Mythos
The monotamy of the day is tiring. Not because Peter has had to exert himself in any meaningful way, but the repeated explanations about his new glasses are giving him a headache. Turning around, Peter begins pulling off his clothes as he begins getting ready. Hearing a whistle, Peter turns, seeing the familiar snobbish face.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, Peter. Just noticed you’ve filled out a little,” Ned says, the red-haired boy says, eyes assessing the boy's body, “Guess that means you’re Aunt and Uncle have finally started managing to feed you enough, huh?”
“Shut it, Leeds.”
“Ouch. Calling me by my last name? That hurts, Pete. You should at least call me by my first name.”
Peter stays silent, the redheaded boy sighing, raising his arms and shrugging. Stalking away, the boy begins talking to some of the other members of his class. Laughing as they send sly glances at the boy. Ignoring them as he pulls on his gym clothes, Peter walks past Ned and his goons, shoulder pushing past the largest teen, Jack, as he walks into the gymnasium.
The linoleum-lined floor greets him with the distinct citrus scent of the floor cleaner. He hates this scent. Sure, he likes Coach D, but gym class just tends to remind Peter of his physical weaknesses. Well, that might be different now. It really will depend on how much he needs to hold back. Peter’s current assumption is that he’ll be stronger physically, not just mentally. Now, he just needs to figure out how much he needs to hold back.
Bending down, Peter begins to push off the ground slowly, feeling himself leaving the ground too fast and pauses. His theory of trying to use about ten percent of his current strength was off. Really off. If he had used that much strength, he’d likely have jumped about twenty feet. Frowning, Peter slowly pushes, imagining himself hopping as he raises off the floor. Sure, he definitely was still higher than he would like, but this does prove he’s gotten increased strength and maybe agility.
“Peter! Glad you’re feeling better!” Coach Delladova calls out, walking over to the brunette as he continues stretching.
“Hey, Coach D.”
“It’s basketball today. Warm-ups in five. Feel free to keep stretching until then! Oh, and I like the glasses, even if they’re for a medical reason.”
“Thanks, Coach.”
Smiling as he pats the young man on the back, Delladova goes back to flicking through his clipboard, his lean muscular frame accented by the light. For a moment, Peter pauses, looking the man over as he sees him struck by the light, his mind screaming a single question. Why does Coach D have such a similar build to Spider-Man? Well, not that it was possible. Peter’s seen the two in the same room before.
Hearing the door behind him open, Peter doesn’t even turn, knowing that the other students are filing into the room. Standing up at the sound of Coach D’s whistle, Peter jogs over to the semi-circle forming around the man as he begins explaining something to do with basketball. Peter’s not really paying attention; he's more focused on testing how little strength he needs for common movements. He did think initially that he’d have about ten times his weight, but some spiders can technically lift over one hundred and seventy times their body weight. Maybe he’s on that end of the spectrum. Thinking about it, maybe he should ask Harry for a list of details regarding the rare spider that bit him. It might help him determine what his parameters are.
“Alright! Ned, Jake, Jess, and Liz. You four will be the captains for the teams. Pick you’re four teammates, and we’ll go from there.”
Peter blinks, watching the four people walking to the front of the class. Sure, he was kinda friends with Jess and Liz, but he doesn’t really know them. They were more friends of friends, so honestly, he’s not confident in this. Sighing, he accepts his fate to be picked last as he watches the teams form.
“Peter.”
“Huh?”
The eyes of the group turn to look at the shocked brunette, staring at the other brunette boy whose hair is considerably messier, giving a certain young Justin Bieber meets Troy Bolton feeling. Pointing to himself, Jake nods as Peter stumbles forward, still shellshocked.
“Good to have you on the team, Pete.”
“Uh- Thanks for picking me, Jake.”
Laughing, the other boy nudges his shoulder as he smiles, “It’s fine. I thought I snap you up since I saw that jump earlier.”
“Oh. That…” Peter mutters, eyes widening as he sees Liz and Jess raising their eyebrows as the team selection continues.
“Right. Now that that’s sorted, we’ll start with Ned’s Team vs Jake’s Team and Jess’s Team vs Liz’s Team. Ready?”
Seeing the students nod, Coach D and his assistant, a petite blonde woman, begin the matches, throwing the balls into the air.
“LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!”
