Nexus - Into the Marvelverse

3rd POV:

A boy closed the closet, starring at his reflection in the mirror. Winered eyes with black hair. Ans a semi-decent face, in his humble opinion.

Only took 15 years to get here. He rolled his shoulder. If nothing else he can now really pay attention to the people around him and his surroundings. Up until now he was mostly drifting along, going through the motions, except when it came training and making money. He hated the past 15 years. Boooooring. 

He stepped outside into the hallway and picked his backpack up. Hygiene? Check. Clothes? Check. He opened his backpack to check his books. Check that too.

He stepped outside, closing and locking the door behind him before walking down the street towards the bus station.

A figure ran out of the house saying his goodbyes to his relatives, before running after Bell. 

He finally caught up to him slightly out of breath. ''Asshole. You could have waited,'' complained the boy. He had brown eyes, brown hair and a lanky build.

''Ah, but Pete, how else would I hear your sweet insults?,'' greeted Bell.

''You always do this,'' whined Peter.

''Do what?''

Trying to get a rise out of me, Peter thought. He chose not to voice his thoughts and engage in this losing battle.

''Anyway! Biology homework? Did you do it?,'' Peter changed the subject.

''Nope,'' revealed Bell. they arrived at the bus station and took a seat.

''What? What do you mean you didn't do it? Biology is YOUR strongest scientific subject. Don't you plan on expanding it? Become better at it? Do something good with it?,'' Peter yelled shocked.

Thankfully the were alone, else Peters yelling would have caused a scene.

''Keep your voice down. There is no need to yell. I'm literally 50 cm away from you,'' Bell admonished, lazily slacking into his seat.

''You are saying no to a possible internship with Dr.Connors of all people,'' Peter continued to interrogate, although with a lower voice. It was a homework/competition with the first winner getting to follow Dr.Connors around the lab for a week. He was a renown genetics engineer. But like all heroes they stumble. There was some kind of conflict between Osborn and Connors and now he is on a timeout. Or ,well, at least that is what the public believes. They also believe he will return after the year is over.

Bell knew that was, most likely, not gonna be the case. The Lizard will be born and he wanted to use it as a launching stage for multiple purposes.

''Yup. Besides you are smarter than me anyway. Across the board and not just in biology. Besides on his level of expertise you are also working with chemistry. You know I suck at chemistry. So no, Peter. I didn't do my homework. You are more deserving of the spot than I am,'' Bell drawled putting on his hoodie to shield his eyes from the sun.

Besides it was not like he wanted to be good at biology. He needed to be good at biology. It was a pain to study it. Admittedly he could have also started with either physics or chemistry, but it was like trying to catch lightning in a bottle. Bell made a quick reminder to himself to open the subject of tutoring with Peter. Even a super genius needs to eat. Money will be offered as payment of course. 

...

More like Bell is gonna shove money down Peters throat, because the sap is just gonna refuse out of a misplaced sense of obligation.

Although Bell was thankful for not having a system, at times like this he wondered about having one. Everything would have been automatically done. But nope he does not have one. Which means he needs to do everything manually. And how does one do something manually? By understanding the subject. Without understanding it, he would not be able to achieve various effect.

Magic was in a sense energy. Control it in one manner or another and you achieve various effects. 

Did Bell want to cast black holes, travel through dimensions, run at light speed and turn back time? Yes. But the theories simply eluded him. So none of that for him. Yet. He hoped to fix that however.

But it was not like he was weak. Nor was his understanding in chemistry and physics non-existent. He could cast lightning, mess with people's bio electricity and thus their senses. He could change the biomolecular structure of things. He leaned how to make magical effects passive. He had his technomancy and a thousand other things besides.

It was just conceptual attacks he was lacking in.

Until then, there was a bottleneck on his powers.

''You are literally third best in the entire school, just behind me and Gwen. If you would just apply yourself more...,'' Peter let the sentence hang, giving him a hopeful look.

Bell suppressed his emotions, giving nothing away with his face. He still had a serene look. Just because he was playing at being a laid back and absent minded person, did not mean he wasn't hard working. Then again he reasoned that Peter does not know about any of his other activities and is just working with what he has. Which, in that case, fair enough. Bell still couldn't help himself, but feel a little frustrated.

