Author's Notes—Did you think this story was dead? Well, it came close, but after seeing Spider-Man 2 for the tenth time, I've decided to update.

To the KP fanbase--I do plan on updating soon.

Chapter 5

"Doctor, Osborne's here." Dr. Octavius looked up at his work and greeted Norman, taking heed of the young man behind him.

"Nobel prize, Otto! You're going to make Oscorp rich." Norman shot a piercing smile at Octavius and shook his hand.

"It's not about the prize or fame, Norman. It's about achieving scientific progress."

"Ah, but you need money; you need Oscorp." Otto chuckled before looking at Peter.

"Who do we have here?"

"This is the person I called you about. He's the reason my son got through high school science."

"Peter Parker. It's an honor to meet you, sir," Peter said, sticking out his hand. "I'm here to write a paper about you."

"Yes, I know perfectly well why you're here, but I don't have time for—" A cough from Norman prompted Otto to change his mind. "But since Oscorp pays the bills…"

"That's right. Well, I have to take off for a, uh, meeting; I'll leave you two alone now." Norman nodded to Peter and headed out.

"I won't take much of your time—"

"Parker, now I remember you. You're Connors' student. He says you're brilliant. He also says your lazy."

"Well, I'm trying to do better."

"Being brilliant isn't enough young man. You have to work hard. Intelligence is a gift, Parker, to be used for the betterment of mankind."

"Yes, sir." A machine standing in the middle of Doctor Ocativius's lab caught his attention. He made his way over and examined it. "So is this it?"

"Yes, this design will initiate and sustain fusion."

"I heard you use harmonics and atomic frequencies."

"Synthetically, of course."

"Harmonic reinforcements…"

"Go on."

"An exponential increase in energy output."

"A huge increase, like a perpetual sun." Peter nodded, his brain working at breakneck speed. Something seemed awry with the machine.

X.X

Clark Kent walked through New York City, still taking in the wonders of big city life. It was so different from Smallville; first of all, it was crowded, but even moreso, New York just radiated an aura that was completely different from Smallville's mood. People here seemed…more apathetic, like nothing was their problem unless they were directly affected.

'New York needs a hero…even more than Smallville needs one.'

'And when they finally get one, they crucify him in the media.'

He could have laughed at the irony if it weren't so bleak. Even more surprising was the fact that Parker stood by what he did. Clark could only wonder if he would have done the same thing in Peter's position. Unlike Peter, he was invincible and could days without sleeping; he never got tired and never bled or bruised.

'Would I sacrifice my future to…this?' he wondered.

An explosion interrupted his thoughts. Looking up, he saw the Goblin breaking hovering outside an office window a few dozen stories up. Without wasting anytime, Clark dashed to the area of conflict

"Jamison, Jamison, when will you learn? You call this filth news?" asked an irritated Goblin, holding up a newspaper. "Spider-man this, Spider-man that…when will you learn?" He slowly picked Jamison up by the scruff of his shirt. "Here's a secret—"

"Put him down!" yelled Clark, finally arriving in the correct room.

"Get out of here kid! I'm fine!" yelled Jamison frantically. Cynic he was, but he refused to put others in harm's way.

"Hahaha!" cackled the Goblin, slowly taking out a bomb. However, before he could react, he felt his glider careening out of control, noticing the fist the young man had put through it. Realizing that he had to get back to his lab, he threw Jamison back at…whatever that boy was and tossed a bomb for good measure. "Your choice, hero. Me or the old man?" he asked, flying away with what control he had left in his glider.

Seeing the bomb about to explode, Clark did the only thing he could think of. He pushed Jamison aside and dived on the bomb. His world faded to black as trace amounts of Kryptonite tore through his body.

X.X

"Are you sure the calculations are correct?"
"Peter, what have we been talking about in the past hour and a half? I perfectly understand the consequences of the slightest miscalculation—this is my life's work after all."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to question you." Mrs. Octavius smiled at the two and poured some tea for Peter.

"Come to the demonstration tomorrow—you'll see it in action then." She turned to her husband. "And you should get some sleep."

