As mentioned in the previous chapter, I recommend that you read my other story 'Becoming Superboy' to get some of the references in this chapter. This is by far my biggest chapter yet in any of my stories.
Enjoy!
The soft whirring of the Doctor's Sonic screwdriver rang through the room as he passed the device over the unconscious Form of Ben.
"Doctor, what is going on," Jason asked.
The Doctor looked up at him and then to the screwdriver to check the readings.
"You friend here is undergoing the most amazing genetic transformation I have ever seen. His DNA is actually rewriting itself with a dormant gene hidden in his biology. I am intrigued as to where this gene has come from, I do not recognise it as human one. It is almost animalistic in its construction and behaviour."
There was a look of unease on Peter and Mary-Jane's faces as well as a glint of knowledge and pride. Clark looked at how they reacted and noted it down. He would discuss it later with Jason and see what they should do.
"I need to get his body stabilised, so am going to take him to a special stasis chamber aboard my TARDIS," the Doctor said. "The best way to get him there would be to transmit him."
The Doctor pulled out a small device from his pocket and pointed it at Ben. Pressing a button, a blueish green light spilled forth and covered Ben's body. He promptly began to fade out of existence, until he was there no more.
"What have you done?!" Peter roared. "Where is my son?!"
"As I said, he is now aboard my ship. I will bring him back when I feel the genetic change has completed and he is no longer I any harm," the Doctor said calmly.
"And where is your ship?" Peter asked. "It would have to be a pretty small shop to fit in This area of London. What aren't you taking this seriously, where is my son?!"
"Mr Parker," Jason interrupted. "The Doctor isn't lying, his ship is pretty small, in fact you wouldn't believe what his ship can do. Trust him please, he knows what he is doing."
"Show me," Peter said bluntly.
"I am sorry?" the Doctor questioned.
"Show me your ship."
"Yes fine ok, look out of the window and across the street. There you will see a blue box with the words Police Public Call Box on it. That is my ship."
Peter went over to the window and looked out. He could see the box, but he still wasn't convinced.
"Now you are really taking the biscuit. That is far too small to be a ship."
"Right, I wasn't going to do this, but come and have a look at it," the Doctor said reluctantly.
He began to walk out the door, Peter, Mary-Jane, Jason and Wally following. Clark and Lois stayed behind as they had already seen inside and knew the Doctor was indeed telling the truth. They walked out of the house and over to the blue box. The Doctor pulled out a key and inserted it into the lock. Turning it, he pushed the door open and stepped inside, beckoning the Parkers to follow him. They looked at each other with surprise and moved forward into the box. The sight that greeted them was of a vast room, glowing in orange, with a large console unit in the centre.
"Yes, it is bigger on the inside, now if you want to see your son, you need to shut the door and follow me," the Doctor instructed as he moved further beyond the console room into a corridor.
Peter shut the door and they all followed the Doctor deeper and deeper into the TARDIS. They stopped outside a plain looking door as the Doctor searched in his pockets for the key. He found it and brought it out, placing it in the lock and turning it, the door pushing open. They walked inside to find another large room, but this time in the centre sat a large glass tube tilted at an angle and inside was Ben, half naked, wires all placed over his bare torso taking measurements and other readings.
"Ben," Peter said, rushing over to his son. "What is all of this, what are you doing?"
"I am stabilising his molecular structure. When foreign DNA attacks the human DNA, it can cause a violent reaction, which in some cases, can be too much for the individual. We see this in vampires, werewolves and superheroes. Their bodies can't always take it."
The Doctor looked at the Parker's faces and wondered why they hadn't reacted at the quite weird comments he had just said.
"Normally, regular people will question me over werewolves and vampires, but you seem to have dismissed my comments totally."
"Um, yeah, I suppose that is a bit weird," Peter stammered as he tried but failed to add surprise to his voice.
"Is their something you are not telling me, something that might help in his stabilisation?"
