Along Came a Spider-Man - Vol 1: Web Wings

Chapter 1: Worst Field Trip Ever

"Oh, great," 16-year-old sophomore Peter Parker sarcastically sighed as he walked through the doors of Midtown High School. Peter was widely considered a nerd at the school, and for good reason. With a 4.85 GPA, Peter was easily at the top of his class, but as a result, had a miniscule amount of friends. The clothes he wore were of decent price, his brown hair was clean-cut and polished, and his glasses were taped together.

"Yo, Pete!"

Peter turned around to see his best friend Harry Osborn walking towards him with a smirk on his face. Rich, handsome, and well-liked, Harry was dressed in an outfit straight out of a Paris fashion magazine, and his brown hair was cut in a swept undercut style. Harry was essentially the opposite of Peter, but the two had been best friends since the first grade and always had each other's backs.

"It's the big day tomorrow!" Peter exclaimed excitedly to Harry.

"For you," Harry chuckled. "Being the son of a wealthy businessman, I'd rather be stuck in Mr. Wilson's class all day."

Peter could barely believe what Harry was saying. "C'mon, Harry. Your dad owns the place. He owns Oscorp! The place with the most advanced technology in-"

"Nerd!"

Peter and Harry turned to the left to see Flash Thompson and his girlfriend Liz Allan walking towards them. His real name was Eugene, although Flash refused to go by it due to it being a "geeky name." Recognized throughout Midtown as the star quarterback of the football team, Flash only respected those on the same level of popularity as him. Liz, however, was different. A beautiful and popular Hispanic girl, Liz was kind to everyone, even the ones considered "nerds." She was also captain of the cheerleading squad, which scored extra attention from the guys. Peter and Harry never found out why Liz dated a douchebag like Flash.

"So, you little punk, what's up in geekville?" Flash laughed as he lightly pushed Peter's shoulder.

"Flash!" Liz scolded.

"Actually, I'm just trying to figure out how you're smart enough to make those winning throws on the field," Peter responded with wit.

Harry burst out laughing while Liz even chuckled a little bit. Flash just glared at Peter with an "I'm gonna kill you" look.

Flash scoffed. "Listen, you little bug, I'll-"

The bell rang.

"Let's just get to class," Liz told Flash as she dragged him away. When Flash wasn't looking, she turned around and smiled at Peter and Harry. Peter waved in return, while Harry gave a peace sign.

"You like her?" Harry asked Peter.

"Nah, she's just hot," Peter admitted. "Back to what I was saying, you still have to be excited for tomorrow to some extent, man!"

As Peter remembered, the next day would be October 18, the day of Midtown's field trip to Oscorp Industries. Peter was undeniably the most excited of anyone, as he had always longed to see what was inside the place.

"Not really, dude," Harry insisted. "Dad says the company's trying to find a way to genetically enhance mankind or some shit like that."

"How does that not get you hyped?!" Peter shouted while walking with Harry to class.

"Look, Sally. I was thinking, maybe just a movie this weekend and-"

"Sorry, Pete, I'm not interested," Sally Avril responded in the most polite way she could.

School had just ended, and Peter had unsuccessfully failed at asking Sally Avril on a date. No popular girl would want to be romantically involved with a guy like Peter, but that didn't stop him from trying.

Flash came up and slapped Peter on the back. "Yeah, Puny Parker, go for girls your league instead!"

"Ignoramus!" Peter spat.

A second later, Peter regretted that comment as Flash's fist collided with his stomach.

"Flash!" Sally exclaimed.

"Stay down, Parker!" Flash shouted as he dragged Sally away.

In agonizing pain, Peter found the strength to get up. He ignored the witnesses and their comments as he walked away.

"The hell was that?"

"Looks like Flash really gave him a beating."

"Nerd didn't stand a chance."

"I'll show them one day," Peter declared. "They'll be sorry they ever messed with me. While they're flipping burgers in the future, I'll be discovering the cure to cancer. They're gonna regret not being friends with the next Stephen Hawking."

Peter then took his skateboard out of his backpack and went to the library.

"Finally," Peter said as he skateboarded home.

Peter had spent two hours helping Harry with his homework in the library, and he was more than ready to relax.

HONK!

"Shit!" Peter exclaimed as he fell off his skateboard and tripped on the ground. He looked at his elbow, which was now bleeding. Looking for the source of the sound, he looked up to see Flash in his fancy Buick.

"S'up, Parker? You have a nice trip?" Flash mockingly asked Peter.

At that moment, Peter's Uncle Ben came out of Peter's house.

"Peter, is there a problem with this kid?" Ben asked his nephew.

Before Peter could answer, Flash quickly exclaimed, "No, Mr. Parker! My buddy Pete and I here were just messing around!"

Peter scoffed. "Sure."

Ben may not have been as smart as his nephew, but he certainly wasn't stupid enough to think this punk in the fancy car was actually friends with Peter.

