When Andrew woke up, he had a severe headache. With a groan, he raised his hand to block the sunlight that had come through the window, making his eyes blink.
He let out a sigh and headed to his closet to change his clothes and was a little disconcerted that he was still wearing yesterday's uniform. He should probably take a shower if he probably hadn't taken one last night and slept in his uniform.
Grabbing his towel, bath stuff, and a clean set of uniforms, he headed to the communal shower on his floor and was pleased to see that no one else was awake and using the bathroom, which meant he had the whole place to himself. For the moment anyway. Showering quickly, he could see that he was more muscular than before, having the six pack. He dressed and got ready for the day before returning to his dorm, where he found Miles still sleeping. Putting his towel, bath stuff and dirty clothes in their respective places, he walked over and knelt on the bottom bunk.
"Hey, Miles." He said, shaking his friend's shoulder. "Miles, breakfast."
"Huh?" Miles looked up in a daze. "Oh, Andrew. Uh, yeah, I can totally use some breakfast." He muttered before his head snapped back and he started snoring.
Rolling his eyes with a sigh, Andrew decided to let his friend continue sleeping. He could get him some fruit or something later.
When he arrived at the cafeteria, he saw that there were only a few other students who were awake like him. But then again, it was only twenty minutes after the cafeteria had opened for the morning. Grabbing scrambled eggs, sausage, steamed potatoes and herbs for his breakfast, he added an apple to go with it along with orange juice. Finding a place to eat breakfast in an empty cafeteria was not a problem as the vast majority of the tables were empty.
Walking over to an equally empty table, he sat down and began to swallow. Pulling out his freshly charged phone that he had plugged in before taking a shower, he checked his emails and texts. As usual, his mother had left a text saying good night. Texting back that he was exhausted from studying last night and was sorry he missed her message, Andrew frowned at the pious lie he had told. He then put his phone back in his pocket and returned to his meal.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" Asked someone in front of him.
With his spoon still in his mouth, Andrew looked up to see Gwanda watching him. He was about to open his mouth to answer, but quickly remembered that his mouth was full. So instead, he simply nodded and gestured to the chair in front of him.
"Thank you." She chuckled as she took the offered seat.
Removing the spoon from his mouth and chewing, he swallowed before speaking, clearing his throat a bit.
"Hi, Gwanda." He said in an apologetic greeting.
She blinked before nodding.
"Hi, Andrew." She said.
Andrew was a little confused by the brief moment when she looked at him blankly as if she was a little taken aback, but he ultimately didn't care.
She looked down at her food before smirking at him.
"Aren't you going to make another plan with your food today?" She asked with amusement.
Andrew blinked before raising his hand to shyly rub the back of his neck.
"Uh, no. No, not today, sorry if I got your hopes up or anything." He answered.
"That's cool." She said with a wave of her hand. "Although I'm a little curious about what kind of plan you made yesterday. Were you planning on doing a building or something?"
"A sculpture, actually." He answered with a shrug. "I like to make sculptures out of scrap and junk, but I kind of need to know what I'm doing first, to see what the final product will be, so I make sketches or plans first."
Gwanda's eyes sparkled with interest.
"Oh, wow, that's so cool! Do you have any pictures of your work?" She asked.
"Uh, yeah." He nodded as he pulled his phone out of his pocket again. Reaching into the gallery on his phone, he pulled out the album that contained all of his photos from his previous work. A sculpture of the entire city of New York made of various pieces of metal, a statue of Alexander Hamilton made of scrap metal from 70's cars painted by Miles, another statue made entirely of computer wires fashioned into the shape of a German Shepherd and other sculptures he had made over the years. He then slid his phone over to Gwanda to her delight.
"Oh, wow, you really did that?" She asked open-mouthed, sliding over to see the next job.
"Yeah." He nodded, unable to stop the smile of pride on his face.
But his smile faded when he thought back to the changes to what had happened to him in the night. Especially the spectacular muscular development that he had received. Never having played sports, unless you consider lifting and bending pieces of metal with difficulty as sports, and yet he woke up with the six pack.
"Are you okay?" Gwanda asked.
Looking up, he saw Gwanda looking at him with concern.
"Uh, yeah, I'm fine." He nodded with a flat smile. "I just woke up with a killer headache this morning, so far it's come and gone."
That wasn't really a lie, he'd had a very slight headache since Gwanda joined him.
"Oooh." Gwanda grinned sympathetically. "I think I have some aspirin in my dorm if you need it."
"Yes, please." He agreed, playing the game he himself started.
"Sure." Gwanda nodded. "As soon as we finish eating, we can go to my room."
After they had finished eating, Andrew had grabbed another apple for Miles and stuffed it in his pocket before Gwanda led him to his room. And Andrew was a little surprised at how...barren it was. At first glance, she didn't have a roommate and what she did have didn't seem to amount to much. He had at least expected some personal belongings to shine as to who Gwanda was, but it was as if she was living the Spartan life, the bare necessities.
