Take A Bite Out of Crime
"I hate it when Mr. Schmitt does this," Peter Parker muttered to himself, " Just because I'm the only sophomore in the class doesn't mean I can do impossible assignments."
Peter Parker was the school nerd. He wasn't thrown out for his looks, with the exception of his big glasses he was quite good looking. A thin, non-muscular sophomore with brown hair and pretty green eyes, he was definitely not ugly. The problem at his school was that he was smart. He was a sophomore with the IQ level of a college graduate. He especially excelled in the science area, getting an 'A' in his AP Biology class while the rest of the seniors were struggling to pass.
His biology teacher, Mr. Schmitt, loved to fail students. He saw it as payback for the failure his life had been. When Peter came and aced the first test of the year, a feat no one had ever accomplished before, he saw it his personal mission to bring him down. Mr. Schmitt would give Peter personal assignments that were borderline impossible, but Peter would always present the completed project on the due date and receive the grade he earned.
"How is knowing the chemical composition of a spider's web and how to reproduce it ever going to help me in my life? The net doesn't even have anything on it!" Peter cried out in frustration. He had been on the internet for over an hour looking online for some help; so far he had no luck.
"Peter! The phone's for you!"
"Alright, I'll be there in a second Aunt May."
Peter lived with his Aunt May and his Uncle Ben. When his parents died in a plane crash, his dad's older brother and only relative, Ben, took him in. Peter had lived with them for about ten years now. They had become his surrogate parents.
"Hello?" Peter said to the phone. He had a questioning tone because he barely received a phone call.
"Peter! It's Harry!" came the enthusiastic response.
"Oh, hey Harry. How're you?" Peter wasn't nearly as excited as Harry at the moment. He was still down about his biology project.
"I'm good. Listen, know how you mentioned that you needed a spider for some bio project?"
"Umm.I guess I mentioned it to you."
"Well I was talking to one of my dad's scientists, and I mentioned that you needed a spider. Then he said that he had one that you could use."
Peter lifted his head so quickly he almost got whip-lash, "Really? Are you for real?"
"Yeah, totally! He said the only problem was that it has been exposed to chemicals and radiation. Nothing's wrong though, they just might be a little edgy."
"That's totally fine, as long as they're alive. Can you bring it to school tomorrow?"
"Yeah, no prob."
"Thanks man, I owe you one."
"You always do. See ya tomorrow."
"Later."
Peter's mood had taken a total U-turn during the course of the conversation. This saved him a lot of time, and possibly money. Harry had come through for him when he didn't even need to.
Harry Osborn was about Peter's only friend. His dad was the founder of a large chemical manufacturing company called Oscorp. The company had been extremely successful, resulting in extreme wealth for the Osborn family. Even though Harry was rich, he still sought friendship in Peter. Both of them had lost their mothers in tragic accidents, and that helped to form a bond between them.
Peter walked downstairs to the kitchen to grab a snack. Aunt May was already there cooking dinner, "Don't eat anything Peter, dinner will be ready soon."
Aunt May was a kind old lady. Her silver hair may have shown her physical age, but inside she was twenty years younger. She was able to take care of herself easily and refused the service of others. Her youthful energy made it hard for her to stay inside the house all day. She enjoyed being out in the hustle and bustle of life.
"What did Harry want?" she asked Peter.
"He's helping me with my biology project."
"Well that's nice of him. Can you set the table for me?"
The front door slammed, "Oh good," Aunt May said, "Ben's home just in time for dinner."
A big, grey-haired man walked into the kitchen with a big smile on his face. Peter's Uncle Ben seemed to light up whatever room he entered. Nothing could ever get him down in the dumps. He usually had bad days at work, he was an editor at the Daily Bugle, but that couldn't stop him. No matter how bad his day went, whenever he saw his family he was happy.
"Hey Peter, how was school today?"
"It was good except for the stupid project Mr. Schmitt gave me. I swear he has it in for me."
"That's not true Peter. He just realizes that you need more challenging assignments for you to learn. You're a smart kid; most kids would kill for your intelligence. You need to use your intellect to the fullest or else you're just taking it for granted. Remember, with great power."
"Comes great responsibility. Yeah, yeah I know," Peter muttered. 'With great power comes great responsibility' was Ben's personal motto. He could compare just about anything to it.
"How's the Photography class your taking going?" Ben had Peter sign up for Photography so he would have an elective where he could expand his artistic brain instead of his math and science brain.
"It's going well. The teacher says that I do a good job with putting action into my pictures."
"Well that's good. After a while you might be able to come work at the Bugle with me. It's not a high paying job, but it's good money for a kid your age."
