So...Homecoming was awesome! Totally loved it! (Side note: the inclusion of the dance as part of my story was outlined months ago. I have a backlog of issues written from before the movie came out.) Anyway, please read and review.

Also, I have a serious question for you guys. Would you prefer I write shorter issues like this one for WoS, but put them out on a weekly basis, or continue my longer issue (with rare exception) trend where they generally come out between 2-4 weeks apart? Please leave your response in the poll on my profile.

Web of Spider-Man
#6: Showboat Part 3
"What's in a Name?"

…

The following Monday, before classes, Peter found himself crouched behind his locker as per usual, concealed from those who passed through the hallways of Midtown High. On the bridge of his nose rested his glasses, the lenses since replaced with a non-prescription pair. Better not to draw attention to his change just yet.

Flash Thompson trotted down the hallway with his friends and spotted the open locker door. Truthfully, he expected to find Peter behind it, but decided to kick the door closed despite that fact. This time, however, Peter saw it coming—or rather, he felt it coming.

His head buzzing, Peter instinctively lashed out at his locker door, slamming it out and against Flash's leg.

The athlete grunted in pain, and raised his fist, ready to slug Peter in recompense. "What the hell, Parker?"

Peter was shocked, to say the least. He'd reacted without thought. His...spider sense? A bit cheesy, but why not? His spider sense had not only warned him of the threat of Flash's impending kick, but instinctively motivated him to protect himself.

"I'm—I'm sorry," Peter muttered, standing. If it came down to it, could he fight Flash? Moreover, could he win? He'd pushed the locker door much harder than he'd anticipated. If he could jump across roofs, he was certainly a lot stronger than before.

"You're not worth it," Flash grumbled, walking away, although in truth he was trying to be better. After the incident at the party, he'd actively decided to avoid altercations.

Peter frowned. He didn't know what was more surprising: his strength or Flash's newfound sense of mercy.

…

"Homecoming. Dates. What are your plans?" Jessica asked at lunch, sitting down across from Peter and Al before even Harry had arrived.

"Hrmcrming?" Al muttered through a mouthful of cafeteria pizza.

"It's in, like, a few weeks. The whole school's buzzing about it," Jessica looked between the two geeks, both of whom were offering similar clueless stares, "You can't be serious."

"Not to be that guy, but Al and I aren't really—" Peter began, only for Jess to interrupt him.

"Don't say it. Don't finish that thought. You're both going," Jess stated.

Peter and Al exchanged a look. The chubbier teen swallowed what remnants of pizza remained in his mouth, then shrugged, "The party was fun. Why not?"

"We've never been to a dance. I mean, how are we gonna get dates?" Peter asked.

"Leave that to me," Jess said.

Peter blanched, his mind racing to the worst case scenario: what if she couldn't get anyone to be their dates? What if no one would be his date? "No. No way. We can't ask you—"

"Let the girl do what she wants," Al interrupted. "Listen, I'm not picky, Jess, but if you could find someone who's got an actual personality, that would be fantastic."

"Trust in me," Jess said before playfully declaring, "Wingwoman is on the job."

Harry popped up behind his girlfriend and sat down beside her, "What did you guys get yourselves into?"

"I'm about to save the day," Jess retorted, her tone as light as ever.

Peter couldn't have looked more afraid if he tried. "She's gonna find Al and I dates to Homecoming."

Harry snorted, "Good luck."

Jess slapped his arm without restraint, causing him to recoil. "Harry!"

"Joking! I'm joking," Harry protested.

He and Peter locked eyes for a moment. After years of friendship, they could communicate without words. Harry could tell Peter was dreading this whole proposal, but he tried to encourage him with a look. It didn't work.

"It's gonna work out," Harry assured him, causing Peter to roll his eyes.

"Damn straight," Jess agreed.

Oh boy. As if Peter needed more on his plate. Hoping beyond hope that this would work out, Peter ate his lunch, dreaming up scenarios where he'd end up with Gwen. Psh. As if. The only thing more unlikely than getting bitten by a spider that would give you superpowers is an unattractive nerd like Peter getting a date with Gwen Stacy.

Peter smirked. His odds weren't that bad then, right?

