Shout Outs: Thanks to MythologyStar for reviewing the story. Thanks to DiceOfDeath for favoring and following the story.

Chapter 7: The Wrong Trails

Heavy clouds of grey swirled overhead, indicating that it was going to rain. People began to run for covers as the gloom swept over the city.

"It looks like it's going to rain," Aunt May spoke as the two sat on the table, eating dinner.

"Yeah…" Peter replied as he stared at his plate of food.

Aunt May frowned. "Is something the matter? You haven't eaten or touched your food at all."

"I'm fine. It's just…" Peter struggled, wondering how to ask without revealing what he is really doing outside of school. "If you really care about someone, what lengths would you have to go to save that someone?"

Aunt May stopped what she was doing and glanced at her nephew. She studied him especially his expression which was written with sadness…? She frowned.

"It depends on what the situation is. They would go to any lengths to save someone they love. Peter, if this is about your parents—"

"It's not. It's just…" Peter sighed. "I don't know how to explain it."

"Well whatever it is, sometimes people tend to choose love over the darkest of times. Just because they went bad, it doesn't mean that most people don't have a heart. Now eat. You're starting to be skinner than usual."

Peter grinned sheepishly as he began to eat which in all honesty made him feel a bit better. After dinner, Peter went upstairs—even though he's a superhero, he still got homework…and that damn project what he and Michelle had to do.

But as he stared at the endless texts from his textbook, his mind was somewhere off, making him unable to focus. He pulled out the new gadget what Happy gave him and fiddled with it, being in thought. He hadn't got a chance to even use the object like he wanted to. If only the police heeded his order then Peter would've had the chance to find out where the Sandman was living and he would also be able to figure out his next move.

Sighing, Peter blinked as he finally snapped back to reality and stared at his homework.

He really needs to finish it.

"I'm telling you, Liz, there's something odd about Peter. I know he's keeping something," Michelle spoke on her phone as she decorated the words for their project.

Michelle could hear Liz giving out a small disbelieving scoff. "There's nothing odd or strange about him, Michelle. I think you're spending too much time with him."

Michelle rolled her eyes. "Well I can't really do anything about it considering that he's my science partner."

Liz sighed. "Well then…what makes you so sure that Peter's hiding something?"

"I don't know…it's just that…when I was nearly run over by that truck, Peter wasn't even with me. He was still on the other side and he somehow miraculously moved fast enough to move me out of the way. He's not even athletic. And when we went to Oscorp, he started to act all weird around the spiders."

"Maybe he's arachnophobia? Like that's a really common fear. Maybe you're overanalyzing things. If you're so sure, why don't you confront Peter about it?"

Michelle sighed. "I suppose although I doubt he would give me a straight answer. Anyways, how are things with Flash?"

"He's alright. There's nothing really new; we did went to see a movie. We're basically doing what normal couples do."

Michelle smirked. "Flash's normal?"

"You're cruel."

Michelle laughed. "Sorry but he's kind of annoying. Anyways, I have to go and finish this project and I would probably have to ask Peter to see where he's at. See you at school tomorrow."

"See you."

As Michelle placed down the phone, she stared at the words that were across the poster. Maybe she should confront Peter.

The next morning, Peter found himself in school, taking out the books he needed for his first class which was History. It wasn't that the class was boring, it was just that Peter felt like he had no energy at all. Something was draining his energy and therefore, he barely had the motivation.

As he closed his locker, Peter made a small startled jump when he saw who it was at the side.

"Michelle!" he hissed at the unexpected visit.

She smirked. "Nice to see you to. Anyways, I've come to ask. How far are you in the project?"

"I'm almost done my part. I've got the research part done. Now I just need to make it look presentable. Want to do finish the rest over lunchtime?"

She nodded. "Sure."

"Alright."

Michelle grimaced as she saw Peter beginning to walk away.

"Wait, Peter!"

Peter stopped walking and he turned around, seeing Michelle awkwardly fidgeting in her spot.

"Well…er…not really sure how to say this but I can't help but to think about the day where you saved me from the truck. I mean, no offense or anything but you're not exactly athletic so I'm just wondering…how did you get to the other side so quickly? And at that time, you were acting odd around the spiders so I'm also…heh, wondering if you're well Spider Man or you're just really afraid of spiders…?"

Peter dropped his books when she mentioned Spider Man though that only made Michelle stare at him with a befuddled look.

"Sorry, sorry. Just a bit clumsy," he muttered. "I'm neither. I can't do half the things Spider Man can. I would be screaming my head off if I was web slinging around the city—sorry to disappoint you. And I guess I'm just uncomfortable around spiders especially those pincers…"

Michelle frowned. The way he said it, it seemed a bit off…

Peter hoped that what he said would be enough to convince her and to throw her off his trail. If she did find out who he really was, that would create conflict and chaos and he didn't want that.

