Chapter 11

"Is this thing on? Peter, can you hear me?" I heard her voice from the earpiece.

"Yeah, Gwen, I can hear you," I yelled out subconsciously. Because you feel like yelling when the wind was blowing hard enough when you passed the halfway point of climbing the Empire State Building.

"Just checking in, any progress with the climb?"

"Still… huff ... as hard… huff ... as the last time I did it," I grunted while shifting from crawling and back to running up vertically.

"Can't you just run in one clean sweep?"

"Gravity, Gwen. You know… huff… how it's harder to go up the stairs? This is… urgh ... a hundred times worse."

"Ooooooh, yeah. I mean with your Spider Power, I kind of forget physics still applies to you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I shoot a pair of web lines and in one mighty pull, catapult myself right at the top of the building. "Oooh, that's high. That's… very, very high."

"Haven't you done this before?"

"I have. Doesn't make it any easier looking down from the currently tallest building in NYC. Still gives me the shivers." Though not necessarily a bad shiver.

"Then why do you do it at all? Thrill-seeking?" Gwen sounded exasperated from the call, and I shrugged before remembering she couldn't see me.

"Spider-Man has to keep in shape somehow, might as well make it interesting," I answered before making a giant leap forward.

For one moment, I was suspended in the air. A sort of odd peace permeated as the wind silenced everything around me but the riffling costume. The skyscrapers began replacing the dawn red sky and my heart drummed louder as the ground edge closer and closer.

I heard Gwen calling my name as she became agitated from the long fall I'm having and still no web-shooting. I waited until the last possible second needed before I shot the web high in the air and let the tension reel me back in while the sole of my foot skidded the pavement.

My sudden appearance must have woken up the early morning New Yorkers as they pointed and gaped at me. I made the biggest whoop after the thrilling drop that echoed the whole block. When I swung to the highest point my web could take me, I let go of the line and made as many flips as I could.

" Gooooooooooooooood morning New York!"

Once gravity took over again, I shot a line and made a curving turn around the building, going back to the roof where Gwen had a perfect shot of me climbing and free-falling the Empire State Building. I came to a stop next to her and pulled off my mask, feeling flushed and breathless.

"So, how long was that?"

Gwen checked her stopwatch on her phone, "It took 20 minutes and 32 seconds for you to get to the top."

"What?!" I squawked. Squawk. Because really?! "I've gotten a measly 4 seconds faster."

"Better than no progress at all, right?"

"Yeah, but still…" I must have pouted at some point because Gwen gave me that look when she said I'm being adorable with my puppy eyes and caress my cheek to cheer me up. Which I'm slightly insulted because I'm not adorable, I'm a manly man. Heck, I'm more than manly, I'm Spider-Manly.

Gwen just chuckled and patted my head saying, "Sure you are."

Urgh , that hurts my ego a bit.

"Not that I'm flattered you would share your… diary vlog."

I huffed, "For the last time it's a scientific log!"

Gwen didn't say anything. Just smile indulgently which doesn't raise confidence. "But what's the point of all this?"

"As all good scientists do, you've got to record all the progress and changes I made, right? It's good to know just how much spider-power I have and how much it evolved me. That includes strength, endurance, speed, and stuff like that."

"Is that all?"

"Well, there's the fact that it's just plain awesome. You did get the footage, right?"

"I got it, I got it, don't get your spandex in a twist." She rolled her eyes as she let me see her video of me climbing up the building to do my spidey-acrobats. "Boys… should have known you would do crazy stunts for the laughs."

"Now don't knock it until you try it." An idea popped into my head. Gwen must have known I thought of something crazy because not only was I silent I was staring directly at her.

"Peter, no."

Ignoring her, I crept closer and she backed away…

"Peter, I swear to God—"

I was quick. Before she got to protest further, I picked her by the knees in a sort of bridal carry. Running straight to the edge of the roof. "Hold on tight!" I warned before leaping off and started swinging across New York's sky with a screaming blonde with me.

By the end of my impromptu duty as her chauffeur, I managed to get her back on the balcony of her room.

"Peter, if you do that ever again without my explicit consent, I will straight up murder you with a bug spray."

"Yes, ma'am"

"Furthermore…" she started fidgeting and blushing before she whispered, "...can we do that again?"

