smaller pocket spaces, then you can make more money by making it more accessible to everyday people," Peter thought out loud again.

Placing his hand on his chin and remembering the prison Reed once built, Peter couldn't help but sigh at how badly that went before he said, "Maybe making safe labs for certain companies so their more dangerous experiments don't destroy everything or affect the environment. Since the crystals have their own space and reality, any damage they cause would be localized to the crystal's subspace only. Any toxic waste, smog, or chemicals could be cleaned out by dissipating the materials into void space. Can you imagine how easy it will be to transport large quantities to waste in these sub-dimensions? They hardly weigh a thing!"

"This boy's thought process is a gold mine!" The invisible woman grinned.

Reed looked at his wife with a jealous stare. 

"Honey, you're brilliant, but your inventions just don't sell," Sue said with dollar signs in her eyes.

Reed looked shocked as Sue and the rest dropped their jaws, "Did Reed get out Reed-ed?" Johnny shouted in disbelief.

Peter shook his hands in front of him in a defensive manner before he said, "No I haven't figured out how to make a hammerspace, that was all Richard, but from reading Reed's notes I could certainly figure out what direction it was going. Doctor Reed was thinking of how to save the world's biggest problems with this stuff, I just figured out a few different ways the technology could be applied."

Ben patted Peter on the back and said, "You should come around more often kid! It's not every day that you get to see a look of surprise on this Know-It-All's face."

Peter laughed and held his hand out to Reed, "For the Patent your company can claim 25% of the profit. I offered a similar deal to Tony for Military defensive products."

Peter then pulled out the formula and handed it over before he said, "This is a Kevlar-like material that's 50 times stronger than Kevlar and has the same flexibility as silk. Since Tony's sources tend to lead towards defense contracts and public security, so you can't sell these mixtures for those products."

Reed looked over the formula and smiled before saying, "This is pretty good, I've been thinking, for us to wear just Unstable Molecules was a bad idea, what if they were somehow disabled by something in the middle of combat, we wouldn't have anything left to protect us."

"And we'd be naked too!" Johnny shouted in horror.

Reed shook Peter's hand and said, "We have a deal! Say, Mr. Parker, would you like a job?"

Peter shyly rubbed the back of his head and said "Actually, I'm still in high school, the reason I'm selling this stuff right now, is because I need money, or at least a scholarship to get into a good college. So how much will I get for the first check?"

Reed smiled and was reminded of a younger version of himself before he answered, "With what you brought here, I can think of many contracts I can draw up for multiple companies. So, I'd estimate around 50,000 for the first check, minus our 25% of course. Of course, that number will increase once word spreads around. Almost everything these days has some form of use for adhesives, so it's only a matter of time before we corner the market."

Peter smiled and said, "I look forward to doing more business in the future. Well, it's starting to get late now, and my family should be getting worried."

Sue giggled at Peter's antics, Ben liked anyone who made fun of Johnny, Richard saw big things for Peter's future, and Johnny asked for Peter's cell phone number.

"Let's hang out some time Pete, I show you my automobile workshop. I have tons of ideas!" Johnny said as they exchanged phone numbers.

Peter smiled and waved as the elevator door closed and said, "Sure thing, Johnny. It was an honor meeting you all."

After walking away from the Baxter Building, he suited up and started webbing his way back home, along the way he saw a few muggers and purse-snatchers, but they were dealt with rather easily with a venom blast that could knock a full-grown man out for around half an hour, long enough for the cops to get there and arrest them.

Peter wanted to wait before his webbing formula became commonplace before he started wrapping up bad guys. That way, even if someone inspects his webbing, they can't trace it back to him because it's available for anyone to purchase.

Peter landed on the roof overlooking the New York square, and thought, "Odd, I have seen any drug pushers, or any of Kingpin's lackeys lately. Is that because Tony's still around?"

Peter called up MJ and said, "Can you ditch Liz? I think we got a case. You know those drug dealers we've been smacking around for practice? I haven't seen any of them around lately. Have you noticed anything happening lately?"

MJ, who was on the other side of the conversation, excused herself from her kitchen table. When she made it to her room, she locked the door behind her and sat on her bed. MJ then pulled up her web browser before she asked, "Peter, haven't you seen the news?"

"Been busy today babe. What's up?" Peter asked with a curious tone in his voice.

MJ sent him a link in a text. After clicking on it an article showing a blurred picture of a man in red armor, standing over a beat down Kingpin, and the words, "Red Devil of Hell's Kitchen stops drug lord Kingpin."

"Matt! Matt Murdock?!" Peter shouted out loud.

When MJ heard him shout, she pulled the phone away from her ear before she whispered back, "Wait, you know this guy?"

Peter sighed, "Look just suit up and come meet me at Hell's Kitchen."

Peter hung up and thought of all the innocent people that were killed after Kingpin went away, "I guess this means the Punisher's coming to town."

