Peter got ready for school. Showered. Dressed. Went downstairs.
Uncle Ben was already up. Reading the newspaper. He looked up when Peter entered.
"Morning. You're up early."
"Couldn't sleep much. Too much on my mind."
"Want to talk about it?"
Peter considered. He couldn't tell Uncle Ben about the spider powers. About MJ and Gwen. About any of it. Too dangerous. Too complicated.
"Just school stuff. Projects. The usual."
Uncle Ben didn't look convinced. But he didn't push. "Alright. But remember, I'm here if you need to talk. About anything."
"I know. Thanks."
They had breakfast together. Normal routine. Normal conversation. Peter treasured it. These quiet moments of normalcy before the chaos of the day.
His phone buzzed. Text from Gwen.
"We need to talk. Before school. Something happened last night. Did you feel it?"
Peter's spider-sense tingled in confirmation. 'She felt it too. Whatever it was, we all experienced it.'
He texted back. "Coffee shop. 7:30. I'll be there."
Another text. MJ this time.
"Had the weirdest dream. Can't remember it but it felt important. We should meet. Talk about it."
Peter replied. "Coffee shop. 7:30. Gwen will be there too."
"K. See you then."
Peter finished breakfast. Told Uncle Ben he was meeting friends early. Left the house at 7:15.
The walk to the coffee shop took ten minutes. He arrived at 7:26. Ordered his usual black coffee. Found their corner booth.
MJ arrived first. She looked tired. Dark circles under her eyes. But there was something else. An intensity in her expression. Like she'd realized something important but couldn't quite grasp it.
"Hey," she said. Sat down across from him. "You look like you didn't sleep either."
"Rough night. You?"
"Weird dreams. Can't remember them. But they felt significant. Like my brain was trying to tell me something."
"Same here. Vague impressions. Nothing concrete."
Gwen arrived. She had her tablet. Already taking notes. "I documented what I could. Most of the details faded too quickly. But the emotional content was remarkable. Intense trust. Certainty of purpose. Willingness to sacrifice for each other and for strangers."
She sat down next to MJ. Looked between them. "Did either of you dream about fighting? Urban combat scenario? Large-scale destruction?"
MJ's eyes widened. "Yes. How did you know?"
"Because I had the same dream. Or similar. I can't remember specifics. But the framework matches what you just described."
Peter leaned forward. "I had fragments of something similar. Fire. Battle. Standing together. But it's all faded now."
"Shared dream state," Gwen said immediately. "The spider DNA created a neural network. We're connected. When we sleep, our consciousness bleeds over. We experience similar scenarios."
"That's scientifically impossible," MJ said.
"So is wall-crawling. So is precognitive danger sense. So is lifting ten times our body weight." Gwen's voice was firm. "We've already accepted that normal scientific limitations don't apply to us anymore. Why not shared dreams?"
"Because dreams are random. Chaotic. Based on individual experience and memory." MJ argued. "How could we all have the same dream?"
"Not the same dream. Similar emotional framework. Our subconscious minds processing the same fundamental concerns. Identity. Purpose. Responsibility. The dreams manifest differently but the core themes align."
Peter listened. His enhanced Mind processed their words. Analyzed the implications.
'They both had dreams about fighting together. About being heroes. About facing danger as a team.'
'That's not random. That's not coincidence. That's something deeper. Something the spider DNA is doing to all of us.'
"There's something else," MJ said quietly. She pulled out her phone. Showed them sketches. "I drew these when I woke up. Couldn't help myself. Like my hands needed to capture something before it disappeared."
The sketches showed three figures. Standing together. Heroic poses. Facing something dark and terrible. United against impossible odds.
Gwen stared at the drawings. "That's what I saw. The composition is almost exactly what I remember. Three of us. Together. Fighting something."
"Me too," Peter admitted. "The details are gone but the feeling remains. We were a team. Experienced. Like we'd been working together for years."
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