After making his way to the training room, Spider-Man opted to go straight to work. Part of him wanted to jump right into the harder stuff, mostly so that he would be ready to defend himself from his previous attacker if he should come across him again. Mysterio encouraged him to start off easy though, saying that they had time and that it would be better for him to get some basics back under his belt first.
Deciding to take his fellow superhero's advice, Spider-Man set the simulation setting in the room to where it only produced a couple "criminals" for him to fight. He waited initially, wanting to test how he would react to different things before going on the attack. Before getting pummeled, he'd managed to dodge punches from his attacker that were likely much faster than what a normal person could do on their own, so he wanted to see how he would stack up against something shooting bullets, thrown knives, etc.
Sure enough, one of the simulated criminals pulled out a gun. Spider-Man tensed his muscles, bracing himself. He obviously was aware that it wouldn't hurt him even if he was "hit" but something about the anticipation of this little scenario sent an extra level of adrenaline surging through his veins. The "criminal" then fired, a tiny bit of light simulating the bullet that would have emerged from it if it were a real gun.
Barely reacting fast enough, Spider-Man bent back just in time to avoid the little light bullet as it sailed past him, ultimately dissipating shortly thereafter. He then turned back to the simulated criminals, rushing over to them. They fired a couple more shots in his direction, but he quickly went from side to side, avoiding them before leaping into the air, delivering a punch in the direction of one of them, causing the simulated figure to dissipate in accordance with the setting of the scenario. He then moved on to the other guy, striking in the simulation's direction with his fist and making him dissipate as well.
Pausing for a moment, Spider-Man examined his gloved hands. For the first time, he realized just how powerful he felt. Obviously, this little test wasn't exactly a great indicator of the full extent of his abilities, but still, he dodged something coming at him as fast as a bullet normally would, and multiple times at that, before dispatching of the "thugs" so fast that they hadn't even had time to react.
So...how much more could he do?
For the next three hours, Spider-Man did nothing but train. Working his way up through the simulations, he had himself placed in all kinds of different scenarios, from busting up a "drug deal" involving ten criminals, to taking on fifteen "ninjas" at once and even fighting multiple "superhumans" at once with speed not quite up to his level, but still greater than what a normal person could achieve. He opted to mix things up by working through simulated hostage situations or other scenarios where it was less about power and more about moving quickly or not being seen.
As he worked through all these situations, Spider-Man found himself having a lot of fun. He got creative with his abilities, jumping and flipping around as he pushed his body to achieve even greater feats. He tried to avoid ever getting too sloppy though; as fun as this was proving to be right now, he knew that he should also be careful to treat his training as he should. Out there, lives would likely be on the line, so he kept his and Mysterio's mission in the forefront of his mind. They were heroes, and heroes, above all else, protected people.
There it was again; that sense of principle, of a concept that was important to him. Despite all the uncertainty around him and his existence, something deep down in Spider-Man's soul told him that responsibility, that using his powers wisely was his lifestyle, that it was what he should be doing even now. But where had this all come from? Who taught him these things? Mysterio had made it clear that he was not always so noble; if anything, it sounded like he had been the one to teach the guy a thing or two about responsibility. Yet, according to his partner in crime fighting, he had no existence to speak of outside of the mask, at least not for the last few years.
Still, someone had to have cared for him enough to influence him this way, but who?
Questions like these were why, despite all the fun that he was having through practicing with and honing his powers, Spider-Man could never quite lose himself to it too much. Every time he would start to get lost in the thrill, his mind would wander to some question pertaining to his past yet again. It was like a cold that he couldn't get over. Who were the people that left him? How did he even get his powers in the first place? What was that bizarre feeling he got both around his attacker and more subtly around Mysterio?
Finally, as it all piled up, Spider-Man punched so hard through a simulation that his momentum carried his fist straight into the wall, producing a hole in it. Frustrated, Spider-Man pulled his fist back out; he wasn't in any pain, but that didn't mean that he wasn't hurt. He was frustrated that he let his frustration get to him like this, which in turn made him only become even more frustrated, which led him to try and calm himself and not dwell on his frustrations.
It was quite a vicious cycle.
Suddenly, that strange sense went off in his brain again, making him instinctively turn to see that Mysterio had entered the room, his helmet still removed.
"I'm guessing that it didn't do much of anything for you?" he questioned, gesturing to the wall.
"Oh, uh, yeah, sorry about that," Spider-Man replied, embarrassed.
"Don't worry about it," Mysterio replied. "These walls have seen worse days during our training times in here; the floor and ceiling too."
Spider-Man let out a light huff, the inside of his mask feeling a little warmer as a result.
"It's just that, now that I've had some time to process what you initially told me, I'm realizing that I still have so many more questions," he explained.
"I understand," Mysterio assured him. "I've been trying to figure out how to use that device to reverse the effects and restore your memories, but it is proving more challenging than I anticipated. I've never seen anything else that functions the way it does before."
"So...I'm just going to stay like this?" Spider-Man muttered softly, the thought almost causing his body to freeze in dread.
"No," Mysterio spoke up. "We will find a way, and we'll do it together. You were there for me during my toughest times, and now, fate has given me the chance to do the same for you. I promise you, we will find the means to restore your memory."
"Okay," Spider-Man replied. That strange sensation was still going off in his head, maintaining the feeling of unease he'd been having around his supposed ally. Part of him wanted to ask about that more than anything else just so that he would at least know why it was happening, but there were other more important things to be discussed.
