Peter Parker POV:
"Hey, kiddo! You in there?"
I get knocked out of my trance. Did Tony motherfucking Stark, AKA Iron Man, give me an offer to mentor me? To become a hero?
I always knew that with Alex's powers, we were gonna become vigilantes or something in the future or something, but I never really thought about any of that seriously.
But now, this was serious. Ironman is pretty much asking me if I want to be a hero. An actual hero, putting my life on the line to save people.
I stay stuck in place, unable to get my jaw off the floor.
"Okay, since I'm a busy man, I don't actually have much time. So I'm just gonna put this riiiiiight here." Tony Stark grabs a card from his suit pocket, I think it's his business card, and plops it right into my open mouth. "Okay, kiddo, it was nice meeting you. Call me on the number I gave you after you make your decision!"
He makes his leave on his fancy ass limo.
I stare at where Tony Stark once was for a few more seconds.
I slowly reach inside my mouth, pull out the card, wipe it on my shirt, and pocket it.
I pinched myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Ow.
Well, I guess I have a lot to think about.
As I walk back home, I send a message in the group chat with Me, Ned, and Alex, saying we have to talk. But as it's currently like 2 am, none of them responds.
The thought of being a hero keeps bouncing around in my head as I make my way back to the apartment and go to bed.
(a/n in the movies, Peter never wanted to be a hero, but only learnt his lesson when ben died. And since I'm not planning on doing that to him, he isn't sure if he wants to be a ligit hero right now.)
-o-
The next day, afternoon. The guys have met up at Ned's house to discuss.
I take a deep breath, steadying myself as I glance between my two best friends. We're sitting on the floor of Ned's room, the door locked, the window shut, and the laptop pushed aside because, well… this conversation needs full attention.
I just told them everything.
The spider, the changes, the park, Tony freaking Stark showing up like a fnaf jumpscare.
The room is dead silent.
Ned's eyes are practically bulging out of his skull. His mouth opens, then closes, then opens again, like he can't decide if he wants to scream or pass out. He looks a lot like god enel right now.
Alex, on the other hand, is just kinda staring at me. Or the air in front of me. Arms crossed, expression unreadable. That's what's making me nervous.
Then, Ned finally finds his voice.
"DUDE!" He practically lunges at me, grabbing my shoulders. "You have SUPERPOWERS! And Tony Stark wants to MENTOR YOU?! This is the greatest thing ever!"
I let out a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of my neck. "Uh, yeah, I guess-"
"No, no, no, you don't 'guess,' Peter! You are now officially the most interesting person in this entire school. Maybe even Queens. This is insane! You could be a superhero! You could be the next Iron Man! You could-"
"I could also die, Ned." I cut in, a little sharper than I intended. "Did you see the shit that went down at the stark expo a while back? If even one of those drones snuck up on me, superpowers or not, I would die. Not even just that. Anybody with a gun, and lets be real here, this is fucking America, could kill me with a pull of a trigger. I'm not invincible now that I have powers, Ned."
As ned was about to object, Alex cuts in.
"The choice is up to you, Pete. It's not something that we can decide upon. This is your life, your future. But get one thing clear. We'll always support you, no matter what choice you pick. If, and only if, I end up not getting superpowers, I could be your sidekick or something. If Daredevil can be a hero, just a regular blind guy, I can definitely be one too, even without powers."
Wait... The way he worded that sounded kinda suspicious. "What do you mean only if you don't get powers?"
Alex chuckles lightly. "I got something planned."
-o-
After a bit of geeking with Ned, I tell him that I probably won't be able to attend then when they infiltrate the secret government thing since I now got superpowers and stuff, and I don't really want to be a caged test subject for the government for the rest of my life. Ned looked disappointed but Alex didn't seem to really mind.
-o-
After some more back and forth Tony Stark glazing with Ned, while Alex just seems to be planning, we finally depart ways. I guess that I have a lot to think about.
Up to now, the exercising and the fighting was only to get stronger, not for others, but for myself, as I couldn't stand being the nerdy kid that always gets bullied anymore. I only did the tournament a few days ago, and I knew that probably nobody would die since it's just martial arts.