The match has been lopsided. Jack has been dominating the game, using his combination of height and strength to bully the much smaller team. It’s frustrating for Peter. He could just use his powers to win, but that isn’t exactly the responsible thing to do. The words Uncle Ben has been drilling into his head since Peter started admiring Spider-Man rattling in his mind. Sighing, Peter looks at Jake as he starts shouting something to his team.
“HEY! One basket! One basket and we’re back in this!” Jake shouts, his eyes meeting Peter’s, narrowing as he nods towards the basket.
Should he do it? Ah, whatever. He’ll do it. Running between Ned and a blonde girl whose name Peter can’t remember, Peter watches Jake. The ball in the brunette’s hand flies through the air towards Jack, the tall Italian teen grinning as he leaps for it.
“We win!”
“Nah,” Peter says, hopping into the air as he sees Jake’s ecstatic face as he grabs the basketball in both hands. Pulling the ball over the larger man, he slams the ball into the hole, pushing off Jack as he lands. The gymnasium is silent, all eyes turning to look at Peter before the sound of Jake’s feet squeaking against the floor breaks the silence.
“THAT’S IT, PETE!”
“How about that,” Coach D says as he laughs, eyes gleaming, “Looks like, Peter’s come back even better.”
“Oi, Parker. How did you-” Jack begins to ask, the ice blue eyes of the boy on the floor begins to ask. Suddenly, the wall to the gymnasium shatters open. The bellowing of a bull pierces the air as the students scream, smoke, and dust spray into the air. Emerging from the rubble, huffing as he shakes some of the debris out, is a Minotaur. It glows purple with dark grey steel as the construct shudders and raises to its feet. Opening its mouth, it bellows at the students, raising an hammer, the blade popping out with a purple glow as it swings it towards the crowd.
Eyes wide, Peter reaches to grab the blade before it can hit anyone else as the sound of webs attaching to the weapon fills the air. Shimmering as he flips into the gym, Spider-Man yanks on the weapon, sending it clattering to the side as the Minotaur’s eyes narrow, and it bellows at the spider.
“Sorry! I think Hephastus’s mechanical bull here was meant to be a statue! He doesn’t seem to understand the roles of Stuck in the Web,” the man in the spider costume quips, firing off webs as he tries to distract the Minotaur, “Now, if you could all please leave in an orderly file!”
“We’re on it, Spider-Man!” Ned yells, leaping to his feet, his eyes shining as he nudges Jack, helping him to his feet as they start moving people out of the gym. Peter pauses, watching as the superhero spins around the large mechanical bull-man, blasting it with electricity through his kicks and punches.
“Seriously! Next thing you know, this thing is going to start breathing fire like the-” Spider-Man begins saying as his eyes widen. Peter gets a tingle at the back of his neck as he sees the mechanical jaw unhinge, a spark igniting in its mouth as Peter leaps back, a jet of flames arching between him and the door.
“PETER!”
“GO! I’LL FIND ANOTHER WAY OUT!” Peter yells over the sound of the flames to Coach D as he grits his teeth. Watching the red-haired man begin to start forward, the bull-man tilts its head towards the door. The man slams the door shut, a loud grunt resounding from behind it as the flames engulf the outside of the door.
He runs under the bleachers as he watches Spider-Man perform an uppercut of the Minotaurs jaw before zipping to the ceiling behind him, dodging a swing of the construct's fist.
“Why don’t you just quit?!” a distorted voice says from within the mechanical suit.
“Well, you know, I don’t think testing unstable, potentially extremely dangerous energy sources under Queens is something that this place is zoned for.”
“Got to get outta here…” Peter mumbles, idly listening to the banter between the two superpowered individuals. Seeing an open door, he lunges forward, diving into the room as he looks around. The storage closet, equipment stacked neatly in piles, is open, another door pulsing with a dull heat as Peter fumbles through the room. He groans as he sees the furnace room, the stairs leading down, open in front of him, “Well, at least I can keep running… Not that there’s much of a place to go.”
Darting into the furnace room, the sound of the fight behind him growing quieter, Peter darts down the stairs to the basement. Seeing the glow of the firelight at the bottom of the stairs, he spins, looking at the empty room. His feet kick up dust as he moves. Standing next to the furnace as he looks at the box at his feet. Large letters written on the box of ‘Lost and Found’.
“What do I do now?”
His thoughts are interrupted when the wall to his left crashes down, and the floor of the gymnasium suddenly thrusts past the basement and into what looks like a reactor below it. Peter’s eyes widen as he takes a closer look, his mind whirring as he sees the swirling mass of dark and light energies colliding in what he estimates is a very unstable manner.
