Chapter 4
There was a small buzz in the back of Peters neck as he landed on the rooftop and a small figure popped up in front of him.
“Hey Spidey!”
“Salem,” he greeted, his inner fanboy screaming in alarm at talking to one of his favorite vigilantes.
“What are you back in Queens for?”
“You.”
“What?”
“You’re going to patrol with me,” they stated.
“Why?”
“Bonding.”
“Bonding?”
“Yup. Well truthfully its cause double D doesn’t really trust you so he wants me to get a read on you. But i say fuck him, so we’re going to call this bonding.”
“O-kay???”
“Great, come on,” Salem jumped to the next roof, Peter scrambling behind.
— — — —
The pair had made their way through Queens, taking down muggers and stopping assaults. By the end of the night they found themselves sitting on a roof, eating sandwiches from Delmars.
“You’re good, you just need a little extra training,” Salem spoke, breaking the silence, “You rely a bit too much on your enhancements, though I suspect you have to hold back a lot of your strength. Right?”
“Uh, yeah. How’d you know?”
“I’m pretty good at observing people,” they smiled, having pulled down their lower face mask to eat. Peter could see some faint scars and their splattering of freckles.
“So how’d you end up like this anyway?”
“Radioactive spider bite.”
“Radioactive spider bite,” they stated in disbelief.
Peter nodded, “Yeah, I mean- I know it's weird but… it’s what happened. The spider’s dead now but it altered my DNA, I’m not sure exactly. I was really sick for a few days after the bite and one morning I woke up with abs and I could stick to walls”
Salem stared at them, the dark purple lenses of their helmet somehow staring through Peter's soul, “Honestly I’ve heard weirder. It’s fascinating though, the implications behind it. Could it happen to anyone or was there something about your DNA that allowed the spider venom to bond with it. It’s possible you have a mutant gene that was somehow activated…” They trailed off looking at Peter's widened lenses.
“Sorry, I get carried away with science sometimes.”
“No, no, I just. I’ve never really theorized with anyone about my powers. I mean my friends and I have discussed it but like- you have knowledge about mutations and stuff.”
“You like science?”
Peter nodded his head, “Yeah, I’m a bit of a nerd.”
Salem beamed, mouth spreading into a wide smile, “I think this is the start of a wonderful friendship.