As I ponder, I happen to walk past my school, Midtown High. School was let out a few hours ago, so there shouldn't be anyone around.
Then why is it that I hear people in the school's back alley?
I make my way there to investigate, to take a break from thinking about the hero stuff. I turn the corner to the back alley.
There, what I saw put a shiver down my spine. There was a group of 4 jacked thugs surrounding what looked like a freshman boy.
The thugs seemed familiar for some reason. Oh, wait, they were Flash's lackeys. I thought they left the school after Flash left. They were just continuing to beat up kids weaker than them.
"Kid, we'll let you go if you give us some change, ok?" Lackey #1 tried to intimidate the kid. It seemed to work.
I turn around. This isn't my business to get involved in.
"I-I can't! My uncle worked hard for this money!"
I pause. I turn back around.
The kid seems to have noticed me and is looking at me with teary eyes, as if begging for help. I see myself in his eyes.
-o-
In the same alley 1 year ago
"Flash! Stop! This money's for my family!" I yell as I'm held down by Flash's goons as he pulls out my wallet.
"What family? Aren't your parents dead?" They all erupt into laughter.
I can feel the tears threatening to come out. I shake my head, trying to get rid of the feeling. They'd just feel better if I started crying.
He opens my wallet and takes out the 20 dollar bill that May gave me to go buy our groceries.
Ben had to work for hours at the construction site to make that money.
"Only 20? I can't even buy anything I want with this shit. How poor are you, Parker?" He throws the 20 dollar bill in the puddle and steps on it. "Lets just beat the shit out of this guy. that'll give us more entertainment then whatever his 20$ would bring us. Hold him down."
Behind Flash, I could see hundreds of students making their way out of the school to get home. I make contact with each and every one of them, sending a silent plea, but they all just turn their heads and pretend not to see.
If only one of them had come and helped...
The punches start raining down.
-o-
Present
Fuck that. I can't let this kid suffer the same fate as I did. I remember what Ben always told me. Ben always told me that if I have the power to stop something bad from happening, and I don't, then it's my fault. And now? I have the power. With great power comes great responsibility.
I put my hood down, obscuring my face, I step into the alley.
The lackeys turn towards me. "Fuck off dude. This shit ain't none fo yo business." Lackey #3 yells at me, flashing a box cutter from his pocket.
The kid getting bullied looks at me with hope.
I've been fighting real fighters, so a bunch of high schoolers juiced up on tren shouldn't be any problem.
I dash into the fight, controlling my power so I won't accidentally kill them. Theyre shitty people, but they don't deserve to die.
First, the one with the knife. I dash up to him, and before he can react, I drive my fist into his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him. I grab him by the scruff of his hoodie and throw him towards lackey #2, who seems to be separated from the crew, knocking both of them out.
For a second, nobody moves. Then, goons #1 and #2 dash at me, trying to tackle me, yelling some shit about revenge or taking a fight with the wrong people or something. I shake my head.
I jump up and over both of the rampaging teenagers, sticking to the wall of the alley to keep myself in the air.
The two already built up way too much momentum to stop and ended up slowing down but still skidding right below me. They look up in shock, wondering how I'm sticking to the wall. I drop and step on both of their faces, leaving a footprint engraved in both of their skulls.
I just knocked out all 4 of the bullies that I feared so much, even just 6 months ago, in less than 30 seconds.
I make my way to leave when I feel a small hand grabbing my wrist. I look back. It's the kid that I saved.
"T-Thanks for saving me-" The kid stutters out. God, is this what Alex felt when he saved me half a year ago? "A-are you some kind of hero or something? What can I call you?"
I ponder. There are millions of people like me and him, all without the power to save themselves. I make a decision. I need to be the one to save those without the power to save themselves. It's my responsibility, now that I can.
After a few seconds of silence, "You can call me the Human Spider." I reply, as I walk away, pulling out my phone and a certain contact card, ready to make a call.
"S- S-Spider Man?" The kid mutters to himself, dazed and frozen in place.
(a/n There it is! The origin of Spiderman!)