"Well…alright," Michelle finally spoke even though she didn't bought Peter's answer.

Peter let out a small sigh of relief "Well, uh great. So uhm, I'm going to head for class. Er, bye."

There was something going on around Peter and she was determined to find out what it is.

Perhaps this was one of the worst days Peter had ever had. All through morning and afternoon, his mind was completely out of focus and he got called on the teachers at least three times and because of this, it earned a remark from Flash.

"What's the matter, Parker? Losing focus because Ned's not here? You never did had a brain to begin with." he grinned nastily which earned a few snickers from the class.

Not wanting to have another detention, Peter merely rolled his eyes and muttered as he pulled his books closer to him.

"Hilarious," Peter muttered.

Though this earned a glare from Michelle.

"Buzz off, Thompson. Parker's way smarter than you are."

Flash sneered. "Aww, defending your boyfriend are we?"

Michelle quirked an eyebrow before she brushed him off.

But maybe Flash was right. It seemed as though that Peter's mind was entirely elsewhere. Or maybe the fact that the weather was still gloomy and it made Peter drowsy. Either way, Peter couldn't focus.

Last night's rain was really heavy and Peter was actually glad that he didn't went out as Spider Man. He usually made his rounds around the city just to make sure that everything was okay. The only reason why Ned wasn't here was because he was sick.

It's funny though as Peter realized. It seemed as though that Ned was the only person that could keep Peter be actually focused. To top it off, Peter still thought that he hadn't entirely convinced Michelle that he wasn't Spider Man and he may need Tony's help. The gloomy clouds still hung in the sky and they looked like they didn't want to go away anytime soon.

By the time lunchtime came, Peter was usually eager as this was his favorite part but now it seemed as though that this period has lost its meaning. Michelle decided that it would be better to meet at the library which was where they were. They found themselves sitting at a table at one of the corners.

The two took out their papers and other things that was needed for their project so they could finally finish it. This assignment worth a lot of their grade so they really hope they would get a good grade.

As Michelle was putting the things on the poster, Peter's gaze trailed off somewhere else and it landed on a boy who seemed to be struggling with an object. Peter recognized him as Gage—a tenth grader. Curious, Peter stared at the boy only to see him give a sigh of frustration.

Interested to see what he was building, Peter walked towards him and stared at the object though the appearance of the item startled him with surprise. It was a web shooter and he couldn't help but to grin.

It was good to know that there was a Spider Man fan out there.

"Er, what are you making?" Peter asked and the poor boy jumped with startle.

"Oh…I—I didn't see you coming," he spoke. He glanced at the object only to sigh. "It's a web shooter—you know the kind what Spider Man has…well at least that's what I'm trying to do. It has the looks and all but I just can't get it seemed to shoot things; I've placed strings inside the hole…you know…for the webs."

Peter had a thoughtful look before he spoke. "Do you mind if I take a look at it? I might be able to help you."

Nodding, the boy handed the item for Peter to examine it. Needless to say, as Spider Man, Peter was impressed. It was almost identical to his. The only thing that was different were the designs, shape and color.

"What is this for?" Peter asked.

"It's for a project I have for a class," the boy stated. "I thought it would be cool to make something what Spider Man has."

"Well, it's really quite impressive. I'm sure if Spider Man got to see it, he would be impressed," Peter stated as he inspected the object. He smiled a little when he spotted the mistake. "You got everything right but it's just this elastic band that's in the way. Can I…?"

The boy nodded.

With a few repairs, Peter fixed the object and he placed down the item.

"Now it should work. May I?"

"Sure."

Peter pressed the button that was on the top and almost as quick as lightning, the web-like string flew out of its spot, latching onto a book before it swung the book out of its place. Peter and the boy followed its trail and saw that the book struck at Michelle's face which made Peter cringe.

"PETER!" Michelle nearly yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Er…I think there are still some adjustments that needed to be fixed," Peter replied, shifting sheepishly in his spot.

The boy grinned. "Thanks."

"No problem. Hey, I'm Parker. Peter Parker."

He smiled. "Gage. You're that kid who always gets into trouble, right?"

Peter scowled slightly. "I wouldn't say always," he muttered. "Anyways, got to go before my project partner yells at me."

With that, Peter walked back to the table only to meet a glare from Michelle.

"Was having that book hitting me necessary?"

Peter grinned sheepishly. "Sorry; wasn't my intention."

Michelle snorted. "I'll bet."

He paused. "Now…where were we?"

And the two resumed working on the project. As Michelle glued the spiders and the webs, she suddenly had a thought.

"You know what would be really cool?" she asked.

"What?"

"Having real spider webs to stand out more."

Peter tensed but agreed nonetheless. "Yeah but where would find real spider webs?"

Michelle was about to speak until a voice called out.