What? Was it a prerequisite to be a super genius, in Peters case, or a genius, in Gwens case, in order to become a Spider-Person? Do they even have any idea, what it looks like from an outsiders perspective when those two studied? They looked like sponges sucking the ocean dry. 

The only reason Bell was only trailing behind them, instead of being left in the dust, is precisely because of his hard work and because of his photographic memory. And because this was High school, not College. The material wasn't advanced enough. They are not gonna study black holes in High School.

Those two were taking their genius for granted, clearly. Thinking of it as hard work equals smarts. Which, don't get Bell wrong, hard work is definitely important. But there is definitely more involved that makes a genius comprehend the workings of the world so easily as they do.

The bus arrived. They entered it and went to the back, taking a seat.

''Nah, don't feel like it. Besides not like it matters anymore. Unless you spontaneously develop the sudden ability to stop time, there is no way I'm gonna get my homework done in time,'' Bell reasoned and closing his eyes.

Peter sighed and shook his head while looking down.

Bell was always like this. So utterly carefree and self-assured. He vaguely remembered how their first meeting went. Even then he was holding his head up, brimming with confidence.

Worst part is that it works. He never takes notes, never joins their studying sessions. Hell, Peter remembered the first year of school. He was constantly sleeping. At first he got yelled at by the teacher and Ms. O'Quinn was furious. He was punished. They hoped he would cease such behavior. He continued. They punished him some more. Then came the tests. And he was top of the class.

After a throughout investigation, they determined he wasn't cheating. 

And then they left him alone. 

Frankly the only time Peter ever saw Bell behave different was at the beginning of 2nd Grade. He screamed in frustration, before forcing him and Gwen down to the table and teaching them in one year everything they usually teach during 2nd, 3rd and 4th Grade. At the end they all took the necessary tests. And skipped two Grades into the 5th Grade. Then Bell resumed his behavior.

Both, Gwens and Peters guardians, were reluctant, to allow them to skip two entire Grades, thinking it would mess them up socially, but in the end they decided to allow it.

And honestly? Peter was thankful. He doubted he could have sat during two years of knowledge he already had absorbed into his brain.

Both Peter and Gwen reasoned that Bell must me a genius. He probably wasn't intellectually challenged, so he wasn't paying attention. Only for him to laze around in class for the next six years as well. So clearly he still wasn't challenged. Then why didn't he skip all Grades until he was challenged, like the 10th Grade? The Year where he no longer lazed around and at least paid attention. 

Gwen concluded it must be because of them. Peter began feeling all mushy at having such a good friend who was willing to jeopardize his future for them. Gwen also concluded, that he developed the bad habit of procrastination which is the only reason why he was on 3rd place instead of 1st.

They have been studying extra hard and offering him to join their sessions so they can help him out.

 Peter sighed again and looked at the sleeping Bell. How he could sleep at all with his head on the window without developing a headache was a mystery. 

Pity, Peter thought.

Peter really wished Bell would apply himself more. For now it was just the two of them. Gwen no longer joined them on the bus. Her home was relatively close to Midtown High, so she was walking there. 

Might as well, Peter thought resting his eyes too.

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Frankly sometimes Peter wondered if the universe was trying to keep the three of them friends forever. The lockers were literally right next to each other. The houses too .... for a while. They have almost the exact same classes. Every now and then Peter shook his head at the coincidence.

Both boys closed the locker and looked around. Unusual for Gwen to not have already appeared.

The boys decided to wait for her. There are still 20 minutes until class starts. Peter checks their chat group on his phone. Nothing. Peter gets slightly anxious fearing something might have happened and looks at Bell from his periphery. As usual he was laid-back with not a care in the world. Peter calmed down a bit.

Only 3 minutes later Gwen emerged from the crowd. She was disheveled and even Peter could tell she was agitated. She locked around her, twitching nervously every now and then whipping her head around. She hugged her backpack in front of her instead of carrying it in the back.

Gwen looks at them, her face relaxes and then brightens. She quickly skips over to them.