"Look, kid, why don't you just move along and head home? Peter here has business to attend to," Ben calmly stated.

"No problem," Flash replied, quickly driving his way out of there.

Once Flash left, Ben took the opportunity to give his nephew a pep talk. "Stand up to that punk next time, Pete. Show them that you're not one to mess with."

"If only that were true," Peter blankly stated as he walked inside.

Inside his house, Peter's Aunt May was knitting.

"Peter, how was school today?" May asked.

Peter walked up to his room. "Eh."

When he was eight, Peter's parents had died in a plane crash. As a result, he had been taken in by his father's brother Benjamin Parker and his wife May. Both in their mid-50s, Aunt May and Uncle Ben have pretty much been Peter's parental figures since then.

"Michelangelo, you there?"

Uncle Ben opened Peter's door. Peter was lying on his bed.

"What is it, Uncle Ben?" Peter muttered.

"Pete, don't let that guy bother you. Like I said before, do something about it!" Uncle Ben repeated.

"What can I do?" Peter scoffed. "Flash has treated me the same since the fourth grade. He just thinks that he can screw with those he considers inferior. If I try reporting him, he won't change."

Ben shrugged. "Maybe he's afraid of you."

Peter laughed as hard as he could. "Afraid of me? Him?"

"You're a goddamn genius, Peter. Maybe he envies you for your brain."

"The only thing he's ever cared about is his athletic career."

"Maybe he cares more about his grades than you think. You never know, people surprise us nowadays," Ben theorized.

"Yeah. When pigs fly."

"Dad, I got a 97 on my geometry test!" Harry excitedly yelled as he walked into his mansion.

Instead of congratulating Harry like any normal father would, Norman Osborn continued to yell on his phone.

"No, for the last goddamn time, I'm not interested, Toomes! Mention this again, and you'll regret it!" Norman yelled.

Hanging up the phone, Norman turned to his son. "97, huh? Well, that's good. What did Peter get?"

Reluctantly, Harry answered, "100."

Sighing, Norman started to walk out of the mansion.

"You going back to the lab?" Harry asked, unsurprised.

"Yes, I still have to supervise more tests on our enhancer drug."

"As usual."

Norman turned around and faced his son. "Harry, I know I'm not around often, but what I'm doing with Oscorp could-"

"Enhance the human race and make them more powerful for any hazardous situations," Harry interrupted. "I've heard it before."

"I'll be back around 10. Go do your own thing."

Norman left the mansion, leaving Harry alone. Although he was the cool and confident guy at school, Harry still remained in the shadow of his father. He never had the best relationship with him and was willing to do almost anything to gain his father's approval. Sometimes, Harry secretly resented Peter as Norman seemed to favor the more brainy teen.

"100 next time, 100!" Harry told himself as he walked up to his room.

The morning of the field trip, Peter went down to the kitchen and saw chocolate chip waffles and orange juice waiting on the table for him. Aunt May was cleaning the silverware at the sink.

"Thanks, May!" Peter thanked his aunt as he started devouring his breakfast.

May smiled. "You're very welcome, Peter."

Within three minutes, Peter was already done with his breakfast.

"Heading out, May! See you!" Peter yelled as he ran out of the house.

Before May had the chance to say goodbye, her husband came up and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Kid really is growing up," Ben proudly proclaimed.

"He's gotten more enthusiastic as well," May pointed out.

Once they entered Oscorp, Peter and his classmates were welcomed by Dr. Mendel Stromm, Norman's assistant.

"Everyone, welcome to Oscorp Industries, the leading and most advanced chemical manufacturing corporation in the heart of New York City," Stromm greeted the students. "Since 1982, Oscorp has operated 117 major manufacturing and 15 research and development facilities worldwide. Oscorp's prime goal is to-"

"Genetically enhance the human race for more hazardous situations in the future!" Peter blurted out.

Although Peter's outburst prompted a few chuckles from the students, especially Harry and Flash, Stromm chuckled and said, "That's right, young man! Glad to see how enthusiastic you are! Now, if you'll all follow me to the testing room, you're gonna see where the magic begins."

"God, this is boring as hell," Harry sighed as he walked with Peter and the crowd of students to the next room.

"Maybe for you," Peter scoffed.

The testing room was truly a glory for a nerd like Peter. Filled with the most advanced technology in the United States, Peter felt like crying. As he looked around, Peter could spot a huge glass tank full of spiders.

"We have tested our super-soldier serum on those spiders in the glass tank," Stromm explained. "All 15 of them are yet to receive perfect results."

"There's only 14," Peter revealed with a bemused expression on his face.

Stromm went to go check the tank. "Huh?"

"Come on, Norman, I'm a 100 percent sure this'll make a lot of money for the company!"

The crowd of students turned to see Adrian Toomes, a middle-aged man with balding grey hair, following Norman. He had blueprints in his hands, and Norman was clearly not happy to be dealing with this.

