This is the End
November 18th, 2015
The next morning, Peter woke up with his normal amount of energy since the spider-bite, but he was also extremely hungry. Stabbing pains emerged in his stomach and he felt light headed when standing.
Peter assumed correctly that he had a heightened metabolism. That made sense, since super strength and all. Despite the pain in his gut, Peter couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of excitement over the fact that he had super-powers, and a feeling of happiness when thinking what he would do with those powers.
Peter got ready for the day, contemplating everything that had happened. He could hear Aunt May and Uncle Ben’s worried voices in the kitchen. Peter decided not to eavesdrop on them, since that was a violation of their privacy, opting to think up ways to make money with his powers instead.
For the first time in his life, Peter wouldn’t be a burden, he could actually repay his Aunt and Uncle for all they had done for him over the years. But how could he use his powers for money?
A couple of ideas floated around Peter’s head, becoming a pro sports player, becoming a pro wrestler, becoming a fighter or something. But why would the people on those teams take some prepubescent teen seriously? And wouldn’t it seem suspicious for him, a scrawny teen, being able to beat world champions?
As Peter walked into the kitchen, the smell of cheap dish soap and cereal meeting his nose, he concluded that whatever job he picked, he would have to keep his identity a secret.
Aunt May stopped eating her fried egg and Uncle Ben looked up from his 2004 computer as Peter stepped into the room. Their faces didn’t hold the same angry expression from last night, instead being replaced with worry. Peter immediately felt guilty, knowing that he had added his problems to their overfilled plate. He would make it up to them.
“Well you’re up early,” Aunt May gave him a forced smile while Uncle Ben nodded and looked back to his computer, probably searching for job openings.
Peter grabbed an almost empty cereal box and poured the rest of the cinnamon toast crunch into his bowl. The milk had been used up yesterday, so Peter sat awkwardly at the table, eating his cereal dry and wondering if the fight they had last night would be addressed.
After gobbling up the cereal in a minute, which made the tiniest dent against his hunger, Peter decided to address the elephant in the room, “Aunt May, Uncle Ben,” They turned to look at him, “I’m sorry for skipping school. I swear it won’t happen again and I’m sorry for stressing you guys out.”
He hung his head in shame as his Aunt and Uncle’s expressions softened. Uncle Ben ruffled Peter’s hair, “It’s fine Peter, no harm done. As long as you’re sorry and don’t do it again.”
“We know how cruel kids can be and how stressful it is going to a new school and all, so we’ll cut you some slack,” Aunt May smiled then added in a warning tone, “But don’t pull a stunt like that after Thanksgiving break.”
“Yes, m’am.”
They sat down in amiable silence, the only noise coming from Uncle Ben’s painfully slow computer and the sound of Aunt May eating her eggs. Peter checked his snaps, there were some from Ned, MJ, and Harry, but he didn’t respond to them. It would be easier to just talk to his friends on the subway, during lunch, and at the Oscorp labs, which reminded Peter…
“Oh um, guys?” The two looked to Peter, “Can I go to Oscorp after school? It won’t coincide with decathlon and robotics practice, and Harry invited me over since I wasn’t able to go last time. Please? I really want to see their labs.” That wasn’t the real reason why Peter wanted to go, but nobody needed to know that.
Aunt May and Uncle Ben exchanged looks, seeming to have a silent conversation with each other. After coming to a consensus, they turned to Peter, “You can go,” Aunt May said hesitantly, “But be careful. We don’t want you being bit by another spider.”
Peter gave them a genuine smile, “Thanks Ben! Thanks May!” He checked the time on his watch, “Well better get going to school, Bye!”
Peter grabbed his backpack and sped out the door as his Aunt and Uncle called farewell. He was glad that he was going to figure out how he had gained powers. Not to add that he was finally going to be able to tour the science labs that had looked so cool from afar.
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Peter found MJ at her usual place on the subway. She was sitting in a seat this time, reading a political book which Peter had heard of, but had never read. He walked up to her, trying to subdue his super hearing so that the loud conversations filling the train would quiet to it’s normal murmur.
“So where were you yesterday?” MJ looked up at him with a suspicious gaze. Peter had told her he was coming to school, then failed to show up and didn’t answer her snaps.
“Uh, um,” Peter rubbed the back of his head, “I felt sort of sick, I guess all the fainting got to me or something. I’m all good now, and it’s not like I’m contagious or anything like that, but yeah, I’m good.”
Much to Peter’s relief, MJ seemed to accept his answer, “Okay then.” She went back to her book as Peter stood next to her, wondering if he should start up a conversation or not. He was always hesitant to talk to MJ, always worried that he was annoying her.
