Arachnid: A New Turn

[Peter's POV]

A week had passed since the memorable events. 

It was quite an eventful one.

First and foremost, my conversations with Uncle Ben made me view many things from a different perspective. 

Now it was clear why this man had always been a role model for Parker, well, almost always. 

I could feel his innate wisdom. 

There's no other way to describe it.

The moment I stepped onto the campus, every student's gaze turned toward me. Then, they shifted to Thompson, who immediately started heading my way.

I stood still, calm. 

"Hey, Parker."

"Hey, Flash."

We stood there in silence for a moment.

"Listen… I wanted to apologize." 

He nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

"Huh?"

"Well, you were right, I've been a jerk. So… are we good?" 

Thompson extended his hand to me.

"No hard feelings."

I shook his hand.

Flash immediately turned and headed toward the school, not even looking at his friends. 

The group hurried to catch up with him, and Kong even gave me a friendly nod.

Well, this is a start. 

Plus, in the end, I'll really know what kind of person Flash is. 

"Whoa, what a scene: "The Nerd and the Bully make peace." That's Quick, headline for the Daily Bugle!"

"Funny, Miles. Have you ever thought about trying stand-up comedy?"

"Stage fright."

"What a loss for the comedy world."

At school, I started strengthening my relationship with Miles and Gwen. For a moment, I even regretted not letting the spider bite them too.

A kind of reputation started to form. 

I wasn't just the bookworm genius but a respected person. Even the girls started paying me attention, but honestly, none of them had caught my attention yet.

I finally had some time to focus on my most important project.

First of all, I resumed my visits to the lab and started digging through the records. 

It turns out that I never got the ability to produce organic webbing. 

That means I'll have to get creative and make artificial webbing.

Secondly, I finally set aside some time to visit the abandoned place, to test my abilities properly and, let's be honest, really let loose.

I approached the issue of secrecy with full responsibility. I pulled out an old winter hat from my wardrobe, made slits for my eyes, and voilà—a homemade balaclava. 

Then I grabbed my Uncle Ben's old work gloves, put on all the old clothes I didn't mind ruining, and went out for a walk.

I only had to jump once to get over the fence. 

Next, I decided to test the famous "balanced spider strength." Inside the warehouse, there were plenty of old storage boxes and containers. 

The average port container weighs around four tons. I lifted one with ease, using just two hands. Then, using my ability to stick to surfaces, I decided to latch onto the walls of two such "cans" and see what would happen.

I lifted it again but with more effort this time. The awkward weight distribution might have caused more muscle strain, or maybe eight to ten tons is my limit.

Finally, the Spider-Sense.

As amazing as it is, it's also the most mysterious. Its capabilities have changed depending on the version of Spider-Man. 

I climb onto the weakest-looking structures, and after about fifteen minutes of "yard parkour," the beam beneath me bent and broke. 

Naturally, just a few seconds before, my spider sense reliably warned me of the danger. 

Of course, those few seconds were more than enough thanks to the reflexes, but I'd appreciate a little more time to react.

That's everything I've discovered so far. 

Of course, I tried shooting webs from my hands, hoping to find some organic webbing channels, but I had no luck.

The sensations suggest that things weren't so simple with that bite.

After all, I don't recall any version of Peter killing the spider that bit him.

However, I don't want to stress about it. The less you worry, the more nerve cells you'll have to make it to old age.

...

The next month of my life went by like this: school, the lab, training, and then the same cycle over again. 

But today, I finally felt the first push from the canon.

The poster blasted: "Will you dare to face Crusher Hogan in the ring?! Last three minutes with our champion and win $500! And if you're skilled enough to defeat the invincible Crusher, you'll win $2,000!"

There it was.

Spider-Man has been in many situations like this before. This was his first public showing, and his choice would affect him for the rest of his life. 

However, the reason I wanted to join was because I could stop the thief. It wouldn't hurt to make some extra cash either. 

After all, I need something to sew my first suit, and materials aren't cheap these days. 

I remember how badly Pete got ripped off after his performance, but I'm not going to make the same mistake.

I won't even have to worry about the costume: I'll wear a white T-shirt, jeans, shoes, and the balaclava I've already made, just slightly modified. 

It's beautiful.

"Let's do it."

With these thoughts, I headed home, ripping down the poster along the way. 

There are still copies on the board.

"I'm home!"

I announce at the door.

"Hi, sweetie, how's it going? Are you hungry?"

Aunt May asks, taking off her oven mitts.

"No, Aunt May, thanks. I'm heading to the lab and then to the city library. I need to work on a project, and there are fewer distractions at the library."

"The library, I didn't hear you wrong?" 

Uncle Ben asks after coming down from the second floor.

"I actually need to go to the hardware store, I'll give you a ride, and then I'll pick you up afterward."

"I won't refuse the ride, but you don't need to pick me up. I promise I'll be back by ten. You know, Uncle, if I dive into books, I'll only resurface from them myself." 

I say with the most honest eyes.

"Alright, I trust you. What time do you need to leave?"

"In a couple of hours."

"Okay then."

"I'm heading to the lab."

"Meaning the basement?"

"The lab!"

I want to once again thank the little spider that bit me. 

If it weren't for that little guy, I would never have figured out how to recreate the formula for synthetic webbing. 

Apparently, I understood how to mix the necessary enzymes, and after adjusting the chemical compositions, things started to come together!

The solution, in fact, was quite simple. 

I take the mixed liquids and place them in a special reservoir, or rather, cartridges. 

I had to make these myself with a soldering iron, so for now, I only have seven doses of webbing. 

It's tricky to make them from scraps because even my engineering genius can't help much here.

Success.

Of course, at the moment, they are just prototypes. The technology will improve, but even the web-shooters I have now are a personal source of pride. 

They're bulky, and developing smaller, more convenient models will take time.

Right now, they're wristbands covering half of my forearm, resembling the mechanisms from the '94 cartoon.

However, it's an incredible success for something created in less than a month. 

I didn't sleep at night, working on everything. 

I loaded the web-shooters with cartridges and hid the 'bracelets' in my backpack.

Now, let's work on the face. 

I decided to experiment a bit with the mask using webbing. 

I checked my old gym t-shirt, plain blue jeans, and old school shoes.

So, everything is ready and packed. It's time to go."