Ben and Peter sat down at the table. Aunt May brought the dinner to the table covered in a towel. Ben and Peter knew what was coming. Whenever May had a new meal that she wanted to try out on them, she covered it. The fear showed in the eyes of the lab rats. They questioned what was under the veil.
Aunt May lifted the towel off the dish. She had a glowing smile on her face, sure to hit the jackpot with this one. "Liverloaf is served, eat up!"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
School was always a horror for Peter. He was always picked on when he was left in the open. He usually went to his first class as soon as he got to school so that way he could be sheltered from the "popular" groups. He did a pretty good of staying out of their way, but today was not his lucky day.
"Pitiful Parker! Haven't seen you in a while." came a voice from across the hall.
Peter's pace sped up. He was afraid to look around in hope that he would be forgotten. "Hey Parker! I was talking to you!" The sound of tennis shoes thudding against the linoleum floor approached Peter. Peter squinted at the oncoming assault. He felt a sharp pain in his butt.
"Parker, how ya doing? Did you like that football greeting? I figured I should give you one since you're never going to be on a team anyways." A group of kids started snickering.
"Hi Flash, how are you?"
Flash Thompson, the bane of Peter's existence. Captain of the Varsity football team, he was a junior out to get Peter. Flash was as dumb as a rock and it bugged him that a sophomore was in more advanced classes than him. So Peter became Flash's "special friend".
"I'm great, thanks for asking. Guess what I have! A big report due in two days! Isn't it exciting? And guess who I decided is going to do it."
"Me?"
"Actually I was going to say Norman, but now that you've volunteered yourself, why not? Thanks man, you're a pal." Flash left with a football slap to Peter's rear.
Peter limped to his next class. He saw a vending machine and his stomach rumbled. He had skipped breakfast because Aunt May was thinking of having the leftovers of last night's meal for breakfast.
He approached the machine and took out his wallet. He winced because he bumped one of his sore spots. He opened his wallet and let out a gasp of surprise. All of his money was gone.
"Dangit, Flash must of done it." Flash was known through out the school as a thief. He had been like that as long as anyone could remember.
Peter walked to class and sat down in his seat. He was glad to be alone. He could just sit there and read his book until the bell rang, enjoying the peace of an empty classroom. He was pulling out his book when something dawned on him. He wasn't alone in the classroom.
"Peter?" came an angelic voice from the front of the room.
He looked up and his heart stopped. Standing there was the most beautiful girl in the school. The blonde haired beauty stood underneath a fluorescent light that cast an angelic glow on her. Peter looked into her soft blue eyes and melted on the spot. It was none other than Gwen Stacy.
"Oh, umm.hi," was Peter's timid response.
"What're you doing here so early?" she had a sing-song voice that made blue birds jealous.
"I'm.um.hi"
"Hehe, you're cute. Well have you seen Mrs. Lewis? I need to ask her a question."
"She hasn't.um.been in here.yet."
The bell rang, signaling the start of first period.
"Oh well, I better not be late to my first class. It was nice talking with you Peter."
She walked out the door and into the hall. The door closed behind her, leaving Peter there in shock. "Bye" he said to the already long gone Gwen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Here it is."
Harry pulled a box out of his locker and handed it to Peter. Peter opened it and looked inside. Lying motionless on the base of the box was a spider as big as Peter's hand.
"It looks like its dead," Peter commented.
"No, the scientist said that it was just tired from some of the chemicals it had been subjected to. Don't worry, it just makes it easier to examine it or whatever you need to do."
Peter picked it up to get a closer look. "I'm pretty sure that it's dead. It's not responding to anything. It's just sitting there OH @%$#!!"
Peter screamed out in pain. He threw the spider to the ground. "Peter! What happened?!?"
"The stupid thing just bit me!" The spider was sliding on the linoleum floor into the busy hall. SQUASH came the sickening sound of someone stepping on the spider. "Eww, what the heck is this?"
"Oh great. Of all the people to step on that spider it had to be her." Harry tried to hide from the onslaught that he knew was coming.
Felicia Hardy looked down at her shoes. Spider innards were smeared all over them. She looked around the hall to see where the spider could have come from. She saw Peter grasping his hand yelling in pain and Harry trying to calm him down. She walked over concerned about Peter. "What's wrong Peter?"
"Oh nothing honey, he'll be fine." Harry replied to Felicia.
"Don't 'Oh nothing honey' me, Harry Osborn. What happened!?"
Peter managed to get a hold of himself long enough to tell Felicia, "Harry's spider bit me."
"That was your spider!?! I stepped on that thing. Do you see my shoes? They're covered in spider guts! Do you know how much these shoes cost?? I should dump you right now but."