Because of this feeling, Peter opted to instead focus on the sound of the subway riding over the Queensborough bridge. He looked over the water in awe, seeing it in more detail with improved vision.
After the L-train jostled to his usual stop, Peter jumped off with MJ trailing behind. They usually walked to Midtown in amiable silence, unless there was a conversation one of them wanted to have.
Because Peter hadn’t talked to his friends for the past couple of days and he needed a distraction from his thoughts, he asked MJ, “So what are you doing for Thanksgiving break?”
She looked up from the cracked sidewalk they were speedwalking on in their attempt to not be late for school, “Nothing much, just me and my mom. We’re probably going to buy tofu turkey since it’s cheaper and my mom has been trying to go vegetarian for ages.”
An awkward silence reigned between the two as they walked through the track field and up the fancy steps leading to Midtown. Finally, MJ turned to Peter, “How about you?”
Peter rubbed the back of his head, “Ben, May and I are going to be doing about the same. Ben’s birthday is on the 26th, so we’re also going to exchange presents and watch a movie.”
MJ didn’t really know how to finish this conversation, so she nodded her head and said, “Cool,” before leaving to walk towards her homeroom. She spent the rest of the morning thinking about Peter. Something seemed off about him. She couldn’t quite explain why she felt that way other than intuition though.
Peter hurried to his homeroom in order to talk to Ned. He definitely wouldn’t be telling anyone about his newfound super powers anytime soon, no matter how exciting it was, but he still wanted to catch up with his friend.
The students walking the hallways in Midtown still stared at Peter, but their whispers weren’t jesting anymore. Peter eavesdropped on his peer’s conversations. Most of them were about rumors that Peter had some sort of disease and was about to die or something. Peter didn’t really care about invading their privacy. He figured if people were talking about him behind his back he had a right to eavesdrop on them.
Once at his desk, Ned rushed up to Peter with a worried expression on his face, “Dude are you okay?”
“Oh yeah I’m fine Ned,” Peter cracked his sore back on his hard chair, it was tight after gaining superhuman muscles and spending half the night throwing cars around a deserted warehouse.
“Are you sure? Because some people are saying-”
Peter cut him off, “Yeah Ned I’m good, I don’t have cancer or anything like that.”
Ned sighed in relief, “Oh that’s good,” He immediately switched to another subject, “So tonight in robotics I was thinking-”
Ned was once again interrupted by the bell ringing and the teacher saying, “Okay everyone to their seats.”
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Lunch couldn’t come soon enough. Flash and his friends, especially Kong, couldn’t stop glaring at Peter whenever their paths crossed. This wasn’t so bad, since Peter couldn’t care less about his bullies now that he had super strength. If they tried to mess with him, Peter wouldn’t have to take their crap anymore.
The real reason why Peter looked forward to lunch was because of the food. Yes, the food at the cafeteria was objectively terrible, but Peter was so hungry because of his fast metabolism, that he would eat practically anything.
When the bell finally rang, Peter rushed to the cafeteria, grabbing a tray amidst the bustling students. While the lunch lady plopped some mystery meat onto his tray, a voice was heard from the speakers placed throughout the lunch room, loud enough to silence everyone’s conversations.
“This is a special announcement. A reminder to everyone, bullying will not be tolerated.”
Peter groaned as he heard the sound of snickering from the other end of the cafetaria, recognizing the people laughing to be Flash and his friends. Most people heard the announcement then went back to their conversations, so Peter was glad of that.
While walking to his usual lunch table, Ned strode beside him, lunch tray in hand, “Hey, so in robotics I was thinking we could ask Mr.Hars to put us on the same team. I know my cousin did that last year.”
They sat down next to MJ, who was reading a book, while Ned continued, “My mom has agreed to buy a field, so we could build the robot at my house during break.”
Peter was about to excitedly say yes, but then he remembered his scheduled visit to Oscorp. As much as he loved robotics, finding out how he received super powers seemed a little more important.
“I’m sorry Ned, I can’t go to the meeting tonight. Maybe the next meeting?” Peter helplessly shrugged his shoulders. MJ peered at him from her book with a suspicious gaze.
“Dude, that sucks. Why not? I mean it’s not that big of a deal or anything, but if we don’t form our own team this early in the season, then we’ll be screwed at getting a spot at states.”
“I know man, I’m sorry, it’s just,” Peter wanted so badly to tell his new friend everything that had happened over the past two days. But more people(especially ones he had only known for less than a week) knowing, would open up a whole can of worms that he couldn’t deal with, so Peter continued, “I have a lot going on right now. My friend got me on this tour to Oscorp, so I have to go there tonight during the meeting.”