I smirked and subtly fist-pumped out of her sight. I knew she'd like it.

. . .

"So…" Gwen began as she examined the bottle that kept the experimented spider with keen interest and awe as any budding-scientist would, "Who else knows that you're… you know…"

"Just you," I told her, truthfully. Boy, did it feel great not lying.

"And how long in our relationship were you planning on telling me?"

I was conveniently silent as I gazed long and had at nothing in particular. Just the horizon of the football field in front of us.

She snorted, "Figured, but I'm not mad or anything. This is a really big secret for you to have, I'm sure you're scared on who to share it with."

I felt the tension released from me at the forgiveness Gwen graciously offered me. I know I don't deserve it but it only makes me so much grateful to have her by my side.

"Does it scare you… what you can do?"

I licked my lip as I debated on my answer, "At first… yeah." I smiled at the memory of my first freak out that morning. I looked down at my hand that can easily crush bones and punch concrete, the responsibility I took on as I used them to the best of my abilities, and the sheer thrill and joy of helping the little guys that I began to take pride in. "But now? No."

"So… Aunt May and Harry don't know?"

I shook my head, "I didn't want to make May all the more worried than she needs to be. She already went through hell from losing… Ben… I don't want to make things harder from her nephew seeking danger every night. While Harry… well… I just haven't found the perfect time."

Gwen raised a skeptical eyebrow, "'Perfect' time, is it?"

"Alright, fine, I'm not sure if I should tell him. Secret identity is there for a reason, you know? The less people know, the more I can keep the people closest to me safe from anyone with a grudge against Spider-Man."

"Not that I can't see the logic with Aunt May, but I'm pretty sure if people know your secret then they'll come after your people regardless whether your friends and family know or not."

I opened my mouth to argue but closed it when nothing came to mind. "That's… that's actually a good point."

She returned my spider and kissed my cheek, "See? This is why one of us is in the debate team."

"Shall I reward Miss Stacy from Midtown some points then?"

"You shall," we leaned in for a kiss but groaned when our moment was interrupted from the buzzing ring from my phone.

I checked my phone and realized I was going to be late for my internship. "Sorry, I gotta go, I have an appointment with Doctor Connors. He's been off the office for a week even though we're getting close to another breakthrough."

"You do know that I'm trying not to feel jealous, right?"

I grinned cheekily and pecked her on the cheek before slinging my backpack. "Don't be, Doctor Connors is spoken for anyway."

She squawked, about to point out that she's not jealous of the good doctor but I was already a runner.

When I got to his lab, there was a suspiciously lack of people working in the usual hustle and bustle of research. The fact that the serene lab looked like a scene from a sci-fi movie really unnerved me.

"Where is everyone?"

"I had them take the week off."

His voice caught me off guard and I whirled around too fast. Dr. Connors stood hiding in the shadows. He sounded strange though, a bit rasp and had me worried if he caught a cold. But then he turned on the lights, revealing a shocking sight.

"Doctor Connors… what… no way…"

"Way, Peter," he responded, his eyes shone in mirth as he saw me flailing at the sight of his full-fledged arm s as if he had both of them all his life.

What had been jaw-dropping made the tip of my mouth curved up, and I had to shove a fist in my mouth before I broke out into hysterical laughter, and tears almost spilt from my eyes.

Because we did it.

We actually did it.

We did the impossible and succeeded.

Him, me, and my dad.

Dr. Connors must have known what I felt because he pulled me into a hug. It took me a while to gain my bearing before I took a step back, "This is amazing. Unbelievable. This will shake the scientific community. The whole world!"

"Ah, not so fast, Peter." He said. A flash of guilt briefly crossed his face as he rested his hand on my shoulder, "I understand where you're coming from, but I need to tell you something and I trust only you in confiding this."

I gulped at the severity in his tone and nodded, he gave me a tight squeeze in return. Instinctively, I turned toward the regenerated arm, and from the haze of victory came the implication of the good Doctors' action. "You tested the serum on yourself."

Connors' eyes widened at my words before chuckling, "Only you, Peter, to get to the core of the problem before I even address it."

"Dr. Connors, this is bad. I mean, it's good that it works. But there's no way Oscorp will support independent experimentation on their own researcher. You… you might really lose your job!"