"Adrian, not right here," Norman started. "There's a field trip going on, and the students don't need to-"

"Why does that matter? We can-"

"That's it!" Norman roared. "Adrian, you're fired."

Adrian's excited expression quickly changed to a mix of shock and fury. "Norman, you can't do this to me!"

"Oh, but I can!" Norman laughed. "Today was the last straw, and for the last time, Project Vulture has to be the dumbest idea I've ever heard of! Hell, even Otto's tentacles seem to be more useful!"

In a fit of rage, Adrian grabbed Norman's collar.

"I need this job," Adrian snarled. "Without it, I'll have no other way to support my daughter! You don't want that on your conscience, don't you?"

"Whatever happens to your daughter isn't my fault," Norman coldly responded.

That sentence was enough for the infuriated Adrian to punch Norman in the nose, causing him to trip on his feet a little.

"Security!" Norman shouted.

As the students excitedly witnessed what was going on, two security guards arrived quickly and started to drag Adrian out.

"Fuck you, Norman! You'll regret this for the rest of your life!" Adrian angrily screamed.

Peter could only watch what was going on until he felt a stinging sensation on his hand.

"Ouch!" Peter hissed as he grabbed his hand in pain.

Adrian turned to Peter and gave him a glare. Peter wanted to say, "I wasn't talking about you," but his conscience told him to keep his mouth shut. Peter looked at the ground to see the 15th enhanced spider on the ground. It quickly crawled away, never to possibly be seen again.

"What is it, Pete?" Harry asked his best friend in concern.

"I don't even know," Peter lied. "But all of a sudden, I have a headache!'

The second sentence wasn't a lie, as Peter's head really did start to hurt.

"Sorry for the distraction, kids!" Norman apologized. "You all saw a side of me I didn't want to expose you to."

Harry rolled his eyes as Stromm continued the tour.

RING, RING!

Yawning, Peter slammed and accidentally broke his alarm clock. He got up from bed and noticed that the alarm clock was nothing but pieces.

"The hell?" Peter whispered.

Concerned, Peter went over to the closet to get dressed, but he quickly noticed in the mirror that his scrawny body had changed into a more muscular physique. Flexing, Peter admired this new change. After putting his clothes on and gelling his hair, Peter put on his glasses, only for his vision to instantly turn blurry.

"This is so freakin' creepy!" Peter shrieked as he started to panic.

Putting his glasses down, Peter left for school in a hurry.

"All right, class, it's dodgeball day!"

In Peter's gym class, a good portion of the class cheered while the rest remained quiet. Based on the reactions, it was obvious to everyone who was good and who sucked at dodgeball. Unsurprisingly, Flash was excited in particular.

"Hell yeah, let's do this!" Flash exclaimed as teams were being picked.

After a minute, the entire class was separated into two teams. Once the gym teacher blew his whistle, people opened fire with the balls while others started dodging. Within a couple minutes, Flash had already taken out a majority of the other team. Everyone except Peter, who continuously dodged the balls with grace.

"The fuck? How did Puny Parker last so long?" Flash asked himself, angered yet impressed.

With only two other members left on Flash's team, Peter quickly picked up a ball.

"Let's see what else I can do," Peter chuckled.

Peter threw the ball as hard as he could. To the surprise of everyone, the ball hit one of the remaining students on the other side, bounced off of him, and hit the other teammate. With one ball, Peter had just taken out two people. Most of the students in the class had their mouths wide open. As much as Flash hated to admit it, he was starting to panic. He and Peter were now the only ones. Half of the class started chanting Flash's name while others started yelling Peter's. Furious, Flash grabbed as many balls as he could and threw them at Peter. Smirking, Peter dodged them one by one. Flash threw another one, only for Peter to catch it, ending the game. Before the gym teacher could declare the game done, Peter arrogantly threw the ball at Flash. Colliding with his stomach, Flash was knocked back to the wall. A majority of the class started cheering as the gym teacher declared Peter's team the winner. However, Peter started to worry even more. Overwhelmed with everything that was happening, Peter ran out of the gym.

"It had to have been that spider!" Peter deduced as he ran out of the school. Running, Peter found himself in an alley.

As he started to think, Peter remembered what Harry and Mendel had said about Oscorp's goal to genetically enhance humankind. Mendel had mentioned that the spiders didn't have any successful results. Did he include the one that had gone missing and bitten Peter? Peter looked up at the wall of the school. Was it possible? Without hesitating, Peter placed his hand on the wall. Then he placed another. As he went further, he indeed started to climb up. Once he got to the top of the wall, he looked down.

"WOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!"

Peter got to the roof of the building and started running. Without thinking, Peter jumped on the next building, and continued this pattern for the next five minutes. The day before, Peter had been the school nerd that barely had any friends. Now, he was quite possibly the most powerful human being in the entire world. As he looked down at New York from the top of a building, Peter smiled.

He was a human spider. A Spider-Man.

New chapter next Thursday.