From the wreckage, the bull-man shakes his head, raising to his feet, eyes locking onto something above Peter’s head. Raising his hand, Peter frowns, looking above him as he wonders if the Minotaur thinks he can use the force as the large hammer slams down on his chest. Heaving from the impact, he begins to lose his footing on the ledge. Watching Spider-Man web the large horned man and throw him into the air before slamming him into the ground, Peter wonders how the man was doing that as he enters free fall.
“And stay down!” Spider-Man yells as he swings around the room, his eyes flicking around the room. Spotting the flailing form of the boy as he zips over and snatches him out of the air, placing him back in the furnace room, “You alright, kid? Wait, aren’t you the triple J photographer?” he asks, eyes narrowing as he looks the boy up and down.
Looking at the man, a strange tingle runs down Peter’s spine, his eyes twitching as he watches the lenses of Spider-Man’s mask seeming to mirror his own. For a moment the pair just stare at each other, unsure of what to say.
“I was bit by a spider,” Peter blurts out, trying to fill the silence.
“I figured… Man, I thought I was the only one,” Spider-Man responds, both of their attention drawn to the reactor room as a large bulb looking structure begins to be elevated into the room, crushing the gymnasium floor that was above it, as a ring of what appears to be a particle accelerator closing in around the structure, “Right, I’ve got to deal with that, but if you stick around I can show you the ropes? Maybe get you a costume as well.”
“Yeah, that would be great…”
“Alright,” the black and red-clad man says, stepping back towards the edge of the room, “Don’t move. I’ll be back soon.” Flipping off into the reactor room below and swinging around. He begins crawling around the room, taping the panels of the reactor room. The lights in the room begin turning on, emitting a faint, eerie hum, and the room begins to pulse with energy.
Leaning over the ledge, lying on his stomach, Peter watches the man move, trying to figure out how he is sticking to the panels and moving. His eyes flick to a small glass window box. Seeing people moving around and tapping controls on panels before the hairs on the back of his neck rise, a red and black blur jumps out of the shadows of the room, tackling Spider-Man.
Peter gasps, watching as the other man, also with a spider emblem, begins to throw punches and kicks in a manner that looks like it’s straight out of an action film. Hook, jab, jab, kick, hook, uppercut, kick, jab, jab, jab. Peter marvels as he takes in the barrage of attacks and how Spider-Man weaves around them, dodging and deflecting the attacks with his hands and webs.
Just as he thinks the hero has the upper hand, the Tarantula, or at least that’s what Peter was going to call him, manages to land a devastating kick to the hero's stomach, sending him flying back into the spinning disk of the particle accelerator.
He watches as Spider-Man flips over the moving component of the accelerator, only to be met with another relentless barrage of kicks and punches. Peter narrows his eyes, his mind taking in Spider-Man’s posture and movements as he comes to one conclusion. He’s tired. As Spider-Man is flipped on his back and kicked back into the ring of the particle accelerator, Peter leaps to his feet, running over to the ‘Lost and Found’ box as he rummages through it, looking for clothes he can change into.
He glances back, looking to see how the situation is as he hears the heavy click of the mechanical Minotaur roaring as it leaps up, cracking the back of his fist against Spider-Man as he tries to zip towards Tarantula. Pinned beneath the two men, Spider-Man thrashes about before turning his head, looking at a blonde woman as she walks into the glass observation room, a large bald man walking up behind her as the two villains bow in her general direction. Peter strains his eyes, trying to figure out what’s happening, as his eyes widen.
Redoubling his efforts of finding clothes, Peter grimaces as he pulls on a long-sleeve unitard jumpsuit and balaclava, webbing his glasses to his face. Looking down at the group as he sees the chamber lowering, Peter closes his eyes, stepping off the edge as he angles his body towards the ceiling, his wrists flicking out as he fires two lines of webbing sticking to the ceiling. Opening his eyes, he yanks himself forward, flying through the air, suddenly realising he doesn’t know what to do next as he hurtles towards the two villains on top of Spider-Man.
Slamming into the Minotaur at full force, Peter gasps for breath, coughing as he rolls across the floor. As he places an arm under himself to look up, Peter sees the metallic bull-man stumbling back, bellowing as he raises his hammer to charge. Eyes wide, he tries to stand up to avoid the attack before a black and red blur slams into the creature, orange and red energy sparking as he blasts the side of the creature.
