"Hey, Peter, long time no see. How was your vacation?!"
Hearing that familiar, all too familiar playful voice beside him, Peter shrugged and looked at her. "Pretty boring, Gwen. You know me. My whole day is basically just inventing stuff, working out, sleeping. Same three-point routine every day..."
"Huh? You're not dancing anymore?! I still wanted to see that 'sexy' dance of yours again~"
"Please spare me, Gwen. Just forget that ever happened. My dignity has already been shattered..."
Peter looked at the blonde girl with the expression of a man who had given up on life.
Ever since being reborn into this world as Peter Parker, he had practically been certain that his destiny was to become Spider-Man someday.
As a hardcore Spider-Man fan, he had been looking forward to that day the entire time. He had trained every day, practiced fighting and Chinese martial arts, and made sure he was nothing like those other universe versions of Peter who were still weak before getting spider powers.
But...
To celebrate the fact that he was only one month away from supposedly becoming Spider-Man, he had danced around in his room like an idiot, completely lost in his own hype. It had been that dance from his past life, the one Tobey Maguire did in the Spider-Man movie. And by sheer terrible luck, Gwen had walked in and seen the whole thing. Ever since then, she had never let him live it down and kept teasing him about it whenever she got the chance.
Gwen, Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker's childhood friend. The two had known each other since elementary school, and now they attended the same high school, Midtown High.
Just like other versions of Peter Parker, Peter had his own unique talent for invention and had already achieved a fair bit for his age. He had been researching web-shooters and multifunctional Spider-Suits this whole time, all because he had been waiting for the day that radioactive spider would finally bite him.
But...
That mutated spider had never bitten him.
It had bitten Gwen instead.
And just like that, the city had gained a famous Spider-Woman: Ghost-Spider.
As a veteran Spider-Man fan, Peter was now almost completely certain what kind of universe he had been reborn into.
Earth-65.
In this world, he never got spider powers. Instead, he turned into the Lizard and died in Gwen's arms in the end...
Fortunately, he had never gone down the path of biological science, which meant the trajectory of fate had already shifted. He was not going to become the Lizard.
But this was not the outcome Peter wanted either...
"Alright, Peter, you're going to be late for school. George is still waiting for you two. Hurry up, grab your breakfast and eat on the way!"
At some point, Aunt May had already packed two of her special May Parker bacon rolls and stuffed them into Peter's hands.
"Aunt May, can't we change things up a little?! These bacon rolls are terrible..."
"What did you just say?!"
"Uh... we're heading to school now! Bye, Aunt May! Bye, Uncle Ben!"
Seeing the dark look on Aunt May's face, Peter panicked and fled, grabbing the bacon rolls and pulling Gwen outside with him.
"That kid... saying the honest truth like that..."
Watching Peter run off in a pathetic scramble, Uncle Ben let out a helpless sigh before stuffing half a bacon roll into his mouth.
"Hey, my dad is still outside. You're just going to drag me around by the hand like this? Aren't you afraid he'll make you pay for it?!"
Gwen rolled her eyes at her utterly unromantic childhood friend.
Honestly, aside from getting better grades than her, he seemed pretty average in every other way. Especially that hopelessly dense wooden head of his. After all these years, he still had not said a single thing, acting like a complete idiot.
And yet, why was she still so deeply attracted to him?
As soon as the two stepped outside, they saw Gwen's father, George, parked by the curb in a police car, as if he had specifically been waiting for them.
When George saw Peter and Gwen come out, he waved at them and pointed toward the back seat.
"Morning, Peter! Come on, get in. I'll drive you both to school!"
With a ride available, neither Peter nor Gwen had any reason to walk. They opened the door and climbed into the police car.
Once inside, Peter greeted him.
"Morning, Uncle George!"
"Peter, you've gotten a lot more solid again, huh? Don't tell me you spent the whole summer working out?"
George smiled faintly at Peter, then started the car and drove the two of them toward Midtown High.
"Of course it wasn't just working out. I've been researching a device that can briefly manipulate electromagnetism. It's still in the testing phase. But I'm guessing Gwen had a great summer. She got to intern at Oscorp, after all. She must've learned a lot."
As he spoke, Peter looked at Gwen. If he remembered correctly, Gwen had told him before that she was interning under Dr. Connors, working on the Lizard serum project and research into creating superhumans.
"That's right. Peter, it's such a shame you didn't come with me. If you had joined too, maybe the two of us could've gone together!"
Gwen looked at Peter with genuine regret. She had learned so many things over the summer that school could never teach her. Most importantly, she had gotten Dr. Connors's personal contact information.
Peter twitched at the corner of his mouth.
If things had progressed the normal way, then yes, he would have joined that internship. And in order to help Gwen fight crime more effectively, he would have injected himself with the serum, gone berserk, and hurt a lot of people...
But the moment Ghost-Spider appeared before the public eye, Peter understood exactly what kind of world he had been reborn into, and he chose a different path.
Maybe living as an ordinary person was not so bad.
Sure, it was a little disappointing, but that was still far better than turning into a monster and getting killed by his childhood sweetheart.
[Ding. Biological lifeform with 100% compatibility detected. Beginning binding process for the Spider Hero Skin System...]
The sudden voice in his mind made Peter jolt upright.
Of course!
Every reincarnator and transmigrator gets a system!
He had lived in this world for seventeen years, and it was finally here!
I knew you'd come. Thank God I didn't give up! Woohoo! I, Peter Parker, am about to take off!
[Binding successful. Issuing Beginner Skin Gift Pack and beginner rewards.]
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained the Spider-Man Dark Suit. Equipping this skin grants temporary access to the corresponding spider abilities.]
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained beginner rewards: one Bully Maguire Discount Suit, one-fifth of First-Generation Spider-Man's abilities, and Temporal-Spatial Stability.]
[Skin: Spider-Man Dark Suit. Origin: Spider-Man/Deadpool universe. Strength and speed are roughly equal to the first generation. Damage resistance increased by 50%. Includes a 30% critical hit effect. A warrior returned from hell, now walking among the living. Possesses paralyzing webbing and invisibility. The suit makes its user more aggressive, more bloodthirsty, and far less likely to show mercy. This is an antihero suit.]
[Bully Maguire's Classic Discount Suit: Wear this out on the street and your head-turning rate will absolutely hit 100%. Try saying the classic line: I'm gonna put some dirt in your eye.]
[One-Fifth of First-Generation Spider-Man's Abilities: Even without wearing a skin, you possess one-fifth of Tobey Maguire Spider-Man's powers. You now count as a mutant.]
[Temporal-Spatial Stability: Your existence is acknowledged by all Marvel universes and will not be rejected by any world. Note: This does not mean you can do whatever you want.]
Good stuff!
Everything except the Maguire suit was amazing!
What kind of trash system was this? Was it mocking him the moment it showed up? Was he supposed to pay tribute by adding, "Oh, my back!" too?
The corner of Peter's mouth slowly lifted anyway.
No matter what, even without mutating, he was still your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Gwen, our steps are finally even once again.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome]
[+500 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[Thank You For Your Support!]