Chapter 3: Three Days to Save a Life
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The next morning came faster than I expected.
I barely slept, and when I did, my dreams were filled with web-covered streets, shifting faces, and the echo of gunshots in the distance.
I woke up before dawn, my heart still pounding from the nightmare.
But this wasn't just some bad dream I could shrug off.
It was real.
I had three days to stop Uncle Ben's death.
And every second counted.
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I sat at the desk, staring out the window as the early sunlight spilled across Queens. The city was just starting to wake up—delivery trucks rumbled down the streets, dogs barked in the distance, and neighbors shuffled out with their morning coffee.
It all seemed so normal.
But beneath that calm surface, a storm was building.
I could feel it.
I pulled up the system interface again, watching as the glowing threads spun together in my mind.
[Mission Log]
[Active Mission:
— Prevent Uncle Ben's Death
Reward: +1 Trait Token
Time Remaining: 2 Days, 12 Hours, 36 Minutes]
Mission Description:
Prevent the fatal incident involving Uncle Ben.
Warning: Success will significantly alter future events.
Two and a half days left.
I needed a plan.
In the original story, the mugging happened after Peter stormed out following an argument with Uncle Ben. He'd gotten into a fight at school, started showing off his new powers, and felt invincible.
Uncle Ben, worried about his behavior, picked him up from the wrestling event later that night.
That was when it happened.
Peter let a thief slip past him during a robbery, and that same thief later shot Uncle Ben during a carjacking.
It was a cruel, ironic twist of fate.
And it all started with that thief.
If I stopped the thief before the shooting, everything could change.
Simple enough on paper.
But nothing in this world came without a price.
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"Peter?" A soft knock interrupted my thoughts.
I jumped slightly, turning toward the door just as Aunt May's gentle voice drifted through.
"It's getting late, dear. Breakfast is ready."
"Uh—coming!" I called back, scrambling to close the system screen from my vision.
I splashed some water on my face, trying to shake off the tension, then headed downstairs.
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The smell of pancakes and bacon filled the kitchen.
Uncle Ben sat at the table, reading the paper, his glasses perched low on his nose. Aunt May was humming softly as she flipped pancakes at the stove.
For a moment, I froze in the doorway, watching them.
They looked so… normal.
Peaceful.
Uncle Ben glanced up and spotted me standing there.
"Morning, son," he greeted with a warm smile. "You look like you barely slept."
I forced a chuckle, slipping into the chair across from him.
"Yeah, just… rough night."
He folded his newspaper and leaned forward, his expression softening.
"Everything alright? You've been looking a little out of it lately."
I swallowed hard.
God, if only he knew.
"I'm fine, Uncle Ben," I said quickly. "Just stressed about school."
Aunt May turned from the stove, placing a plate of pancakes in front of me.
"Well, eat up. You'll feel better with something in your stomach."
"Thanks," I muttered, picking at the food.
They had no idea.
No clue that I was carrying the weight of their lives on my shoulders.
---
The rest of breakfast passed in a blur. I barely tasted the food, my mind too busy running through every detail I could remember from Peter's original story.
The wrestling match.
The robbery.
The mugging.
It all hinged on the same night.
And I wasn't going to let it happen.
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After breakfast, I slipped out of the house, making sure to keep my backpack slung over my shoulder to avoid suspicion.
I needed space to think—and a quiet place to plan.
I ended up at an old, abandoned warehouse near the docks—one of those places nobody really cared about anymore. Perfect for some privacy.
Once inside, I pulled out my phone, quickly jotting down everything I remembered.
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Step 1: Prevent the wrestling match from ever happening.
Without the match, Peter wouldn't get into that fight with Uncle Ben. No fight, no storm-off, no chain reaction.
Step 2: Locate the thief early.
The man who would rob the wrestling manager was a small-time crook named Dennis Carradine. No superpowers, just a desperate criminal with a gun.
If I could track him down before the robbery, I could stop everything at the root.
Step 3: Stop the carjacking attempt directly, if needed.
If all else failed, I'd have to intervene during the incident itself.
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I sat back, staring at the notes.
It looked solid.
But something gnawed at me.
This wasn't just about stopping a crook.
I was messing with fate itself.
What if something worse happened?
What if I saved Uncle Ben, only for someone else to suffer in his place?
The system's warning kept echoing in my mind.
"Altering fate may cause unpredictable world changes."
But no matter how I looked at it, I couldn't bring myself to let him die.
Uncle Ben was worth saving.
Even if it meant breaking the story.
---
I spent the next several hours scouring the city, carefully testing out my new agility and senses.
My Spider-Sense was subtle—a faint tingling whenever danger was nearby—but it was enough to keep me alert.
I kept my hood up and my face low, blending in with the crowd while I searched for any signs of Carradine or the wrestling event advertisements.
Sure enough, by late afternoon, I spotted a flyer stapled to a light pole near Midtown High.
"Underground Wrestling—Big Payout for New Challengers! One Night Only!"
That was it.
The event was happening tomorrow night.
Which meant Carradine would strike tomorrow too.
That gave me less than forty-eight hours to prepare.
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By nightfall, I returned to the warehouse, mentally and physically drained.
But I wasn't empty-handed.
I'd tracked down the event location—a run-down gym on the city's outskirts.
If I stopped the match before Peter—no, I—ever got there, I could derail the entire chain of events.
Still… something about it didn't sit right.
I had the power.
The system.
The knowledge of this world's future.
But every choice I made was like throwing a rock into a still pond. The ripples would spread farther than I could see.
And the more I thought about it, the more I realized how dangerous this world truly was.
It wasn't just about Uncle Ben anymore.
I was living in a world where Gotham's underworld, Metropolis' alien threats, and New York's superhuman chaos all collided in one universe.
If I wasn't careful… I wouldn't just rewrite Peter Parker's life.
I could shatter everything.
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I sat down against the cold warehouse wall, staring up at the cracked ceiling as the weight of it all settled on me.
Three days.
Three choices.
Three chances to save a life… or lose everything.
I opened the system one last time, watching the glowing countdown tick down.
[Time Remaining: 2 Days, 1 Hour, 12 Minutes]
Time was running out.
And tomorrow?
The real test would begin.
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[To Be Continued]
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