“Alright, then, Camera Boy! We’re training on the fly!”
“Hey! It’s Arachkid, not Camera Boy!” Peter retorts, flipping onto his feet as he stands back to back with Spider-Man.
“Heh, I like the name.”
“Thanks. I’ve been brainstorming it for the last eight years.”
“Wait, you wanted to be my sidekick for eight years?!”
“Partner, but yeah.”
Looking around the room, the spider duo watch as the minotaur stands back up, the electricity cackling off of it’s mechanical hide. Crouching down, Spider-Man prepares for the machine to stop shaking. The lenses of his mask creak as hs eyes dart to the slowly approaching face of the large, red suited man, the black, clearly tarantula, symbol that Peter can now see glimmering.
“What is this? Take your rookie to work day?!”
“Are we a joke to you?” the Minotaur bellows, steam ejecting from its nose as it thuds against the floor. The energy in the room is charged, the ring around the partcle accelerator is a blur of motion.
“It’s not like that guys! Dario, Luis, I know we’ve had our differences but you’ve got to see that fighting right now isn’t going to help!”
“Yeah?! The contract says otherwise.”
Groaning, Spider-Man drags a hand down his face as he clicks his neck, “Seriously?! You’re prioritising a check over your life, T? You have a daughter!”
“And that’s why I need the money, Spider. Now let me put you and you’re little sidekick in a body bag so I can go back to my daughter.”
Clicking his tongue Spider-Man looks at Peter, his mind clearly questioning what he should do as the two villains begin to charge towards the pair. Grabbing the kid by his back and flinging him into the air, Spider-Man twists himself over the minotaur, watching as his hamer slams into the side of Tarantula.
Peter yelps as he’s thrown, twisting through the air before he begins falling. Eyes wide, he watches, wincing as he sees the Taratntula and Minotaur begin arguing. A strand of webbing reaches out, grabbing him and pulling him to the ceiling as he comes face to face with Spider-Man again.
“You know how to stick to the ceiling?”
“Nope.”
“Um… How do I explain this… Think sticky thoughts?”
Peter fumbles, placing his hands and knees on the ceiling, copying the technique of the man infront of him. His mind races, thoughts of maple syrup, honey and Oobleck. Feeling the hand on his back slowly moving away, he lets out a sigh as he sticks to the ceiling, the noise echoing Spider-Man’s own.
“Okay. Cool, that’s the first step. Now did I see you have webs? Where are your shooters?”
“Oh, no. They’re natural.”
Watching as the black and red mask infront of him blinks twice, eyes going wide before narrowing as he looks closer at him, Peter gulps. Did he say something wrong? There’s no way, right?
“Okay… Ganke’s going to have a field day learning about that. So how do you, you know,” Spider-Man says, mimicking the motion of shooting webs as the pair ignore the yells of the villains below them.
“Squeezing my forearm, like this,” Peter replies, pointing his right hand towards the larger of the two figures, his index and ring pressing into the base of his plam, a stand of webbing shooting down and smacking the armour of the figure, the bull-man’s eyes narorwing.
“Okay… so hips point where you want to swing. Shoot, pull, release. Got it?”
“Right. Wait, how is this going to help?”
“Eh, you’ll se-”
Spider-Man pauses, flipping back off the ceiling with Peter, the tingle in the base of Peter’s neck alerting him as the hammer head of the Minotaur slams into the ceiling. Pulling on the chain, the Minotaur throws the attack again, the spider duo twisting and dodging.
“Here! Shoot a line straight at your target and use the swinging technique, like this!” the older man shouts over the crushing sounds of the hammer crashing through the panels. Peter’s eyes track the man, watching as he seems to hand mid air, hips angling at the large target as he fires two webs at the minotaur, wrapping his hands around the lines before pulling himself forward, slamming into the mechanical exoskeleton, a whirring sound ringing from the suit.
Eyes shining, Peter grins from behind the thin mask on his face as he angles himself towards the smaller man. His mind clears, instincts that he thought could only help him with taking photos of Spider-Man kicking in. Throwing one hand forward, he fires a line, shooting the web missing the Tarantula who leaps out of the way, snarling. Undeterred, Peter continues, pulling himself forward, twirling before righting himself and landing a brutal backheel against the mans chin.