"So I'm aware, Peter. But I was at risk of getting fired anyway. I can't let everything I had ever worked on confiscated by Osborn. With nothing to lose, I only needed the opportunity to test the serum without anyone's eyes in the lab."

So he must have experimented on himself during a time where everyone's eyes were elsewhere; the Expo.

"But… but we only had one mouse as a success. We don't know the kind of side-effects the subject might experience, the psychological influence on the human brain, or how extensive the genetic changes can be to the subject—"

"ENOUGH!" he roared that I had to step back, "I've worked too long and too hard to lose everything because of Osborn and his stupid deadline!" He roared at the end of his sentence, and I had to calm him down, gently pushing him down to a chair.

"Easy, Doctor."

"Sorry, sorry, Peter. That was… that was inappropriate for me to act that way in front of you. Please forgive me."

I shrugged, "We all have our bad day, Doc. That's what makes us human."

"...makes us human… is that a good thing?" He mumbled that I almost didn't catch.

"What?"

Dr. Connors seemed concerned with what he said and shook his head, "Nothing, nothing, it's nothing. More importantly, Peter, now that we have smashing results of our research. You need to put up the proper procedure for our project and collect more definitive data. I've already made an appointment with Osborn. He can't deny our progress this time."

I hesitated and tried to argue back, "I feel much better if you isolate yourself and observe your body first in a controlled environment. There's still so much we don't know about it."

" Do it, Peter!" He breathed in and breathed out before continuing more calmly, "Please…"

The Doctor sounded pleading and desperate, I hadn't had the heart to say no even if the niggling feeling in my gut tells me this was a bad idea. But we've come this far thanks to him, I should trust that Connors knows what he's doing.

"So you're going to hide your new arm?" How does that even work?

"If necessary. I can still run my lab through video calls. Besides, I can't let a bunch of red tapes hold back our progress now that I've come this far." He then looked me straight in the eye and the manic gleam softened somewhat, "Peter, I must say… I wouldn't be able to reach this point without you."

"I'm, I'm sure you'd've figured it out one way or another."

"But you did, and for that, I can never thank you enough. People's lives are going to be better from this research." Then he pulled me into a hug, and I was never one to deny it. "Your father would have been so proud of you."

The sheer conviction and sincerity in his words manage to hit where it hurts. I felt my throat close up and lips trembled. I rested my face on his shoulder so he wouldn't see the tears. God, it's like all I've been doing is crying these days.

Again, I pulled away, and Dr. Connors patted me back in understanding. I took a moment to gain my bearing before I locked eyes with him, "Where do we start?"

. . .

One of the things being Spider-Man taught me is that you get used to weird stuff.

Is someone climbing up buildings with a Slasher Mask? Oh, it's cool, just wanting to freak my friend out for a prank. Thanks for saving me from falling off the fourth floor.

Is a naked guy with a knife screaming for his stolen unicorn? Typical Tuesday Night.

A literal runaway bride speeding through the driveway after carjacking? Not even among the Top Ten.

So yeah, after being Spider-Man for a few months, you start to learn that there's little that can faze you anymore.

Then the Universe decided to laugh and call me "Noob!" By making me jump into a monster movie come to life as two big-green-and-scary began a total smack-down with each other in the middle of Harlem.

With all intent and purpose I must say:

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!

I was just patrolling around New York, when Harlem became noisy for whatever reason (something about a monster wreaking havoc according to the scanner) and thought they might need a little extra Spidey help. Bear in mind, when they said monster, I thought it might just be someone with a giant monster truck, or a crazy guy with a bazooka. Maybe even a costumed nutjob who thinks he's better and entitled more than the average joe.

Not once did I think I'd be facing a 20-foot-tall of pure muscle and craziness. Because when I arrived, the thing was swatting rocket launchers like they were flies, and the first thing I had in mind was: aw, hell no .

Never in my life did I feel like the bug that most crooks like to point out to me.

But then I saw the people running and screaming for their lives with no one to stop the giant abomination and I thought: Someone has to stop it… oh shit, I need to stop it.

How the hell do I do that?

Again, never had my spider-power made me feel inadequate. Even though logically I can bench press 7 cars if I want with little effort, but when the muscly being, with shredded skin and protruding bones, visually compared to my skinny-spandex self, you don't feel as confident as you might have.

I mean, just look at the dude! He scores eleven out of ten on the fear factor alone.

