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chapter three
SPIDER-MAN
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HARPER AND PETER HAD BEEN WALKING FOR A FEW MINUTES, TRYING TO FIND THE STORE. Harper wanted to interview the owner of the store to get a bit more information about what the supposed hero looked like, or if he said something else. The chances were slim, but she wanted to find something else to this story.

As Peter took pictures of the store, Harper took the chance to talk to the owner.

"He just came out of nowhere," the man told the girl, for which she nodded. "The guys were about to rob me when this masked guy appeared and beat them all up. He moved faster than anyone I've ever seen. He had super reflexes! The police didn't believe me but I'm telling you... that guy was not human."

She saw the flash of the camera on the corner of her eye before turning around, seeing that Peter had taken a photo of both of them. The girl gave him a tiny smile before looking back at the man.

"So, you are saying he is not human... what did he do after he beat up the five guys?"

"He returned my money," the man answered. "I offered him a reward for what he did but he refused. He said he didn't want anything in exchange."

Harper sighed. "So, he beat up the five guys, returned your money, and refused to take a reward for his actions. Did he, by any chance, have a water pipe on his hand?"

The man looked down before nodding, excited. "Yes. Oh, I had forgotten about that. He made one of the guys fall with one of those plastic pipes I sell."

Harper nodded. "Okay, well, you've been so helpful. Thank you for sharing this with us." The girl gave the man a tiny smile before looking at Peter, nodding towards the door. They both waved goodbye at the man before they walked away from the store. "We didn't find anything else that the police didn't already know. If we want to get a great story, we need to be faster. We can't talk about something that has been talked about several times."

"What do you want to do? Chase the guy down?" Peter joked, but she took it seriously. "Harper, you are not seriously thinking of chasing this guy down, are you?"

"It's New York! Crime happens all the time." Harper turned to look at the store. "So he was seen here. Maybe, we should check the entire area, see if we find him in action again. You take those three streets on the right, I'll take the ones on the left. Maybe we meet someone that saw something! Anything is possible!"

Peter raised an eyebrow. "Harper, you are talking about chasing a crime! You are not going to find anything if you are looking for it, or worse, you could get hurt."

"A good reporter takes her chances!" Harper exclaimed as she started walking away backward. "We'll meet back here in like half an hour! Take pictures!"

"This is a horrible idea!"

She shrugged before turning around. "But idea nevertheless."

Harper was not sure about what was she trying to do. She was trying to chase down a hero that was seen once. She was fighting so hard for a story that she wasn't even sure she was going to find it. And going alone was also a poor idea, but she didn't have much hope in it. She didn't believe she was going to find anything, neither was Peter.

Oh, Peter. She left Peter alone.

"This is a bad idea," Harper muttered before turning around, walking back towards their meet point.

As she was returning, she walked past an alley from where she heard some fighting. She stepped back quickly, hiding behind one of the brick walls to hear what was going on. Harper saw how two guys were robbing someone by keeping them against a wall with a knife against their throat.

Now she realized how terrible her idea was. Seeking for crime in New York? Why would you want to look for something that you don't even want to find in the first place? She couldn't leave that guy alone with those two robbers. She needed to help him somehow.

Harper looked down to the garbage bin next to her before kicking it down. The two robbers looked towards it before noticing her picking behind a wall, which she took as a sign for her to run away. Harper gasped softly before starting to run away, hearing how the two were chasing her down.

This was her doom. It was a terrible idea in the first place, she knew that. She really thought she was not going to find anything. She had no hope in herself. She should believe in herself more. If there was a lesson to be learned from all of this, it was that one.

That's when a masked guy appeared in front of her. He came out of nowhere. She could swear he fell from the sky. His entire face was covered by a red mask, and he had sunglasses on, covering his eyes. At first, she thought it was one of the robbers, but she later realized he was the person she'd been searching for.

He shot something from his hands towards one of the guys following her, making him groan in pain. He did the same with the other one. Harper didn't quite know he was shooting at him, but she did see it was something similar to a white string.

With those things, he pasted the guys against the wall, making it impossible to move. They were covered in some sort of... web. Yeah, it was definitely a web.

"You okay?" The guy asked her, gaining her full attention. "Are you hurt?"

"No, but..." She gasped softly. "The other guy!"

"What other guy?" But she had already started running back towards the alley. "Hey! Wait up!"

Harper stopped at the alley, noticing the man that had been robbed sitting on the floor, with his back against the wall. Harper noticed how he was holding his hand against his stomach, putting pressure in that area. She was quick to kneel down by his side, realizing he had been stabbed.

"You," the man muttered as soon as he recognized her, "you saved my life. They were going to kill me if you hadn't stepped in."

Harper smiled at him before looking towards the hero. He was looking at both with confusion. "I should call an ambulance." And then it hit her. "Oh, God, I'm supposed to meet with my friend about two streets away. He must be worried sick."

"I'll tell him that you are here," the hero offered, making her smile a bit. "What does your friend look like?"

