Everything can go wrong apparently.
After the whole Vulture fiasco, Peter thought that some peace would come to his life and he would be able to enjoy summer before high school as any normal boy his age is doing.
And for some tiny part he is.
He spends time hanging out with Harry, who seems to be friendlier than he was in school after the first week after prom, much to Peter's delight.
This could be because Harry finally stopped looking at Gwen with dreamy eyes, because according to him she was a bore all prom night, having a scowl on her face and being an overall party pooper.
This made Harry see her in another light, still as a good friend, but he could honestly no longer see her as a romantic partner.
Funnily enough, according to everyone else, Harry and Liz really clicked at the party and he had been the shoulder she could cry on ever since her step-dad was arrested.
Gwen and MJ had been distant for some time, but eventually they forgave him and continued their friendship as always; now spending even more time together since Harry is now including Peter to all his plans and events.
Or they would be spending more time together, if not for all the times he ends up leaving them for his job as the non official photographer of Spider-Man for the Daily Bugle.
And why is he so busy lately in said job?
Because apparently,The Chameleon and The Vulture were only the first ones of many villains who had pledged themselves to killing him.
Like:
Electro
The second one to appear after the flying green man was Max Dillan, an electrical engineer who suffered an accident in Oscorp that resulted in him turning into an electric man. Max, very creatively, started to call himself Electro.
Electro first appeared when Peter was hanging out in a coffee shop with both girls and Harry, who was leaving for Europe for the summer in a small reunion with just the four of them. Everything was nice, until inside the shop Peter started hearing a commotion, followed up by a man running away while wearing a full body suit.
'Uh-oh, trouble' Peter thought to himself as his spider-sense warned him heavily of the man running towards the south end of Duffy square, too close to where they all are.
"Hey guys listen, I have to run a little errand for a few minutes" Peter suddenly said, interrupting whoever was talking at the moment as he stood up.
"What? But we've been here for like 15 minutes" MJ said incredulously at what Peter just said.
"You're leaving?" Asked Gwen, in the same tone as MJ with a scowl on her face.
"I'll be back, just ten minutes or so" Peter reassured in a hurry as he started running away from his friends.
"Meh, I think the guy just has a stomach ache and is too embarrassed to say so" Harry said uninterested, suddenly cowering at the disgusted and offended faces of his two friends.
Gwen and MJ always wonder why he does this, feeling slightly hurt that he so willingly leaves and does selfish things like this to them.
And Harry's gross conclusion didn't help at all to ease the hurt feelings of both girls.
Meanwhile Peter, now fully dressed as Spider-Man arrived just in time to save a cop from being crushed by his car.
"I'm glad you're not one of those cops that rides a horse" Spider-Man quips as he lets go of the car he is currently holding above his head without much trouble as he hears bullets being fired.
"All team members, hold your fire and wait for my call!" the policeman at Spider-Man's feet says through his walkie-talkie "Everyone! I repeat, stand down!"
Seeing as everyone did stop firing, Peter got close to the electric man "Yo, sparkles! How you doing?" The hero called out, gaining the attention of the other superpowered individual as a crowd started to form around them.
"It's you…" The electric man mutters as he sees Spider-Man.
"Yeah, I know it's me. Who are you?" Spider-Man inquired again.
"I'm not sure… this morning I woke up as Max… plain old, and boring Max. But now?" Lighting started crackling on the now identified Max as he clenched and unclenched his fists while taking a step forward.
Peter felt his spider-sense spike up as Max's electricity ran up the metal grates on the floor all the way to the very crowded red stairs behind him.
"What's wrong with plain, old Max? That's my favorite Max!" Spider-Man says as he starts stepping forward carefully and slowly towards the man.
"It sure as hell ain't mine" Max mutters, more to himself than anything.
"Look dude, you're… different, you changed. And believe me, I know how you feel" Spider-Man says with a soft tone.
Max finally looked away from his crackling hands and looked up to Spider-Man "yeah, i guess you do, huh?".
"That's right. So why don't you let me help you? I know that you didn't mean to do… this" Spider-Man motions to the wreck all around him "and I'm sure you don't want to hurt anyone".
Max considered his words for exactly one second, before looking around and seeing himself on the various screens all along times squares. His now deeply scarred face paired with the lighting crackling all over his body made Max feel a way he never had before.
He felt seen.
He felt powerful.
And he liked it.
No one would take this from him.
Max smirked a twisted and evil grin that made Peter's senses flare up and asked "Don't I?"
The question was heard by everyone around the superpowered duo, which sent dread to all. Forcing a sniper who was in a vantage point with a clear shot to take it.
But it didn't work; the bullet was stopped and fried thanks to the man's electricity that worked like a shield around him. The only thing the cop managed to do was get Max angry.
Max turned to look at the shooter and retaliated with a lighting bolt out of his hand, which got luckily stopped by the metal railings in front of the shooter. It did make a big explosion-like effect happen though.
"NO!" Yelled Spider-Man as he shot his webs towards Max's hand in an attempt to stop him from shooting lightning again.
The web however worked as a conductor, and Spider-Man got knocked backwards into the patrol he let go moments before.
*Argh* "Damn it" mutters Peter as he sees his left shooter ruined. But he still had his right one working, which he used almost immediately to save another cop from the falling sign Max shot down before.
Many among the crowd cheered at the save, while many others booed and cursed at the freaks for the destruction that was happening all around them.
Nor Spider-Man or Max could tell who they were booing harder for, which as always stung Peter a little bit.
Max meanwhile was ignoring the crowd as he looked around himself, seeing and even feeling all the electric currents that go through the city's wiring; admiring how beautiful the power looked behind the Times Square's screens.
"Max! What are you doing, man?!" Peter asked as he tried to get the electric man's attention.
"Max? Look at me man! I ain't Max no more!" The electric man kneeled in front of the metal grates between himself and the hero as he mulls over his new name "I AM ELECTRO!"
The newly named Electro yells as he sends a powerful current of electricity through the grates in an attempt to hit Spider-Man.
Spider-Man jumps over the car he previously held up with a backflip and sees all the people that are behind him.
He sees a man and a woman about to touch the metal railings in the red stairs and he feels the car being flung his way thanks to Electro's attack.
In a super quick motion, Spider-Man uses his only usable web shooter to stop the car before it hits anyone, and shares a string with his left hand to lasso the woman who was about to touch the railing at the same time that he shot a web to the man about to do the same, effectively saving everyone.
Peter stands at the top as he sees everyone fleeing the stairs with only passing grateful smiles from the ones he just saved.
Peter eyes Electro darkly behind his mask, who has a smirk on his face clearly enjoying using his powers.
"It's my birthday… now it's time to light my candles!" Electro quips as he forms a lighting bolt in between both hands and starts shooting at Spider-Man.
'Holy shit!' Peter thinks to himself as he starts dodging the electric attacks, impressed with his own performance but mainly worried about getting hit.
