Peter stood in his room facing Gary, who had a huge smile on his face
"Like I've told you kiddo, I'm not here to replace Ben— that dude's a legend. I'm just here to help you and May in any way I can."
"Uhhh... thanks?"
"Yeah, no sweat. So umm, I guess you had a tough day with the whole villain attack and everything. So I'll stop by tomorrow, after school. Let's have a little man-time."
"Umm, tomorrow's Sunday Gary."
"Ah, don't mind me! On Monday then, I'll be here."
"Sure, looking forward to it." Peter replied with a little smile. He was actually starting to like this guy, he seemed really chill and cool.
Gary left some minutes later, and Peter had a little chat with May before going back to his room.
He picked up his phone to doomscroll TokTik, but all he saw on his FYP was pictures and videos of Speedy.
And the lad seemed to be doing a good job.
That made Peter raise an eyebrow.
"Was the crime in the city always this much?" He shook his head slowly, something was definitely wrong.
But it seemed like this new guy got everything under control. Maybe it was time for ol'spidey to rest.
Speaking of rest, what the hell is going on with the Avengers?
They had left the planet some months ago, for some "mission". But they still hadn't returned, and it made Peter's stomach turn.
"What if they were dead?"
He shook his head again.
Suddenly, he stood up as something struck a chord in his head.
"How am I calm?"
He was supposed to be angry and hunting down criminals, since that's what happened the last time he didn't hold back. But now he was in his room, chilling.
Yes, he tried to kill Bomber, but the urge was significantly weaker.
"Maybe I should just rest now, and finally find out what's going on with my body."
*********
Anna raised her head in surprise when Peter entered the WEB. He only came late in the night when he was fighting crime, but now he was there, not fighting crime.
"I couldn't sleep, decided to drop by."
Anna smiled and gestured for him to sit
"Hey, Anna."
"Hmm?"
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For THIS. You helped me when I needed it the most."
"It's nothing Peter, just decided to do something useful with the time I have left."
"What do you mean 'the time I have left'?"
"Oh shit....umm let's talk about something else Peter."
"No, I've told you everything about myself but I don't even know your last name!"
"Peter—"
"Don't you trust me?"
"I do....it's just that...ahhh. I have this disease, and it's killing me slowly. Though I recently observed that the rate at which my health becomes worse is increasing. I've lost some weight and hair. The doctors don't even know what is wrong with me. Otto has tried everything he can, he has invested a lot of money into research, just to find the cure, but it has all failed. He is starting to believe it isn't...normal. That is strange though because he doesn't believe in anything except science but my disease has made him almost have a change of mind. It's really sad and..." She couldn't finish her statement as she burst into tears.
Peter stood frozen to the ground. He wanted to speak but he couldn't get the words out of his mouth.
"Anna....."
"Don't even think about trying to promise me that you'll find a cure or whatever."
"Oh no, I wasn't going to say anything like that. But what I can promise you is that I'll make the time you have left the best time of your life."
Anna rolled her eyes as she wiped her tears. "How do you plan on doing that?"
"Have you ever swung before?"
"Umm what?"
Anna screamed at the top of her lungs as she swung throughout the city with Peter holding her tightly. They landed on a rooftop and she finally let go.
"Look at the city Anna. It's peaceful, all because of you." He said, taking off his mask.
"Nah .....you did all the work."
"No, it was you. Remember when I fought Electro? Before I met you. A girl died in my arms, and I gave up, I got ready to quit. But then I saw you, and you helped me. Together we've handled villains and criminals, and without your crazy inventions, I would've died while fighting the Vulture. Sure, I swing to the scene, throw a few punches and get hit a lot, but it all runs down to you. Thank you Anna —"
——spider sense ——
"You've got to be f**king kidding me!" Peter yelled as he put on his mask, getting ready to swing.
"What the hell Peter! You just gonna leave me here?"
"Oh sorry!"
He swung her down, and immediately moved to where the danger was coming from.
It was a supermarket, and five robbers were robbing the joint.
" Isn't it too late for grown men to steal?" He quipped, perching on the wall of the supermarket.
The robbers immediately pointed their guns at him, exchanging nervous glances. They heard rumors of how he had brutally maimed some of their colleagues, and they were silently praying the new hero Speedy would show up
"We don't want any trouble man, just leave us alone!" Their leader yelled, grabbing a woman to use as his hostage.
" Yeah Spidey! We just need some grand, we won't hurt anyone!" Another one said, sweating profusely in the air conditioned place.
Peter landed gracefully on the ground, and raised his head slowly.
"No can do boys. These people worked hard to earn this money, can't just let you take it from them. So let's do it this way, drop the money and surrender yourself to the police."
They looked at each other, seriously considering his offer.
Risk losing their lives, or getting a few years in prison?
Suddenly, a figure blurred into the supermarket, startling the already nervous customers and robbers. It was Speedy. Somehow seeing him gave the robbers relief.
And Peter noticed that.
"Come on! You guys are more relaxed with him now! Thought I was your favorite hero?" He asked with mock sadness, pointing at the leader.
"Uhhh....come man seriously, you freak the hood out these days." The leader stuttered nervously.
" Hey! Are you guys just going to ignore me?" Speedy yelled in frustration.
"I think you're also forgetting me." The woman who was held as a hostage whispered, and that earned her some hard glares from the heroes and robbers.
"Not now Karen." Peter said with a dismissive wave.