Peter glanced over at Jason and Wally standing by the door and relented opening his mouth to tell the Doctor.
"Have you heard of the superhero Spider-man?"
The Doctor nodded.
"Well," Peter said as he started to unbutton his shirt and pull it back to reveal his costume. "I am Spider-man, I went through something similar, but not this violent, when I got bitten by the spider that gave me my powers."
"That is because the DNA of the spider is fighting to survive. As you will know in biology, you get half of you genes from your dad and the other half from your mum. That means he has three quarters human DNA and one quarter spider. But the spider wants to survive, so it is attempting to change and mutate to strengthen. I have stopped it at just over half, so he is going to be more powerful than you, but also more at risk of the mutation starting again and fully consuming him."
"When will you finish stabilising him?" Peter asked.
"Soon, the advantage of the TARDIS is that it is a time machine, so we can harness the power of the time vortex and set the stasis chamber at a faster time speed than our own, allowing for the completion of the process in a fraction of the time in the rest of the planet."
As the Parkers watched their son, they saw the physical changes happening to his body right before them. Muscles rippled as they expanded, his body clearly strengthening and changing to the power being given by the spider DNA.
The Doctor moved around the room looking in some draws and cupboards for something in known to the Parkers, Jason and Wally.
"Give me a second, I just need to go and fetch something," the Doctor said as he moved out of the room back into the corridor.
Not long after he had gone, a strange sound emitted through the TARDIS and as quickly as it had started, it stopped. A little time passed and the same sound again sounded briefly throughout the ship. The Doctor then walked back into the room holding a box, which he then placed down on a table, before turning to face the cylinder holding Ben.
"He is almost done," he announced as he looked at a control panel attached to the cylinder. "I can soon release him. He may not be aware of what has happened and may also find the changes very disorientating. It might be helpful if you talked to him and told him everything. It is best that you as someone who has dealt with this, can help get him through."
"I will do anything to help him," Peter said.
"You may find that he has some different abilities than you, so you will, have to work together to work out what they do and how powerful he is. I am sure Jason and Wally over there can help out."
"We would gladly," Jason said.
"How can they help?" Mary-Jane asked. "They look perfectly normal."
"I can assure you, both Jason and Wally posses abilities that can help Ben."
"Like what?" Peter asked.
"I can travel faster than anything," Wally said.
"And I have super strength and can fly," Jason added, not wanting to give all his powers away.
"Do your parents know?" Peter asked.
"Mine do," Jason said.
"I haven't told mine yet," Wally said.
"Why not," Mary-Jane asked.
"I am not ready yet."
There was a loud ding, as though a microwave had just finished its cooking.
"He is done," the Doctor said.
He typed a few things onto the control panel and the cylinder began to split into two, the top length rising up towards the ceiling, allowing Ben access to the outside world. He began to stir from the sleep he had been in, his parents close ready for him to fully regain consciousness.
"Mum, dad, where am I?" Ben asked, his voice rasping.
"You are in a stasis chamber," the Doctor butted in. "Your body has been undergoing some major changes and you father has something to tell you in regards to that."
"Dad?"
"Ben, you remember that I covered the Spider-man cases when I was younger, taking his picture for the Bugle, well reason I got those amazing photos was because I am Spider-man."
Peter pointed towards his chest where the black spider on his costume was just visible between the gap in his shirt.
"The spider DNA from my genetics, is reacting in your body, giving you powers just like me. You reacted badly and the Doctor here has been helping your body to control it and survive."
"You're Spider-man?" Ben asked in disbelief.
"Yes I am. I stopped being so active when you were born, that is why you here very little about him anymore."
"Ben, can you sit up?" the Doctor asked.
"I can try."
Slowly with the help of his parents, Ben moved his body into a sitting position, as his body began to regain strength. As they were doing this, Ben got a glimpse at his 'new' body.
"Wow, I have abs. Where has all this muscle come from. I can feel the new strength course through my veins."
