saudade

A few days later it was time for Peter to turn his plan into reality. The last days he spent creating his spider costume and training his spider abilities. He packed his things and went downstairs where his aunt and uncle were sitting in the living room.

“I’m going to the library. See you later”, he said and ran towards the door.

“Wait, Pete. I’ll drive you there”, Uncle Ben said.

“That’s not necessary, I’ll take the train.”

“No, I need the exercise”, his uncle insisted.

Peter was absolutely not happy that his uncle drove him since his lie would get bigger and bigger and he couldn’t stand lying to him, but he knew there was no point in discussion.

The ride was silent, and Peter felt slightly uncomfortable. He didn’t exactly know why but he was glad when his uncle was looking for a parking lot.

“Thanks for driving me, Uncle Ben”, he muttered and unbuckled himself to quickly get out of the car.

“Wait a minute, we need to talk.” His uncle’s tone was serious.

Whatever Uncle Ben wanted to talk about, Peter didn’t want to listen to it right now. He wanted to get to the tournament and surprise him and Aunt May. “We can talk later”, he said, and he was sure that whatever his uncle wanted to say will be unnecessary once Peter came back home.

“We can talk now. If you let me.”

“What do we have to talk about and why now?”, Peter asked in annoyance. He just wanted to get out of here.

“Because we haven’t talked for so long. Your aunt and I don’t even know who you are anymore. You have all those weird experiments in your room. You start fights at school-“

“I didn’t start it, I told you that!”, Peter shouted. They’ve had that conversation before so what was the point of all that?

“You sure as hell finished it”, his uncle said.

“Then what was I supposed to do? Should I have ran away?”

“No, you’re not supposed to run away. You’re changing, Pete. Is it because of Harry? I know you love him but changing yourself for someone else to like you isn’t the solution.”

“What? Harry has nothing to do with it! Stop interfering in my relationship.” How did his uncle dare say something like that?

“Right, I’m sorry. Harry is a nice boy and I just want to make sure you know he’ll love you just the way you are”, Uncle Ben said.

“I know that. In contrast to you, he doesn’t tell me I’m becoming an alien”, Peter snapped, trying to suppress the anger.

“I’m not trying to say something like that. It’s just that you’re changing and it’s normal. Look, I know exactly what you’re going though. I was the same when I was at your age.”

Not exactly, Peter thought and tried to get out of the car, but Uncle Ben held him back.

“These are the years when you change into the person you’re going to become the rest of your life. Just be careful who you’re changing into.”

Peter didn’t expect these words to hit him that deeply, but it was true, he was changing, and he didn’t know if he was changing into a better or worse person. He swallowed hard. The realisation that he didn’t know who he was changing into scared him.

“This guy Flash probably deserved what happened but just because you can beat him up doesn’t give you the right to”, Uncle Ben explained, “Remember, with great power comes great responsibility.”

That was enough. Peter didn’t want to listen anymore. Did his uncle really think he was turning into a murderer? “Do you think I’m turning into a criminal or something? It was just one accident, and you act like I am a mass murderer? Are you serious? Quit worrying about me, okay? I know something’s different, and I’ll figure it out but stop lecturing me.” He didn’t need to be treated like a child.

“I don’t mean to lecture or preach and I know I’m not your father-“

“Then stop pretending to be!”, Peter interrupted him.

“Right.” Uncle Ben swallowed and turned away. He hurt him.

“Uncle Ben …” Peter wanted to apologise. He didn’t mean to say that, and he didn’t want to hurt him.

“I’ll pick you up here at ten.”

Peter sighed and left. He wanted to make amend but he knew it would be pointless to try it now. His uncle needed time and Peter respected that. He didn’t want to snap at his uncle. Peter knew Uncle Ben wanted the best for him, but he felt restricted by it. As if he wasn’t allowed to develop like every other teenager. As soon as he couldn’t see the car anymore, he left the street of the library and went to the warehouse the competition took place.

Once he got there and saw a mountain of muscles jumping on another man’s neck, he wasn’t sure if it was a good plan to participate but there was no going back. He joined the queue in front of the registration and when it was his turn, the lady doing it laughed at him.

“Next.”

“No, sign me up”, Peter insisted.

She gave him a doubting look and signed him up. Down the hall to the ramp. Good luck. You will need it. Next.”