"HAHAH" Electro laughs as he sees the destruction he is leaving behind as every attack Spider-Man dodges, making the hero angry as well.
Peter eyes a fire hydrant, and shoots a web to and uses his super strength to rip it off the floor.
"Laugh at this!" Spider-Man yells as he launches the thing to Electro, who shoots an attack of his own at the same time.
*UMF* Both superpowered men grunt as they are each hit by the other's attack. Electro is sent flying to one of the giant screens while Spider-Man is sent to a bus stop he destroys at the impact.
*Groan* could be heard by the nearby citizens that were running away while Spider-Man attempted to get up, but failed to do so again and again.
Electro's bolts held more power in them than what one would think, which was surprising since they looked plenty powerful.
But no, they hurt a bitch more than they looked.
"… fuck" Spider-Man muttered as he saw his other shooter is now busted as well; not finding any other word to express how he is feeling.
He then sees a fire truck arrive at the scene and an idea formulated in his head 'yeah… that'll do it' he mused as he finally was able to stand up.
Electro meanwhile opened his eyes and saw as he was higher than he was previously, but he didn't feel fear.
He felt comfort.
Wondering why, he saw that he landed in one of the screens he was admiring earlier; now he was surrounded by big cables that pass electricity.
Hesitating slightly, Electro grabbed two of them and connected them to his body.
*AAAARRRRGGGHHH* he yelled out loud with his voice morphing into something akin to a synthesizer as he absorbed all the energy.
He absorbed so much that he caused a major black out in the block, until.
*BOOOM*
He expelled all the electricity he just gathered from his body in an explosion that destroyed every screen and glass around him.
Seeing the level of destruction he caused, Electro smiled wickedly and started walking forward. He hesitated for a moment once again, but he felt powerful.
Powerful enough to do whatever the fuck he pleases; enough so that even the laws of nature will bend under him.
And they did.
Because as Electro started walking forward, being the only form of light in the block, he started walking on air. It was ethereal for Max to go from a nobody to basically a god in the span of a day.
He was going to be a god to this people! Electro was going to becom-
*PSSSSHHHH*
Whatever Max was thinking got interrupted by a torrent of water from a fire truck that grounded him, where a helmet wearing Spider-man was in the front of the firemen to help aim the hose to the electric evil doer.
As soon as Electro fell to the ground, Spider-Man thanked one of the firemen with a high five as he took off his helmet.
He walked over to the villain and saw he was still groaning.
*Sigh* "Lights out, Max" Spider-Man said while kneeling next to the disoriented man.
"Wha-" Electro was about to ask what happened, but was met with a fist to his face with a loud *BAM*, knocking him out cold on the wet floor.
Peter wanted to help the man, but he ended up knocking him out. He can't sympathize with a man who uses his powers so irresponsibly.
Seeing some cops heading his way, Peter got up and attempted to swing away. Unfortunately for our hero, his web shooters are fried.
"Rats" mutters Peter as he sprinted away from all the commotion, intending to go back to his friends.
Not without running up a building where he left his civilian clothes, as well as his trusty camera which was luckily unaffected by Electro.
He got an earful from all his friends who he ditched, and later from everyone when the Daily Bugle's paper came out with an amazing picture of Spider-Man dodging lighting.
Even Emma and Chat had called him that morning when the paper came out to scold him on his apparent lack of self care, asking if he was okay after that close encounter.
Peter felt awful for worrying everyone like that, especially since he had promised his aunt that he wouldn't get so close to dangerous situations after the fire incident, and had sworn to her that his job wouldn't put him at risk.
Maybe he should consider better when to take pictures of himself fighting, just now also considering how someone might connect the dots on his secret identity if he gets humanly impossible shots of the fights.
Something he has to work on.
The Lizard
This one Peter blames himself for.
Peter and Gwen Stacy's internship applications were luckily accepted.
Unfortunately they were accepted by different scientists.
Peter was accepted by Dr. Otto Octavius in his recently founded Octavius Industries since the older man could use all the help he could get. He has to thank his teacher, Mr Harrington, who was once acquaintances with the doctor in their college days for putting good word with Otto via an email.
Roger Harrington also claims to be friends with Bruce Banner, but no one really believes him.
Anyway, his work with Dr. Octavius will be assisting him and other scientists in the creation of prosthetic limbs, far better than any other ever made according to Otto.
Peter thought about it and found it funny that even though it was Connor's that needed the prosthetic, it was Octavius the one that was working on it because of their areas of expertises.
These prostheses that Otto is working on are said to revolutionize the world of medicine, because while it's true that there are many already in the world, none of them come close to a real limb.
Otto's will be linked to the brain through a neural interface that will allow the arm to connect fully with the body via the spine and the nape.
And not only is that prosthetics made for the less fortunate, but it's also made to help scientists such as Otto himself to work around dangerous materials and inaccessible places to reach.
Otto is attempting to work on an alternative power source through sustained fusion energy, so the arms are indispensable to his work.
Another saving grace for Peter at being accepted as the youngest assistant at Octavius Industries, is that the man is so happy with the work he's been doing all summer that he has been paying Peter!
That was such a cool memory for him.
——————
Flashback
"Parker? Could you come to my office for a moment?" Otto Octavius, his chubby and glasses-wearing boss, asked with a kind smile on his face.
"Me? S-sure" Peter replied nervously. It's not so often to hear someone get called to the doctor's office, and after his first day working here, Peter had never been back to it. So he got a little nervous.
"Take a seat" the doctor requested as he took his own.
"Right. Uhm, I-I'm I in trouble?" Peter asked, going through his head for anything wrong he might've done.
"On the contrary! I've seen your work here and I gotta say everything you're doing is excellent, and that's why I decided to give you this" the doctor said with a bright smile as he reached into one of his drawers, where he fished out an envelope and handed it to Peter.
"What is it?" Peter asked as he looked at the envelope.
"Go on, you can open it" the doctor said with an entertained smile.
Peter opened it and his eyes went wide immediately.
Inside the envelope were around 400 dollars in cash "Wha- but this is! R-really?! I thought my internship was unpaid" The boy said dumbly.
*Chuckle* "Of course it's yours, Peter. Good work has to be rewarded, and yours most definitely has to. It's the least that I can do" Otto said as he explained his reasoning to the younger man.
"But… it's still too much Doctor. I can't accept this" Peter said as he tried to give the envelope back. He is a man of principles, and even though he would love to take the money he knows that it's not for him.
"Nonsense!" Exclaimed Otto, startling Peter a bit "Actions without reward are useless, Parker. You may be thinking that experience and knowledge are enough, but this is solid proof that you're doing good work that is recognized by somebody else.
And even if we're not recognized by someone else, physical proof of your hard work is vital for you to keep on going.
Believe me when I tell you that if you live your life by giving and giving without getting anything in return, eventually you'll have… nothing" Otto's vice gained an edge to it, like he was remembering something not so pleasant of his life.
"…" and Peter had nothing to say to that.
Proof of your hard work, the necessity of having something so as to not be left with nothing… is it okay to be selfish like that?