"Michelle, is that you?"

She perked up to see one of her friends who was blonde and had green eyes. She squealed.

"Marie! It's you!" Michelle exclaimed, getting out of the chair and hugged her friend. "Peter, I'll be right back."

"Right…"

Peter watched the two girls walking away until an idea came to mind as he stared at the poster. He glanced to the side as he made sure that no one was watching. When it was clear, Peter stuck his hand out and formed Spider webs. It was a risky move but the idea of having real spider webs really did looked cool.

But as he did that, a group of three boys came into the view, unaware to Peter and one of them had a sneer which belonged to Flash.

"Oh look—there's Parker," he sneered. "It looks like his girlfriend left him."

Kong laughed stupidly until a frown went on his face. "Hey…what's coming out of Peter?"

Flash gave a raised eyebrow, staring at him with an incredulous look. "Are you stupid or something? Parker's a human—what makes you think that something's coming out…" he trailed off when he saw what Parker was doing.

He widened his eyes when he saw what it looked like webs or strings coming out of him. His jaw tightened at the discovery and clucked his tongue.

"Well what do you know…" he muttered. "Boys, it appears that Parker kept something big from us and I think we deserve to know what it is."

"What's that?" Ralph asked.

Peter grinned as he upgraded the project. It looked by far better than it did before and it really did outstood but while Peter was admiring the poster, all of a sudden, he saw a shadow looming over him. He turned around only to scowl when he saw Flash and his goons.

But the thing that troubled Peter the most was Flash's nasty sneer which made him edgy.

"So…" Flash started. "When were you going to tell the school that you're Spider Man?"

A pile of sand dragged itself sluggishly, out of energy. It weakly narrowed its eyes as he stared into the distance. He must reform himself back to his original form…to his supreme form.

And make the people pay for what they did to him.

Especially Spider Man. He lied to him. He said he could help him but all Spider Man had him destroyed.

He's going to get his revenge…

In order to do that, the miniature version of the Sandman concentrated on its power before he successfully divided himself into two. In the meantime, he could his other half to distract Spider Man off his trial and attack him when he least expects it…

And when he does, that is when the Sandman will strike.

Peter tensed; his heart beat racing faster than normal as panic started to course through his body. Somehow Flash had discovered that he's Spider Man.

"Uh, no I'm not."

Flash rolled his eyes. "Don't be stupid. We saw something coming out of your hand. Tell me. What is it? Webs?"

Peter clenched his fists tightly. "It's not. I'm not Spider Man and I never will be. I can't even do half the stuff of what he does. I'm not even athletic."

Flash snorted. "Yeah you're right. You're puny and pathetic. Me on the other hand…I'm smart and athletic. Girls today go for guys who are muscular, not some puny kid," he laughed.

It took every strength what Peter had to not throw Flash out the window and say it was an accident.

"In fact…I think it should be me to be Spider Man," Flash stated. Peter made a shaky laugh as a grin cracked through his smile.

"You? Spider Man? Yeah right," Peter snorted.

Flash's face got darkened, glaring at the boy in front of him. "I hope you realize that I could beat you down if I wanted to. That fight we had…that was nothing. A mere warm up."

"Uh huh," Peter rolled his eyes, already being tired of him. "If you're done of what you had to say, do you mind if you move along? Michelle and I got to finish our project…you know…the one that's worth a lot of our grade. The one where it's too hard for you."

Flash sneered. "Whatever. But I'll prove it that you're Spider Man. You better watch your back."

Peter glared as he watched group walking away just as Michelle came in with a frown on her face.

"What did Thompson want?"

"Nothing."

Sighing, she shrugged it off and once she sat back on her seat, her eyes widened with delight and she squealed, earning Peter cringe.

"Peter, this is marvelous!" she gushed. "Thank you!"

"Not a problem."

"But how did you do it?" Michelle asked, curiously.

"Er…uhm…I saw some spider webs back at the corner of the room. Mind you, this library is old too you know."

"Uh huh…"

"So…now Michelle and Flash thinks that you're Spider Man?" Tony asked.

"Yeah," Peter, in the form of Spider Man agreed, glumly. He was currently sitting up on a ledge from a window while watching Tony doing his things. Since Ned wasn't here today, Peter decided to hang around Stark Enterprises.

Tony made a disapproving look. "What gave away?"

Peter shifted awkwardly in his seat, debating or not if he should tell him. "Well uhm…do you remember when I told if you could arrange a small meeting with the Oscorp and Connors?"

"Yes…" Tony cautiously agreed. He had a feeling where this was going…

"Well uh…after our Spider Trip, Michelle nearly got run over by a truck and I uhm…I was on the other side of the road and uhm well…"

"Lemme guess. You used your powers to reach her in time so you can push her away," Tony concluded, giving out a sigh. "But how did Flash figured out you're Spider Man? From what you told me, he's not exactly the…brightest fellow."