“Really dude? Oscorp?” Peter winced as his friend continued, “You want to go back to the place where that spider bit you?”
“Yeah well,” Peter shrugged, trying to come up with a reasonable excuse, “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. I’ll be able to see Doctor Octavius and Norman Osborn’s works-”
With the mention of Norman Osborn, Ned’s eyes glowered in anger, “You’re ditching me for Norman Osborn?” He angrily grabbed his tray and stomped away. Undetectable by most ears, but not by Peter’s, Ned muttered, “Norman Osborn is ruining my life.”
Peter wondered what his friend was talking about. He contemplated running after him, but ultimately decided not to.
It was in Peter’s opinion that Ned was being unreasonably mad at him. He owed Ned nothing, much less going to a robotics meeting. In fact, with all the crazy shit that had happened over the past few days, Peter barely remembered even telling Ned they would form a team together.
As Peter festered in indignation, about to pull out his Algebra 2 homework in hopes of taking his mind off his thoughts, a jeering voice rang next to him, “Looks like Penis’s needs his Mwommy to protect him.”
Peter heard laughs all around him as Flash and his friends formed a circle. He stood up from his seat, right hand clenched. Flash had picked the wrong time to pick on Peter. From the end of the table, MJ observed the fight with her face half obscured by her book, taking sips from her Arizona tea.
“I don’t want your bullshit right now Flash!” Peter cried, he had enough on his mind, “Just leave me be.”
“Why should we leave you be when you sprained my spleen with your little flip stunt the other day,” Kong stepped forward, a look of pure rage on his face, “Thanks to you Midtown won’t even be considered for States. I might not be able to run, but I can still beat your scrawny ass.”
On instinct, Peter was going to take a step back, just because of the sheer size of the boy, then he remembered that he had super strength. Any bully at this school, no matter how strong, was no threat to Peter. He stepped right up to Kong, “Well then why don’t you do it then? Instead of harassing me everyday at school, why don’t we actually fight?”
The crowd circling around them grew silent, a little taken aback at Peter’s uncharacteristic confidence. After a few seconds, Kong shot right back, “Okay then. Me, you behind my dad’s wrestling club tomorrow at 3. I’ll send you the address.”
Peter just folded his arms and tried to look intimidating, “I’ll be there.” Maybe this was finally going to put an end to Flash’s bullying once and for all.
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“I’m serious, Harry. I totally want to work in a place just like this,” Peter looked at his friend who was leading him through a lab that looked even more impressive than the one he had only gotten to glance at a couple of days ago.
Sleek white and natural light was replaced with dark gray walls and futuristic looking light fixtures. Holograms, which Peter observed to be Stark technology, lined the entrance, filled with images of compiling data.
Towards the end of the lab, there were figures in white lab coats and high tech looking goggles. Some were typing away on the monitors and mixing compounds in the vial stations, while others were writing down their observations of the array of animals placed inside containers.
Peter marveled at the science as his friend said, “You would.”
“I would!” Peter cried excitedly as he watched a chemistry experiment blow up in two scientist’s faces.
“I know,” Harry swayed his hands at his sides back and forth as the two ventured towards the main part of the lab.
“So why did your dad invite me back to the labs? Much less the one of Dr.Octavius,” Harry had been excitedly talking to him all about Doc Ock when Peter entered the lobby, “I thought he didn’t like kids?”
“Yeah well,” Harry smiled, “My dad’s really had a change of heart. He isn’t nearly as strict and he’s actually nice to me. He’s become a really solid guy.”
Peter narrowed his eyes as he stared at his friend with cynical disbelief. He doubted that Norman Osborn, the guy that Harry had been complaining about for years, would suddenly turn a new leaf in a couple of days with no warning. What made Peter even more suspicious was the fact that Harry actually believed his dad’s, ‘change of character.’
The thought of telling Harry about his super powers was quickly sounding like a terrible idea. At this point, Peter just wanted to see if there were any clues in this lab indicating what had happened to him, and leave. His spider-sense, which was still new to him, was slightly buzzing, giving this lab an eerie feel.
Peter answered his friend with a mumbled, “okay then,” as they continued walking. To their left, next to a display of bunnies in green canisters, was Dr.Octavius, typing away at a keyboard inputting data to the hologram above him.
Peter stared at the man he had read about online and in numerous magazines while Harry yelled, “Yo, Doc Ock!”
The man turned around, his expression partly obscured by his green goggles. “This is my friend Peter, your number one fan.”
Dr.Octavius quickly approached the two. He took Peter’s outstretched hand, “Nice to meet you, um, Dr.Octavia, I mean Dr.Octavius.” Peter felt his cheeks grow warm as he awkwardly rubbed the side of his arm. God that was so embarrassing.