"He is tall, brown hair, brown eyes... he carries a skateboard and a vintage camera around his neck. His name is Peter Parker."

The hero nodded. "I'll let him know. Stay here and call the ambulance." And with that, he threw one of those web thingies, this one sticking to a building and letting him swing away as if he was holding on to some liana.

Harper looked at the man again. "What's your name?" She asked him, putting pressure on his wound with one hand as she took her phone out with the other, dialing 911.

"I'm... Edward," he replied, hissing due to the pain. "I'm a lawyer. And a father."

"We'll get you home in no time, Edward," she assured him as the operator replied. "Hi! I need an ambulance..."

After a few minutes, Edward was being dragged on a bed inside the ambulance. She had taken the chance to call Edward's family, letting them know to which hospital they were taking him. As she gave her statement to the police that had taken the robbers to custody. Apparently, they hadn't been able to free themselves from the web the hero had caught them with, making it easy for the police to arrest them.

"Harper!" She heard her name being yelled before she turned around, seeing Peter behind the police tape. One of the cops let him in, and he hurried in her direction. He opened his arms and wrapped them around her, hugging her. "I was so worried. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Peter Parker," she let him know as she slowly broke apart the hug, giving him a tiny smile. "It was a really dumb idea."

"Really dumb," he agreed with her. "But, we got something out of it."

Peter showed her his camera, with which he had captured the hero that had saved her swinging away, holding on to the webs. The girl smiled widely, looking at the picture excitedly.

"He let me know where you were. I took a picture of him as he was leaving."

"We got him," Harper whispered, not being able to hide her smile. "I also have a name for him." Peter raised his eyebrows. "See these webs? He used them to trap the robbers against a wall. They were sticky... like a spider web."

"So..."

"So..." she said, smiling. "Spider-Man."

"Spider-man," he repeated softly before nodding. "I like it. I really like it."

"Let's hope it sticks."

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Oh, it definitely did.

After she posted the story of Spider-Man's rescue the previous night, everyone was talking about it. Not only inside of Midtown Science High, but also she had been receiving calls from other newspapers asking for an interview with her about the event.

And everyone was calling him Spider-Man, even in the national news. He was getting famous quickly, and she hoped it stayed that way since she loved writing about him.

"More than a hundred thousand people have checked your piece of news about Spider-Man in the last five hours," Jane let Harper know as she sat at the table where Harper and Peter were having lunch. "Everyone is really interested in how he saved you from those robbers." Jane took out her salad, putting it on the table. "How did it happen exactly? What were you doing walking alone so far away from your house?"

"It was actually stupid," Harper said, and Peter could agree on that. "The point is that I saw what they were doing to Edward so I kicked down a bin, let them chase me so they wouldn't hurt him anymore, and then Spider-man saved me."

Jane nodded before looking at Peter. "And how did you get this picture? It's awesome. It almost looks as if he was posing for it."

Peter shrugged. "What can I say? I saw my chance and took it." He turned to look at Harper, who smiled at him. "Promise me you won't go looking for any more criminals just so you can get an interesting article."

"Oh, I can't promise that. I think I've become addicted to the adrenaline."

"Miss Cohen," Mister Richards called her as he approached the table, surprising the trio. "Excellent work on the Spider-Man article. Keep it that way. You are doing an excellent job on the paper." He turned to look at Peter. "Saw the picture you took, Mister Parker. You have talent."

"Thanks, Mister Richards." And with that, the English Lit teacher left, leaving the three friends as equally surprised as confused.

"I also designed the entire website! And the app!" Jane exclaimed, but the teacher was already gone. "Not that you care! Obviously!"

Both Harper and Peter laughed before she talked again. "So, I think we should keep writing about Spider-Man. That's what attracts the audience, and what everyone is talking about."

Jane swallowed her lettuce before talking. "You should see if you get an interview with him. I mean, he did save you once. You have to try it before he gets too famous and doesn't have time for anything. You know celebrities."

Peter chuckled. "I don't think he is one of those guys." Both girls turned to look at him. "I mean, he did refuse to take the reward from the shop owner. Maybe he is just doing it because he wants to help people."

"I'm sure of that," Harper said. "But the problem is how I am even going to find him. I know it worked well last time, but I'm not risking my life twice just so he could save him. There should be a way for me to talk to him."

They all remained in silence for a few seconds, thinking about an idea to get Spider-Man to do an interview for the paper. That's when Peter, from all people, came up with something.

"Why don't you..." He started, taking out his computer and opening the paper's website. "Write on your board about being open to an interview with Spider-Man. Maybe he'll see it and get in touch with you."

"That's a good idea," she said, accessing her account on the website. She started typing on her message board. "Maybe this way we will get to talk to him in person and not risk my life in the process."

"That's a good thing," Peter commented as she hit send to the message, positing it on her board. "Now we just... wait for Spider-Man."

She had a good feeling about this.