Peter feels like that is right, logical and obvious even, but… something also tells him it's also not.
Perhaps something inside of Peter tells him he's not worthy of it.
*Ahem* "It's 20 dollars an hour, so your 4 hours a day for 4 days equals 320. But last week you also came on Friday, so you get 400 this time" Otto noticed that his little ramble made the young man somewhat uncomfortable, so he explained the amount.
"And it's not just about money, look at it as a chance to be independent, son" Otto noticed how that hooked Peter's attention "this money… you earned it. You truly did, and it's yours to do whatever you want with it.
The chance to not rely on anyone but yourself and what you earn through effort. Doesn't that sound… right?" Otto questioned.
"… yeah, It does" Peter agreed as he analyzed Otto's words more carefully.
Independent, self reliant, not getting any help from anyone but himself. The young hero remembers the words of wisdom Norman gave him.
He only has himself as help.
So this chance could be used to start learning how to survive on his own. He is responsible for May as well, and even though the Bugle pays, wouldn't he like it if he could do more?
The answer is yes. He does want to help May and himself more "Thank you for this Doctor, this means a lot to me".
Otto shook his head "This is my thanks to you son. Glad to be of help" he said as he stood up and shook hands with the boy.
Otto likes Peter.
The older man isn't sure why, but he feels like Peter Parker is a similar soul to himself. In different ways, he also has a broken home; in different ways, they both know what it's like to have a superior intellect while surrounded by half-wits; in a different way, Peter is just like him.
… just like him.
Perhaps that's why he extended a helping hand to the younger boy. He sees himself in the young Parker, and wishes to be the helping hand he never had growing up for someone else.
Peter meanwhile was thrilled with his new salary.
May's bills have been getting easier to pay and a bit of extra cash for himself is always welcome. His web fluid and spandex to repair his suit are expensive, and he was raised a gentleman, so he offers to pay every time he is out with Emma, Gwen and MJ for whatever they might be buying at the time.
Usually they would refuse, but he's noticed that when he's alone with either of them, they would take his offer for an ice cream or things like that.
Weird.
But it was especially nice with Emma since she didn't know him as the poor, weak and shy Peter, he's allowed to be more himself with her.
His new self.
And he found that he liked treating her to whatever she wanted while they were out in the city.
He wouldn't call his outings with the beautiful blond dates, but he doesn't mind at all treating the girl to a surprisingly expensive sweet treat in a cafe she likes or seeing her surprised face at how delicious Delmar's sandwiches are when he finally convinced the girl to try one.
Either way, he was truly happy with his now mentor and how he values him enough for him to pay his usually unpaid internship.
End Flashback
——————
Meanwhile Gwen was accepted under Curt Connors, the amputee expert in the field of genetics. And while Peter was slightly jealous of Gwen because he too liked biochemistry a little more than engineering, he was over the moon for her.
And it's not like Peter would leave Otto or anything like that. His jealousy, if it can even be called that, is just one of those times where one can't have the two things he really likes.
Like Buridan's donkey.
And Gwen knew this, so one day she invited him over to ESU so that he can see where Dr. Connors works outside of Oscorp, where he's also a teacher.
"Here you go Peter, the place where the magic happens" said Gwen entertained at Peter's awe.
"Woah, this is awesome" Peter muttered as he looked all over the place with excitement.
"Glad you think so Mr. Parker. Ms. Stacy hypes up your intellect all the time, so it's good to see you being able to appreciate all of this" getting out of his office, Curt Connors says. Not noticing how red the young Stacy got at his words by exposing her and the amounts of times she's talked about Peter.
"Dr. Connors, it's a pleasure" Peter said as he offered his hand for a hand shake. Completely forgetting the fact that Dr. Connor's has no hand "O-Oh uhm-"
But before he could apologize for his mistake, Curt extended a prosthetic hand and shook Peter's, much to the boy's relief.
"The pleasure is all mine. It's not so common to see one of my 'could have been' interns walking in here as excitedly as you did" the man chuckled.
"Are you kidding me? This place is great! Plus everything worked out for me just fine, I ended up working for Dr. Otto Octavius as an intern" Peter explained as both men released their hold on each other.
"Octavius huh, I actually crossed paths with him a few times. You are indeed lucky to be working with him. And if I may, how is his work on prosthetics going? Lord knows I could use a better one" Curt said as he waved his robotic hand. It works good enough, but not nearly as good as his other hand.
Which is why he injects himself regularly with a serum made out of lizard DNA with the hope of regrowing his missing arm.
Crazier things have happened in this superpowered-men filled world, right? Surely his work to regrow limbs won't look too bad or weird to the public.
Plus the math is all there, it's just something that Curt is missing to make his serum work as intended.
"Well, I signed an NDA… buuut I guess telling a fellow scientist that we're pretty confident wouldn't be a breach, right?" Peter answered in good humor, hoping to bring some good news for the older man.
"That's great news, Peter. And don't worry, nothing you say leaves this room" Curt reassured Peter with a wink, genuinely pleased with the news.
If his serum ended up being a failure, having a promising new prosthetic arm was not a bad plan B for having his hand back.
After unfortunately losing his arm, Curt entered a depressive state that only his family was able to bring him out of. Still, he misses being the man that he was once.
He misses being complete.
"That goes both ways, doctor. I see you're attempting to cross reptile DNA with, what? Cats?" Peter asked as he neared Curt's white board with his latest formula he forgot to put away before his wife saw.
Either way he was not expecting anyone but himself and Martha, his wife, to understand what was written in it.
"You… understand the formula?" Asked Curt with his eyes wide, with a similarly lost looking Gwen.
"Oh uhm, sure. Biochemistry and genetics is something I really like, y'know?" Peter answered nervously as he scratched his nape. He does really like those subjects, but he recognized the patterns due to his own research about how on earth he might've attained his spider-powers.
"Huh. And how did you know that I was trying to mix reptiles and… cats?" Curt questioned, intrigued on why the young genius would reach such a conclusion.
"Because of the relation between genes. The amount of DNA you're implementing into the 'host' needs to be small since nothing bigger than a household cat would show any changes with that amount" Peter explained easily, getting into his groove.
"That's a good observation Peter. I intern here and I didn't even know this was here" Gwen mused as she saw the work of her teacher, reaching the same conclusion once Peter said it aloud.
"…" meanwhile Curt said nothing while both teens started talking about the science behind it and what purpose it may serve 'Of course… it-it was so obvious! I don't know how I didn't see it before! If I just adjust the formula, then I'm sure it'll work!'
"Well, now I wish I had the space for two interns. Though I can't say I'm disappointed in choosing Gwen, it's still a shame I lost a mind like yours to Octavius" pretending not to be anxious about testing the solution out, Curt interrupted both teens.
"No worries Doc. If I were you, I'd chosen Gwen too. She's truly one of a kind" Peter replied proudly. He's very happy for Gwen and her position here after all.