Then there was a loud bang as something fell from the sky, which got the Abomination's (Oooh, apt and catchy) attention and holy shit there's another one. Where did he even come from?

Is this God's not-so-subtle way of saying I need to die?

The new guy was much greener all over, wearing only a ripped purple trouser. Abomination made a disgusting grin on his face as he cheered, "Hulk!" it yelled. They began running at one another. I deluded myself they were seeking each other's arms, but then the Abomination gave a sharp right hook on Hulk's face that made me wince.

While the Hulk's presence was worrying, at least I can say they weren't friends. Two of them together would be a bit much even for me. They roared out a battle cry as, again they simultaneously ramped against each other, hard enough that the earth rumbled from their tangled, and sonic boom causing glass to shatter and sparks to fly.

As worrying as their clashes were, priority number one should be saving the civilians. I can only pray the Green Guy is on our side as I keep the casualty to a minimum.

A random car was thrown from the blast. A guy screamed knowing he couldn't avoid it in time. And I was there, catching it with my bare hands as I would with a dodgeball. "Yo, watch where you park this thing, will you?!" I set the car aside and went to the next mayhem.

Crowd control was exhausting. People were running without caution, blind to the smaller dangers, and I had to be on my toes for any trouble in my periphery. Webbing lamp posts from falling, carrying victims who can't move to the nearest paramedics, pulling out people from ruined buildings that the fight between the monsters had crushed.

A military helicopter came and began shooting the Abomination and I sag in relief, "Oh good, the cavalry arrived." No sooner after I said that, the helicopter came crashing down as the tail boom got hit after acquiring two heavy-loaded passengers hanging on to it. Creating a bizarre picture for a fight "Aw, come on! Seriously?!"

Watching the trajectory of its fall, I snagged twin web lines on the sides of an intact building. Pulling myself back, a different kind of rush came over me as I was catapulted to the side of the helicopter. I had to get my heart in control before slipping inside, surprising the occupants of the vehicle.

"What the—? Who are you? Where did you—?"

"No time to explain el Capitan ." The chopper twisted and turned in mid-air, and I scanned the four uniformed people and a civilian woman, "We're going to abandon ship!"

The heli jolted, and the woman almost fell out of the chopper if I hadn't caught her. I webbed the oldest looking one of the bunch, to his indignant cry, reeled him in, and jumped out.

She yelled in fright while the old man swore up a storm, but I managed to swing them down to a nearby rooftop.

Err, maybe a bit too near since the heli is about to crash to a building next over. I quickly swung back, carefully avoiding the shit storm below me. "Alright," I said to the crew, "Who wants to blow this popsicle joint? Grab on me!"

The two soldiers were desperate enough to listen to me without question, but the pilot persisted in his seat. "Yo, what are you waiting for? Come on, let's get out here!"

"Leave without me, I need to land this thing to safety!"

"But—"

"I'll be fine, I'm trained for this, go !"

I saw the roof was getting uncomfortably close, so I chose to spare more people as I swung out from the chopper, and back to the first pair I saved.

The mustache man watched me like he wasn't sure what to make of me. I know the feeling, I don't get myself half the time either. "Who and what the hell are you?" he asked me.

The woman clapped and pointed at me with recognition in her eyes, "I know you, you're Spider-man!"

"Spider-man?" Said one of the soldiers "No way, he's a myth."

"Oh, I am no myth," I tried my best Eolwyn impression.

The sound of metal screeching and fire blasting, and knew that was my calling card. But I barely took a step from the edge of the building before I felt my hand tug beside me. "Please!" Said the woman, "Take me with you!"

I would have loved to have my mask animated just so she'd know how eye-boggling her statement was. The mustache guy thought the same, "Betty, are you out of your mind?!"

Yeah, what he said, lady.

"Shut up, Dad! Hulk is fighting your mess right now because for once in your life you didn't stop to think of the consequences. So you have no right, no right whatsoever, to question my decision."

There was a lot to take in from those sentences. From the question, why would the father bring his daughter along in a military operation? (Was it Bring-Your-Kids-to-Work day?) that the military was somehow involved in making the Abomination (Which again makes me want to cry 'What the fuck?! This is some conspiracy-level shit here') and the undeniable realization that I am out of my depth.