''Guys, good morning! Sorry for being late.I had ... Girls trouble. I doubt you'd understand,'' Gwen chuckles nervously, opening her locker slowly and picking up a book. When closing it the door loudly rattled.

''Damn what crawled up your ass and died? That was rather forceful,'' teased Bell immediately. A predatory glint in his eyes. Peter starred having never seen Bell so focused.

Gwen now looked more nervous for some reason. She had to be careful else these two geniuses will found out her secret.

''I told you. Girl trouble. Aren't you good at biology? You should know the implications involved,'' Gwen shot out quickly after a beat of nervousness. She twitched, her eyes darting sideways. Before looking relieved and back at the guys.

''Oh my. Girl trouble? I appreciate your courage. I can see, '' Bell tilted his head starring her up and down and finally looking at her face ,'' how hard revealing something so ... intimate must have been for you.''

Gwens face flushed red starring at Bell. Anxiety rising in her body.

''Oh, by the way. I forgot to ask you yesterday, but you alright? You were ill, right? Why was that? Are sure you're well enough today to come back to school?,'' worriedly asked Bell.

''What? No, no, no I wasn't ill. Why would anyone think I'm ill?,'' Gwen asked confused, hiding her nervousness.

''Come now Gwen. I paid attention to you, you looked a little green at the end of the excursion,'' revealed Bell frowning.

''You did!,'' she asked flustered. Then she realized what she did. She cleared her throat, playing with her hair and asked again :''You did?''

Bells eye twitched. You didn't make it better by adding so much bass to your voice woman, both Bell and Peter thought to themselves.

Peter up until now remained silent, only turning his head to the relevant speaker. If Gwen was ill and being stubborn then he could matters to Bell. He usually outstubborned everyone around him. But he did not like where this was going and was not about to risk becoming the third wheel.

''Bell didn't do his biology homework,'' Peter blurted out.

''What!?,'' Gwen asked, looking furious but also relieved at the distraction.

Bell cast him a look.

Traitor.

Peter cast him a look back.

Your own fault.

Gwen began nagging him. Both ignored her.

''Bell don't ignore me,'' Gwen demanded, giving him a slight shove. He slammed into the lockers and Bell pretended to be hurt giving a small wince.

''Gwen, what the hell?,'' Peter jumped in, eyes wide. 

''Shit, sorry. Sorry. Are you hurt?,'' Gwen surprised at what she had done. She was sure she only applied a little force. She put a hand on Bells shoulder, just in case he needed to be hold steady.

''It is fine. I was more surprised than anything else. Anyway! So what if I didn't do my homework, it is only a competition. It's not going to be graded so I see no reason to involve myself with it,'' Bell replied.

Gwen sighed in frustration, but choose to let the matter drop after the damage she has done. It is not like there was a point to scolding him now anyways seeing as biology is their first subject.

''Fine. Be that way. Your just saying no to a free internship with Dr. Connors after all,'' Gwen felt she had to throw at least one last comment before dropping the subject. She went to remove her hand from Bells shoulder.

She pulled his hoodie.

Both Bell and Peter starred at her hand.

Gwen suddenly became very nervous. No, No, no, no, NO! She thought she had it under control after the disaster of a morning. Why is it suddenly happening to her again?

Gwen tried a few more times to remove to remove her hand unsuccessfully. Peter raised his eyebrow at seeing her hand pulling at Bells hoodie despite being completely flat.

''Gwen you can let go,'' Peter said, looking curiously at what was happening.

''I'm trying. Really. It's just ... I got glue stuck on my hand this morning and well ...,'' Gwen quickly explained with gesturing with her head to her hand in a *you can see for yourself* gesture.

Peter bought it, despite having some traces amount of lingering scepticism. Gwen was their friend. If something was truly wrong with her, surely she would tell them. Maybe it really was something embarrassing like girl trouble if she didn't want to talk about it.

Bell contemplated teasing her more, but decided not to risk it. Besides he messed with her enough. It was not his secret to tell and he was no hypocrite. He too withheld secrets of his own. He had no business telling hers to Peter. It would have been a different matter were she an enemy, but that wasn't the case.

The bell rang and Gwen still didn't get her hand unstuck.

