The Extraordinary Spider-Man - Vol 1

Chapter 8: Massive Changes

Likenesses used

Michael Mando as Reggie

Logan Marshall-Green as Frankie

Back at home, Carmilla sat on the couch, crying. Ignoring the constant texts she was receiving from her family, Carmilla let her tears out as she contemplated everything that had gone wrong since the experiment. It was safe to say she didn't know what to do. Before she could do anything else, the doorbell rang. Getting up and walking over to the door, Carmilla looked through the peephole to see it was Mac.

"Carmilla, I know you're in there! Please, I want to talk!"

Carmilla scoffed before walking away, prompting Mac to kick the door open.

"Jesus Christ, Mac!" Carmilla yelled.

"Look, we really need to talk! You have no idea how sorry I am for what happened!" Mac apologized. "I'm so sorry, Carmilla."

"Sorry? You pin me against the wall in front of my family and you have the nerve to just come back and say sorry?! You humiliated me! And now they - we - all think you're some psychopath!" Carmilla raged.

"I understand you have a right to be angry-"

"You're lucky as shit that I'm not calling the cops right now! I should've known that experiment was an awful idea, and look what it's done to you now! God, we were fucking stupid to go through with it!"

Mac approached his wife, who stepped away. "Honey, you know I did it because I wanted to help. I didn't think all this would happen!"

"There you are, trying to justify yourself!"

"I'm not trying to-"

"I warned you multiple times about what could happen and you didn't listen to me once! No, you just pretended things were gonna be okay out of your own pride!" Carmilla yelled. "You brought this on yourself!"

"That's what you think I did?"

"Don't tell me I'm wrong!"

"Well, you are!"

Carmilla scoffed and shook her head. "So that's what you choose to say right now."

"Listen, I really am sorry for hurting you. That's something I'll never forgive myself for. But I'm not sorry for choosing to go through with the experiment in the first place. Yes, there were risks, but I did it to help the military! Especially since I can't anymore after those horrific years-"

"Stop!" Carmilla angrilly interrupted. "Just stop! Don't you dare try and bring out the war experience routine again! I am extremely sorry you had to go through all that, and I could never imagine the horrors you witnessed. But you do not get to use that to guilt trip me right now after assaulting me in front of my entire family! It looks like I'm not gonna change your mind about the experiment, so you might as well just go."

"Shut up! Just shut the fuck up!" Mac exploded. "I came back to apologize for what I did, and this is what I get? Real grateful wife, you don't even realize how sorry I am! All I'm asking for is some understanding, and instead, you're just doing nothing but trying to cut me out! You're not even trying to forgive me, so you can just go to hell!"

Speechless, Carmilla started to walk away.

"You get back here, you stupid bitch!" Mac demanded as he followed Carmilla.

Carmilla quickly walked into the kitchen and picked up the phone. Mac stormed right in.

"Get out right now before I call the police," Carmilla threatened. "I'm giving you ten seconds."

"Oh, you're going down that road, huh? Put the phone down. Don't be stupid."

"You better get out. Right now."

A few seconds of silence passed.

"Get out," Carmilla repeated.

"Fucking make me!" Mac roared, slamming his fist on the dining table, smashing it in half.

Carmilla screamed and dialed 911, putting the phone to her ear. "Hi, my husband attacked me earlier, and now he's in my house! Get the cops here soon! Please!"

Breathing heavily, Mac ran out of the house. Once he was gone, Carmilla fell to her knees, crying.

In his room, Peter was finishing up the web-shooters.

"You took a lot of time. You better be worth it," Peter murmured under his breath.

"Peter?"

Peter quickly put the web-shooters underneath his bed, and pretended to be working on his chemistry homework as Aunt May opened the door.

"Hey, May," Peter said, pretending to be tired.

Aunt May yawned. "You're still up? It's one in the morning."

"Just doin' some last minute chem."

"Okay, but just get to bed soon, please."

Peter nodded. "Will do."

"We had a really nice time tonight," Aunt May admitted.

"We did. Other than Gwen's dad going off on the vigilante's ass. I get that you guys aren't crazy about him, but I think he's just trying to do good things," Peter defended.

"Well, hopefully, he can prove us wrong soon."

Peter looked down at his chemistry homework, not knowing what to say.

Aunt May smirked. "So you really like that Gwen girl, huh?"

Peter groaned. "Is it seriously that obvious?!"

"I'm gonna be blunt, but yeah. I know for a fact that Harry knows as well."

"Well, I told Harry."

"My point is, you gotta make sure no one else finds out! Especially her dad, 'cause he's a cop!" Aunt May advised with both seriousness and goofiness in her voice.

"I gotcha, May."

"Anyway, I'm gonna head to bed. Night, Pete."

"Night, May."