“Holy- YOU’RE A NATURAL, KID!”
“Thanks! I just did what I normally do when I take photos of you!”
“That makes so much sense! Man this is going to be- LOOK OUT!”
Frowning, Peter notices the tingle on the back of his neck. Whipping his head around to see what he was sensing, Peter’s face is met with the crack of a fist. Tarantula’s red fist colliding with the teens cheek, making him stumble and fall to the ground. Following the attack, the man kicks him in the stomach, the boy responding with a guttural cough, a small splattering of blood leaking from the boys mouth.
“Arachkid!”
“I’m fine…” Peter mumbles, fist punching the ground, a small crater forming as he pushes himself up, “I got this. Focus on Mino’s poster man-child.”
Letting out a spluttering cough as he turn to face the man, his bones creaking having clearly broken a rib or two, he looks at the Tarantula. Raising his hands and giving his best ‘bring it on’ look beneath his mask and glasses, he watches the Tarantula’s eyes narrow. The large man slowly circles the boy, cracking his knuckles.
“You’ve gt spirit, Araña, but I have experience,” the man says, his voice thick with what Peter assumes is Columbian, although the hint of Mexican is kind of throwing him off.
“And you’ve never faced a kid like me!”
Raising an eyebrow, a small smirk on his face as he looks over at Spider-Man before turning back to Peter, “I’m pretty sure I have, kid.”
Charging forward, the red-clad villain slams his fist forward, Peter barely managing to avoid the attack before the second punch draws itself forward. Throwing his arms infront of the attack, Peter spins back, arms falling to his side as he barely manages to catch himself on the side of the accelerator’s spinning ring.
He grunts, perching on the moving ring, as he tries to focus. His mind races, a hundred questions burning away as his mind tries to answer them. Pushing the questions aside, he narrows his eyes, shaking his head. Suddenly, his vision clears. The spinning slows. For a split second, Peter’s mind is stunned, his body working on instinct as his arms pull forward and lauch webs at the villain he’s fighting. Pulling himself forward, Peter kicks the man, landing on the opposite side of the reactor chamber.
“How did I…”
Before he can continue the question, Peter hears a roar before a slam and crack. The sound of breaking metal burns through the air as a spray of black and white shimmer through the room.
“NO! WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS DOING?!” a shrill, feminine voice cries out, Peter’s eyes darting to the glass box as metal shutters close down around the structure, “DO YOU HAVE ANY CLUE HOW MUCH THIS COST?! AND YOU’RE RUINING MY EXPERIMENT!”
Feeling a web attach to his back, Peter looks up seeing Spider-Man as he’s yanked into the sky.
“Time to go.”
“What about-” Peter begins, eyes snapping to where Tarantula and Minotaur where previously. The two figures now gone, Peter’s eyes narrow as he looks around trying to spot a trace of the two men.
“They’ve cut their losses. But this is a win for us. Managed to shut down an experimental reactor… although JJ’s gonna have a field day with this one. ‘Spider Menace’s cause destruction of school!’. Like it’s actually our fault the reactor was built here.”
“But what about-”
“I fight guys like that every week, Arachkid. They’ll be back. Now come on. We don’t want to see what happens when that blows.”
Feeling himself being dragged away by the older man, Peter slowly follows him, webs shooting from his wrists as he leaves the broken school. A couple of seconds pass, the school eerily quiet in the mid-afternoon glow before a dull thrum of energy followed by a muffled black and white pulse erupts from the gymnasium. Sighing, Peter looks at the school, slowly lowering himself as he debates his next move.
“So, Arachkid, what’s your name?”
“Huh? Oh, right… um… can I ask why?”
“So I can tell the teachers and you’re parents that you’re safe before we go anywhere. You know, responsibility and all.”
“...Peter Parker.”
“Alright, Peter. Give me, like five seconds and I’ll be back.” Watching as the man swings away, Peter faintly sees the distant discussion between Spider-Man and Coach D, the red-head nodding along to his words. Seeing the man begin swinging back to him, pointing in the direction of Manhatten, Peter starts swinging, slowly falling in line with the man.
“So…”
“You’re Aunt and Uncle are being called. I told your Mr. Deladova you were shocked by the incident so I’m planning on cheering you up.”
“Oh, okay,” Peter responds, his mind questioning how that worked. Following after the man, the almost mythological being that represents New York, Peter’s mind whirls with questions.
The main one; what have I gotten myself into?