Chapter Three

 

The birds chirping faintly was the first sign. The slight glimpse of sunlight sneaking through the shades was the second. My eyes closing in on themselves was the third. 

 

After dinner with the Stacys, I stayed up the entire night working on the web shooters and the fluid. The design for the shooters was the easy part - Peter already had a blueprint sketched out in one of his notebooks. It was the fluid that was the hard part, even if I was blessed with the brain of a genius. Still, I’d managed to complete a concoction of adhesives that would hopefully hold my weight.

 

Aunt May knocked on my door. “Peter, are you up yet?”

 

I groaned. There was no way I was getting even a wink of sleep. Well, the price for strength was high, and it was one I was more than willing to pay. “Yeah, yeah!” I called back. “Just gimme a second.” 

 

I strapped the web shooters onto my wrist before closing one of my eyes, aiming at a notebook, and flicking my wrist. With an almost imperceptible thwip, a silvery strand shot out and stuck to the black and white cover. I grabbed onto the string and pulled. 

 

If the notebook hadn’t fallen into my hands, I would’ve snapped my shooters in frustration. Luckily, the notebook fluttered through the air before slamming right into my face and then falling to my hands - ungraceful but successful.

 

“Yes!” I exhaled in relief, too tired to even celebrate. 

 

“Peter!”

 

My face paled.

 

~o~

 

“I was waiting forever, y’know?” Gwen grumbled. “If I keep coming to school late, my dad’s going to be on my ass.”

 

I grinned sheepishly. I had no idea that Gwen would be walking with me to school and how late she’d be willing to wait just to walk with me. 

 

It was… heartwarming. 

 

“Sorry, sorry.” I raised my hands to placate her. “It was just this one time, I swear.” 

 

She squinted at me. “You’re lying, aren’t you?”

 

Absolutely. “Nah, of course not!” I stretched my arms behind my back. “What class are we starting with?”

 

“Math.” Gwen narrowed her eyes. “You’re getting good at-” Her arm snapped up and she snatched the paper ball out of the air. “Ned.” She growled before turning her body and throwing the ball twice as hard right back into the idiot’s face.

 

RRRRRRINGGGGG!

 

We quickly walked out of our homeroom, leaving Ned and his cronies spluttering behind.

 

“Nice throw.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

~o~

 

I sighed, gathering my supplies and walking out of the classroom. Sitting through hours of getting spitballs flicked at me and the occasional paper ball would wear down any man. Especially if I was also sitting through a waste of time. 

 

I quickly figured out classes were useless. I had the mind of a genius - I mean, Peter Parker engineered his own pair of web shooters, and I just did that yesterday. For me, there was no knowledge to be gained in a highschool curriculum. 

 

Thankfully, classes didn’t drag on. After all, I had much to plan. I found a boxing gym nearby my house, and I’d already signed up for classes, starting right after school. As for money? There were plenty of douchebags walking around that I could rob with my web shooters. It was dangerous and unsustainable, but it would be enough for now - enough for me to start buying the parts for future inventions. I wasn’t going to sell the web shooters - they were much too valuable and dangerous to be in public hands. And in all honesty? I didn’t want to give out Spider-Man’s trademark tools. They were for me, myself, and I. And Gwen.

 

“Peter, wait up!” That was new. That voice wasn’t Gwen’s. I turned around, and I saw a tall, short-haired guy walking towards me. Quick check in my mind… and, nope! I didn’t recognize him. 

 

“What’s up man!” I smiled nervously. Fake it, ‘til you make it, eh?

 

“I think Gwen, MJ, and Glory have some band business to take care of, so I guess it’s just you and me for lunch today.” He matched my pace and popped up right next to me. If I had to guess, was it Harry Osborn? I mean, Peter didn’t have many friends, and from what I remember in the movies, he was close with Osborn, at least until he turned into Green… Goblin. 

 

I paled.

 

Ok, deep breaths. There was no need to panic yet. First of all, I didn’t even know if the guy was Harry Osborn. And second, Harry and Peter were only enemies because Harry thought Spider-Man killed his father. In this universe, where Spider-Man didn’t exist, I had nothing to fear.

 

…

 

Well, maybe not nothing. It didn’t hurt to be cautious. 

 

“Pete!” A hand waved in front of my face. “You there?”

 

“Yeah, I-I’m here. Just deep in thought.” I pushed his hand away gently. “You know what? I think I have some… lab stuff to do. Maybe next time.” Without waiting for a response, I walked quickly into the nearest bathroom and threw myself into the stall.

 

“Jesus,” I sat down on the toilet seat and kneaded my forehead. There was just too much shit I had to deal with, and trying to hold up a conversation with someone who I considered a complete stranger was not something I wanted to add to my list. 

 

I slapped myself in the face. Yeah, I was still getting used to this whole isekai shit, but the world wouldn’t wait for me to get ready. One last deep breath. 

 

I stood up and opened the door - 

 

- only to find the familiar face of Ned grinning right at me. 