My musing was cut short as Miss Betty stubbornly held on to my back, "Err, Miss, I'm not sure this is a good idea—"

"Once he's done fighting, the Hulk might need to calm down and I'm the only one who can do that since I don't shoot at the first sight of him!" she said, giving a dirty look to her father.

"His existence is a national threat to our country and risking…"

Yeah, I've got no time for this. I jumped without sparing another second and swung toward the source of the chaos. Careful not to flip too much with a passenger on my person. The scene we arrived at wasn't good. The chopper was dead and leaking. The Hulk was nailed into the wall while the Abomination was beating him to a pulp, giving him no opening to fight back.

" HUUUUUUUUULK !" Miss Betty cried next to my ear. And while I'm touched by the desperation in her cry, it was not kind to my ears.

The Hulk caught his assailant's punch and the two began grappling one another. I landed far enough to keep Miss Betty in safe distance, before leaping to the wreckage chopper. My spidey sense is begging me to get out but I stayed grappling in the dark until I found the pilot. He was unconscious but alive, and the seatbelt would have been a problem if I didn't have enhanced strength to rip it out.

But the tingling in my head turned to an electric shock to the base of his spine. Fire flared and the chopper glowed ferocious red, and I knew I was toast. But then I heard a feminine yell saying "Save him!" and then a massive wind came blowing out the ferocious fire as if it was a candle.

I jumped out of the chopper, pilot on my back, and spotted Hulk across. I knew at sight that the Big Guy had snuffed out the fire with a force of his clap. Putting aside that crazy-ass power he got going on… Holy crap he saved my life! I really thought I was going to die there. Sorry I called you a monster before. I take that back.

I felt my eyes widened as the Abomination got on his feet from behind the Hulk and was about to attack him. Thinking no further, I shot my web at its eyes at the same time Miss Betty cried "Look out!" He growled annoyingly but that was enough to alert the Hulk before he punched Abomination in the face.

He must not like being webbed because he had to make things complicated and ripped the web easily out of his face before deciding to swing a chain of weights right toward Miss Betty because you know how villains are… wouldn't be a villain without attacking the helpless first and making us, heroes, job harder, right?

Hulk noticed this and shielded her as best as he could, and got hit face first with the weights. He crumpled to his knees and Abomination laughed.

Setting the pilot down, I webbed a line to the wall behind and pulled myself to boost my kick right across his jaw, cutting his laugh.

I landed on the wall and watched as the thing barely looked fazed as he rubbed his mouth in annoyance. I gulped, panickingly thinking whatdidIdo?whatdidIdo?whatdidIdo? But outwardly quipped, "Hey there big guy, never seen you around."

"Begone, pest!"

For a big guy, Abomination was fast, but he wasn't spider-fast. I dodged the chains that came whipping past.

"This pest doesn't like your attitude—"

I climbed up his arm that was about to turn my bones into fine paste before crawling to up his body like the creepy-crawler that I am.

"—don't your mother tell you not to insult people in their first meeting? "

"Shut up!" He yelled as he kept reaching for the spot on his back where I latched on for dear life. Secretly, I do find it funny that the big, bad, monster was trying so hard to reach his back like that annoying rash spot we all want to pick on at one point in all our lives.

"HULK SMASH!" Hulk attacked by smashing down his fists to the pavement floor until it rattled like waves, tripping the Abomination and all I could think was "Uh-oh" before shockwave alone blew me away until I hit the pavement so had that I think I cracked a collarbone

With great power, comes great knowledge when you're waaaaaaay over your head. I moaned mentally.

They began exchanging blows once more, but from my outlook, there's a chance Hulk may be overpowered by his opponent. But the Big Guy didn't give up and started fighting smart, attacking his knee and using the chains against him instead. Hulk is strangling him, the Green Giant's plan was to cut off his air since he had difficulty overpowering the Abomination.

Inwardly, I prayed the Hulk would win his fight because if not then I'll have to fight next and I actually want to get home in time tonight.

Silence settled in the air before being filled with a victorious roar, then the Hulk left the first sigh of reinforcement came and I can understand him leaving. Not trusting the authorities will not make an enemy out of him. The sight of the Good Green Giant became a blur as he leaped rooftops from rooftops before becoming a green blur.

Yeah… I'm still gonna say it.

What the actual fuck?!

. . .