"Aww, stop it" muttered an embarrassed Gwen as she bashfully nudged Peter with her elbow.
Peter chuckled at the cute display of his friend. Even Curt smiled softly at the sight, remembering his younger years of courting his now wife in a lab not too different from this one.
Wife that would show any minute now, so he needed to be quick about it.
"Well, I have work to get back to. Please, enjoy the tour" Curt said as he waved with his good hand and quickly left both teens to themselves.
He quickly got to work, and after some time he had it.
The formula was complete.
"At last…" muttered Cury to himself as he saw the green vial in his hand. He loaded it desperately in a syringe and without taking a second to think it through, he emptied the contents on himself.
He started feeling it! His arm was regrowing with a nasty *SQUELCH* at an accelerated rate! His work is a success!
Unfortunately it didn't stop there. Curt's body began feeling… off. He started groaning while feeling everything changing around his body.
Falling to the ground, Curt could only mutter "Oh uh".
————
"-and then I managed to install SpaceWackers 2 on the computer! It's awesome! … but please don't tell my mom, she doesn't like it when I play violent games" Billy Connors asked this with a shy tone as he sat with Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker in the school's cafeteria, each with a tray of food.
Shortly after Gwen completed Peter's tour, Martha arrived with her son and they all started talking amiably with each other.
Peter quickly took a liking to the young boy and started talking about different nerdy shows and games they like much to the women's amusement.
After a little while of that, Martha asked both teens to get something to eat for her son while she works. To which get us to the scene where two 14 year olds are eating with a little 9 year old excited kid.
"Don't worry about me, I ain't a snitch. Gwen however…" Peter teased as he looked away from Gwen, who received a horrified look from Billy.
"Hey that's not true! Don't worry Billy, Peter here is just messing with us" Gwen sneered as she shot a betrayed look to Peter, who started laughing as a response.
"Really? What about that time where your dad, the cop, somehow knew of our little dumpster divings to build ourselves a computer?" Peter reminded the now embarrassed blond who tried to make up a response to that.
"It- that's wasn't… t-that was different!" Gwen yelled, embarrassed at the memory of her father scolding both pre-teens for their reckless behavior thanks to Gwen's slip up in keeping the secret.
Peter and Billy meanwhile laughed loudly at Gwen's reaction while she could only pout cutely.
*Giggle* "You tried to build your own computer out of garbage?" Billy asked as he took another bite out of his sandwich.
"Yeah, it's actually not that hard. Right Peter?" Gwen and Billy both looked at Peter, but he was suddenly looking very intently at the door behind him "…Peter?"
*CRASH* Whatever Peter was going to tell Gwen was interrupted by a green monster bursting through one of the many doors of the cafeteria, prompting everyone around Peter to scream in fear of the thing now looking around.
The monster is wearing a lab coat above a black shirt, brown pants and no shoes. He looks like a very big man with an even bigger tongue slithering out of his mouth, covered completely from head to toes in scales and a huge tail swaying around from his back.
To complete the look, the monster has very long and scary looking claws on each limb.
"Run…" Peter muttered as Gwen, Billy and practically everyone in the room remained frozen in fear as the monster sniffed and 'licked' the air, much like a snake would.
"RUN!" The creature was not being threatening, but his spider-sense knew better than to just trust that thing.
His yell prompted everyone in the cafeteria to get up and run for their lives, which the creature seemingly disliked.
*HhHUunnNgRRyY!" Yelled the creature in an attempt to talk while easily grabbing the table in front of him and throwing it at the crowd that was getting away from him.
"Look out!" Peter yelled as he grabbed both Billy and Gwen and pushed them out of harm's way just when the three of them were about to pass through the exit doors.
The table impacted with the frame of the door, causing some rubble to fall in between Peter and Gwen.
"Peter?! Peter!" Gwen called desperately, fearing for the safety of her best friend and crush.
"I-I'm fine!" Gwen heard from the other side much to her immense relief as she heard Peter ask in a similar tone to hers "are you two okay?!".
"W-we are!" Gwen yelled after Billy nodded to the blonde with some unshed tears in his eyes. Probably due to fear and the scrape on his knee he gained when Peter pushed him away.
"Okay, Gwen, listen to me! Get Billy back to the lab and wait there for help, I'll look for another way to get there!" Peter yelled, thanking God for the perfect opportunity for him to change into his costume.
Meanwhile the blond wanted to protest against that, not wanting to leave Peter behind. But with the door blocked and Billy almost crying, there was not much she could do but act as told.
"F-fine, you get there as soon as you can as well, okay?!" Gwen demanded as she held the little kid's hand.
"You got it, now run!" Peter yelled as he looked behind him and saw the monster just scarfing down any food he found from the now empty tables and buffet.
Without another word for Peter, Gwen and Billy ran towards the lab in a hurry.
Peter meanwhile hid as best as he could from the beast who was eating anything he could find to change into his costume, which he luckily had under his normal clothes.
Now completely in his Spider-Man costume, Peter yelled "Hey you ugly thing, I don't think that food's for you!" As he landed in front of the reptile-like animal in his famous crouch.
"I'mM SSStaRvIng" The monster answered as looked Spider-Man and pointed at him with his claw; his animal-like eyes going wide "yoU… YOu aRe LikE mE".
"Huh, don't really see the resemblance" Spider-Man quipped as he stood up slowly.
"yeSSS, I SSSeE iT… SSSmelL iT. nOt FulLy hUmAN. NoT fuLLy a BeaSSST" The green man said as he positioned himself to leap at Spider-Man any moment now "i WoNder… iN tHis FoOd chAiN oF oUrs, wHO iS aBOvE thE oTHeR? tHE SSSpiDer… oR ThE LiZarD?"
Peter got nervous, knowing that he was going to be fighting the now named monster indubitably "Uhm, neither? I think we can get along if you just-"
Spider-Man's plea for peace went unheard.
*RROOAAAWWRR*
With a powerful roar no human could ever hope of imitating, the monster leapt at Spider-Man with his claws stretched out in an attempt to cut his stomach and neck open.
"Woah!" Exclaimed the hero as he barely avoided the surprisingly fast attacks of The Lizard. The swipes are so powerful that the concrete walls and floor where Peter was just standing were destroyed at the slightest of contact.
"Settle down!" Getting tired of dodging The Lizard's attacks, Spider-Man threw a punch of his own to the monster's stomach in hopes of knocking some air out.
*Thump* but that did absolutely nothing. The punch met The Lizard's abdomen and the monster didn't even move an inch.
"Hehe, good reptile?" Spider-Man quipped nervously as The Lizard did his equivalent of smirking.
Before Peter could get his fist away, The Lizard grabbed it and twisted it behind his back.
Spider-Man attempted to kick backwards in order to free himself, but before he did, The Lizard managed to swipe at Peter's back.
*AAAARGH* Spider-Man screamed at the excruciating pain that the four claws caused him on the back and kicked desperately to free himself.