 

He shoved me right back onto the toilet seat. “Hey check it out!” Ned called back to his lackeys. “Little wittle ‘Pathetic Parker’ can’t stand by himself.” His voice was light and joking, but underneath swam notes of disgust. “Well, it’s better that way. Nerds and losers like you should be sniffing the ground anyways.”

 

I gritted my teeth. I’ve never been bullied before. If anything, I was considered popular in my… old life. I was a decent-looking student-athlete in a close group of friends. Getting beat and belittled shouldn’t… be happening to me. Until I remembered that I was in a new world now. I was Peter Parker - a powerless nerd with little friends and an easy target for all bullies.

 

I tried getting back up to my feet, but Ned grabbed the collar of my shirt and slammed me back down. “It’s almost like you’re disabled too! Didn’t you hear me speak? Nerds,” He jammed his finger deep into my cheekbone. “Should be sniffing the ground. The ground.” He pushed me off the toilet seat and onto the floor. A dull ache flared in my tailbone. “There ya go.”

 

“You wanna give him a swirly this time too?” 

 

Ned hummed. “No, let him sit there. I don’t feel like getting my hands dirty. Let’s go.” They started shuffling away. “Don’t forget - ground.” A smattering of laughter broke out before they left.

 

“… Piece of shit.” I hauled myself up using the toilet seat as leverage. Never before was the Lizard serum more tempting.

 

…

 

Wasn’t my mind my biggest strength? Fuck money. I wanted- no, needed strength. I’m gonna learn how to box, figure out how to use my webs, and fix the damn serum. It’s only been one day, but things were moving way too slow for my liking. 

 

~o~

 

Thump! Thump!

 

I didn’t have any classes together with Gwen for the rest of the day, which, to be honest, might’ve been better. I didn’t want to have to explain why my hair was ruffled and why my mouth was set in a deep scowl. I didn’t want to have to rely on her. Again.

 

Thump! Thump!

 

And again.

 

Thump!

 

And again.

 

“Always keep your hands up, man. You don’t wanna get hit back, do you?” A tall, bald, black man nudged my elbow. “Keep moving too. A target that’s always moving is a target that’s harder to hit.”

 

I took a small break from wailing my frustrations out on the punching bag. “Thanks.” I wiped the sweat dripping down my face.

 

He shrugged. “Hey, it’s just business.”

 

And for the rest of the hour we conducted business. He’d tweak minor problems in my posture, but generally, I think I did alright. I mean, I kinda knew how to throw a punch. At the very least, I knew more than this Peter Parker. But it wasn’t long before my muscles began to shake from fatigue and time for our session began to run out. 

 

I unstrapped my gloves, letting them fall to the ground, and I shortly followed them, ungracefully plopping down. 

 

The man left for a brief moment before returning with something in his hands. “Here.” I took the offered towel from his hands. “Thanks.” The sweat was beginning to evaporate, but there was still some muck left on my face that needed cleaning. 

 

He nodded at me. “No problem.” He waited a second before speaking again. “Hope you don’t mind if I ask you a question-”

 

“Shoot.”

 

“-But what brings an seventeen-year-old into my gym?”

 

Ned’s ugly mug flashed through my mind, and the sweet, sweet satisfaction I could have feeling my hand smash right into his jaw. But even more than that, it was the twinge of pain shooting through my backside as I slumped over on the toilet, like a crippled fawn without its mother. It was the hard, wet bathroom floor and its countless spots of grime that I was ever so familiar with. 

 

It was the feeling of helplessness. The feeling of being completely under someone’s control. And the fear of that someone being someone else than Ned. Someone like the Lizard. Someone like the Green Goblin.

 

I shrugged. “Just tryna build some muscle.”

 

“Well,” He paused. “Them punches earlier were way too violent and out-of-control. You’ll end up hurting yourself before making any muscle.” 

 

“That’s why you’re here.”

 

He sighed before crouching down next to me. We sat there in silence until he spoke out. “Y’know, I used to be a skinny-ass teenager. I got pushed around all the time. Got my money stolen. Them fuckers gave me plenty of swirlies- they still give swirlies?”

 

I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to give him any information nor did I want this conversation to continue, but he still continued. 

 

“I ended up training hard, man. And I got them back. Good. But… But looking back on it now, all that shit was a waste of time. I mean, think about it. You spend all this time working out and shit just to chase after some bums when you could be using that time to do something better.”

 

“I’m not saying don’t box. Come to my gym. I’ll teach you how to box. But I’m not just teaching people how to throw hands. I’m teaching you how to defend yourself but also control your strength. Discipline. Self-restraint. All that good stuff. It ain’t supposed to be wasting away on some bullies.” He stood back up and extended an arm to me. I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up.

 

“Thanks… for the training and the advice.” I handed the towel and gloves back to him. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”

 

He nodded. “Stay safe.” 

 

I froze midway to the exit when I realized. “Uh, sorry for not asking earlier - I completely forgot, but, uh, I never asked you for your name.”

 

He chuckled. “Nah, don’t worry ‘bout that man. Name’s Aaron Davis. Hope to see you around here soon.”