…

After school, Peter stopped by the computer lab for the first Crier meeting. As it turned out, he was by far the oldest newcomer there, which didn't exactly bolster his confidence. Hey, he bet none of the others had superpowers. That was something to be proud of, he half-jokingly thought.

The meeting opened with Ned Leeds introducing himself and the rest of the editors, none of whom proved all that memorable. Oddly enough, the staff writers and photographers didn't appear to be present. He could only wonder why.

Finally, it came time for final portfolio submissions. When Peter's name was announced, Ned smiled at him and listed, "Already submitted."

Peter glanced away, his social anxiety spiking, but smiled nonetheless. At least Ned liked him. That had to count for something.

After finishing the submissions, Ned continued, "Alright, guys, this will be by far our shortest meeting. I want to thank you all for showing interest in the Crier. We'll get back to you about your submissions and roles by Saturday. May the best newsmen and women win."

No pressure, Peter thought.

…

Peter was surprised to discover Harry awaiting him outside the computer lab.

"Want a ride?" Harry asked.

"Sure," Peter agreed, "Thanks, man."

After settling down in Harry's car, Peter addressed the elephant in the room, "So, not to sound ungrateful, but this is unusual. What's up, man?"

"I'll be completely honest. I want your help. I've got this crazy idea for how I'm going to ask Jess to homecoming, and—"

"I'm in. You know I've always got your back," Peter offered, smiling. "What do you have in mind?"

"Thanks," Harry replied, then rambled, "So my thinking was I could do it at the next home football game. I'd pay some of the cheerleaders, and at half time you and I, we'd go down there, they'd do this cheer with me to ask her, and you'd hold up this kickass sign, and it would be glorious."

"Try to a sound a little more enthusiastic," Peter teased. "But for real, that's awesome. I'm so down to help. You're gonna make the sign?"

Harry nodded, grinning. "All those art classes better pay off."

"Dude, shut up. You've got a gift," Peter said.

Harry shrugged, admittedly nervous about the whole proposition. "Let's hope I've got half the talent you think I have." He sighed, then changed the subject, "Anyway, with that covered, I also want to talk about your superpowers. What are you gonna do about 'em?"

"Keep them a secret for now. You've seen how people treat mutants," Peter noted.

"Yeah, fair enough. I just meant, like, you could make mad bank with that acrobatic shit," Harry pointed out.

Peter smirked. "So, what, I should become a professional athlete?"

"Maybe eventually. But right now you could, I don't know, be the world's most badass pizza delivery guy," Harry said.

Laughing, Peter replied, "You can't be serious."

"Okay, genius, what are your bright ideas?" Harry retorted.

Peter considered the idea for a few moments, before noticing a billboard as they passed it. It was for a new movie starring the man, the myth, the legend: John Cena. That lit a spark of imagination inside the teen.

"I could be a professional wrestler," Peter offered.

"First off, wrestling is stupid. Second, how the hell are you gonna get hired? You're 17," Harry argued.

"I could wear a mask," Peter said.

"Uh huh. And find an underground wrestling organization that would pay you under the table. Not to mention you'd have to pull that off without your aunt and uncle finding out, and let's be honest—love 'em to death—but with how nosey they are, there's no way that's gonna happen," Harry said. "No, Pete, think modern. Think like a millennial."

"How do people our age make money…?" Peter mumbled.

The answer was obvious. A lightbulb went off in both teen's heads at the exact same time. At a stoplight, they turned and looked at one another, grinning ear-to-ear.

Harry began, "You could start a—"

"—Youtube channel," Peter finished. "Dude."

"Dude."

The two boys fist-bumped.

…

"Hey, Youtube, I'm the Human Spider—" Peter cut himself off, muttering, "No, that's stupid."

After he stopped his phone from recording, Peter leaned against the edge of the fire escape. He'd decided to take just a bit of inspiration from wrestling. Upon Harry's agreement, Peter decided to throw together a costume and create a persona. Currently, that meant he'd put on a red, black and blue hoodie, a pair of his uncle's skiing goggles, and a matching mask. That was on top of the jeans he'd been wearing earlier. Additionally, to actually stick to walls, he knew he had to remove his shoes and socks, so he was currently leaning against the rail of the fire escape without a bit of protection on his feet.