Of all the first heroes to meet, it had to be the one he was most conflicted about. Peter swung to a building at the highest point in Hell's Kitchen, and while waiting for MJ to show up, he stared down at the streets and rooftops, looking for Daredevil.

Seeing a few muggings going on Peter quickly knocked them out using his Venom Blast without anyone seeing him and called the cops. After doing this a couple more times, Peter managed to get ahold of some information by holding up a thug by his feet over a rooftop while thinking, "It worked for Batman."

After a few minutes of Spider-Man threatening the information out of him, Peter discovered that the Irish mob was meeting up tomorrow to discuss taking over Kingpins turf, Peter knocked the guy out and put him on the ground with his unconscious allies.

As he exposed any firearms or drugs they were carrying, MJ finally showed up.

"Hey, babe, ready for some action. It's gonna be dangerous, tonight's weather forecast, guns and thugs will definitely be present, and it may possibly rain bullets," Peter said cracking his fist.

MJ leaned her chest against him and gave him a kiss over her mask before saying, "Let's go get'em, Tiger! I have a good feeling about tonight!"

Peter and MJ swung until the stood over an apartment that is a high-ceilinged bachelor pad loft. After a few minutes of searching the net, Peter easily found Matt's apartment. It was also the only building with an isolation tank that could be seen from the patio.

Peter pointed to MJ and said, "Wait for me here, I need to talk to Matt."

After climbing down the glass, slide-open door, Peter smiled as he took out a tiny but powerful magnet and slowly lifted the lock. After crawling inside, he made his way to the center of the living room and made a quick web-line to climb down without making a noise.

However, the release of the C02 from the web-shooter woke Matt up. The moment Peter's feet touched the floor he felt his Spidey Sense blaring inside his head and dodged at cane that was being swung at his head.

Jumping onto Matt's ceiling, Peter placed his hands up and said, "Easy Matt, I need your help."

Matt didn't listen to Peter's plea as he jumped off his couch and reached for Spider-Man's head.

Peter rolled back and placed his whole body against the ceiling like he was laying down, "Please stop, your embarrassing yourself, Dare Devil!"

Matt stood still, "How did you know?"

Peter dropped down and said, "Come on take a look at me, I know you can see." Peter clapped his hands in front of his face.

"You're a kid!" Matt shouted in surprise.

Peter nodded his head, "Not a kid. I'm a teenager, a teenager who could stomp you in any fight by the way! Now, are you gonna calm down and listen to me?!"

"You have one minute," Matt said as he began tapping his forearm to count the seconds.

Peter stood up on the roof and said, "I need your help! You did a good job of taking down the Kingpin, but you put away the big kahuna, and now the floodgates are open for every crook, thug, and gangster to take his place. This is no time to be celebrating and taking a break. You just created the biggest power vacuum in New York!"

Matt was shocked when he slapped his head in shame, he looked over to the corner of the room and then said, "Are you going to tell your friend to stop aiming whatever is on her wrist at me?"

MJ's jaw dropped as she stepped out of the shadows and asked, "How did he know where I was?"

Peter chuckled before he answered, "Because Matt isn't completely blind. You see what you hear, right? Like echolocation or sonar. Brother Shang could do it too by manipulating his Chi into a large enough area."

"Wait! Shang Chi!" Matt had heard of the master of martial arts before, he had even met him once as a lawyer.

Shang Chi roughed up a guy trying to rob a convenience store and got in trouble with immigration, to help him Matt thought him how to read and write English and helped him take the citizenship test before his trial came up.

Once Shang Chi was an American Citizen, Matt just showed them the papers and the whole debacle came to an abrupt end.

Peter nodded his head before he hopped off the roof and said, "Yep! Shang Chi taught us to fight."

MJ circled around him and said, "I still can't believe this guy brought down the Kingpin!"

"Sorry if I wasn't what you pictured. How did you find out about that?" Matt asked in response.

"Sorry, that's a secret, and besides it's not that hard to figure out. Over half of the cases you take on end up having some mobsters put away the next morning or put in the hospital the night before. Did I mention I'm a damn good detective?" Peter said gloating a bit.

"What did you hack my records at city hall?" Matt asked frowning, Peter just whistled in response,

"Sorry Matt, I don't kiss and tell!" Peter shot back holding up finger guns.

Peter then sat on his couch and leaned back while pointing his head at the ceiling, "Normally I'd throw in a blind joke like 'Man, what do you do for downtime stare at the ceiling?' but we don't have time for that."

"You just said the joke, babe. Clearly you had the time," MJ said as she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Ahem! Right now is the most opportune time to put away a bunch of really bad people. The big boss is gone, and they'll do stupid and reckless things like throw parties and announce that they're going after Kingpin's territory. You know the place and the local gang hangouts, and we have lots of power. You see what I'm getting at?" Peter asked while he pointed to MJ and himself.

"So, Dare Devil! Do you want to help record some evidence and put away a bunch of crooks before tomorrow?" Peter asked with a grin under his mask.