Dr.Octavius didn’t seem to notice Peter’s slip up, instead making small talk with the boy, “I hear you’re quite the talent in the science arts.” Next to them, Harry and a lab assistant started up a conversation of their own.
Peter looked to one of many science idols. He looked a little weird, with his green goggles and mouth set in a serious frown. Peter got the indication that the doctor somehow felt obliged to talk to him, so he answered, “Oh, um, uh Thank you.”
They stood in awkward silence while Peter’s brain reminded him why he had agreed to come here in the first place. He took a step towards the bunnies encased in green canisters, wondering why they were in this lab.
Could Norman Osborn be testing them with the super soldier serum? Perhaps the same one he had injected the spider with, causing Peter to gain super powers to rival Captain America. If this bunny bit Harry, would he gain the ability to hop super high?
Out of all of the research Peter had done, the word that kept on coming up was the super soldier serum. From a 4chan thread, he had learned that Bruce Banner became the Hulk because of the government's attempt at creating super soldiers.
Was he just another casualty of a scientist’s recreating of the famous serum that created Captain America? Not that Peter was complaining. Having super powers was awesome. Plus he didn’t even turn green when using them.
Or maybe Peter was reading too into this. Aunt May and Uncle Ben had told him that his imagination often got ahead of him. Maybe he was just a mutant? Peter had read that some mutants gained their powers during puberty. But then why did the spider that bit him not exist according to the internet?
There was only one way to find out. Peter turned to Dr.Octavius, who was creepily studying him, “What are a-all the animals for?”
“We check their blood works for reactions,” the doctor responded.
“Reactions?” Peter’s theory about the super soldier serum was starting to seem more and more probable.
“Just simple blood work. Have you ever had your blood taken Peter?” Dr.Octavius’s serious expression, coupled with his weird question, creeped Peter out.
He took a step back, “Uh yeah, at the hospital a bunch of times,” Peter let out a nervous chuckle.
Dr.Octavius seemed to notice Peter’s sudden change, since he changed the subject, “Peter, I heard about the unfortunate incident with the arachnid experiment,”
Peter curled his eyebrows up in surprise. So the spider was an experiment after all. He was of course about 95 percent sure of that, but it was another thing to hear it from one of the head scientists themselves.
“I hope that you haven’t had any odd side effects. Dizziness? Drowsiness?” The doctor took a step towards Peter, fiddling with something in his coat. Peter was only half listening to him not, staring at the bunny while thinking about what the doctor had said.
Suddenly, Peter’s spider sense buzzed half a second before his shirt sleeve was pulled up. Peter looked down at his arm as a needle plunged into it, creating a dull sensation of pain.
“Hey, what are you doing? Hey!” Peter cried. The needle, now filled with his blood, pulled out of his arm.
“What the heck is wrong with you?!” Peter pulled down his shirt sleeve, feeling violated and extremely unsettled. His spider sense was supposed to warn him of dangers, or at least make his body react on autopilot to risks.
“Just taking a sample,” Octavius explained calmly, vial still in hand. A couple feet away, Harry took in Peter’s defensive stance and asked, “What happened?!”
Peter ignored his friend, instead glaring at the man who he once adored, “What was this? Like an ambush or-” At that moment Peter decided to leave. He pushed Dr.Octavius to the side, causing him to stumble into a desk, and started running towards the lobby.
Harry called, “Peter?! What’s going on?!” but Peter paid no heed. Screw finding out how he got his powers. Screw spending time with his friend and seeing that crummy doctor’s bionic arm, Peter was getting out of there.
As he ran through a series of corridors all Peter felt was anger and fear. Anger at Harry and his once idol for setting up this whole… thing. Fear at the fact that despite his super powers, Dr.Octavius still managed to draw his blood. The doctor, with the help of Harry, had used Peter as a science experiment, exactly what he didn’t want to happen.
Because he was deep in thought, Peter almost barged straight into a woman dressed in lab attire and holding a binder. She sidestepped him so that only her binder was knocked out of her hands.
“Oh, um, I’m so sorry mam,” Peter grabbed the back of his head with anxiety, before quickly recovering and grabbing the binder. He gave it to the lady who was sporting a blonde bob. “Don’t worry about it,” she responded as Peter continued running towards the exit. Her suspicious gaze remained on him for a few seconds longer.
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“What I am saying is that the deterioration effects we witnessed in the first Parker sample have, in layman’s terms, reversed themselves,” Dr.Octavius turned around to face his boss, who was sitting on a desk devoid of any papers or objects, resting his chin on his hand.