Aunt May left the room, and Peter pulled out the web-shooters from under his bed, putting them on his desk. Putting some finishing touches to it, Peter pressed the trigger, shooting a web to the wall. His eyes widening and jaw dropping, Peter started shaking in excitement. He pushed the web a little with his finger, and it didn't even break. He shot a web at the ceiling, proceeding to hang upside down on it. He then jumped off and shot another web to the ceiling. He then started to swing across his room, accidentally kicking his closet door open and falling to the ground.

"What was that?!"

"Nothing!" Peter called out.

He looked at the webs in pure excitement as a smile formed on his face.

"We did it, dad."

Thanksgiving break had ended, though the transition to school wasn't as bad as Peter had anticipated. After school, Peter, Harry, and Gwen were doing homework in the school library, sitting at a table.

"I cannot thank you guys enough for helping me so much with algebra," Harry stressed. "My grade went from a B to an A- alone after the last exam and a few homework assignments. Thanks, guys."

"Hey, man. You had the brain all this time," Peter insisted.

"We're glad we could help, but you still worked extremely hard to earn what you got," Gwen agreed.

Harry smiled. "I appreciate that. I'm really glad you guys had a great time on Thanksgiving, by the way."

"Yeah, thanks again for inviting us!" Gwen thanked. "My dad and I really appreciated it."

"Same. It meant a lot to my aunt and I," Peter agreed.

"No prob! Thanks again for coming. My family's not the type to go out and have Thanksgiving dinner with extended relatives, because most of them don't live in the area. So it was a great change," Harry said.

"Glad it all went well. Also, your mom legit cooks like a Goddess," Gwen complimented.

Harry smiled. "Right?"

"Best mashed potatoes ever," Peter praised.

"S'up, Penis Parker?" Flash mockingly said, walking by with Liz and Kong.

Liz punched her boyfriend's shoulder in anger.

"Really, Flash? Of all insults, that's what you're gonna come up with?" Harry sighed.

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Be original for a change!"

Flash sarcastically held up his hands. "Hey, I'm just playing."

"Are you, though? Eugene?" Harry chuckled, prompting Peter and Gwen to laugh.

Flash looked ready to retort, only for Liz to drag him away, chuckling herself a little.

"You need some aloe vera for that burn?" Kong asked, laughing.

"Shut up, dude!" Flash responded as he and Liz walked away.

"You guys go ahead, I'll catch up with you soon," Kong said.

Kong sat at the table with Peter, Harry, and Gwen.

"Just ignore him, Pete. I wanted you to know we all understand why you quit the team," Kong assured. "I wanted to properly say sorry about what happened."

Peter nodded. "Thanks, Kong."

"You getting help for it or anything or?" Kong asked.

"Actually, my aunt and I are supposed to be starting therapy in a few days," Peter answered.

Kong got up. "That's good, man. I gotta go meet up with Flash and Liz, but hope it all goes well. See you guys."

"Thanks. See you, Kong," Peter said with genuine appreciation.

"Bye," Harry followed as Gwen waved.

Kong left the library, and Peter took this chance to change the subject.

"Anywho, I have really gotta start busting my ass on English. God, I hate The Tempest," Peter growled.

"I can relate," Gwen sighed.

"French is my favorite class, and even that's being a pain in my ass right now," Harry admitted. "I have a presentation due in a week and I'm low-key screwed."

"Ouch, dude. That's why I stuck with Spanish," Peter revealed. "Been told it's much easier."

"I just can't wait until I can take drivers ed next year. Should be exciting," Gwen said.

"Drive, man! They're on our ass!" Frankie yelled at his partner Reggie.

"Shut up, I got this!" Reggie responded in irritation.

The getaway truck was driving away from two cruisers. Even with Reggie's pedal to the metal, the cops were still on their asses. However, a strand of webbing was then seen in front of the street, completely stopping the truck, cracking the windshield, and knocking the men forward a little.

"What the-" Reggie started.

"The hell is this?!" Frankie exclaimed.

A thud was felt on the roof of the truck, prompting the men to pull out their machine guns and leave the truck. They looked up at the top of the truck to see nothing there. By that point, the cruisers pulled up to the men, though they quickly took that chance to open fire on them.

"Backup! We need backup now!" Officer DeWolff yelled in her radio as she ducked inside her car.

However, Peter, in his torn-but-usable wrestler suit, appeared from behind the men and shot his webs at them, pulling them down.

"Cops are right, guys. There's probably cold and uncomfortable cells ready for you at the precinct!" Peter joked.

"Son of a bitch!" Frankie muttered as he got up and pulled out his gun.

Peter quickly shot the gun with a web and pulled it over to him, accidentally hitting himself in the face with it.

"Gah! I have got to get the hang of these things," Peter groaned as he dropped the gun.

Peter ran over and flip kicked Frankie, knocking him down. Reggie got up, only for Peter to shoot a web at him, flying over and punching him down.