Peter did as he was told and to his surprise, he was the next one to be sent into the ring.

“The sum of 3000$ will be paid to…”, the moderator announced, “What’s your name, kid?”

“The Human Spider”, Peter said.

“Really? That sucks.” The moderator cleared his throat. “The sum of 3000$ will be paid to the deadly, the terrifying, the amazing Spider-Man!”

“It’s The Human Spider”, Peter complained and pointed at his self-sewn red and blue costume with a spider motif.

“I don’t care. Get out.” The moderator kicked him in the arena.

The crowd booed at him and insulted him as soon as he got out on the stage. What the hell was he thinking when he said he will be participating? Obviously, he was out of his mind. There was no other explanation for it. When the cage was locked around him and his opponent, he knew he missed the last opportunity to flee. He swallowed.

“He, freak, you’re going nowhere. I got you for three minutes of playtime”, his opponent grinned madly, and he ran towards Peter as the bell rang.

Peter jumped to the ceiling of the cage before he could get him. He needed time to think. His opponent didn’t seem to be very smart so he just had to make him mad so Peter could outsmart him.

“That’s a cute outfit. Did your husband give it to you?”, Peter mocked him. The dude was wearing some kind of muscle shirt that looked a bit like underwear.

As he had predicted, the guy went totally mad at his comment, so Peter jumped to the ground on the other side of the cage and when he ran towards him, he used his spider webs and flew over him.

Peter didn’t see the chair until it hit his head. He fell to the ground and his head felt like it was exploding. Nevertheless, he tried to get up but this time the chair hit his back. He groaned in pain, but his opponent showed no mercy and threw him into the cage bars.

Peter fell to the ground, and he really considered giving up but when that madman ripped a bar out of the cage and tried to smash his head, he found the last bit of energy somewhere in his body and kicked him multiple times in the face. Then, Peter threw him into the barrier, and he fell to the ground where he laid unconsciously.

“Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for the new champion, Spider-Man!”, the moderator shouted as the crowd freaked out.

He won. Peter couldn’t believe it. The crowd was cheering his name. His name.

With a big grin he went to the manager’s office to get his prize money. The manager handed him 100$. Peter stared at him.

“Now get out of here”, the manager told him.

“A hundred bucks? The ad said 3000.”

“Then check it again, freak. It said three grand for three minutes. You pinned him in two. For that, I give you 100 and you’re lucky to even get that.”

“I need that money”, Peter insisted.

“I missed the part where that’s my problem.”

Peter was too exhausted to start an argument and he knew it would be pointless, so he left. He was furious, of course, but he couldn’t change it.

As he waited for the elevator, he heard someone screaming “Stop that guy, he stole my money!” and as the man ran towards Peter he got out of the way. The manager deserved to lose his money. Should someone else steal it, he didn’t care.

“You could’ve taken that guy apart. Now he gets away with my money”, the manager yelled at him.

“I missed the part where that’s my problem”, Peter responded coldly.

It was dark when he crossed New York’s streets to get back to the library. When he approached the place where Uncle Ben said he would pick him up, he saw a bunch of people including the police standing there. His innards cramped.

“What happened?”, someone asked.

“Old man”, a police officer answered.

Uncle Ben! Something happened to Uncle Ben!

Peter ran towards the crowd and pushed people aside to get forwards. “Stay back”, a police officer told him, but he fought against her.

“That’s my uncle!”, he exclaimed and pushed her aside as he saw Uncle Ben lying on the ground. He knelt next to him on the ground. “What happened?”

“Carjacker. He got shot.”

No. Why would someone shoot an old man? It couldn’t be true. “Uncle Ben? Wake up, please. Uncle Ben.” Tears found their way into his eyes.

His uncle opened his eyes. “Peter?”, he whispered.

“I’m here, Uncle Ben, I’m here.” He took his hand, and he couldn’t hold back the tears any longer.

“Peter”, his uncle said again before his head turned aside and stopped moving.

No, it couldn’t be. Uncle Ben wasn’t dead, he would open his eyes again every second. But his eyes stayed close.

“We got the shooter. He’s headed south on Fifth Avenue”, a police officer said.

Peter jumped on his feet and ran in the direction of where the murderer was going. He would make him pay for what he has done