stormsinafrica | Fill 14 Card 1: Deadline (Reply)

Peter Parker was nervous when he walked into the offices of the Daily Bugle. Why was he nervous? Well because he knew he was already skating on very thin ice with the newspaper's editor-in-chief, J. Jonah Jameson. The editor had already verbally shredded his latest batch of photos of himself as Spider-Man calling them "uninspired" and "bland," and as a result Peter had a sinking feeling that his days as a freelance photographer for the Bugle were numbered.

From the very second he stepped into Jameson's cluttered office, the editor got straight to the point just like he always did. "Listen, Parker, I'll make this quick. I need a new, spectacular picture of Spider-Man and I need it in the next 24 hours. If you can't deliver, you're fired for good."

Peter's stomach did flip flops. He had been struggling to capture a new angle on himself as Spider-Man for weeks now, and he had no idea how he could come up with something truly spectacular in just one day.

Of course he he couldn't let himself get fired. He needed the money, and he needed to keep his connection to the Bugle, even if it meant putting up with putting up with Jameson's not so nice personality.

After taking a couple of deep breaths Peter set out to find new inspiration for his secret identity. He went swinging throughout the city, in the hopes something, anything, might catch his eye.

With most of the day already having gone by, Peter could feel his desperation get bigger and bigger. He took some pictures of himself stopping a few petty crimes here and there but so far he'd captured nothing that was sensational enough for Jameson's standards.

Peter had just nearly given up any hope he had of saving his freelance work with the Bugle when he spotted a group of children trapped in a building that was in flames. He didn't hesitate, swooping into the flames using every bit of his physical enhancements to get them all to safety.

As he rescued each child from the peril, he saw the flashes of cameras, and one time he turned his head to look to see who was taking the pictures. A group of reporters were nearby capturing all of the action. Peter couldn't help but smile to himself as he felt some hope, because perhaps just the sort of shot Jameson would want had been captured.

Sure enough, the next day's edition of the Daily Bugle featured a front-page photo of Spider-Man saving the children from the burning building. Jameson sings the praises of the shot calling it spectacular and iconic and Peter breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course, Peter knows he will never ever be able to satisfy the editor all of the time, but at least for today, he'd managed to keep his job. But best of all, he'd been able to rescue those little kids from an awful fate. That was the best thing of all.