"So," he continued, clapping his hands together. "What's the status on this important mission or whatever?"
"Are you sure you're ready?" Mysterio questioned, gesturing to the hole in the wall.
"Yes," Spider-Man tried to assure him, and maybe himself as well. "Look, I just really want to do something good, something useful. Plus, it might help me actually take my mind off what's been going on up here right now, you know?"
Mysterio nodded lightly.
"Come with me."
Spider-Man did as instructed, following him back to the room with all the screens. He had to admit that this was all cool on some level; having a secret hideout and everything. If he wasn't still dealing with a massive identity crisis, he would probably appreciate it much more.
Mysterio then pulled up an image on the screen, the picture appearing to be of some kind of device.
"This is what we're after," he explained.
"It doesn't look like much," Spider-Man noted, observing its miniscule size.
"Perhaps, but according to our research before your accident, this thing contains an amount of energy unheard of in something this small before," Mysterio explained. "It can power something small for as long as a year at a time, or it could power something a thousand times its size long enough for at least a few good uses."
"Wow," Spider-Man replied. He wasn't so sure how something like that was possible, but he figured that there were probably a lot of people in the world smarter than him that could figure stuff like this out.
"So, what's the plan?" he asked.
"Well, from what I've gathered, Alchemax is planning on discretely shipping this thing out tomorrow," he said. "They've kept this thing off the books, and now we know why: they're sending it to a foreign military organization who has promised to pay them a pretty penny for its usage. We can't wait for that to happen though; we need to sneak into their facility and get it, tonight."
"Why can't we wait until tomorrow to get it, when it's on its way to the shipping place?" Spider-Man questioned. "I mean, I know that I'm new to all this, again, but I would think that there would probably be a lot of security at a place like this, whereas there wouldn't be as much during the actual transport."
"You are likely correct," Mysterio replied. "However, if we wait until daytime, there will be no way to do this discreetly. Our reputations hang in the balance as it is, but more importantly, if we're attached publicly to a few more instances like this, it won't be long before we're discovered here, and we have to go on the run like we never have before. If we're going to keep doing good for the world, tonight is our best option."
"Okay," Spider-Man replied, still a little skeptical of the idea. What Mysterio was saying did make sense to some degree, but that sensation in his head wouldn't go away, and his uncertainty only seemed to be making it worse."
"I know it's a chance, but..."
"No, I'm sorry," Spider-Man interrupted, waving his hand by his head apologetically. "It's just that, well...I've been having this strange feeling, almost like a tingly sensation in my head a lot whenever I'm around you. It went off a lot more intensely when the guy who attacked me, well, attacked me, but even now it's still going off. I don't know what it is or why it's doing this, but it just kind of puts me on edge a little. You have any idea what it is?"
A look of concern took over his supposed ally's face, and Spider-Man grew worried over what he would say next.
"We really need to figure out what that thing did to you," the guy finally spoke up. "The fact that you seem to be having some other kind of residual effects is concerning. You say that this sensation starts in your brain?"
"Yeah," Spider-Man replied. "But if it's intense enough, it's almost like it takes over my body, or at least works in tandem with my reflexes and stuff. It's like I operate almost completely on instinct at that point."
"Interesting," Mysterio said. "None of either of our research into that device indicated that anything like this could be possible."
"Are you sure it's from the device though?" Spider-Man questioned. "I mean, it makes sense that it could be, but this...this thing just feels so natural, like it's been ingrained in me for a while."
"You never exhibited any ability like that before, so it had to have come from the device," Mysterio explained.
Peter simply nodded in reply, deciding to accept the explanation for the time being.
"Speaking of your attacker though, you should be aware that he might show up," Mysterio added, shifting the subject.
"Wait, he will?" Spider-Man questioned, his heart suddenly beating just a little faster as concern came over him.
"If we do our job right, he'll never know that we're there," Mysterio assured him, "but it's not out of the realm of possibility, for sure."
"Who is he anyway?" Spider-Man asked.
Mysterio looked away for a moment, appearing almost saddened.
"He goes by Spider-Man as well," he explained. "He has the same powers as you, plus some kind of electrical abilities as well. He tried to join us, but we quickly discovered that he does not share our same altruistic motives. He wants glory, and nothing more."
"Why was he after me earlier?" Spider-Man asked.
"He wants there to be only one Spider-Man," Mysterio explained. "He figures that, now that the public seems to be more on his side, if he takes you out, the public will love him more. Be careful though; he might try to deceive you."
"Deceive me?" Spider-Man questioned.
"Oh yes," Mysterio said. "He knows that my skill sets are in illusion especially, so if he does come, he could try and make it seem like it was me who was trying to perform the deception. You must not listen to him though; if he sees any vulnerability, he'll strike hard, likely in a way you cannot recover from this time."
Spider-Man took a moment to process what he was being told. So, not only might he possibly have something wrong with his brain, but there was another person like him who could be out there, waiting to remove him from the picture. Yet, that feeling in his brain was still giving him an odd feeling on the inside, like he shouldn't trust a word that was being said to him. At the same time, that exact same sense had also gone crazy around this supposed other Spider-Man. One of the two of them was helping him though, so despite the mess still going on in his head, he still felt that his friend in the green and purple was who he should trust, at least for now.
"Okay," he said. "So, how are we going to do this anyway?"
If you've made it this far, I hope you're enjoying it!
Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!
"You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek You; I thirst for You, my whole being longs for You, in a dry and parched land where there is no water." Psalm 63:1