Beside the doctor, stood Norman Osborn’s lawyer. The three men were having a meeting in a modern, minimalist office room, hidden from any security camera and unknown to most of the building’s staff, so as to ensure no unwanted visitors. The reason for the meeting, displayed on the hologram behind Dr.Octavius, was Peter Parker’s blood sample.
“Meaning?” The lawyer asked. He didn’t necessarily care about the boy’s health, but he did have a vested interest in making sure he didn’t die, which would ensure that this situation would leak to the public.
Dr.Octavius now turned to the lawyer, “Meaning the boy is a healthy specimen. If not healthier. His metabolism is 3 times that of a regular person, akin to Captain America’s.”
“But what will happen when his condition progresses?”
Dr.Octavius ignored his boss’s lawyer’s question, instead saying, “Oh and his condition has stabilized. His blood count is normal.”
From his desk, Norman Osborn wore a serious expression, “Stabilized,” he repeated, as if he was hyping himself up to do something drastic.
Osborn turned to studying Peter Parker’s blood sample once more, “I would really like to spend more time with the subject, Mr.Osborn. I have a series of tests that-”
Norman cut him off, “Thank you doctor. Have a good night.” Dr.Octavius had no further use for him.
As soon as the door clicked shut and the doctor left, Norman Osborn’s lawyer asked, “Should I call Shaw back in to finish the job?”
“No,” was Norman Osborn’s resounding answer.
“No?” The lawyer wanted nothing else than to be rid of this messy case with that Parker boy altogether.
“No. His parents-the school. Too many people to put two and two together. An autopsy to deal with. There’s a trail. It’s not a smart move now,” Norman clarified to his lawyer.
“You want to bring him in for more tests?”
“That is an admission that there’s something to test,” Norman didn’t want the authorities or much less the Avengers or whatever super heroes to be nosing around in this operation, “No, we need to repeat the accident.”
“Repeat the--on a human?” Came the lawyer’s incredulous voice. Sometimes he wished that he was employed by a less insane boss.
“Match the situation. Specimen. Control the environment.” The lawyer bent his head down, speechless and not believing what his boss was implying.
Norman’s dead seriousness about the issue was made clear when he opened up his laptop which had been in the desk drawer and told his lawyer, “Pull up my file, please.”
The lawyer's eyes widened as he realized what Norman wanted to do.
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Dressed in all black, flipping through Oscorp’s paper files, was Natasha Romanoff, unknown to either Norman, his lawyer, or Dr.Octavius 4 floors above. Natasha had wanted to listen in on their conversation, but that would have given her away, and she still had a lot of data to collect and analyze.
Oscorp, much to the annoyance of Tony who wanted to just hack the company with Friday, placed all of their records of illegal experiments and scientific projects on paper. They needed the records for reference on future illegal projects, but putting them on paper ensured that people like Tony wouldn’t know what Oscorp was up to.
It didn’t stop Natasha from being in the know though. She skimmed through the files, all mostly surprisingly boring, until she found the one she was looking for.
Once she found the last file, Natasha slid on the floor, sitting in a hidden little crevice between the filing cabinet rows that took up the entire room. A janitor was unlikely to come in here, judging by the layer of dust on the cabinets and the confidential files, but Natasha always prepared for the worst even if improbable outcome.
She looked at the stack of files, detailing everything Oscorp knew about recreating the super soldier serum and where they received their information. This was the project Justin Hammer was undeniably sponsoring, in cahoots with some high up general whose name she was still trying to find.
Natasha never understood why the military had some weird fantasy with the super soldier serum. She guessed it was because they wanted a new Captain America, a person with powers who they could control. Power was the reasoning behind most people’s actions in today's age.
With the rise of super human individuals, everyone wanted to have powers that placed them apart from the rest of humanity, an edge that would make their company, country, or individual person more powerful than the rest. What they decided to do with that power, that was when the trouble began.
Natasha stopped thinking philosophically and instead started on sending photocopies of the super soldier serum files to Stark. She had a lot of files to cover. The Avengers had their work cut out for them, making Natasha get the feeling that she would spend the better part of the holiday season blasting Hydra agents and taking down mutant experimentation rings.
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November 19th, 2015
The area behind Kong’s family’s wrestling club was a seedy place. The wrestling club was located in the basement of a building with businesses that looked like they would have gone out of business ages ago if not for the cheap rent.
The barbershop’s sign was chipped and faded while the letters in the tattoo parlour’s neon sign were cracked and broken. The outside area next to the bar, who still had some regulars in it, drinking at 1 pm, was lined with broken beer bottles that nobody had ever bothered to clean up.