"Oh my gosh, Peter just fainted!!"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"I hate it when Mr. Schmitt does this," Peter Parker muttered to himself, " Just because I'm the only sophomore in the class doesn't mean I can do impossible assignments."
Peter Parker was the school nerd. He wasn't thrown out for his looks, with the exception of his big glasses he was quite good looking. A thin, non-muscular sophomore with brown hair and pretty green eyes, he was definitely not ugly. The problem at his school was that he was smart. He was a sophomore with the IQ level of a college graduate. He especially excelled in the science area, getting an 'A' in his AP Biology class while the rest of the seniors were struggling to pass.
His biology teacher, Mr. Schmitt, loved to fail students. He saw it as payback for the failure his life had been. When Peter came and aced the first test of the year, a feat no one had ever accomplished before, he saw it his personal mission to bring him down. Mr. Schmitt would give Peter personal assignments that were borderline impossible, but Peter would always present the completed project on the due date and receive the grade he earned.
"How is knowing the chemical composition of a spider's web and how to reproduce it ever going to help me in my life? The net doesn't even have anything on it!" Peter cried out in frustration. He had been on the internet for over an hour looking online for some help; so far he had no luck.
"Peter! The phone's for you!"
"Alright, I'll be there in a second Aunt May."
Peter lived with his Aunt May and his Uncle Ben. When his parents died in a plane crash, his dad's older brother and only relative, Ben, took him in. Peter had lived with them for about ten years now. They had become his surrogate parents.
"Hello?" Peter said to the phone. He had a questioning tone because he barely received a phone call.
"Peter! It's Harry!" came the enthusiastic response.
"Oh, hey Harry. How're you?" Peter wasn't nearly as excited as Harry at the moment. He was still down about his biology project.
"I'm good. Listen, know how you mentioned that you needed a spider for some bio project?"
"Umm.I guess I mentioned it to you."
"Well I was talking to one of my dad's scientists, and I mentioned that you needed a spider. Then he said that he had one that you could use."
Peter lifted his head so quickly he almost got whip-lash, "Really? Are you for real?"
"Yeah, totally! He said the only problem was that it has been exposed to chemicals and radiation. Nothing's wrong though, they just might be a little edgy."
"That's totally fine, as long as they're alive. Can you bring it to school tomorrow?"
"Yeah, no prob."
"Thanks man, I owe you one."
"You always do. See ya tomorrow."
"Later."
Peter's mood had taken a total U-turn during the course of the conversation. This saved him a lot of time, and possibly money. Harry had come through for him when he didn't even need to.
Harry Osborn was about Peter's only friend. His dad was the founder of a large chemical manufacturing company called Oscorp. The company had been extremely successful, resulting in extreme wealth for the Osborn family. Even though Harry was rich, he still sought friendship in Peter. Both of them had lost their mothers in tragic accidents, and that helped to form a bond between them.
Peter walked downstairs to the kitchen to grab a snack. Aunt May was already there cooking dinner, "Don't eat anything Peter, dinner will be ready soon."
Aunt May was a kind old lady. Her silver hair may have shown her physical age, but inside she was twenty years younger. She was able to take care of herself easily and refused the service of others. Her youthful energy made it hard for her to stay inside the house all day. She enjoyed being out in the hustle and bustle of life.
"What did Harry want?" she asked Peter.
"He's helping me with my biology project."
"Well that's nice of him. Can you set the table for me?"
The front door slammed, "Oh good," Aunt May said, "Ben's home just in time for dinner."
A big, grey-haired man walked into the kitchen with a big smile on his face. Peter's Uncle Ben seemed to light up whatever room he entered. Nothing could ever get him down in the dumps. He usually had bad days at work, he was an editor at the Daily Bugle, but that couldn't stop him. No matter how bad his day went, whenever he saw his family he was happy.
"Hey Peter, how was school today?"
"It was good except for the stupid project Mr. Schmitt gave me. I swear he has it in for me."
"That's not true Peter. He just realizes that you need more challenging assignments for you to learn. You're a smart kid; most kids would kill for your intelligence. You need to use your intellect to the fullest or else you're just taking it for granted. Remember, with great power."
"Comes great responsibility. Yeah, yeah I know," Peter muttered. 'With great power comes great responsibility' was Ben's personal motto. He could compare just about anything to it.
"How's the Photography class your taking going?" Ben had Peter sign up for Photography so he would have an elective where he could expand his artistic brain instead of his math and science brain.
"It's going well. The teacher says that I do a good job with putting action into my pictures."
"Well that's good. After a while you might be able to come work at the Bugle with me. It's not a high paying job, but it's good money for a kid your age."