Now free of The Lizard's hold, Peter looked back and froze at the sight of the monster licking his fingers of the blood.
Peter's heart began hammering harder than ever in his chest at the sight of the monster clearly enjoying how his blood tasted.
Every fight was serious, but this monster proved to be stronger and more dangerous than anything he's faced before in this little time they've been fighting.
He can't afford to be injured like that again.
The Lizard leapt again at Spider-Man, but this time he was prepared. He jumped above the animal just as he was about to get impaled by the claws and stomped The Lizard to the floor with both feet thanks to the webs he shot to the ground at Lizard's sides.
Before the reptile could do anything else, Spider-Man shot another web to the ceiling, and using his sticky powers he held on to The Lizard's back with his feet.
And with his strength, Peter managed to propel himself up and with a front flip and a kick, sending The Lizard flying through a window to the now lonely campus.
"Let's not make a mess of the place, yeah?" Spider-Man quipped as he followed after the monster in another powerful kick, far more powerful than any kick he'd ever delivered before "I'm sure people would find a way to blame me, even though I'm not the brainless, cheap movie monster"
*RRRAAAARRRRGGGHHH* was the only response that the reptile could give at the taunt.
"Spider-Man, wait!" Yelled Martha Connor's as she ran towards the hero with something in her hand.
"Ms. C- M-Ma'am stay back! This thing is dangerous!" Peter corrects himself before he recognizes Martha by name, and warns her of the danger she was getting into.
All while he dodged all the attacks from the animal, who luckily was too stupid or angry to notice the woman.
"That's not a thing! It's my husband! He injected himself with something he's been working on and turned into that!" The woman explained with tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
'WHA-?! The serum… it was not for cats, it was so that he could get his arm back! And I solved the formula for him…" Peter concludes as he sees the clothes on the animal and remembers that Curt did indeed wear the same 'w-what have I've done'.
"Catch!" Peter was brought out of his thoughts by a little metallic canister that Martha threw.
Weaving through Curt's attacks, Spider-Man managed to catch the little thing with his webs and yank it towards him.
"It's the cure! He needs to eat it!" Martha explained as Peter looked over the little thing.
"O-okay, you go back wherever you came from *Ungh* I'll get your husband back to you!" Spider-Man yelled in between attacks, failing to stop a swipe from the Lizard's surprisingly strong tail *UMF* "I-I'll finish here before you can say claws!".
Martha wanted to protest, but her husband was being really savage in his attacks, leaving no room for Spider-Man to give the cure properly.
If she stayed there she would only be a distraction for the hero.
"P-please, just don't hurt him!" Martha said as she ran back to the lab, where her son and intern were waiting for her.
"Lady, he ain't the one getting hurt…" Peter muttered more to himself after the lady finally left, still feeling the blood trickling down his back.
He has been injured before, mainly by The Vulture, but he's absolutely certain that this was going to leave a scar.
"Okay, doc. I know medicine tastes bad, but you have to take it" Spider-Man quips as he leaps towards Connors.
Thus initiating a mortal dance between the two.
Kicks, swipes, punches and bites were thrown respectably by each super-powered man, until finally Spider-Man threw the little canister onto The Lizard's mouth when this one roared again after a particularly hard punch to the face.
The man turned back into an unconscious Dr. Curt Connors, now without any scales, tail or the arm in a green smoke screen that came from the little canister.
"…God damn it, Connors" Peter could only bring himself to mutter that; feeling guilty and dirty by the fact that it was him that gave the older man the clue to correct his formula, turning him into that thing and endangering who knows how many people.
Gwen and the doctor's family being part of those people no less.
Spider-Man carried the unconscious doctor all the way to the lab, where he was met with the rest of the man's family crying their eyes out in a tight embrace and a freaked out Gwen Stacy trying to reach Peter on her phone.
"DAD! DAD!" Yelled a freaked out Billy once he saw the state of his unconscious dad and almost destroyed clothes.
"Curt?!" Martha yelled as well in worry, freaking out when she saw how limp the man looked in the hero's arms, making her think the worst.
"Don't worry ma'am, your husband is just knocked out. I think the transformation takes too much energy out of him, that's why he ate everything in the cafeteria" Spider-Man theorized as he carefully left Connors on a workbench.
Seeing mother and son paying total attention to their family member, Spider-Man figured it'd be best if he left. But just as he was about to do, Gwen grabbed him by the wrist rather rudely.
"Wait! Peter, m-my friend, he was in the cafeteria too, is he okay?!" Gwen asked with a fearful expression on her face.
"S-sorry, I didn't see anyone there when I arrived. He probably got out before?" Peter doesn't wish to make his friends worried like this, but he can't risk revealing his identity to anyone.
Much less if the man he just fought and his family are in the room with Peter and Gwen.
"Then why isn't he answering his phone?! W-why isn't he here?!" Questioned Gwen as her grip on the hero's wrist tightened.
"Lady, I have no idea" Spider-Man answered as he released her hold on him. He wanted to comfort his friend, but he can't be personal with a 'stranger'.
"What?! Aren't you a hero?! Isn't it your job to see that everyone is okay?!" Gwen started interrogating the hero with an anger that Peter had never seen before.
"… take care, everyone" Spider-Man had nothing he could say at those words, so he simply left.
He's sure he heard Gwen still yelling at him for answers, but Spider-Man didn't have them, Peter did.
Spider-Man quickly went back to the cafeteria where his disregarded clothes were and changed back as fast as he could after webbing his injury shut. Then he ran towards the lab as fast as his legs allowed him to.
"Gwen!? Billy?!" Peter yelled with practiced worry. Spider-Man knows they're all right, but Peter didn't.
"PETER!" Gwen yelled as she saw her friend. She let go of her phone and ran towards the boy, enveloping in one hell of a hug when she reached him.
*UMF* Peter let out air when the girl hugged him, somehow managing to keep a yelp of pain to his own as she touched his injured back.
Still, he returned the hug with the same intensity in an attempt to calm her down.
He felt guilty for making her worry to the point where she trembled in his arms, but it had to be done. If Spider-Man wasn't there, who knows what Connors might have done.
"Where were you?!" Gwen demanded to know as she looked at Peter without getting her arms away from him.
"A security guard guided me and other students out of the school grounds. I tried calling you but my phone must be still in the cafeteria, so I came here as soon as I managed to slip away from the guard" Peter explained as he shot Gwen an apologetic look.
"God, you made me so worried!" Gwen said again as she hugged Peter tightly again. He almost yelled in pain again, but powered through to hold on his friend until she could calm down.
Once he felt her arms relaxed a bit and she stopped trembling, Peter asked out loud "what happened?".
Martha shot an apologetic look their way "I'm sorry kids" which froze Peter momentarily.
He didn't want an apology from anyone, much less when he didn't deserve one. If he knew Martha was going to say that he would have never showed up back to the lab.
But the doctor carried on, explaining how her husband was obsessed with getting his arm back.
Obsession that caused all of this.