Surrounding the area were low rise apartment buildings, windows lined with bars, and a basketball court with one measly hoop, net so frayed it barely existed, and a blackboard with more cracks in it than pavement. Sitting on top of a car that looked like it hadn’t been driven since the 80’s and leaning against a rusted chain link fence, was Flash and his friends, looking like wannabe gangsters.
They jeered when Peter arrived at the scene. Kong actually went through with Peter’s reckless decision to challenge him to a fight, a decision that Peter now regretted. He didn’t want to fight Kong, no matter how much the boy pushed him around.
All Peter wanted to do at the moment was find a job that he could easily do with his super strength in order to help Aunt May and Uncle Ben pay the rent. With his super hearing, Peter had heard their worried conversation last night. He now knew that Uncle Ben did have a job at Delmar’s, but it didn’t pay nearly as much as his old job.
To make matters worse, Peter’s appetite had increased enormously. So now, from about 2 days of basically starving himself with his metabolism, not to mention his inability to help out his family and two friendships in shambles, the last thing Peter wanted to do was interact with Flash or any of his friends.
Of course after that disastrous tour at Oscorp, where Peter learned nothing about his powers, instead having one of his idols draw his blood with no warning. Then of course, Peter had to completely freak out and run out of the building, despite the fact that he literally had super strength.
His past actions made Peter groan with frustration. He pinched about the tassels of his midtown hoodie, which were already frayed from a year of abuse by his constant picking.
Last night, when all Peter wanted to do was call Ned to reconcile with him, or even vent to MJ about everything, or tell someone about the crazy shit that had been happening, Kong had texted him the address of his family’s crappy wrestling club, reminding Peter of yet another incident he had to worry about.
So there was Peter stuck fighting the bullies who had harassed him for so long. He had about a billion other things on his mind and wanted to be anywhere but here, but he couldn’t do that without looking like a coward and without having to deal with these losers for the rest of the school year.
He may have superstrength, but Peter knew he couldn’t use it against his bullies everytime they teased him at school. Maybe, if Peter beat up Kong, Flash and his friends would stop harassing him everyday. They would at least respect him for actually standing up for himself for once in his life.
With a resound sigh, Peter stepped forward, “Listen, I don’t want to fight you Kong, but-”
Kong stepped forward, interrupting Peter, “That’s rich coming from a guy who sprained my spleen cause I hurt your little feelings.” He walked up to Peter, stopping a few inches away from him.
“I didn’t mean to sprain your spleen!” Peter yelled. “If you want to fight, let’s fight, but I’m warning you, you probably don’t want to fight me.” Peter thought of his super strength, he could do some serious damage to someone if he wanted to. While he didn’t like Kong, Peter didn’t want to put him in the hospital.
The group of boys behind Kong started laughing hysterically, “Wow Scrawny Penis Parker’s getting cocky,” came Flash’s voice from atop the car.
“Okay then,” a look of determination crept onto Kong’s face as he put up his clenched fists and squared his shoulders, standing opposite of Peter. Before Peter could copy his stance, or attempt to copy something he had seen in a movie, Kong swung.
His fist came in almost slow motion for Peter, who easily dodged his blow as Kong yelled, “NUUUGH!” in annoyance.
Kong tried to hit Peter again. This time, Peter easily ducked under a hand that could have easily given him a black eye. His spider sense alerted his body everytime Kong’s hand was near, making it work on autopilot to avoid the danger. If only Peter’s spider sense was this reliable during his trip to Oscorp.
“Come on Kong, bring on the pain!” Someone leaning on the chain link fence yelled as Kong swung once again and missed. Kong’s face was filled with rage as Peter wore a coy smile. He couldn’t deny that he wasn’t enjoying this moment. Having his bullies be powerless over him, left Peter feeling powerful and confident.
Kong raised his fist and attempted to connect it to Peter’s face with all of his strength. Once again, Peter, who hadn’t swung a punch this entire time because he didn’t know how and he was somewhat afraid of what his strength might do to Kong, dodged easily.
“UUGGHHNN!” Kong yelled in frustration. He didn’t know what this Parker fellow was up to, but he didn’t like it. From atop the car someone yelled, less enthusiastically than before, “Beat his butt!”
“Listen Flash,” Peter said in a serious demeanor, “You’re never going to hit me, let’s just call it quits and forget this ever happened.”
Kong, who was now sweating profusely, yelled, “NOO!” as he swung once more. Peter decided that enough was enough. This fight was going on long enough.
When Kong’s fist came for his face, Peter blocked it with his hand. As soon as Kong’s hand collided with Peter’s, things went terribly wrong.