Ben and Peter sat down at the table. Aunt May brought the dinner to the table covered in a towel. Ben and Peter knew what was coming. Whenever May had a new meal that she wanted to try out on them, she covered it. The fear showed in the eyes of the lab rats. They questioned what was under the veil.
Aunt May lifted the towel off the dish. She had a glowing smile on her face, sure to hit the jackpot with this one. "Liverloaf is served, eat up!"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
School was always a horror for Peter. He was always picked on when he was left in the open. He usually went to his first class as soon as he got to school so that way he could be sheltered from the "popular" groups. He did a pretty good of staying out of their way, but today was not his lucky day.
"Pitiful Parker! Haven't seen you in a while." came a voice from across the hall.
Peter's pace sped up. He was afraid to look around in hope that he would be forgotten. "Hey Parker! I was talking to you!" The sound of tennis shoes thudding against the linoleum floor approached Peter. Peter squinted at the oncoming assault. He felt a sharp pain in his butt.
"Parker, how ya doing? Did you like that football greeting? I figured I should give you one since you're never going to be on a team anyways." A group of kids started snickering.
"Hi Flash, how are you?"
Flash Thompson, the bane of Peter's existence. Captain of the Varsity football team, he was a junior out to get Peter. Flash was as dumb as a rock and it bugged him that a sophomore was in more advanced classes than him. So Peter became Flash's "special friend".
"I'm great, thanks for asking. Guess what I have! A big report due in two days! Isn't it exciting? And guess who I decided is going to do it."
"Me?"
"Actually I was going to say Norman, but now that you've volunteered yourself, why not? Thanks man, you're a pal." Flash left with a football slap to Peter's rear.
Peter limped to his next class. He saw a vending machine and his stomach rumbled. He had skipped breakfast because Aunt May was thinking of having the leftovers of last night's meal for breakfast.
He approached the machine and took out his wallet. He winced because he bumped one of his sore spots. He opened his wallet and let out a gasp of surprise. All of his money was gone.
"Dangit, Flash must of done it." Flash was known through out the school as a thief. He had been like that as long as anyone could remember.
Peter walked to class and sat down in his seat. He was glad to be alone. He could just sit there and read his book until the bell rang, enjoying the peace of an empty classroom. He was pulling out his book when something dawned on him. He wasn't alone in the classroom.
"Peter?" came an angelic voice from the front of the room.
He looked up and his heart stopped. Standing there was the most beautiful girl in the school. The blonde haired beauty stood underneath a fluorescent light that cast an angelic glow on her. Peter looked into her soft blue eyes and melted on the spot. It was none other than Gwen Stacy.
"Oh, umm.hi," was Peter's timid response.
"What're you doing here so early?" she had a sing-song voice that made blue birds jealous.
"I'm.um.hi"
"Hehe, you're cute. Well have you seen Mrs. Lewis? I need to ask her a question."
"She hasn't.um.been in here.yet."
The bell rang, signaling the start of first period.
"Oh well, I better not be late to my first class. It was nice talking with you Peter."
She walked out the door and into the hall. The door closed behind her, leaving Peter there in shock. "Bye" he said to the already long gone Gwen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Here it is."
Harry pulled a box out of his locker and handed it to Peter. Peter opened it and looked inside. Lying motionless on the base of the box was a spider as big as Peter's hand.
"It looks like its dead," Peter commented.
"No, the scientist said that it was just tired from some of the chemicals it had been subjected to. Don't worry, it just makes it easier to examine it or whatever you need to do."
Peter picked it up to get a closer look. "I'm pretty sure that it's dead. It's not responding to anything. It's just sitting there OH @%$#!!"
Peter screamed out in pain. He threw the spider to the ground. "Peter! What happened?!?"
"The stupid thing just bit me!" The spider was sliding on the linoleum floor into the busy hall. SQUASH came the sickening sound of someone stepping on the spider. "Eww, what the heck is this?"
"Oh great. Of all the people to step on that spider it had to be her." Harry tried to hide from the onslaught that he knew was coming.
Felicia Hardy looked down at her shoes. Spider innards were smeared all over them. She looked around the hall to see where the spider could have come from. She saw Peter grasping his hand yelling in pain and Harry trying to calm him down. She walked over concerned about Peter. "What's wrong Peter?"
"Oh nothing honey, he'll be fine." Harry replied to Felicia.
"Don't 'Oh nothing honey' me, Harry Osborn. What happened!?"
Peter managed to get a hold of himself long enough to tell Felicia, "Harry's spider bit me."
"That was your spider!?! I stepped on that thing. Do you see my shoes? They're covered in spider guts! Do you know how much these shoes cost?? I should dump you right now but."
"Oh my gosh, Peter just fainted!!"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~