"Yeah, you gotta know when to be quiet sometimes." Speedy added with a shrug.
"Why the hell am I still holding you?" The leader asked as he pushed her away. She quickly ran to join the other customers who were huddled in a corner.
"Alright! Why don't you just go home Spidey, and let Speedy handle us?"
"Why does he get to stay?" Peter asked with a raised eyebrow, sounding genuinely hurt.
"They prefer me, duh." Speedy replied smugly.
"Are they seriously bantering right now?" A man whispered angrily.
"Shut up Greg!" Peter yelled, webbing his mouth. Turning to the robbers, he frowned. "I'm handling y'all, don't care if you like it or not."
He web zipped to one and kicked him to the wall, webbing him to it too.
As he turned to face the next one, Speedy ran and grabbed a rope, tieing the robber to a pillar.
They glanced at each other, the competition was on!
Peter webbed up a robber, and Speedy tied the remaining two.
"Speedy: 3, Spidey: 2." Speedy said with a smug grin.
"I guess you won this one." Peter said, shooting a web line. "But kid, you're doing a good job. Keep it up." He added, swinging away.
********
Monday came quickly, and Peter went to school slightly happier than usual. He didn't have to wake up around 2:30am to stop a get away criminal. Nor did he have to give a stupid excuse to leave class just to stop a criminal.
He sat down with a little smile, and soon Carla sat close to him.
A little while later Harry entered, but he had a strange look on his face.
"You look happy today." MJ whispered when she got to class. Peter silently smiled at her, and turned his attention back to Harry.
Harry still had that troubled look on his face, but he looked even worse, as he had bags under his eyes. Peter wondered if Norman was even aware of his son's deteriorating state. He just pushed the thought to the side, as he focused on the teacher who had just entered the class.
*******
Alexander Smythe sat down in class, with an extremely tired look on his face. Days of crime fighting were starting to take a toll on his body. He knew that if he and Spider-Man worked together the strain would greatly reduce, but his pride wouldn't let him. So even though his healing factor was working overtime, he still felt greatly exhausted. He looked outside, enjoying the view from his window. Down below, he could see Midtown High. Though it wasn't close, he had super sight, so he could see farther than the average person.
A few hours later and the bell rang, signifying the close of school. He quickly packed his books and zipped his bag, preparing to leave class.
"Mr Smythe, do you mind if I have a word with you?" His teacher, Mr Fredrick asked with a small smile.
Alexander let out a tired sigh, as he knew where the conversation was heading. Mr Fredrick was going to tell him about a science competition and will ask if he was interested.
He walked to Mr Fredrick, trying his best not to look proud.
"Sit down Alex. So, as your form teacher I have noticed something rather odd about you lately. Your scores, they're dropping."
Alex frowned slightly, as that wasn't what he was expecting.
"How's that possible? We haven't even written an exam yet."
"I'm talking about test scores. You're still at the top of the class, but you're slipping away." Mr Fredrick said, picking up his briefcase looking bag, "Pride doesn't help a man, Alex. I don't know what you're doing that's occupying you so much, but please cut down the time you spend on that thing, because if you keep this up you'll lose your first place." And with that he walked away, leaving Alex to ponder on his words.
Suddenly, his phone buzzed, meaning there was a crime taking place. He jogged out of the class, got to a dark corner and speedily changed to his costume, before super speeding out of school. He became a blur and a gust of wind to people as he ran home, kept his bag, and ran to the location showing in his HUD.
Getting there, he saw that it was a gang fight. They were spraying bullets at each other.
"Yikes! I'll hold them off, get these civilians out of here, then come join me immediately." A voice suddenly spoke as Spider-Man blurred past him, swinging towards the gangsters.
Peter weaved to the side mid flight just in time to dodge a bullet. He shot a web and grabbed as many guns as he could, tossing them into the air. Suddenly, Speedy blurred past, grabbing the guns and taking them to the police station. He raced back and both of them made quick work of the gangsters.
"We make a pretty good team you know?" Peter said, walking towards Speedy, who was taking a picture with some fans. Peter ignored them because he was talking to the police.
Speedy was about to give a ride reply but he kept his mouth shut. They made a very good team, that was all that mattered. Speedy's lips curled into a smile, as it was visible through his mask unlike Peter's mask which covered his whole face.
"You're right Spidey, but that doesn't mean we're besties. Race you to the Park slow poke!" Speedy said as he sped away. Peter groaned, shooting webs to the poles, and pulling himself backwards. He let go, webzipping after Speedy.
"This isn't fair!" Peter whined, as he struggled to keep up with Speedy's blurring body. Soon, they got to the park, and Speedy racer to the top of a building, while Peter landed on a street light, hitting the spiderman pose.
"Thanks for helping me Speedy." Peter said, jumping to the rooftop and sitting at the edge.
"Meh, I was just doing my job."
A brief silence followed, as both of them knew what they were thinking. Each had a lot of questions to ask the other, but no one was ready to answer, so no one asked any questions.
"It's a beautiful day." Speedy finally spoke.
"It sure is."
"How did you get your powers?" Speedy asked, after a brief silence followed his previous statement.
"Got bitten by a spider. You?"
"Lab experiment."
Silence followed again.
"I know you have a lot of questions, and I have a lot to ask too, like A LOT. But why don't we wait till we trust each other then. Maybe we'll tell each other everything."