"Did Edison sleep before he turned on the light? Did Markhoni sleep before he turned on the radio? Did Beethoven sleep before he wrote the fifth?"

"Did Bernoulli sleep before he found the Curves of quickest descent?" added Peter.

"I'm liking this boy more and more!" His wife smiled and turned to Peter.

"So, Peter, tell us about yourself. Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Well, I, uh, I don't really know."

"Well, shouldn't you know? Who would know?'"

"Come on, Otto; leave him alone. Maybe it's a secret love."

"Well, you can't keep something as complicated as love bottled up you know. It'll make you sick."

"It's something you have to work at."

"And let me tell you something; if you really want a girl to fall in love with you—poetry."

"Poetry?"

"Never fails, Parker."

X.X 'But our love was stronger by far than the love

Of those who were older than we

Of many far wiser than we

And neither the angels in Heaven above,

Nor the demons down under the sea,

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

Of the beautiful Annabelle Lee.'

Does this stuff actually work? I mean, honestly…are girls this easy to woo? I set down the poetry book to take my laundry out of the dryer—well, by laundry I mean my Spider suit. Making sure no one was looking, I shuffled the suit into a brown laundry bag and left, reading the rest of the poem while I walked outside.

'For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride,
In the sepulcher there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.'

The first thing I noticed when I got home was that my phone was beeping. That meant I had a message—wait, I never get messages. The only people that care enough to call are telemarketers and that guy who keeps asking if he can order a large two topping pizza. Let's see…stop, fast forward, play, there we go. Genius, Parker.

"Peter." It was Aunt May. "When you get this, come to the New York General Hospital on 46th street. It's Clark—he's been in an accident of some sort."

Clark Kent. I was out of the window in a heartbeat.

X.X

The first thing Clark noticed when he awoke was…pain. Even more important than the pain itself was the fact that he wasn't supposed to feel pain. He opened his eyes and met the kind eyes of Peter and his Aunt May.

"Thank God you're awake. How're you feeling, Clark?" asked a concerned Aunt May.

"I've been better, but at least I'm alive."

"Such a relief; we've been worried sick about you!" 'She reminds me so much of my mother…so caring, even to someone she barely knows.'

"Yea, it's been kind of boring here too." May glared at Peter.

"Peter! Manners. Anyway, you're welcome to stay with us once you get out of here if you don't feel comfortable living on your own for the time being."

"I—thank you."

"Um, Aunt May, can you excuse us for a few minutes? I need to talk to Clark about um, girl troubles."

"Poor Clark has just woken up, Peter! Is that all you can think of?" scolded May, before her face softened and she quietly waved goodbye and left.

"Jamison said the Goblin attacked you."

"Yea, I guess I'm lucky to be alive."

"Why? Last time you destroyed him."

"He threw a bomb at me."

"So?"

"What do you mean so? Bombs kill people," stated Clark.

"Correction—bombs kill normal people."

"What are you trying to say?" asked Clark, getting defensive. He knew Peter's secret identity, but he didn't want to share all of his powers with Peter.

"Jamison said you dived on that bomb."

"Our minds aren't exactly completely clear when we're in life-threatening situations." Peter sighed.

"Listen, the doctor says you'll be fine. He's taken a sample of your blood to make sure." 'Blood? How did he get my blood?' Clark looked down at his arm, where a small, square patch had been placed over the area where the blood had been extracted. "He says you're the fastest recovering patient he's ever had."

"Well, I guess I'm just lucky."

"Yea…maybe." Clark yawned, feeling unfamiliar feelings overtake him again. Fatigue.

"Can we talk about this later? I'm really tired." Peter reluctantly agreed, wanting to learn the real story.

"Sure thing, Clark. Take care." When Peter left, Clark looked down at his arm and pinched himself. Surprisingly, he felt another jolt of pain. 'What happened?' As he tried to focus on each of his powers, he found them all gone. He then realized the blatant truth.

He was now mortal.

X.X

Author's Notes—Well, I'm back I guess. Updates are still going to be sporadic.