Next Day:
Peter woke to find himself sleeping on the floor.
Subconsciously, his hand moved towards his glasses, and he put them on.
He noticed that his vision was blurry. He took off the glasses and could see clearly now. Once again, he put on the glasses, and again he couldn't see anything.
"Weird."
Feeling confused, Peter took off his glasses and put them aside.
Peter's gaze fell on the mirror, and he noticed that his body had visibly bulked up overnight. As he admired his reflection in the mirror, he heard his Aunt May's concerned voice from the other side of the door.
"Peter? Are you feeling alright?"
"Yeah," Peter answered quickly. "I'm fine."
"Then come down quickly, or you will be late for school."
Peter saw MJ from his window as she left her room for school. He looked at the mirror one last time with a smile and went down for breakfast.
"Goodness me!" May exclaimed as he jumped down from the stairs.
"Jeez! I thought you were sick," Ben said with a smile, laughing lightly.
"I got better," Peter replied cheerfully. Since he woke up, he felt full of energy.
"Bye, guys," Peter said, walking towards the door.
"Hey, Michaelangelo," Ben called from behind. "Don't forget we're painting the kitchen right after school. You got it?"
"Sure, Uncle Ben," Peter promised, wearing his jacket. "Don't start without me."
Peter left his home and heard the door to the house beside him opening. MJ came out of it looking as if she were crying. Behind her came her father.
"You're trash," MJ's father yelled. "You're always gonna be trash."
"I have to go to school," MJ said, her voice choked with tears.
"Who's stopping you?" The father said dismissively.
Peter followed behind her from a distance. He saw her stop at the school bus pickup, and he stopped a distance away. He looked at her and started whispering about how he might ask her out.
As he continued, a car pulled up in front of MJ, with two female students inside. MJ sat in the car, and they left.
The school bus also arrived from behind and stopped at the pickup. Peter saw it and ran towards it.
The door opened, and Peter climbed onto the bus.
"Move it," the driver snapped as the doors opened. "We're late already."
Peter apologized and walked deeper into the bus. The students looked at him, some with disdain, some with jealousy, some with anger. But none said anything like the previous day.
As expected, the reason was the guy sitting at the back, looking out the window.
"Hey, Kevin," Peter grinned and sat beside him.
"Hey, Peter," Kevin turned to him and greeted him back with a bored voice, then turned back, looking out the window.
Peter didn't mind. He was used to his friend's behaviour.
Midtown High, Cafeteria, Lunch Break:
Peter and Kevin were eating their lunch together.
Peter noticed MJ coming from the front, her plate in hand. His eyes were trained on her till she passed by him.
MJ didn't notice the juice box on the floor. She stepped on the spilled juice and slipped.
Peter moved immediately. One arm caught her. The other shot out, intercepting the falling tray—his hand moving faster than his thoughts as he steadied it, catching items mid-fall before they hit the floor.
"Wow!" MJ said excitedly, eyes wide. "Great reflexes!"
Peter felt his face heat up. He had to physically stop himself from grinning.
"Thanks," MJ said, still maintaining the smile.
"No problem," Peter said with a shy smile.
"Hey, you have blue eyes," MJ commented as she looked in his eyes. "I didn't notice with your glasses before. You got contacts?"
Peter blanked, not knowing how to reply, so he just gave a dumb smile.
"Well, see you," MJ said with a smile, a little weirded out. Then she walked off.
"That was pathetic," Kevin said as Peter sat back down.
"What?" Peter looked confused.
"Not the part where you caught her, that was actually cool."
Kevin took a bite from his sandwich.
"I mean the part where you talked to her like a weirdo afterwards."
Peter was about to reply, but noticed a fork was stuck to his right hand. Confused, he pulled it; a bunch of threads were stuck on it that came from his wrist.
Peter turned his hand to take a look, and more threads shot from his hand, sticking to the food plate on the table in front.
Peter tried to yank the threads, but the plate came with them. He had to immediately dodge to the side as the plate passed by him and fell on the person sitting behind him.
Peter looked back and saw Flash covered in food. The students at his table laughed when they saw that.
Peter turned back and decided to leave immediately. "I am not hungry anymore," Peter said to Kevin and got up. Without looking back, he walked towards the cafeteria door with brisk steps.
The students watched the plate being dragged behind him as he left.
"Parker?" Flash looked at Peter's back, stunned. He couldn't believe Peter had the guts to play such a prank on him. Then he became enraged quickly at the deliberate humiliation.
"Stay out of it this time, Kolt," Flask said as he locked eyes with Kevin and left to catch up to Peter.
Behind, Kevin laughed and muttered in a low voice, "If you are so eager to get your ass kicked, then who am I to stop that?" Though no one heard him.
Flash finally caught up to Peter in front of the lockers and punched him. But Peter dodged it easily, and the punch fell on the locker.