While explaining how the serum was supposed to work and thanking Gwen for her work in helping make the cure, Peter used that time to memorize everything about the serum and the cure.
Who knows when it might come in handy after all.
Martha asked to be left alone with her family, which Peter and Gwen understood, so they both finished their tour and left after saying goodbye to a still frightened and teary eyed Billy.
George Stacy came in with the rest of his unit to see what happened and took Gwen home.
Not before she said goodbye to Peter.
"Call me if anything comes up, okay?" Peter says as he holds Gwen by her shoulders. She was still pretty shaken up by everything that happened that day.
"S-sure, and hey, Peter? I'm sorry this tour ende-" Gwen said apologetically, avoiding looking at Peter.
Only to be interrupted by him.
"Don't apologize" Peter said sternly with almost greeted teeth, which shocked Gwen a little bit "erm I mean… Nothing that happened was just your fault. Let's just be happy that no one ended up hurt, okay?".
"R-right, you're right" Gwen said as she rubbed her arm, still sorry for bringing Peter there.
"And hey, I still had a lot of fun hanging out with you, and Billy was a lot of fun too! Let's just… hope our next outing goes better, without any monsters and such. Whaddya say?" Peter asked in hopes of getting her spirits up.
"Yeah… I'd like that, Peter. Thanks" and with that, Gwen got inside the patrol that would take her home.
Everything was well after that. Regretfully though, Doctor Connors did lose his job at ESU, leaving him without a lab and Gwen without her internship.
When comforted about it Gwen admitted she was saddened by it, but it was the signal she needed to focus more on her band.
Peter loves Gwen's optimism; he's not sure he would have been so easy going about losing his internship just a little after getting it.
But then again, he's no Gwen Stacy.
He also asked what became of the doctor, and she said that Drs Connor's was currently job hunting, and that his previous position was given to a Dr. Miles Warren, a biochemist that was a former colleague of Connor's.
Peter felt bad that Curt lost his job, but given what he had done, risking all those students life's, it was bound to happen.
He just hopes that Connors never messes with that formula again.
The Misfits
After that it was some normal thugs who got power ups.
The hero has already fought many of them, but never like this.
First it was Herman Schultz or 'Montana' as his criminal friends called him, but now better known as 'The Shocker' to the public.
He uses special gauntlets that vibrate.
Doesn't sound like much, but Peter found out the hard way that it was actually a pretty good weapon of destruction. The guy was still low on his threat level though, but high on how easy it is to make fun of him and his suit.
Second was Flint Marko, a lowlife that Spider-Man had caught red handed many, many times before with his buddy Aleksei Sytsevich. Only difference with the last time he fought Marko was that now the man was made of sand.
Just sand.
Any place Peter punched on the man's body, a hole of sand would be made and then regrow as it was before. Not only that, the now renamed 'Sandman' had the ability to turn any part of his body as anything he liked, including turning himself into a house sized monster.
His fight with him led to the sewers, where the man lost his form with water and was dragged into the pipes.
Though Peter knows he will be back, since he only seemed to be unable to form himself properly when wet, not necessarily destroying his form forever.
How this sand monster and his friend didn't get the attention of the Avengers he might never know.
Speaking of Sandman's friend, Aleksei; he also turned into a monster; a ridiculous looking one. Apparently they both wanted to close the gap in powers between them and the hero, so they underwent illegal human experimentations that would augment themselves.
And while Marko had become a man without brain, blood, or even a soul (he got pretty sad and angry when Peter had asked him about his soul), Aleksei got stuck into a suit with the shape of a rhinoceros, calling himself The Rhino.
But even if he did look ridiculous, his strength and durability are no joke. He barely defeated the huge guy by making him sweat until he passed out with steam.
Thanks to Rhino, Peter discovered the existence of the underworld's leader, a man going by the nickname of 'The Kingpin'.
Weeks had passed with Peter foiling plans and capturing his thugs, until one day he ended up in Hell's Kitchen, where he met another vigilante from the city going by the name 'Daredevil'.
His first meeting with the guy was interesting.
The Ally
Peter heard of a rendezvous between two captains under The Kingpin that was happening tonight to discuss how to deal with the spider-themed pest that has been making fools of them in an abandoned building at the edge of Hell's Kitchen.
Peter was waiting; watching them talk from two buildings away while thinking to himself the best way to capture them, until his spider-sense yelled at him to dodge.
"Woah!" Yelled Spider-Man as he jumped in a backflip out of the edge of the roof; seeing a man in a yellow and red costume with his hand extended, making it clear it was him who threw whatever it was.
'Damn it, I was so focused on those guys I didn't even hear this one creeping on me! Rookie mistake Pete, do better!' Peter scolded himself as he got into his iconic crouched pose.
"Dude, haven't you heard it's rude to throw stuff at people?" Asked Spider-Man, hoping to annoy the guy like he annoys everyone he fights with.
He found that his quips and commentaries during fights helped in distracting the enemy, making them angry and consequently causing them to make mistakes.
He annoyed people until he achieved victory.
"You've been messing with the Kingpin's men, and I don't need any help!" stated the man as he also got into a fighting stance.
Peter however tilted his head in confusion "Help? You want to stop them as well? Then why the heck are you attacking me?!" Peter started questioning as he rose from his position.
The man however maintained his fighting stance, grabbing what looked like a stick with a rope, pulling on the rope so that another stick flew past Peter onto the man's hand.
'Huh, so that's what he threw' realized Peter while eyeing the weapon. And as he saw the weapon paired with the outfit, Peter realized this was Daredevil.
'Should've noticed sooner it's him by the cowl and his little horns' thought Peter humorously to himself.
Daredevil was nowhere near as popular as Spider-Man since he didn't have any presence to the public.
Some folks didn't even think he was real, but Peter has spent so much time getting confused on whether he is Spider-Man or Daredevil when he jumps at criminals from the dark to know that he is indeed real.
"You're doing it wrong, you're not helping! You're just ticking them off until they get their asses in jail for a few days and then they go out again.
You don't gather proof of what they're doing, you don't care for the bigger picture, you just appear and punch some guys out cold while disrupting everything without care!" Daredevil stated his reasoning, angry at the superhuman.
Daredevil knew if he wanted to win this fight he needed to be quick about it, the way the muscles of the man in front of him tensed with the slightest move screamed of power to his senses.
'He's not completely human, mutant maybe?' Matt theorized inwardly because the man in front of him smelled weird, like an animal he has never encountered before
"…" Peter stood quietly, digesting the words of the man in front of him. Had he been doing this all wrong? Sure, some of the bad guys he could beat up and the problem would be resolved, but this was more complicated than that.
It was called organized crime for a reason.
So what should Peter do? Apologize to this guy and turn around? He knew he couldn't do that, he knows these men are bad and dangerous; there's no way Peter will leave them be, even if he has been doing the job wrongly.
And can you blame him? It's not like there was a class on how to be a vigilante and he didn't know anyone who taught this stuff. Where could he even find someone that could teach him… wait a minute.