Gwanda opened a drawer and took out a bottle of aspirin.
"An aspirin pill, as requested. And a bottle of water so you can take it right away." She smiled as she handed it to him.
"Thank you." He nodded before opening the bottle and taking a pill for himself.
Throwing the pills in his mouth, he took a sip of water.
"Thanks for the aspirin, Gwanda." Said Andrew resting his palm on his forehead, wincing in pain from his growing headache. "But actually, I think I'll go to the nurse, my headache is getting worse and I don't think the pills will react in time. Maybe I'll take the day off."
"Oh, okay, you want me to help you get there?" She asked, concern clearly written on her face.
"No, I'm good, thanks." He smiled at her gratefully. "You've already been a great help to me. Besides, I'm sure you have to get ready for class soon and I'm sure I can make it to the nurse by myself."
"If you're sure." She said frowning, unsure.
"I am." He nodded. "Thanks again, Gwanda." He said before turning to leave the dormitory. "I'll see you later."
"Yeah, see you later." She nodded, watching him leave.
"You're welcome." She said.
Unbeknownst to Andrew, Gwen's senses had gone crazy around him today. It happened intermittently. Her headaches seemed to be getting worse from the way she'd winced randomly during her conversations with him so far. Was he like her? She knew from first-hand experience how disorienting it could be to get used to for the first time.
Staring at her water bottle for a moment. It was time to play a little hooky.
...A little later...
"Ugh." Said Andrew, groaning in pain as he dragged himself onto the top bunk.
"You okay, man?" Asked Miles, looking at him with concern. "You don't look like you're okay."
"Just a bad headache, that's all." Andrew assured before wincing at another bout of head-induced pain. "The nurse prescribed painkillers and allowed me to be excused from class for the day. She said I'd be better tomorrow. Or at least better."
"Uh, okay." Said Miles frowning, still worried, "You sure you don't want to take my bed? Come on, man, in case you fall off."
Andrew waved him off.
"No, I'm fine, man, thanks. I'll just stand in the corner near the wall, I'll be fine." He said.
"If you're sure." Said Miles with a frown, a little doubtful. "Anyway, I'll take notes for you in class. Good thing our schedules are the same, right?"
Andrew nodded.
"Thanks man, I appreciate it." He said.
"Ah, you'd do the same for me." Said Miles.
Andrew then remembered something.
"Oh, before I forget, I brought you an apple from the cafeteria, it's in my jacket pocket." Said Andrew.
Miles walked over to the jacket that had been draped over Andrew's desk chair and pulled out said apple.
"Ooh, Granny Smith. Thanks, man, you're the best." Miles thanked before taking a bite. "And get well."
"Thanks, Miles." He said to his friend as Miles left the room, closing the door behind him.
A few hours later, his headache dissipated. Deciding to take advantage of his free day, he dressed and went out the fire escape to the spot Miles had mentioned.
...A little later...
He quickly arrived at the station he had mentioned and followed the directions Miles had given him while they were working on the sculpture. He didn't realize it, but the station was next door to Fisk's building.
As he reached Miles' spot, he observed the roof of one of the buildings sitting across from Fisk's building, Andrew squinted as he saw the place, it was quite spacious.
He noticed a hidden path in the corridor that led to the spot. He entered it and found some equipment stamped Alchemax. He looked at all the equipment before feeling a strong head word screaming at him to be careful.
When suddenly, a subway car flies towards him from the next room and smashes the wall!
"Norman, listen to me." Said a voice in the huge room next to the broken wall.
Hearing the voice, Andrew leaned over and saw Spider-man crashing into a metal shipping container.
"Spider-man?" He sighed with surprise.
"I can't let you open a portal to another dimension." Declared Spider-man to an opponent. "Brooklyn isn't zoned for that!"
Andrew followed the hero's line of sight and his eyes widened when he saw the very large mutated form of the Green Goblin. He had seen pictures of the Green Goblin before, even this large mutated form when he had attacked New York for some reason.
"It's not up to me!" Grumbled the green goblin. "Why don't you give up, Spider-man?" Shouted the Green Goblin.
"I guess I like that Brooklyn isn't being sucked into a black hole." Joked Spider-man as he wrapped himself around the roof of the largest space to create momentum to use against the mutated thing-form that had once been a man. "Staten Island, maybe. But not Brooklyn!"
"Damn, I gotta get out of here." Andrew muttered as he stared at the towering, monstrous form of the Green Goblins against Spider-man.
Before he could leave, however, the green goblin crashed into the now ruined control room again, causing the floor to collapse beneath his feet.
"Whoa!" He shouted, his hands reaching out to grab something, anything, to keep himself from falling. He was surprised to find when he touched a wall that his hand stuck to the wall.
"How it is possible..." Asked Andrew while looking at his hand, flabbergasted. "How does one make to let go?"
As Andrew calmed his agitation caused by his current situation, His hand came off by itself once he regained his composure, causing him to fall and slide across the rubble to the large bay in which Spider-man and the Green Goblin were fighting.
