Part Three

"It's a beautiful Saturday morning and for everybody out there her are some golden oldies." The radio announcer sounded off like he did every day. And like any other day Peter promptly turned the radio off by smashing the button with his fist, only today, the radio broken into pieces when he did, "Oops."

Peter got out of bed and took a deep breath realizing that the wrestling match was later tonight and he had a dozen things to do prepare for one of the most important nights of his life. "Time to begin."

Peter gazed over a notepad and began writing down a very special numerical formula that he had gotten from Science class. Once he had finished he gazed at the numerical expression for the compound with a certain level of pride and wrote the summary at the bottom of the page: Webbing. "If I've been granted the agility and strength of a spider, goddamn it, then I had better at least have the webs."

"I can get all of these ingredients at any good pharmacy store. I'll need a delivery system." Peter noted. "Something quick and effective." He raised an eye, "I'll come back to this one."

"I can't just show up like this." Peter gazed at himself in the bathroom mirror, "If this goes wrong I'd be the laughing stock of the school. I'll need a way to cover my face, a mask." He opened the door leading out and called for Aunt May, "Do you have a sewing kit?"

"Sure." May responded, "Did you rip something?" She inquired from behind her bedroom door.

Peter raised both his eyes as he looked upon his own reflection, "Not exactly."

"Damn." Peter said angrily as he worked over some red and blue clothing in his bedroom. He used the sewing machine that Aunt May had given him rather clumsily. "Damn." He said again as another flaw began to show up.

May knocked on the door, "Peter, are you alright? Do you need help with the sewing machine?"

"No." Peter responded somewhat annoyed, "Thanks though." He clenched his jaw as he attempted to pull off a tricky maneuver with the machine. "Damn." He remarked.

"Reflective lenses." Peter gazed at himself in the glass lenses that he had gotten from one of Uncle Ben's numerous toolboxes, "Cool." He nodded at them, "Perfect. This is really coming together."

He then looked down at the red and blue mess he had created from his sewing attempt, "Well, almost coming together."

"A delivery system." Peter gazed over the formula for the webbing. "I could rig it so that the compound is a liquid and becomes elastic once exposed to the air.

He frowned suddenly, "What could I do that with?" Peter scratched his head a little frustrated and then suddenly it came too him, "Pressurized canisters, or even better capsules." He nodded proudly and then realized his problem wasn't gone yet, "That still leaves a delivery system."

"Now I got you!" Peter exclaimed as he made another attempt at sewing together a costume. "A web motif would be nice." He noted as he worked on the clothing.

He placed a finger on a point in the clothing, "A spider there would be awesome." He nodded and then widened his eyes, "Maybe this will work after all."

"Here we go." He continued his work with the sewing machine eagerly as the design began to come together.

Peter finally gazed at the final product with great anticipation. "Gee golly, Batman, what's that?" He said mockingly as he looked at the costume. He changed his voice to a deeper tone of voice, "I don't know, Robin. But it may possibly be the most cheapest job done, and he sure was a bad sewer."

"He certainly, must have been poor." Peter commented with a smile.

Peter suddenly laughed sarcastically and then acted as if he patting somebody on the back, "He sure was."

He gazed at the costume for top to bottom. The mask was red, with white lenses and web motif strewn all across it. The body was a little more complex and was a perfect blend of red, blue and the web motif he had chosen. A small strip of red ran across the waste and connected with the upper body forming what resembled a belt even though nothing could be held there.

The boots that lay at his feet were red and also had the nice web motif dutifully placed all along it in an interesting pattern. The pants were completely blue mainly due to the fact that he had run out of red cloth.

"Not bad, if I say so myself." Peter commented proudly at his creation, "I'll get the webbing another day but for tonight's match this'll do just fine. Look out, Crusher, Peter Parker's coming into town."

"Well, damn it, May. What can I tell him?" Ben asked frustrated as he looked at the newspaper in his hands, "I've done everything that his dad told me to do before he went and died."

May raised her eyes slowly, "Well then, you'll have to do more. There's not some handbook on how to be a parent, you just have to the best you can."

"God knows I try." Ben responded flipping pages in the paper as he sat on the sofa in the living room. "I just don't know what to do."

"Go and talk to him." May responded patting Ben on the shoulder, "You can do it."