Spider Man cringed. "It was during lunch time and we went to the library to finish our project…Michelle wanted to have real spider webs…"

"And lemme guess. You used your powers to create one."

Peter frowned. "Would you stop finishing my sentences?"

Tony shook his head. "Peter, you fool. You've got to stop doing those things. Sooner or later, someone would actually figure out who you really are and that could cause problems. Do you not realize that they may tell the whole school?"

"Hey at least I would be popular," Peter joked but that made Tony give a small glare. Maybe joking wasn't the right time…?

Ton sighed. "As much as I would like to throw you out the window for being so reckless, I'll think of something to throw them off their trails. In the meantime, what did you make of the Spider Tracer? Did it work?"

"I never got the chance to use it. The police hosed it down with water."

Tony made a thoughtful look. "I do not think that the Sandman's really gone. I'm sure there's still a part of him lingering around. Remember, he could control the element. I'm sure there's still some sand left somewhere where Marko could create a new version of him."

Peter slightly slumped. "Do you think he would be powerful in this new form? What if I can't beat him?"

Tony made a small smile. "You've got to have confidence in yourself. It's how you beat Vulture."

"Barely."

"No one's an expert when they're playing heroes. Even I'm not."

"Yeah but you're more experienced than I am. You know how these things works."

Tony smiled. "Trust me: you will get used to it. Now then, off you go. Because of you, I've got more work to do in the Stark Enterprises. I'll let you know something's come up."

Peter smiled apologetically. "Alright."

The next day, Peter suddenly felt strange as he entered the school. This time, Ned was with him so of course, he hasn't gotten a clue as to why there were sudden whispers and rumors that were spreading throughout the school like a wild fire. Even the teachers were trying to hush the rumors as they didn't want it to get out of control.

"Uhm…have I missed something while I was out?" Ned asked, staring curiously at the student body.

"No," Peter replied bluntly.

Ned gave a suspicious look as Peter tried to go through the crowded halls, doing his best to ignore the looks.

"Right. Which is why everyone's staring at you as though you've grown a second head."

"It's nothing…" Peter replied, shifting awkwardly in his spot.

"Peter."

"Nothing—"

"Peter."

Peter sighed, slouching his shoulders. "Uh…I…uh might've accidentally, not potentially showed that I'm Spider Man."

Ned gave a stunned look. "You what? I thought Super Hero rule #1 was to not show your identity?"

"Shh," Peter hissed, trying to keep a low conversation. Before he could finish his sentence, whispering voices came before they were turned to being loud.

"There's Parker."

Peter glanced over Ned's shoulder, clenching his fists when he saw Flash and his group. He had a feeling that he would do something like this…

"Thompson," Peter replied glaring. "What did you tell?"

He smirked. "Nothing much, I swear. Scout's honor," he chuckled a bit when he saw Peter narrowing his eyes. "Ease up, would you? Why, I could see the wrinkles on your forehead."

"Thompson," Peter growled.

Flash sighed. "If you really must know, you see, there's this rumor—"

"What you had made up—"

"—Is that you're Spider Man."

"I'm not."

"Then prove it."

Peter shifted his eye to the side to see a student among the crowd who had suddenly circled them, all wanting to know the truth.

Flash twisted a cruel smile. "Yeah Parker. Say it isn't so."

Peter let out a heavy sigh and the two seemed to be having a glaring contest. It wasn't until then that a voice spoke.

"Okay. It isn't so."

Everyone turned around only to gasp as they all had stunned looks, staring at the newcomer with wide eyes. Flash widened his eyes when he saw the visitor but this only made him rage.

"No!" Flash howled with anger. "I swear that Parker is Spider Man."

But no one heard him. Everyone was too busy to, scurrying to the superhero who casually took selfies with the crowd. Peter couldn't help but to give a smug but his smile instantly vanished when Flash turned around, giving him a nasty look.

"I don't know what your trick is but you sure don't fool me. I know what I saw."

With that, Flash angrily stormed off, roughly brushing past by Peter so he slightly stumbled off to the side. But as Flash went away, Peter let out a sigh of relief as a thought went into his mind.

Thank you, Tony Stark.

"Anyways guys. Gotta hit the road. Those baddies won't crawl themselves back to their cages," the fake Spider Man replied as he shot his webs out and vanished from sight.

"You're lucky you were off the hook," Ned muttered.

"Yeah no kidding. Come on, let's go."

However, there was still one thing left on Peter's mind was that how did Tony performed such a convincing move?

Author's Note: hehe because Peter dear, Tony Stark is a bloody genius of an engineer. Need I say more? *hint hint* and I un-regrettably saw the new trailer of Spider Man Homecoming at least five times…oops which made me be pumped for it aha anywho, what happens next? Find out!