'Maybe he can teach me how to capture these guys correctly and-" Peter's train of thought was interrupted once again when Daredevil threw one of his billy clubs at him.
Now closing the distance between them to fight the hero, Daredevil targeted key points on the man's body that would render anyone else unconscious instantly.
However the hero seemed to know where his attacks were aimed even before he launched them.
The teen hero tried pleading with the man
"Dude, stop that!… Can't we talk about this from man to spider?!… I'm telling you to stop! *UNGH* Seriously man, I don't want to beat you up" Peter said in between ducks and jumps he did in order to avoid the other man's attacks, some of which he wasn't fast enough to dodge, asking him as nicely as he could for the one sided fight to stop.
Until Peter noticed that the man was not stopping, and his patience to avoid whatever the guy was throwing at him was starting to run thin. He didn't want to fight a fellow vigilante, but if his hand was forced then he would not lose, not without a fight at least.
And given his track record of monsters and gangs he's defeated by himself, Peter doubts he would lose against him.
Matt stopped instantly at the threat, tensing at how Spider-Man's muscles tightened as if he was ready to throw a punch of his own. Matt could feel that if the guy punched him with intent to hurt, he would be very, very hurt.
Still, Matt was not afraid of him, he never was of anything.
But perhaps there was some merit in hearing the guy out, he is on his side after all, even if his help is unwanted.
"You beat me? Please, I've noticed you have some sort of ability to dodge but you have no training. Your abilities will carry you only so far until you inevitably fall!" Yelled Daredevil angered at the man that has been messing up his carefully planned takedowns.
He knew that it's Spider-Man the guy that's in front of him, and while at first he had thought nothing much of the kitten from tree rescuer - blatantly misjudged good doer that stopped petty robberies - rape attempts and such things, Matt began to think otherwise as time went by.
This guy had powers that, in Matt's opinion, rivaled that of some Avengers and the newest superhero group, The Fantastic Four; who have been active for around a year now. Being able to defeat superpowered men and literal monsters with apparent ease was no easy feat after all.
Matt regarded Spider-Man as a hero, a man powerful enough to have anything he wanted, but deciding to use his abilities to save everyone he could. Even bothering with the small guy, which the Avengers and so far, the Fantastic Four, don't.
Just like him.
A fighter for the people.
His feelings towards Spider-Man changed drastically when he started to set his sights on the Kingpin, who was vastly more knowledgeable in the workings of the real world than Spider-Man.
And Daredevil can't allow this guy to mess any more than he already did, he has to bring his father's murderers to justice and this guy won't get in his way.
No one will.
"… look, there's no point in me lying. Yes, I have no training, but I've defeated guys far more dangerous than you. Even if you do beat me, I promise you will not leave unscathed, buddy" Spider-Man said as he started walking casually towards the other vigilante.
"I doubt that" Daredevil challenged.
"Wanna bet?" Answered Spider-Man as he got up to Daredevil's face…or chest in this case, since Matt was around a head taller than Spider-Man.
"Well look at you" said Matt, angered by this guy's boldness.
"Look at me" replied Spider-Man with the same tone.
After a few seconds of both men 'staring' at each other, Peter slumped his shoulders and sighed.
"Look man, I get it okay? I'm a rookie when it comes to stuff like this and maybe I did screw up a few times, but that's just because I'm new at this!" Peter conceded with the man, who lowered his stance ever so slightly.
"So? I'm starting at this too, it's no excuse to drop the ball like you have so many times" Matt's angered tone also got calmer, but no by much.
"Yeah, I know. So how about you teach me?!" Said Spider-Man changing his tone entirely, now talking excitedly.
"What?" Daredevil lowered his fists completely, not expecting this to be the direction the conversation was heading.
'Me? Teach this guy how to truly defeat mobsters? I'm not… I do this alone and this guy… wait, how old is this guy!?' Matt realized something important about the guy. With his height, attitude and the way his voice just squeaked, Matt felt like he was talking to a child.
"Wait, wait, wait, how old even are you!?" Asked Matt with a dumbfounded expression on his half covered face.
"Wha-!? Dude I'm not gonna tell you that! In case you can't see, I have a mask for a reason!" Peter replied indignantly, both by the question and the tone Daredevil used.
"… I can't teach you anything unless I at least know that, okay?" Daredevil didn't even acknowledge the statement about not being able to see the mask, because he couldn't and didn't want to bring up his blindness to any random person on the roofs.
"Hey, that's not fair!" Replied Spider-Man angrily.
"You want me to trust you? At least answer that, I have no interest in who you are behind that mask" Daredevil pressed on.
"… fine! But trust is a two way street, if I tell you how old I am, you do it too!" Said Peter, wanting to at least compromise in a very childish way, which does not help his case at all.
"Alright" answered Matt quickly; there are thousands of people his age in the city, not like this kid could figure his identity just from that.
"Okay then… I'm turning 15 at the end of summer" mumbled Peter under his breath, crossing his arms while looking away. He didn't like the idea of giving some personal information out, but it was a price he's willing to pay to be better at this.
"WHAT?!" Yelled Daredevil incredulously, he thought he was dealing with a fairly short 17 year old, not a 14 year old superpowered kid "You're just a kid!"
"I'm not! I just told you I'm going to be 15 in a few weeks! Plus what does my age matter? It's what I can do, that does!" yelled back a slightly embarrassed Peter by being called that.
"Ugh I can't believe this. I'm not going to babysit you kid, go home!" Said Daredevil as he hid his face with one hand, embarrassed at the whole situation.
"I'm not a kid, man. And you still have to uphold your end of the deal!" Peter reminded Matt that it was now his turn.
"I'm not telling you anything and there's no deal. There's no way I'm teaching someone your age how to get criminals to jail!" Matt removed his hand from his face, once again 'looking' at Spider-Man.
*Sigh* "I understand I'm young and that this is weird for you. It's weird for me too! But I have these powers, and it's my responsibility to use them for the greater good and that means fighting guys like these.
You and I both know I ain't gonna stop, even if you do beat me, which I doubt by the way. So if I won't stop, why don't you teach me?
Better to have someone on your side who knows what they're doing rather than someone that just gets in the way, right?" Peter told his speech as he extended his hand towards Daredevil, who was listening deeply to the young teen "What do you say?" Finished Peter.
Spider-Man made a few valid points, they might fight right now, and Matt may still be victorious, but he won't be unscathed, and he still has to fight the captains across the two buildings.
And it's not like he would leave him to the police either, Spider-Man was just trying his best at helping, just like him. Plus… it would be nice to know he's not alone in his fight against crime.
But the thing that really made up Matt's mind was Spider-Man's conviction.
Daredevil has enhanced senses, so much so that he can hear a person's heart rate when they lie and not once did Spider-Man do so. He was saying the truth at every moment and if he truly believed what he said about power and responsibility, who was he to tell the teen otherwise?
Besides that, Matt still had respect for Spider-Man, perhaps even more now that he knew he was just a kid trying to do the right thing.