Ben nodded, "Fine." He closed the paper and with a certain hesitation made his way up the stairs under the hopeful eyes of May. Upon reaching Peter's door he knocked gently, "Peter? I need to talk to you."

There was no response from the other side of the barrier that now obstructed Ben's path. "Peter?" He slowly opened the door and peered in to find the room was empty, "May!"

"Yes?" She asked from downstairs.

"He's gone!" Ben responded walking back down the stairwell with a certain determination entering his pace, "I'm going to go look for him and end this tonight!"

May's breathing became shallow, "How will you find him? He could be anywhere." She handed him his coat as Ben grabbed his car keys.

Ben shrugged, "I'll find him, I don't know how but I will." He gazed at his car safely across the street, "I promise."

Peter, in costume, stood on a long line as he waited to sign up for the match. He saw all sorts of people in different costumes and realized how tame his really was in comparison.

"Maybe I should have made a cape." Peter said looking at his own suit with a skeptical eye. He checked his watch and saw the time was seven-thirty P.M. and soon the matches against Crusher would start.

From what Peter understood it would work like this: Ten wrestlers would go up against him one by one until he was pinned or until they were all defeated.

The line quietly moved until at last Peter reached the desk. An older man with a white beard gazed at Peter with a somewhat humorous expression, "Alias or name?"

"Alias." Peter responded nervously.

"Okay." He answered back, "What's your alias?"

Peter opened his mouth but realized that in all of his preparing he had not even considered what his name would be, "I-I don't know."

The man raised both his eyes in surprise, "Jeez." He looked Peter up and down, "What's with the spider, kid?"

"That's sort of my thing." Peter awkwardly replied cursing himself for forgetting a name.

He nodded, "That's good I can work with that. Your new name is Spider-Man." He looked at form and then back to Peter, "Do you do this of your own free-will."

"Yes."

"You understand that bodily harm could come upon you?"

"Yes."

"You realize that if the administration suspects some sort of unfair advantage you will be withheld the prize money."

"Yes."

The old man handed Peter the form and a pen, "Sign on the 'x' kid." Peter complied and handed both items back once he was done, "The door on the left and have fun out there."

Peter walked down the corridor and already he could hear the cheers of the crowd all around him. The voice of the announcer as he reported the news of the Crusher's newest victory pierced even these walls.

He walked until reaching an end of the line of wrestlers who felt they were strong or fast enough to take on the Crusher. Peter gazed at the bulky in front of him with two angel wings strapped to their back.

The man with wings stared at Peter, "Who are you?"

"Spider-Man." He answered back.

He adjusted his wings and then turned his attention back to Peter, "That's your name? What are you? Some kind of a freak?"

Harry Osborn gazed at Gwen Stacy with a great deal of interest and moved away from his pack of friends to talk to her, "So? You're having fun?"

Gwen smiled, "Sure." She gazed at the crowd of teenagers that Harry abandoned, "Peter didn't come?" Gwen brushed away her blond hair and smiled.

"No, he said he had stuff to do." Harry answered back, "You know Peter?"

"Yeah, we met in the library yesterday. Cute kid." Gwen responded, "Very cute."

Harry frowned, "Oh." He said with a degree of resentment. "I wouldn't know."

The wrestling arena was fairly large and not unlike those seen on television. The insignia of the company hung over the ring while the massive hulking figure, called the Crusher circled around the ring like a wolf waiting for its next meal to come along. The red and white lights that swung across the arena were annoying at first but one quickly got used to them.

Harry took several steps towards Gwen wondering how close he could get before she protested. However, the voice of the announcer quickly grabbed their attention.

"We have a special contender for you to either love or hate, worship or condemn! A newcomer to the ring but full of energy, give a big round of applause for Spider-Man!"

Peter heard his name called and quickly pulled the red mask over his head. He was immediately pleased with the lenses once he was looking through them and couldn't help but smile in praise of his own accomplishment.

One of the organizer's grabbed Peter, "You're on kid. Don't worry, if anything happens we have a team of highly trained doctors on call."

"Doctors?" Peter nervously asked as he saw an old man sleeping by a table with a black medical kit in his hand. "Whose that?" He asked as they rushed him down the corridor.

"The doctor." One of the organizers answered, "You'll do fine, kiddo." He assured Peter behind a snicker.