Peter heard a huge crack as Kong’s hand crumpled. He held onto his broken hand as he knelt on the ground with a look of sheer pain on his face. “Ahhh! Oh God! Oh no….GGLLG My hand!”
“What the hell Parker!” Flash jumped off of the car as his friends and him walked towards Kong.
Peter stood to the side, horrified and scared, “I-I told him, I said-” He couldn’t finish his sentence as Flash glared at him while Kong cried out in pain.
‘I caused this,’ Peter thought to himself, his eyes glassy with emotion. He didn’t want this to happen. He didn’t even want to fight Kong really, only wanted to gain respect so as not to be bullied anymore. Peter fled the scene, guilt wracked and horrified at what he had done with his powers to another human being.
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“Well, Yes.” Uncle Ben gulped as he listened to the other end of his phone.
Standing on the other end of the kitchen table, May folded her arms. She gazed disapprovingly at her nephew while gauging Ben’s expression. From the look of his face, May knew that Peter’s shenanigans earlier in the day were proving to be quite costly.
Peter, seated between his aunt and uncle, hung his head in shame. After undoubtedly breaking Kong’s hand, he had immediately ran to his apartment and waited until 5 for Aunt May and Uncle Ben to show up. He then told them what had happened, because Peter knew the incident would somehow reach them.
Sure enough, Kong’s parents called the ancient family landline, which had been up since the 90’s, moments later. Now Peter awaited his fate while listening into the conversation. He didn’t bother dialing in his super hearing, feeling too guilty to use his super powers at the moment.
“Yes. I am sorry you feel that way about it.” Uncle Ben continued his conversation, “Well that’s too bad.”
He sucked in a worried breath while May stopped leaning against the kitchen island and inched closer to Ben, “Well, the way I heard it is that your boy has been picking on Peter for some time and he was just defending him-”
Ben stopped talking as he was cut off by Kong’s parents. With his voice still sounding pissed, he hung up the phone after saying, “No. I don’t. No, I-”
“Great,” Ben said as he turned to Peter. Aunt May did the same, looking equally as mad.
“What now?” Peter’s head still hung down, as he couldn’t meet his Aunt and Uncle’s faces quite yet.
Uncle Ben narrowed his eyes, “Twenty-five hundred dollar hospital bill and if we don’t-”
With the mention of money, Aunt May cried out, “What!?”, her expression no longer angry, but fearful.
“And if we don’t pay for it they’re going to sue us,” Uncle Ben finished while steadying his gaze on Peter, looking thoroughly disappointed.
“Are you kidding?!” Peter’s expression mirrored Aunt May’s. He knew how much 2500 dollars meant to his family. Peter found the smells and sounds of the city hard to block out as his heartbeat quickened.
Aunt May turned to her husband, “Sue? Oh my God! What are we going to do?”
Uncle Ben sighed in defeat, a stark contrast to May’s worried panic, “What can we do? Let a lawyer bleed us dry on top of paying the bill or just pay the bill?”
“But-”
“May, he broke the kid’s hand. What can we do?”
Aunt May turned to Peter, eyes glistening, “Peter, this is not the way you were raised. This is not how human beings behave!”
Peter’s panic was barely under control at that point. He felt a huge wave of anger wash over him. Flash and his gang bullied and jostled him all the time, with no repercussions. When Peter finally decided to fight back, his family was sued for 2500 dollars.
“What are you talking about? I was defending-”
Aunt May interrupted him, a worried hand on the back of her neck, “I just don’t understand-You broke his hand?”
The same angry sensation he had felt just a few days ago, when Peter had skipped school, returned. Sweat poured out of his pores and he felt like punching something.
Peter clenched his fist and shouted, “What am I supposed to do? I’m so sick of being picked on all the time! For once I defend myself and what do I get from you? I get a lecture!”
Uncle Ben attempted to put a reassuring hand on his nephew’s shoulder while saying, “Peter, that’s not what we taught you to-”
Peter quickly moved away though, still angry at the entire situation, “Yeah I know what you taught me...”
Peter ran to his room while yelling, “You taught me to be a wimpy loser like you two!” He slammed his door shut and focused on listening to his heartbeat in an attempt to calm himself down.
From the kitchen, Aunt May and Uncle Ben stared at where Peter had been just a second ago in horrified shock. They hadn’t expected their nephew, the kid who had a heart of gold despite his bad luck in life, to act out like this.
“Growing pains. That’s all it is, May.”
“That was horrible,” May stated after the two slumped down onto the couch, mentally exhausted from the day.
Ben put an arm around his wife and attempted to make sense of Peter’s actions, “He’s a teenager, and he had a traumatic day-and he came home to us lashing out at him, when we’re really mad at those kids.”
