Night fell.
Queens at night was nowhere near as chaotic as the Hell's Kitchen next door, but now and then, from some secluded alley off the street, bursts of wailing and excited shouting could still be heard.
Sounds that ordinary people would barely notice rang especially clearly in Peter Parker's ears.
But right now, he had no mind to spare for that kind of petty street filth.
That afternoon, after Peter handed his father's decay-rate algorithm to Dr. Connors, the two of them successfully verified it through Oscorp's bio-simulation supercomputing center, allowing a three-legged lab mouse to regrow a new limb.
The success left Peter ecstatic. But when he happily rode his skateboard back home, he found Uncle Ben sitting outside, staring at him with a grim expression.
"Peter, did you forget something?"
"What?"
Peter froze.
"You let my wife, your Aunt May, walk twelve blocks alone in the middle of the night, then stand by herself in an empty subway station waiting..."
"Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"
Seeing Peter's blank face, Ben Parker only grew angrier. "And all of that happened because you forgot to pick her up!"
"Look, I'm sorry, but..."
...
"So the reason we've been crouching on this rooftop in the middle of the night like idiots is to watch a family drama starring a moody teenager?"
Not far away, Logan looked over at Fenris with total disbelief as Fenris watched the argument between uncle and nephew with obvious enjoyment.
"I told you already, you could've gone back to the school. You're the one who insisted on staying to watch the show."
Fenris shot Logan a glance and was just about to speak when he saw Peter slam the door and storm off. His spirits immediately lifted.
Not long after, Ben Parker jogged after him as well, leaving only Aunt May standing before the shattered glass door, her eyes full of worry.
"Let's go."
Fenris quickly got to his feet and followed after Uncle Ben.
After going some distance, Peter lightly jumped onto a streetlamp hidden in the dark and quietly watched as Uncle Ben, anxiously calling out for him, passed beneath and continued on.
"Oh, this kid is a disaster."
Logan muttered in amazement.
He had no memory at all of what he had been like as a teenager, so seeing this scene now only felt strangely novel to him.
Meanwhile, Peter trudged dejectedly into a convenience store and casually picked up a bottle of milk to pay for, only to discover while checking his clothes that he was still a little short on cash.
"What, your daddy didn't give you enough money for milk today?"
The overweight clerk mocked Peter mercilessly as he awkwardly dug for change.
"It's just one cent..."
Already in a lousy mood, Peter only felt worse.
Bang!
Just as Peter was about to push the door open and leave, the masked man who had been standing behind him suddenly shoved over a row of shelves right in front of the clerk, then took advantage of the distraction to empty the cash from the register.
When the man saw Peter looking at him, he casually tossed him the bottle of milk and turned to run.
"Hey! Put that money down!"
"Will somebody stop that man!"
The fat clerk only managed a couple of steps before he was already wheezing. He turned pleading eyes toward Peter, his face full of desperation.
"Kid, help me."
"What does that have to do with me?"
Peter let out a cold laugh. He had no goodwill at all toward a clerk with such a foul mouth.
He silently watched the robber run farther and farther away.
A moment later, just as the man was about to disappear into a patch of shadow, the familiar figure of Uncle Ben stepped into his path.
The instant Peter saw that, his whole body jolted.
Slap!
The robber's foot slipped, and he fell straight to the ground in front of Ben Parker. A handgun, the safety already off, suddenly slid out from inside his clothes.
"Stop that man!"
The clerk's ragged shout came from nearby. Ben Parker's ears twitched, and without hesitation he lunged for the gun.
"Oh no! Uncle Ben!"
The robber was clearly faster than the aging Ben Parker. He snatched up the gun first, and in his panic, the muzzle turned toward Ben before he even realized it.
In the distance, the moment Peter Parker saw the robber raise the gun, every hair on his body stood on end. He shot up his hands, and two strands of web blasted from his wrists, yanking him toward Ben Parker at terrifying speed.
Bang!
Bang! Bang!
Three deafening gunshots rang out in rapid succession, and a cry of pain instantly followed.
"No!"
Peter Parker's eyes nearly split open with rage. He wished he could move faster. Faster.
But in the next instant, his vision blurred. Somehow, a tall, powerfully built figure had appeared in front of Ben Parker, shielding him completely.
"You piece of trash!"
Logan bared his teeth in a grin. His two adamantium claws shot out and cleanly deflected all three bullets.
For someone like Logan, hardened by countless battles, bullets fired by an ordinary person were laughably easy to read. Blocking them took no effort at all.
The robber stared in shock. He couldn't comprehend how the frail old man in front of him had, in the blink of an eye, turned into such a ferocious brute.
"Die!"
Logan growled low, raising his claws high before slashing down.
Thud!
An arm suddenly shot out from the side and firmly blocked Logan's strike.
"What are you doing?"
Logan frowned. "Didn't we spend the whole damn night waiting just to kill this scumbag?"
"This guy can die anytime," Fenris said. "Just not right now."
He tilted his head, indicating Ben Parker behind Logan.
Ben had already fainted from the shock.
"If he dies by your hand right now, the Parker family will end up with a lot of unnecessary trouble. We can deal with him some other time."
"Hmph."
Logan thought it over, then snorted and reluctantly lowered his hand.
"Uncle Ben!"
Accompanied by a panicked cry, Peter Parker swung down on his web and landed precisely beside Ben.
When he realized his uncle had only passed out and wasn't actually hurt, Peter's whole body went weak, and he collapsed onto the ground in relief.
Just moments ago, he had truly believed he was about to lose Uncle Ben.
And the reason for all of it would have been because he had let that criminal run right past him.
"Thank God... thank God..."
Peter gasped for breath, shaken by fear after the fact.
As he spoke, he glanced at the robber Fenris had casually knocked unconscious, then savagely kicked him.
Crack!
A sharp sound of breaking bone rang out. A flicker of hesitation passed through Peter's eyes, but it vanished just as quickly.
Only then did Peter finally focus on the man who had intervened just now and realize it was the burly guy he had saved the night before.
"It's you?"
"Spider-baby, where's your pajamas?"
Logan retracted his claws and slowly crouched halfway down, looking at Peter Parker, whose eyes were darting with uncertainty. His mouth, however, showed no mercy as he mocked him.
"So. Know me now?"
"Hm?"