Peter turned a corner and found a direct path to the ring open for him, "Oh crap." He said suddenly questioning the sanity of his actions. "You know what I just realized my Aunt May is sick and I need to get home, I'll just go back."

The organizer frowned and pointed towards the ring angrily, "You see those chairs, matches fill those chairs, and if they become empty because of you I'll sue your ass so fast your head will be spinning! Now get out there!"

Peter turned back around and reluctantly began what felt like a death march towards the ring. "What are you doing Peter?" He asked himself, "You're going to get torn limb from limb, the last real fight you were in was with a girl in the sixth grade, and you lost that one, and this guy looks a hell of a lot bigger than that girl."

He slowly entered the ring and found himself staring into the imposing blocky face of the Crusher. His hand alone looked larger than Peter's entire head.

"Hi." Peter said nervously behind the fabric of the mask.

Crusher raised an eye and looked Peter up and down, "You are so dead."

A referee came into the ring and brought Peter and the Crusher to opposing ends of the arena. He made sure everything was legit, that Peter wasn't carrying any weapons or anything else of the sort.

He walked into the center of the ring brought up his arm, closed his fist and then brought it back down again before quickly backing out of the way. The match was on.

Peter felt that familiar tingling near the back of his skull and stopped to scratch his neck trying to root out the source. It was due to this that he didn't notice Crusher's approached and suffered a tackle because of it.

"Ouch." Peter commented as he landed on the floor with Crusher standing over him. "Quick note: When that tingling comes, that means something bad is about to happen."

Crusher extended his elbow and leaped towards Peter hoping to land a devastating blow.

In response Peter twisted his back and managed to use both his arms like springs. Within moments he had dodges Crusher's attack and was back on his feet.

Crusher got up and closed in on Peter, "I'm going to hurt you so bad." He said menacingly.

"Really?" Peter raised an eye as he formed a fighting stance and kept his distance from Crusher, "You seem to have a lot of anger in there. Do you need a hug?"

"How can you make jokes?" Crusher asked taken aback by his foe's attitude.

Peter shrugged, "I don't know, it must have been the spider bite. I also seem to be talking to myself a lot more these days."

Crusher frowned and swung his massive fist straight towards his opponent.

"Ole!" Peter declared excitedly and dodged Crusher's fist. He followed up with a spinning sidekick that sent the large wrestler tumbling across the ring. "What was that about beating me up?"

"What hit me?" Crusher said groggily before getting back up. His eye's immediately widened in shock as Peter performed a stunning dropkick. He stumbled back but remained standing, "It's going to take more than that to knock me down."

Peter nodded, "So I've noticed." He swung his right arm and connected with Crusher's ribs. The wrestler immediately collapsed on the ground. He raised his eyes, "I did it." He raised his hands in victory.

"You've got to pin him, you moron!" Somebody called out from the crowd.

"What?" Peter asked and then realized Crusher was crawling along the floor already exhausted and winded from the match. "Oh." He leaped across the ring and landed directly above the professional wrestler.

He grabbed Crusher's arms and legs and performed a pin the best he could. Immediately the referee closed in and started the count, "One, two, and three! Fight's over!"

"The little kid won?" The announcer said shocked over the intercom, "I'm on? Damn it! Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like a big round of applause for our new amateur champion, Spider-Man!"

Peter slowly walked out of the ring and found himself mobbed by nearly everybody. He smiled behind the mask, he was a winner, after all of these years; Peter was finally a winner.

It was then that he spotted Gwen Stacy in the crowd cheering along with the rest of them. Peter shrugged, "Why the hell not?" He walked towards her and pulled over the bottom of his mask until his jaw and lips were both revealed, "Hey there." He said confidently.

She raised her eyes, "That was just amazing, it was spectacular!"

"I'd hope so." He replied before leaning over, "How about a little victory kiss?"

Gwen seemed embarrassed at first but after a moment of hesitation nodded, "Sure."

Their lips touched and for a moment locked in an intimate moment. Several people looked at the kiss with a certain amount of exhilaration and envy. Peter eventually broke the kiss and gazed at her with a smile across his face, "That was fun."

"I'd hope so." She replied mimicking his earlier words. "My number's 403-3381, area code 137. Call me!" She called to Spider-Man as he found himself being pushed away by the crowd, but a thumbs up quickly confirmed that he had heard her. "What a hunk." She said with dreamy eyes.