"Yo, freeze!"

Peter turned to see DeWolff and two other cops with their guns still aimed at him and the criminals, though DeWolff motioned for them to stand down.

"Yo, boys in blue here! And girls! I got them for you!" Peter declared as he walked over.

"You know, our captain's not a huge fan of you," DeWolff said. "Give me a good reason why I shouldn't bring you in right now."

"Believe me, I'm more than aware of how the captain feels about me. But you gotta trust me, I'm trying to do good things," Peter promised. "I respect you cops and what you do, but I'm not a criminal."

On that note, Peter took that opportunity to shoot a web at a building, swinging away.

"Wooooohhhhhhhhh!" Peter cheered as he started swinging across the city.

It was Peter's first time actually swinging in public, and it wasn't disappointing. He continued to swing for two more minutes, running on and jumping off of buildings, only to accidentally hit the wall of an apartment complex, falling on a patio.

"Note to self. More practice needed," Peter reminded himself.

Mac was lying against the wall in the subway station, miserable and drowning in self-pity. He was doing his best to sleep, though that was proving to be impossible. It certainly didn't help when four thugs walked up to him.

"Give us your money, you bum," one of the thugs threatened, pulling out a pocket knife. "Or this goes through you!"

Groaning, Mac glared at the thugs. "You do not want to piss me off right now. Walk away and none of your limbs will be broken."

The thugs laughed.

"Yo, what the fuck is this guy talking about?" one of the thugs laughed.

"Shit, this guy smells!" another thug remarked.

One of the other thugs threw a kick at Mac, only for him to grab the thug's leg. Mac flipped the thug, causing him to fall face-first on the ground.

"Holy shit!" one of the thugs yelled.

Mac quickly got up. "Next?"

One of the thugs threw a punch, only for Mac to grab the fist and punch him in the face. Mac kicked another thug to the ground, and threw the thug he was holding onto into the third one, knocking them both to the ground. One of the thugs got up, only for Mac to slam him against the wall and throw him back to the ground. Two more thugs got up, and Mac grabbed one of them, kicking his leg, breaking it.

"Aaahh!" the thug yelled as Mac proceeded to punch him in the nose, breaking it.

Mac threw him to the ground, and ducked under a punch by the other incoming thug. Mac punched him in the jaw, sending him back. The fourth thug approached from behind with his knife, only for Mac to grab his arm and force the knife into his throat. Blood started pouring out of the thug's mouth and throat, and even splattered a little on Mac's face. Mac gasped as he threw the man against the wall, staining it with blood. He looked at the injured thugs, who were clearly horrified.

"Help! Someone help us!"

"Help! Please!"

"Shut up, you shits!" Mac yelled.

"Oh my God!"

Mac turned to see the vigilante standing there in absolute shock. Underneath his mask, Peter's jaw dropped.

"Shit," Mac muttered.

Disclaimer: Spider-Man and any other Marvel characters are created and owned by Stan Lee and Marvel Comics. I do not have any ownership over them.

I'm back again with the newest chapter! Sorry if this was a bit shorter, but I still had a lot going on, and I wanted to get this installment to you guys on time! I normally don't try to rush things, but life's still been pretty busy at times. Especially since I am trying to keep myself busy with all this quarantine.

I've outlined more of the volume out, and I'm excited to see where it continues to go! The origin is decently close to being officially done, and I did promise you guys the ending of this would be insane, so I hope I delivered! As you've probably guessed, there'll be quite a showdown in the next chapter, which'll be around next week, as always.

I am thankful I've been getting a good amount of readers on this! As always, favs, follows, and reviews are always appreciated! Also, I figured I'd take this time to further address my reviewers looking for a Peter+Mac bromance. Just know I do heavily appreciate how passionate you guys are about it! Sorry if the ending wasn't what you wanted to see, but it was quite inevitable.

Guest - Thank you so much for correcting me on my typo. I do my best not to make them, so to all you reading, please also let me know if I screw up again!

Fate-be-changed - Yeah, I did a lot of research on Scorpion's backstory prior to starting the story, and I do realize now that Ordway is more similar to his classic origin. I do appreciate how much you agree with and love the idea of Peter and Mac being friends!

Marvel Nerd - I really love how you picked up on the intentional parallels I put in with Peter and Mac. Given they're the main hero and villain of this volume, I wanted them to connect in those ways and have similarities. The difference is ultimately their fates. And I really did appreciate how you were another Peter+Mac shipper lol.

theskullofhorror666 - Thank you so much for supporting! I hope you enjoy the rest!

Geek4Life - I have to say this again to my Peter+Mac shippers, I'm really sorry Peter and Mac took this turn lol! There definitely is some sort of connection with Peter and Mac, which you guys saw get somewhat formed last chapter. How it develops into their eventual rivalry from here will be quite interesting…

-redbird12