Though he will never admit that out loud if he could help it.
So with a heavy sigh, Daredevil agreed "Fine, you're right. You won't stop and I'd rather not have you dragging me down" Daredevil said, gaining a shadow of an amused smile by how the boy's heart quickened with what he recognized to be joy while he tried to hide it with a nonchalant attitude he most likely thought was cool while shaking the old man's hand.
Matt noted the control Spider-Man had over the grip strength he used, being firm but not strong enough for it to hurt. That was truly impressive to Matt.
"Come on then, I won't slow down for you" said Matt as he stepped on the edge of the roof.
"Wait!" Yelled Peter with both hands raised, startling Matt ever so slightly, but he hid it well" You still owe me your age!"
"Uh, I don't think-" Matt tried to excuse himself, only to be interrupted by Peter.
"Nuh Uh, a deal is a deal." Said Peter while folding his arms, with a tone that didn't leave room for arguments.
"Fine… I'm 21" answered Matt finally with a defeated tone.
"What?! Dude you're clowning me for my age and you're barely an adult! You just got old enough to drink!" Peter said not believing the man in front of him.
He could not believe he got that reaction out of someone just 7 years older than him. "I honestly thought you'd say you were like… I don't know, fourty or something".
"Yeah? Well at least I am an adult, you're not even old enough to drive!" Replied Matt, slightly embarrassed at being called out like that.
'… I don't look fourty do I? No, no that's stupid, I have my cowl on and he can't look at my face… but he didn't lie…' Matt also got a little self conscious about his age and attitude all of a sudden.
"Dude, we live in New York, who wants to drive?" spoke Peter as if he was telling the most obvious thing ever.
Matt opened his mouth to reply something, but thought about what Peter just said and only nodded his head while he mumbled agreements with Peter.
"Yeah, that's fair actually… No, wait! That's not the point! You just… ugh, just listen to everything I say and don't mess up, alright?" Asked Matt, fed up with the conversation.
*Chuckle* "You got it 'old man'" answered Peter with a mocking voice as he jumped off from the rooftop.
'What did I just agree to?' Matt internally groaned; hearing Spider-Man's gadget shoot something that sounded wet and sticky on impact, most likely his famous webs.
Even though Matt thought that with a groan, he did have a faint, small smile on his face. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad for either of them.
And so he followed after the hero, using his acrobatic skills and sometimes his billy clubs to chase after the young hero.
Peter had to congratulate himself.
It has been two weeks since Spider-Man and Daredevil first met on that roof, and since then Peter had seen considerable improvement in both his fighting and his stealth.
Truly, asking for someone to teach him, even if only a little, was a great idea. Who would've thought?
But the thing he was most excited about was that he had his first friend as Spider-Man! Well, maybe 'friend' was stretching their relationship a little bit. They have been training together for the better part of the two weeks, mainly working on his stealth and combat ability.
He remembers proudly how he almost sneaked up on Daredevil on their meeting spot the other day and even got the older man to kinda compliment him on that!
Just like that time where Daredevil kinda praised him for how fast he improved his fighting. The guy was appalled when Peter told him that all his fighting knowledge came from videos online on easy steps on how to defend oneself, his own instincts and movies, so the progress he's had under Matt is nothing short of incredible.
Daredevil had told Peter that he progressed in a few days what most people don't in a year.
Peter guessed that being a genius with near photographic memory who's constantly in life threatening fights helped with that.
He was however, slightly disappointed when Daredevil reminded him that he wasn't much of a teacher, and that everything useful that he could teach him was already taught.
Mainly because Spider-Man's abilities and fighting style are so different from his own, the stealth skill he could improve on the field and technical part of the job had already been understood by Peter.
Maybe being a genius did have its downsides, because now he wouldn't spend time practicing with his fellow vigilante. Peter had grown to respect the older guy and he would miss their training sessions. Even if they lasted for like, 9 days.
He however found comfort in the fact that Daredevil had given him a burner phone with his own contact information as a gift, so that they could exchange valuable information and if ever needed, call for backup.
This is because when they started out, Daredevil had reminded Peter basically every time he had the chance that Hell's Kitchen belonged to him, and he would fight anyone who came to his turf uninvited.
Weird, but hey, if the guy was so possessive of his home and he only trusted himself to keep safe, who was Spidey to judge him?
But more than finding comfort actually, this was a new height for him! Not only are his fights going smoother with thugs and his villains that escape prison, he now has an ally.
It's a landmark in his hero career!
Sure, he was praised by the Avengers, but other than that they had never talked with each other. Here he has the phone number of another vigilante in case of emergencies and trade of information!
If this wasn't a secret he would definitely be parading this for all his friends to see just how awesome he has become.
Unfortunately for them, this information is only for him and Daredevil to know, and Peter would make sure that it stayed that way with all his might.
Who knows what the bad guys might think of both of them growing some type of alliance.
Peter felt a shiver when he imagined his villains going after Daredevil.
And don't get Spider-Man wrong, he has deep respect for the older hero but he knows how dangerous his enemies are, and if the way Peter has to hold back when they spar tells Peter anything, is that Daredevil has no chance against someone like Electro, Sandman, Rhino or the others.
Peter however, would be willing to give the victory to Daredevil if he faces the Shocker, and he would absolutely win if the Chameleon even thinks of doing anything in Hell's Kitchen.
Let's see how his costumes work against a blind man that recognizes people based on their heartbeats from a humanly impossible distance.
Daredevil being blind was something that Peter was NOT expecting at all, and the man managed to hide it pretty well. But Peter's extensive talks about things he sees, questions like 'the guy in the purple jacket?' when they are out on the job and things like that made it really hard for the older man to keep his truth hidden.
The truth finally came out when Peter wanted to show Daredevil a picture of the most recent and most weird man he's fought so far.
A man with the looks, endurance, strength and surprising speed of a wall.
Not only that, he had some sort of light mind control.
Truly a bizarre opponent that didn't take much time out of Spider-Man's day to be defeated. Still, Peter had a street cred to uphold, and with weirdos like that it would not.
Peter was rambling about this guy with his phone to Daredevil's face until the older man sighed and told Peter the truth.
It was uncomfortable for the next several minutes where Spider-Man asked many invasive questions about the when, what's and how's of him being a blind crime fighter and apparent acrobat.
But eventually it ended with Peter making lighthearted jokes about it. Like one about Daredevil's awful color scheme choice for his costume.
And while Matt wouldn't admit it, he felt hurt by that.
He thought his costume looked cool and menacing, not like something straight out of a burger joint. But he let it pass, he welcomed any tips from his friends and Spider-Man has definitely won a spot in Daredevils small circle.
So yes, Peter was very happy, now his birthday was coming up and a week after that he'd start high school.
Never would he have thought that he would be a crime fighting hero with a secret identity before starting high school, but here he is.
Even if some small part of him still wishes he grew up like any normal kid, Peter was excited for what the future would bring him.