May shook her head, “Those darn kids. They shouldn’t even be at that school. I thought that Peter’s days of being bullied were going to be over when he got accepted into that STEM school.”
After a few moments of silence, May addressed the elephant in the room, “What are we going to do about the money?”
Ben put his face in his hands and said, “I don’t know, May. I just don’t know. We can’t put it on a card, since we’re all maxed out.”
“I can sell my mom’s jewelry at the pawn shop near Delmar’s,” May added, “It probably won’t add up to more than a thousand though,”
Ben let out a sigh and tense silence filled the room. Both adults didn’t know what to do with their financial situation.
Finally, May said, “I should go check on Peter-”
“Let the boy be May. We should leave him be for the rest of the night.” May nodded.
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From his bedroom, Peter listened in on his Aunt and Uncle’s conversation. His anger was now replaced with guilt. His family still had money problems, and he added on to those.
What was worse, Peter lashed out at his Aunt and Uncle, calling them losers after costing them 2500 dollars. God, 2500 dollars, how were they going to pay for all of that money?
Peter knew the answer to that question. As much as he didn’t want to fight anybody with inhuman strength that he could barely control, especially not after breaking Kong’s hand, that might be the only way to make things right, to solve a problem that he had created.
Peter regretted making that stupid decision to fight Kong. He should have known better, but of course he just had to agree to a fight. Peter put his hands on his head as he lamented himself for his past actions.
One good thing came out of that fight though. While Peter was running towards his apartment, he noticed a faded sign on the edge of Kong’s family’s wrestling club. It held a picture of some muscled dude dressed in tight red shorts in a dimly lighted wrestling arena.
The sign had read, SATURDAY NIGHT TAKE DOWN THE CRUSHER!
WHOEVER SUCCEEDS EARNS 3000$
ADMITTANCE: 30$
Well it was either 30$ or 20$. Peter had a photographic memory, but he wasn’t that good. Either way, this Saturday night wrestling event was the perfect opportunity for him to make things right for his Aunt and Uncle.
He had 40$ saved up from odd jobs over the years, so he could totally pay admittance. Peter was also 99.9% sure he could take down the crusher. He doubted the guy had superhuman strength. In fact the only aspect of tonight Peter was worried about was not pulling his punches, and hurting the crusher guy like he did with Kong.
Excitement replaced Peter’s guilt as he paced around his room and formulated a plan in his head. All he had to do was go to that seedy wrestling place, beat up the crusher, and collect the money.
Boom, his family’s money problem was solved. Maybe he could even come back and score some more money, finally repayin his Aunt and Uncle for all they have done for him over the years.
There was one catch though. No one in their right minds would allow a 14 year old to fight in a wrestling arena. Peter would have to wear a mask or something to hide his identity.
He would want to do that anyways though, for people would undoubtedly be filming the matches, and it would look really suspicious if puny Parker suddenly had the power to beat grown men. Plus if anyone he knew was there, it could reach Aunt May and Uncle Ben.
If Peter learned anything from today, it was that his Aunt and Uncle detested violence. He agreed with them, for the most part, but there was also a voice in Peter’s brain that told him that violence was sometimes necessary. How else would the Avengers defeat the aliens back in 2012? Or the robot guy, Ultron, not even a year ago.
Peter had decided long ago that he would gladly resort to violence if it meant protecting or even helping his family.
With that thought in his mind, Peter opened the drawer filled with clothes he didn’t know what to do with. After digging for a while, he found what he was looking for, a red ski mask, covering the entire face except for the eyes.
Peter remembered when Aunt May’s sister gave him this as a birthday present as a joke or something. He hated the mask back then, because it wasn’t a toy, but now he was finally putting the thing to good use.
Peter knew that he couldn’t just wear his normal clothing while fighting. His clothing could possibly be linked back to him, which was a stretch, but Peter didn’t want to be too suspicious.
He dug through his drawer once again, pulling out blue sweatpants and a blue longsleeve shirt. These were the plainest clothes Peter wore, and he rarely wore them, so they had the least chance of being recognized as his.
To make the outfit match a bit better and because it was cold outside, Peter grabbed a red sleeveless sweatshirt that he rarely wore. He had secretly thought it looked too dorky when Uncle Ben had bought it for him, but looking at his ensemble in the mirror, the sweatshirt matched his overall wrestling theme perfectly.
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Peter carefully opened the window in his bedroom, peering down onto the street below. He contemplated crawling down the wall as he had done two nights prior, back when he really hadn’t had a care in the world, but immediately dispelled that thought.
The light from the quickly setting sun made all of the dark spots Peter had used to obscure himself disappear, replaced with brick wall that could