Students began making their way to class and Peter couldn't help but note how no one paid attention to them despite eveything going on here. Unbeknownst to both of them Bell cast some minor magic so students wouldn't be as inclined to pay attention to them. 

Wasn't he a such a good friend, for protecting Gwens secret?

Bell unzipped his hoodie and removed it from his person.

''What are you doing?,'' Gwen asked surprised, but still rolled the hoodie around her arm less it was dragged on the floor and dirtied.

''I doubt you'd want to go to class while your hand is stuck on my shoulder, that would attract to much attention,'' Bell explained. Gwen nodded getting flustered at the trouble she caused and quickly moved down the hallway.

''Our class is the other way,'' Bell corrected her, Peter looked confused and wanted to open his mouth but Bell slapped his arm.

The blonde turned around, her face red. She used her free hand to form a barrier as she walked past the boys.

''You can be such an ass sometimes,'' she heard Peter say. She whipped around seeing the boys going in her original direction.

''Bell!,'' she yelled in embarrassment, making him burst out laughing, even Peter was chuckling.

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Gwens head laid on the table in the cafeteria in frustration. It was their big break currently and the whole day up until now has been a disaster. Especially biology where her hand was enveloped by Bells hoodie. Dr.Connors was non to pleased but she gave a quick excuse that she hurt her hand and put a cool aid on it. She knew he didn't buy it. The hoodie would just heat the cool aid up, but thankfully he let the matter drop.

Bell was admonished by Dr.Connors but he didn't care. Clearly. Results for the winner are pending.

Thankfully her hand detached after that lesson and he got his hoodie back.

Aside from that she got a headache because she heard everything. The whispering in the back of the class. The cars outside. The rat crawling through the walls. Girl suffered from sensory overload and was trying to get it under control. Much as Bell wanted to help her and give her some tips, it was something she had to go through alone.

''By the way did you guys see the first episode of Cyberpunk: 2077?,'' asked Peter before putting a spoon of soup in his mouth.

Bell nodded and Gwen gave a thumbs up.

''What do you think this story will be about?`,'' Peter excitedly asked.

Gwen shrugged, but Bell chose to answer:''Yeah but it's just the first episode. Chill. We will find out as more episodes are released.''

Peter gaped and started to get agitated:'' Chill? Chill?! Oh sure I'm chill. It's just AFoxyScriptwriter's (*wink wink**wink wink*) works we are talking about here. You know that guy, that consistently releases banger animations and music videos. League of Legends. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Wall-E, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, A Silent Voice and many more besides? That guy that releases banger music like I really want to stay at your House, Ma Meilleure Ennemie, Savages and a heaps of other songs too? You know that guy? That guy literally everyone talks about?''

Gwen pointed at Peter in a *exactly* manner.

Bell felt uncomfortable. He released those contents to make money first and foremost. He knew fame would unfortunately follow him, but he just didn't feel deserving of it. In his head it felt like he was stealing intellectual property and profiting of other peoples hard work. Which was certainly true in a sense, but not true in this world seeing as none of these works existed yet. Still ... feelings were illogical.

Bell shrugged casually and explained his point of view:'' I'm just saying you know. Have you guys ever paid attention to the credits? There is no way one guy can take care of all of that. Of what goes into making a movie and stuff. Voice acting, animating, composing music and scores and sound effects and all that other stuff.''

''Please don't tell me you actually buy into that conspiracy? You seriously believe he uses people and then discards them without crediting them. Guy is clearly using an A.I. of some sort. People know that much at least. Or have you forgotten how Stark made a show of trying to hack his YouTube channel only to end up with a guy residing in Thailand that couldn't speak any english whatsoever,'' Gwen finally raised her head and joined the conversation. She looked unimpressed.

Yeah, that was a thing. Bell remembered that event. Frankly if it weren't for his technomancy and his defences he would have been found out. Let us ignore the fact that Stark broke multiple laws and focus on the fact he got away scotfree. Bell could have sued him, true, but there would have been no way to do that without revealing who he was. Stark was still trying to hack him to this day both because he embarrassed him publicly and because of his hurt ego. He could have retaliated in any other way, but chose not to risk making Stark into an actual enemy. Say what you want about Stark but when it came to engineering he put his money where his mouth was. It was a testament to Starks genius that he was always only one step behind Bells defences, and a testament to just how much of a cheat his technomancy was that he remained one step ahead. Best to keep their current rivalry ongoing and engage in this competition of theirs. Bell certainly improved his technomancy further and further thanks to Starks challenges.