Hiding under cover, he tried to avoid the fight that was raging around him. Which was a bit difficult considering the large size of the Green Goblin. Just trying to get away from the fight, not wanting to be collateral damage.
Suddenly, Andrew's instincts, pushed him down as a piece of an industrial crane hovered where his head was earlier. Looking up over his shoulder from the ground, he saw the green goblin swing his improvised weapon again, but this time downwards. Rolling to the side to avoid the blow, he looked up and rushed through a door he hoped was the exit.
Following his instincts, he jumped, narrowly dodging a hole between two platforms.
"What the hell? Do I have Spider-man powers or what?" Asked Andrew, shocked by the situation as he stopped in his tracks.
Looking up, he was able to observe more of the place to see the obviously advanced technology surrounding it with a control room on the wall in front of him. Although whatever it was, it looked like a prototype or something because of the unfinished parts of the walls. And on either side of the room, on the back walls, were devices that reminded him of science fiction engines. But they couldn't be engines, they were pointed at each other. So, what was it?
At that moment his instinct started to guide him again.
He tried to duck, but it was futile, as a very large body crashed into him, sending him flying into the strange room. He was about to fall through one of the incomplete walls and to the floor far below when a hand grabbed him by the shoulder. Looking at the hand that was stopping him from falling, he saw that it was a red hand with a web design, so he looked up into Spider-man's masked face.
"Hey, kid, is everything okay?" Asked Spider-man.
"Considering the situation, I'm fine." Answered Andrew, a little dazed considering he was talking to the New York superhero. All he had to do was not look stupid.
Spider-man put him down. That's when Andrew's instincts seemed to react to Spider-man who seemed to have the same thing. Andrew didn't know it but it wasn't his instinct but his Spider-sense.
"I thought I was unique... We're the same." He says.
"I don't want to be unique in this style." Said Andrew.
"I don't think you have a choice, kid." Retorted Spider-Man. "You must have a lot of questions?" He said.
"A few." Answered Andrew.
"I'll be fine. I can help you out. I'll teach you the ropes." Said Spider-Man before the room began to shake and the device began to activate. "I just need to destroy this before the space-time continuum implodes. Don't move."
"I get it." Andrew nodded.
Spider-man gave a two-finger salute.
"See you later." He said before jumping up.
And from his position, Andrew watched as Spider-man made his way to the ceiling above, the hero's hands and feet glued to its surface. As he watched Spider-man look around the ceiling panels, the hero seemed to find what he was looking for as he pulled one particular panel away. However, before he could do anything more, the cry of a bird echoed through the room before Spider-man was swept away by a green blur.
"Vulture?" Said Andrew blinked in surprise.
"Hey, Toomes, I was in the middle of something." Spider-man growled in annoyance as he struggled against the winged villain. "Are you mad at me?" He asked after being thrown towards one of the engine-like machines hanging on the wall. "I feel like you're mad at me."
"Consider it a reward for stopping me from killing Bestman." Grumbled the Vulture, striking the Spider hero with his sharpened wings.
"Fine." Said Spider-man emphatically before pulling a web to launch himself at the man. But before he could reach the bird-themed villain, the Green Goblin came from above and slammed his foot down on Spider-man, immobilizing the hero. "Ouch, what are you doing, Norman? Have you gained weight lately?"
Andrew looked up when he heard someone humming over the speaker.
"You like my new toy? It cost me a fortune, but hey, I can't let you take it away, can I?" Said the voice.
"The Kingpin." Spider-man growled under the Green Goblin's foot.
"Hey, you came all this way." Said the Kingpin in a drawl. "Why don't you look at the test. It's quite a light show, you'll love it."
"I doubt it." Spider-man grunted as he tried in vain to extricate himself from the Green Goblin's foot. But as the device began to spin, he looked toward the control room in alarm. "No! No, don't do that! Don't! You don't know what it can do! You'll kill us all!"
From the two machines, a brightly colored beam was shot and connected between them. Andrew had no idea what was going on, but he knew it was bad. Everything seemed...not right. Parts of the room felt like they weren't there, and at the same time, they were there... just five times over.
"Am I going crazy?" Andrew muttered in disbelief.
Still pinned, Spider-man looked up at the ceiling. And when he spotted it, he couldn't help but joke.
"Hey, Norman, what do you think about head trauma?" Asked the hero.
"What?" Asked the Green Goblin.
But before the monstrosity could react any further, one of the ceiling panels fell off its support and landed directly on the Green Goblin's head. Collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut, the towering beast collapsed.
"I warned you." Declared Spider-man as he stood up and weaved a web across the ceiling back to the panel to stop this.
Unfortunately, the Green Goblin recovered almost instantly and with a roar, flew towards the costumed hero, grabbing Spider-man with his foot. Still enraged, the Green Goblin then held Spider-man in the center of the beam.
Andrew could only watch in horror. Suddenly the beam exploded, sending everything into darkness.