"Okay, let's try it up here," Peter mumbled as he climbed up onto the wall of the apartment complex. Sitting down upon it, with the sky as his background, he adjusted the angle of the shot. "Nope." Again, he moved the camera. "Not feeling it."

Finally, he decided to start back on the fire escape, angling his phone so the camera had a view of Queens behind him. He hit record.

In a joking robotic voice, Peter began, "Hello, world." Then, with a flourish, he flipped up onto the wall, landed with a gentle thump, and continued normally "Welcome to a show the likes of which you won't find anywhere else on the internet. Welcome to my life."

"Yeah, you're seeing this correctly," Peter moved the camera to show his position on the wall. "I mean this…"

Peter stood up on the wall horizontally, his abs burning at the effort to remain upright, revealing the five stories below him, "This isn't normal. I'm not a mutant, but I am a bit of a weirdo. Like you're complaining."

He started to run up the wall, making sure to stay in the shot. "With that said, keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times, and enjoy the show!"

…

Half an hour later, Peter had uploaded the video and sent the link to Harry. The title: The Spectacular Human Spider.

He received an immediate response from his friend. 'Change the name.'

Peter frowned and opened up the Youtube link. He erased the original title, and leaned back in his chair, thinking. After a few moments, an idea popped into his head.

"Why not?" he dryly muttered.

Leaning forward, Peter typed the new name into his laptop. After looking it over, he felt a smile creep over his lips. Something just felt right about this. He was Peter Parker…

'The Spectacular Spider-Man.'

Please respond to the poll on my page and drop a review.

So, considering this is a pretty damn short issue, I thought I'd take up some space giving you guys some fun facts about the way I perceive the characters. To start out, I've race bent a number of characters (and will continue to). This is to reflect the real world diversity of New York. Like it or don't, it is what it is. Here are the characters with different races than their 616 counterparts:

Flash - Brown. This one's weird because I referred to him as "dark skinned" in issue 1, but he's brown, specifically Latino.
Liz - Brown. She hasn't appeared yet, but she's of Brazilian descent.
Alistair - Half-Japanese, as has been explicitly mentioned in issue 1.
Spencer - Japanese, doi.
Ned - Brown/Indian.
Max - Black, like his movie counterpart.
Mary Jane - This wasn't even REMOTELY hinted at, but she's half-black. If you go back to her "appearance" in issue 1, her skin tone is never mentioned. She's a redhead, because duh. Believe it or not, redheaded black people exist. Look it up.

If anyone wondered what actors I picture for the (major) characters...

Peter - Tom Holland, duh.
Harry - Young Andrew Garfield. Say whaaat? Let's be honest, he'd be perfect for my Harry. Just, y'know, de-age him.
Jessica - Chloe Grace Moretz, but brunette.
Al - ...honestly don't have one. Hit me up if you know a young Japanese-American actor that would fit the role! :D
Flash - Tyler Posey.
Uncle Ben - Tom Hanks. Yes, really. America's Dad is the perfect Ben Parker.
Aunt May - Julianne Moore...just, y'know, brunette
Max - Sorry, Jamie Foxx. My Max Dillon is none other than Taye Diggs.
Spencer - Ken Watanabe.
Norman Osborn - Bryan Cranston. I even teased this in issue 1.
Mary Jane - Zendaya. Yeah, screw her being Michelle in Homecoming. I'm committing to a redheaded Zendaya all the way.
Gwen - Dakota Fanning
Hobie - Young Michael B. Jordan from Friday Night Lights.
Liz - Camila Mendes

Now, reviews!

Heart of the Demons: Peter and Harry's dynamic will be at the core of the story, so I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Sparksofrandomness: Really happy you're enjoyed the changes! I wanted to spice things up a bit, so fans new and old wouldn't get bored with the story.

Sarah: Glad you found the story again! Thanks for your words of encouragement!

Luxraylover: Can't comment on PeterxJessica other than to say just stick with the story.

boysa boysa: Yeah, Harry's definitely going to work with Peter moving forward. I'm not so much freaked out by darkness in stories, but nervous that some readers might want something a little lighter in a Spidey fic haha! So happy you're enjoying it! The release dates for future issues is on my profile page.