The Hulk disappeared as sudden as it came. I know because I stayed tuned to the police as they were on a man-hunt with the green guy. I didn't want the one that saved us to get captured or accidentally hurt someone because of the trigger-happy boys, so I kept both an ear and eye out.

With no luck on both sides, I came home late as usual. Which means I'm home past curfew again. Which means I'm gonna have another late dinner as I sneaked into my own house.

Coming home had been a pain. And I meant that literally. My whole body was still sore from the whacking I had that I felt strained from every muscle I pulled. I could tell I'd be having blue and yellow bruises underneath that I'm already thinking of excuses to skip gym class tomorrow. At least I'm not bleeding this time and no bone is broken… I think.

I skipped to the kitchen and checked the fridge if there was any leftover only to be met by the disappointing gaze of my aunt. Any other time, that look would have made me seeth. Sadly, I'm used to it by now.

"Where were you?"

What? No... hi, how are you, Peter? How was your day, Peter?

"I was out."

"Yes, I know. Out where?"

"Out…. there…" I pathetically answered.

"This isn't time for one of your jokes, Peter."

"What? What do you want me to say? I was out. Nothing else."

"At this late?" May sighed tiredly, "Did you even get the eggs?"

My lips tightened and pumped my fist, cursing at my forgetfulness. I turned around, planning to make it up to her but she held my shoulders and forced me to turn. I still didn't want to face her, but she didn't give much of a choice as she shed my hood off and tipped my chin upfront. I knew the second she noticed the bruised cheek scarred lips. Her gasp filled with shock, fear, and worry rolling up at once. All the things I didn't want her to feel.

"Peter…"

"It's nothing, Aunt Ma—"

"Don't tell me it's nothing, Peter Benjamin Parker!" She forced me down on the table and went out of sight then came back with a first aid kit. "Don't you dare say it's nothing. I can't even sleep every time you come home late and injured from God knows where ever since Ben—" She paused in her treatment before giving me a block of ice for my eye. "Why won't you tell me anything?"

I shook my head, my throat felt clogged even as I choked up, "Please, Aunt May. I know what this looks like but please, please stop aSKING—!" I bit my lip before I could raise my voice but the damage was done.

"Okay," she said, looking sad, tired, and gray. All I had was myself to blame. "Okay, I'll stop. But remember when I told you that secrets always have a price. Always. Think carefully of how much you're willing to pay to keep it."

I nodded in silence and only when she was done tending my wounds did I snag my bag and hastily retreated to my room. Welling on the exhaustion and the guilt. The hunger forgotten, replaced by my thoughts of how much worry I'm causing her if I came out compared to what I'm doing to her now. I opened the window just to get some fresh air.

"Hey, there, Tiger. Didn't think I'd see you moping out this late."

I jumped a bit, not expecting MJ out from her window. "Yeah… me and my Aunt had a disagreement."

"I heard. It's not everyday I get to hear it from your side of the fence."

"So has your side been quiet today?"

She snorted, "I wish. God… I can't wait to graduate and get out of here."

"Where will you go?"

"The city, duh . I'll be auditioning for the next Broadway."

I smirked, "I can definitely see that; starring Mary-Jane Watson in whatever new play they have this season. Tickets are now unavailable so better luck next time."

She snorted but then MJ sounded solemn, "You think I have a chance?"

"MJ, if there's any girl I know who's born a star, it's you."

"Peter Parker; you are a sap." Is what she said but I could tell even from the dim lights that she blushed as hard as her hair. "You're just saying that because you're my best friend."

"Maybe so. But sometimes… sometimes you just know people… you can… see what's coming for them."

"What about you? What do you see coming for you?" MJ leaned in, genuinely curious.

"I… err…" The words got stuck in my mouth, my eyes cast down at the bruised knuckles and calloused knuckles I've collected over the month. I remembered Aunt May's words that secrets always have a price and if that price includes my future. I tried picturing myself in whatever job I might have, costumed tucked inside, and having to swing out at a moment notice. "Same I guess, move into the city, like you. But… I don't know… all these years I always imagined myself becoming like my dad… but now... it's like I'm walking on a different road that I'm not sure where it's taking me."

"Don't worry, Tiger. You'll find your way."

"Yeah? How do you know?"

"Sometimes…" she smiled, "You just know people."