The students surrounded them immediately, too excited to watch the fight.
MJ came and tried to dissuade Flash from the fight, but he didn't listen to her.
Every time Flash punched Peter, Peter easily dodged the attack.
Harry arrived and stood beside MJ. She saw him and said urgently, "Help him, Harry."
Flash's blonde-haired lackey came behind Peter. He ran towards Peter to tackle him from behind, but Peter jumped and somersaulted in midair and landed on his feet.
"Which one?" Harry asked in confusion.
The lackey immediately tapped out of the fight. "He's all yours, man." Flash shoved him aside.
Kevin had also caught up by now and stood beside MJ as he watched the fight with a bored look.
"Kevin, help him," MJ pleaded, seeing that Harry was useless.
"No need," Kevin replied calmly. "He can handle it himself."
MJ looked at Kevin in disbelief, hearing that.
Flash once again started punching Peter, but Peter dodged each one easily. Finally, Peter caught his arm, twisted it, and then punched Flash so that he flew for a few meters and fell on the feet of a teacher. The teacher's food fell on his face.
The students cheered, and Peter looked excited and pleased.
"Jesus, Parker, you are a freak," Flash's lackey said with a hint of fear and anger. Peter's actions had severely challenged the school's social structure. A few other students called him by similar names.
As Peter heard that, his smile fell. He looked at MJ, and she met his gaze with a wary expression.
Peter didn't even care when Harry praised him for the fight. Peter left, running away from there. He left the school and didn't stop running until he arrived in an alley.
Peter pulled up his sleeves and saw the white spot on his wrist. Then he observed his hands. His gaze fell on a spider web and a spider moving in it. He looked back at his hand and then at the wall.
Peter placed one hand on the wall, then the other. Then he climbed on the wall, his hands and feet sticking to it. He looked down and saw himself above the ground, stuck on the building.
Peter screamed in excitement and climbed to the roof. He ran and jumped, landing on the next roof. He continued it for a few roofs until he reached the roof of the last building, and the next building was on the other side of the road.
Peter once again looked at his wrist and remembered the threads protruding from it. He looked at the crane ahead, concentrating on it, then put out his hand while making a kind of hand sign. "Go, web!"
Nothing happened, and Peter looked at his wrist in confusion.
With hesitation, he put out his hand again, this time with another hand sign. "Fly." Nothing happened, again.
Then he tried again and again with new hand signs and new phrases.
"Up, up, and away, web."
"Shazam."
"Go."
"Go. Go."
"Go, web. Go."
None worked.
"That was too embarrassing to watch."
Peter immediately turned around and saw Kevin standing near the roof entrance. His eyes widened, and he looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
"And here I thought you decided to off yourself because your crush thought you were weird," Kevin said with a smile.
"No, nothing like that," Peter denied. Then, he remembered that wasn't the main topic.
"Did you see?" Peter asked slowly.
"What? The spider threads coming out of your wrist with which you hurled the plate at Flash?" Kevin asked with a smile. "Of course I did."
Peter didn't know how to answer.
"Looks like the spider bite gave you something more than an itching or an infection."
"Th-that, I-I," Peter stuttered.
"Relax, dude," Kevin sighed. He said sincerely, "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."
Peter looked at Kevin for a moment, then he smiled, "Thanks, Kevin."
"Now, let's see what you are doing," Kevin said, changing the subject. "And stop saying those weird lines."
Peter smiled embarrassedly.
"I was trying to fire those webs like before, but I am still unsuccessful."
"Well, try again. Think about what exactly you were doing previously."
Peter made a thoughtful expression. He made another hand sign. His middle two fingers pressed his palm, and the other two were out. And this time the web came out of his wrist.
Peter looked amazed at his wrist and then at Kevin. He made the hand sign again and fired another webline. Then he fired once again, but this time, he fired for longer, and the web stuck on the crane, and he took the other end in his hand.
Peter looked ahead and at the height at which he stood. He stepped on the edge of the roof and looked down.
"Wish me luck," Peter said, giving Kevin a look. Then he took a leap of faith, swinging on the web, and screaming all the way. As he reached the other building, he couldn't stop in time and slammed into a billboard.
Peter swung around a few times, then turned back to the roof, where Kevin was still standing.
"It was awesome," Peter said with an excited smile.
"Good for you, buddy," Kevin said.
Peter smiled even more, but froze when he heard what Kevin said next.
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
"What?" Peter looked confused.
"Didn't you tell me you promised Uncle Ben you would help him paint the kitchen?"
Realization dawned on Peter's face. "Shit, I forgot."
"That's what I am saying," Kevin said. "Let's go, you can swing more later."
"Thanks, Kevin," Peter said, sincerely.
"Whatever."
Night Time:
— Kevin —
I stood before the Columbia University building in black, wearing a black mask and black gloves. It was late at night, so no one was nearby.