'Geniuses were just something else, man. Especially marvel universe ones,' Bell thought to himself.

Bell raised both his hands in a placating manner and apologized:'' I get it. Alright? I'm sorry. It's just ... I dunno.'' He shrugged helplessly. The three resumed eating deciding to drop the subject for a bit. Let their tempers cool down.

''Which one of us do you think will win Connors competition?,'' Gwen asked Peter.

''Me obviously,'' Peter confidently replied, giving a small smirk.

''Oh my. Someone is confident. I will let you eat your words soon enough,'' Gwen replied, pointing her spoon at Peter, engaging his attempts at banter.

''Mhm, mhm, I guess we will have to wait and see. At least we know who hasn't won the competition,'' Peter replied a little passive aggressively, looking at Bell.

''Yeah, indeed,'' Gwen joined Peter in looking at Bell.

Bell simply rolled his eyes and countered:'' Are you still harping on about that. What is done is done, let it rest. At this point your just beating a dead horse.''

Gwen scoffed focusing on her plate. Peter on the other hand decided to graciously extend an olive branch to Bell. He will just get him at their next assignment.

''But no, seriously. What do you think this new show will be about?,'' Peter asked again. Of the three of them Bell always gave the best literary analyses and got the best grades in art as well. If only he could be as dedicated with all his other subjects as he was with ... Peter shooed the thought away. He really was beating a dead horse at this point.

Bell sighed and closed his eyes, clearly analyzing things in his head. Gwen and Peter watched him work his magic. He finished the episode with a cliffhanger. DeShawn putting a bullet in V's head. Before that there was the preparation for the heist, the heist itself, Jackies and Saburos death. The Soulkiller being inserted in V's data slot. Maybe it was a little fast paced for the first episode, but the unofficial motto in Night City was *Live hard, Die fast* so that was by design.

Bell opened his eyes and began explaining:'' V is obviously not dead. The Soulkiller programm was heavily emphasized to be this huge deal, right? I'm sure next episode we will see V again and find out what is on that data shard and then ... I don't know man, hard to say. Whatever the case don't get too attached to V.''

''What? Why not?,'' asked Gwen curiously. Peter nodded.

''Because it is the Cyberpunk genre. There are no happy endings in Night City. I mean just look at Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. And that conversation in the Afterlife about there being no such thing as living legends. If you ask me that seems like foreshadowing. But honestly I doubt it will be similar to Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. I think this one will be more philosophical in nature. What kind of questions it will try to tackle remains to be seen. I'm sorry, I really can only speculate. There is just not enough for me to make anything conclusive,'' Bell decided to throw them a few bones. He shrugged apolegetically.

The two sighed in disappointment hoping to have had more. Most of the stuff they already determined themselves.

''Your speculating a lot,'' Gwen said, picking at her food, having wished for something more specific.

Bell shrugged and explained:''If you watch enough works, especially works from the same author, you can notice patterns. Recognize the patterns and you can speculate things reasonable well. AFoxyScriptwriter doesn't do sequels. Most of his shows or movies stand on their own and also contain traces of philosophical questions. And yet Cyberpunk has a sequel. Clearly. He has planned something big for it.''

''I thought the first show was more of a critique towards capitalism than anything philosophical. The characters dying was just a result of the world around them,'' explained Peter, pushing his glasses upwards.

''All criticism is inherently philosophical in nature,'' Gwen replied,'' Besides it was not like the characters were blameless. They committed crimes.''

''Yes. Because of the world around them. People need to eat, Gwen. The corpos were not only trying to steal everything from them, but also were overpricing everything so what little they had would not be enough. People can only take so much, before even the most upstanding citizens resort to crimes. Just take Gloria for example. They were paying her pennies, so she was forced to sell stolen implants from deceased patients,'' Peter argued passionately.

Bells jaw muscles twitched in amusement. He really did corrupt Peter in this world.

