This damned suit really does come with ridiculous side effects. There's always this bloodthirsty urge, like it's trying to push me toward killing. It even feels like my thoughts are being affected. Maybe my willpower just isn't strong enough yet...
The suit's benefits were absurdly powerful, but so were its drawbacks. Peter felt that at his current level, he simply couldn't handle it. Using it for a short time was still manageable, but the longer he wore it, the less certain he was whether he was controlling it or it was controlling him.
The very first time he put the suit on, he had already felt that overwhelming urge to kill, which was why he had shown no mercy at all to Kingpin's men.
Of course, part of that had also been personal.
Either way, Peter decided he would avoid touching that suit unless absolutely necessary. And since he hadn't brought his own regular suit into this universe, he had no choice but to pull another blind-box skin.
"System, spend 200 Hero Points and draw one skin blind box."
[Ding. Deducting Hero Points...]
[Current balance: 250 Hero Points!]
[Drawing Spider Hero Skin...]
[Ding. Congratulations, Host. You have obtained the Bully Suit!]
[Bully Suit: The classic red-and-blue Spider-Man suit from Tobey Maguire's first-generation Spider-Man. Defense is slightly weaker, but when equipped, it grants the full power of that suit! Spider-Sense is enhanced, evolving into Super Precognition while in use, allowing you to easily respond to anything! Total accumulated usage time: 6 hours. Cooldown: 24 hours.]
So it was actually Bully Maguire's classic red-and-blue suit.
That meant if Peter put it on, from power set to outward appearance, he would basically be a perfect copy of Bully Maguire.
First he got that version's strength, then the discount suit, and now even the Spider-Man suit itself. He had every reason to suspect the system was doing this on purpose.
Still, this suit had been made personally by Bully Maguire's Peter and did not use any especially advanced materials, so its defensive performance was fairly weak. It probably wouldn't hold up for too many battles.
As for the actual attributes, though, they were excellent. Upgrading Spider-Sense into Super Precognition was already ridiculously overpowered.
And with the added support of the Spider Arm Blades, most ordinary opponents wouldn't even be able to get close.
Thinking about it that way, the suit actually seemed pretty good after all.
After taking off the Dark Suit and changing back into regular clothes, Peter finally felt like himself again. That feeling was much better than the oppressive mood the other suit put him in.
Right now, he had decided to head down to the docks and get some fries... no, a burger.
Don't ask why.
Because he liked them.
Aunt May's signature dish had always been bacon rolls, but those things were awful. As a result, Peter now found even a basic burger unbelievably delicious.
Calming himself and wandering around this parallel world, he noticed that the overall street layout wasn't too different from his own. The main differences were mostly in the architecture.
Did people look the same in every universe?
Peter was curious about that, considering that he and this universe's Spider-Man looked exactly alike.
Then again, maybe they didn't.
After all, these were different universes.
At the very least, the Jameson in the New York Times looked exactly the same, except this one seemed to be going a little bald.
Night was the best time for crime.
And New York was the perfect place for crime.
Watching two so-called gangs brawl in the middle of the street with clubs and hammers, Peter couldn't help laughing to himself.
He had been walking for barely half an hour and had already seen three separate fights.
Still, more trouble wasn't worth it. They could beat each other senseless with beer bottles for all he cared.
"Hey, man, spare a little cash!"
When a hand landed on his shoulder, Peter turned around with a puzzled expression. A group of punks around his age stood there with lip piercings and fake swagger, acting like they could scare him just by looking tough.
"Me? You mean me? Sorry, but these three hundred bucks were something I took off a few little punks earlier. I really don't have much more than that."
Feeling playful, Peter didn't mind messing around with these kids for a bit. Being alone was boring anyway.
"Awesome! You're the guy who robbed the Crocodile Gang in broad daylight?! That's sick! Wait, you look kind of..."
"Like Spider-Man, right? Yeah, lots of people say that. But I'm just a student. I go to Midtown High~"
Cutting off a girl with heavy smoky eye makeup, Peter shrugged and flatly denied being Spider-Man before adding, "Everyone knows Spider-Man is dead, right?"
"That's incredible, man! But I go to Midtown High too. How come I've never seen you there?!"
One of the boys, who was actually pretty handsome except for how overly feminine he looked, said it with obvious excitement.
"I'm guessing you skip class a lot. If you're never at school, then of course you haven't seen me."
Then Peter looked him over and asked, "This is kind of intrusive, but... are you gay?"
"H-hey, man, don't say that so loud. Don't let people hear you..."
The pretty boy immediately panicked and lowered his voice.
"If you don't want people to know, then maybe wipe off the lipstick and fake lashes. Right now you look either gay or like you're trying to be a drag performer."
Peter nodded seriously, as if offering a perfectly reasonable suggestion.
"Alright, back to the point. I have a small idea."
Peter adjusted the tie on his suit, his gentle smile abruptly turning vicious as a short scalpel appeared in his hand.
"Hands up. This is a robbery."
"Come on, man, quit joking. We go to the same school. If anyone should be robbing people, it should be us, not the other way around..."
The first boy, the one who had slapped Peter on the shoulder, stepped forward with a grin, clearly thinking Peter was kidding.
"Face reality, kids. If I could rob that Crocodile Gang, then a bunch of little dropouts like you don't even register to me."
"Now then, boys to the left, girls to the right, and anyone in between can stand in the middle. Empty your pockets."
"Why the hell should we listen to you?!" the smoky-eyed girl snapped.
Peter moved in a blur and yanked her right in front of him, pressing the gleaming scalpel to her throat.
"If you say one more stupid thing, I can't promise I won't cut your throat open."
"Hey, man, this is everything we've got. Just don't hurt anybody..."
The little gang immediately started digging through their pockets. After pooling everything together, they came up with ninety-eight dollars.
Pathetic.
Peter took the money, kept part of it, then tossed most of it back to them as he stepped away with a smile.
"Call it lunch money. And here's some advice, stay in school and study properly. Otherwise you won't even know how people ruin your life until it's already happened."
"Hey! You got the guts to tell us your name or not?!"
The pretty boy shouted after him.
"I'm Bully Maguire~"
"And no, I don't swing that way~"
Just like that, Peter used the forty-eight dollars he kept to buy himself a huge beef burger and a giant pile of fries.
Then he heard a voice filled with disbelief.
"Peter?!"
"You're alive?!"
Midway through stuffing his face, Peter looked up and saw a blonde woman in a police uniform, her figure still striking despite the uniform.
She was beautiful.
Her eyes were wide, and besides shock, there was also a trace of joy in her expression.
Peter felt like he recognized her somehow, but he shouldn't have.
He was a visitor from another universe, after all.
"Do we know each other?"
"Peter Parker. I know you."
"I'm Gwen."
"Gwen Stacy."
(End of Chapter)
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