I circled once, confirmed the patrol gaps, then scaled the exterior pipe and slipped through an open window.
I had already acquired the blueprint for the University and the ID for a security guard.
Slowly, I made my way to the security room, which was two corridors down. The door was closed, and the only way in was through the ID.
The door opened, and I stepped inside. Two guards were sitting inside: one half-asleep, the other reading a book. No one was watching the screens.
The moment the door opened, the two guards instinctively looked at it. When they saw me entering, they immediately became alert.
I didn't give them much time to react. The first was the half-asleep guard, obviously half a beat slower. That was enough time for me to punch his temple, and he slumped into his chair.
The second guard reached for his gun. "Who—"
But I interrupted him and jabbed my hand in his throat. He couldn't breathe for a moment, then another punch to the temple, and he was down too.
I tied them to their chairs with zip ties and shoved their handkerchiefs into their mouths.
Next, I looked at the screens. I turned off all the cameras in the labs and nearby.
'Why is he still in his lab so late at night?' I thought irritably when I saw that Dr. Curtis Connars was still working in his lab.
'That fool is going to make my work harder.'
I checked one last time that the cameras were turned off and left the security room.
I calmly made my way to the lab where the spiders were kept, but suddenly heard someone talking. I looked around, found a nearby janitor's closet, and entered it swiftly.
The voices belonged to two male students talking.
"How did your chemistry test go?"
"I don't know, man. I think I flunked it."
"Me too, man. The classes were going fine, why did the professor have to take a surprise test?"
"Yeah. And even if he did, why did he have to make the test marks count in final semester grades?"
"Can he even do that?"
"Who knows, man. He is a tenured professor; maybe he can."
I waited until the voices were far away, then came out of the closet. After looking to see that there was no one else around, I continued my way to the lab.
A few minutes later, I arrived at the lab with the spiders, opened it with the researcher's ID I picked up before, and made my way to the master terminal.
I opened the system, and it obviously asked for the password, which I didn't have.
I took out a small drive and inserted it. It was a password cracker I purchased from the black market. The progress bar crawled slowly. After waiting for a few minutes, the system unlocked.
Once I was in, I connected an external storage device and copied everything related to the spider research from the system to it.
While the data was transferred, I photographed the equipment and handwritten notes. Anything that looked like it mattered.
I removed the drive once it was done, cleaned all traces of my access to the system, and turned it off.
After I left the lab, I made my way to Curt's lab. I hadn't prepared an ID to enter, since he wasn't the heist's primary target. I didn't know how far he had gotten in his research on the limb-regeneration serum. So, if the researcher's ID I had opened his lab, I would steal his research too; otherwise, it didn't matter.
Through a small glass window on the door, I noticed that Curt was no longer present in the lab. With an attitude of trying, I placed the ID on the scanner, and the door opened. Shrugging, I entered the lab.
I made a beeline for the main terminal. After the password was cracked, I started copying his research to the drive. I wandered around the lab in the meantime, taking pictures. At one corner of the lab, I noticed some mice kept in cages. A few were missing some limbs.
Controlled amputations. Test subjects.
I went back to the terminal and confirmed the copy was complete. After erasing all my traces, I closed it.
I had just turned around to leave, but then I heard the beeping sound of someone using their ID to open the door. My eyes widened as I looked for someplace to hide. I saw a shelf and quickly hid behind it.
Dr. Curtis Connars entered the lab. Exhaustion was painted on his face, but he still went to the main terminal. The right arm sleeve of his lab coat hung empty and loose. He entered the password with just his left hand. Looking at him, it didn't look like he suspected that someone had just stolen his entire life's research.
Curt typed something on it, and the nearby centrifuge started spinning. After it stopped, he opened it and took out a vial. He punctured the vial with a syringe and drew the liquid into it.
Curt walked towards the mouse cage and injected the serum into one of the amputated mice.
I looked at the mouse with full concentration. The mouse twitched for a few minutes, then its front foot began to grow. Curt looked at the mouse with excitement. But soon, the twitching intensified, and the mouse began to cry in pain. Its fur started dropping, and soon it died a violent death.
Curt looked disappointed with the result but not defeated. He went back to the terminal and, after a few more minutes of work, closed it and left the lab with a tired expression.
I waited a few minutes, then left my hiding place. I went back to the computer, opened it, and copied the latest logs. After cleaning all my traces, I closed it.
I left the lab and made my way back to the first lab. I opened the door, but didn't completely enter. Instead, I threw the ID from the entrance, and it landed on a chair. I backed off, and the door closed on its own.
I went back to the security room and entered. Both guards flinched, meaning both were conscious but unable to move because of the zip ties. They were facing the other side. I walked towards them and struck them both on the neck, and they fainted again.
I cut through their zip ties, then turned on the cameras I had turned off earlier. After I opened the door, I put the ID on a side table and left the room.
I exited the university the same way I'd entered.