"I have a present for you," the Doctor said. "When I disappeared a few minutes ago," he addressed the others in the room, "I went to go and visit an old friend and ordered this." He held up the box that he had walked in with earlier. Jason looks at it with some familiarity.
The Doctor walked over to Ben and handed him the box.
"Inside here is something that you will come to find incredibly useful. It will help to maintain your mutation and stop it from going to far. Also, it will allow you to work with Jason and Wally to control your powers and learn to use them."
Ben opened the box and saw that it was bigger on the inside.
"How is it bigger on the inside?"
"Time Lord science. It comes from my people's planet and also the same science that makes this ship of mine bigger on the inside."
Ben looked back inside the box and saw a clothes rail on which several hangers where sitting. He lifted one off and pulled it out of the box. As he did so, he revealed a costume in the style of his dad's Spider-man suit. However there were some slight differences. The colours of the costume were slightly more vivid, the webbing a little thinner than Peter's and the material was slightly shinier, as though it was made of something different. He ran his hand over the suit as he felt the pride fill his body at the responsibility being given to him.
"Where are the web shooters?" Peter asked.
"As I said, Ben's powers are slightly different to yours and he has the ability to self generate webbing from his wrists," the Doctor said.
Ben looked down at his writs and saw two small slits where a tiny amount of white fluid was poking out of each of them.
"This is so cool," Ben said in glee.
"This is to be taken seriously," the Doctor said. "The power you have will enable you to help protect others around you, but it can also be used for bad. There will be people who will try and find out your true identity and go after those you love. You have to be sure you want to do this and be prepared to make the necessary decisions and listen to those who are more experienced in the field."
"Who are you and why should I listen to you?" Ben asked.
"Ben!" Mary-Jane cried in horror at her son's rudeness.
"It is a fair point, you were out cold when I introduced myself earlier. I am the Doctor, I am a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. I am nine hundred and forty years old and I have saved this planet and all 7 billion people hundreds of times. Have you got a problem with me telling you what to do?"
Ben looked rather sheepish as the Doctor finished.
"No, I suppose not."
"Good. Let's get you back to the house, you are fully recovered now."
The Doctor walked over to Ben and handed him back his shirt, before helping him out of the capsule. He gathered together a few items into his pockets and led the five of them out of the TARDIS, back onto the street. Ben looked behind him at the blue box they had just walked out of.
"It really was bigger in the inside!"
"Rule 4, the Doctor doesn't always lie."
Clark and Lois were waiting on the steps of their house watching the group as they talked by the TARDIS. They both came over and offered some words of advice to the Parker parents. The three boys arranged to meet the next day to work with Ben on learning his new abilities.
Soon after the Parkers left in their car and Lois and Clark headed back into the house, leaving Wally, Jason and the Doctor standing out on the pavement.
"So you did survive the trip into the eye of harmony," the Doctor said.
"Hang on, you acted like you didn't know what was going to happen when he came back?" Wally queried.
"Rule one, the Doctor lies."
But rule four?" Jason asked.
"Rule one overrides all other rules. As a Time Lord I have to be responsible with the use of time travel and what information I pass on to others, especially when they meet past or future versions of myself. This meeting allows me to move on and know what to do to save you."
"How do you know that, I haven't told you anything?" Jason asked.
"The TARDIS took a reading of your suit. All your suits have a hive mind where they share information, so if one is lost, then the next one has all the necessary info at its hands. Good luck Jason and Wally, I doubt we shall meet again. Look after Ben, you will be crucial in helping him to succeed. Be prepared for what is to come."
"What is to come?" Wally asked.
"I can't say, but all three of you will need your suits, they will be able to interact and help you. Find their secrets and use them to save the day."
With that, the Doctor turned and walked back into the TARDIS. He shut the door and moments later the engines whirred into life and the light on top began to flash as the machine faded in and out of existence, until there was no sign of the blue box left. Wally and Jason walked back to the house and said their good byes as they headed off to their beds.