''People shouldn't resort to crimes. They could have risen in protest,'' counterargued Gwen.

''Are you saying that, because that is what you believe in? Or is that your father talking? The entire point is that the corpos have gotten too strong, they literally have their own private armies. There were 4 corpo wars completely unsanctioned by the government in case you forgotten. The governments only work so long as they are the strongest entity in the country. If they aren't then the the law and order can't be upheld. Instead it relies on the whims of the corpos. When the system gets compromised to this extent it becomes a dog eat dog world. The strongest take and the rest scurry in the dirt, trying to somehow survive just a few more days. When things get to this point, protesting would achieve nothing,'' Peter argued back.

''So what? People should grab their weapons and storm the CEOs houses? Mowing them and their family down. They would have been no better than the people they killed. The authorities should have to put a stop to the corpos machinations, at the peoples behest,'' Gwen replied.

''Sooo if I kill a pedophile, does that mean I raped as many many minors as the pedophile? Cause I'm no better than the one I killed?,'' Bell questioned.

Gwen looked at him with wide eyes, before shaking her head:'' You are misapplying my argument here. That is not what I said.''

''That is exactly what you said. Besides how will the authorities take care of the CEOs when they are in their pockets? When I made my argument, corrupt officials were implied. So what now, Gwen,'' Peter piped in, narrowing his eyes.

''Excuse me?,'' Gwen sharply asked, narrowing her eyes not liking what she was hearing.

''We KNOW your father isn't corrupt. But he is not omniscient. Look me in the eye and tell me that one of his underlings wasn't bribed behind his back to tamper with evidence, causing a suspect to escape justice. I dare you,'' Bell intervened trying to cool rising tempers.

''So what you are suggesting is that everyone should take Justice into their own hands. Is that it? There are procedures in place to bring criminals to Justice. We should trust in them, else everything descends into chaos.'' Gwen hissed out.

Peter was starting to get frustrated with her. For one reason or another she simply wasn't acknowledging his argument properly. He forced himself to calm down and tried a different venue:'' I agree with you. People should trust in the system and not take matters into their own hands. All I'm saying is that IF it fails, somebody needs to make the hard choices and find a solution so that things return to normalcy. Sometimes the solution means removing the source of the problems. Maybe even permanently. It is not nice and shouldn't happen but well...'' He shrugged his shoulders.

Gwen starred at Peter slack jawed. She turned to Bell and asked:'' You don't agree with him, do you?''

Bell smacked his lips and shrugged apologetically.

Gwen shook her head and rose sharply:'' I can't believe you guys. Don't bother waiting for me. I'm going home.''

She moved without looking and slammed into another student who was playing catch with his friend. Gwens sense blarred at the back of her head and she turned around catching the Rugby that would have hit her head, instinctively. She passed the rugby to the guy she slammed into and went on her way.

Her two friends watched her depart.

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Somehow Gwen found herself in the abandoned train yard. She was frustrated and pissed. Her entire day sucked. She closed her eyes calming herself down. She had bigger things to deal with.

Call her crazy, but she was 99% sure the spider that bit her gave her spider powers. She was also pretty sure that the spider was radioactive. Unless normal spiders suddenly developed the ability to grant people superpowers. Which, in that case, good for her for not turning into a puddle of goo or into some kind of bizzare mutated spider human hybrid, in appearance at least.

At least that is how far she got in terms of developing a hypothesis. And Gwen ever the scientist, at least she would like to consider herself such, decided to experiment and put her theory to the test.

First, sticky hands. She found herself near a train compartment. Attempt number 1 on crawling along the train.

Gwen jumped up her fingers sprawled. She fell on her butt, dirtying her jeans. Experiment ended in failure, fingers did not stick to the surface of the train.

Ok, maybe learn to craw... eh, maybe learn to walk before trying to sprint.

Attempt number 2. Gwen stood close to the train putting one hand on it. Something shifted. Gwen perked and eagerly jumped to get other hand stuck at a higher altitude. She landed back on her feet, failing in that regard. But she still considered this progress, her other hand was still stuck.

Ok. Attempt number 3, all good things are three. Right? Gwen put both her hands on the train, trying to get the familiar feeling in both her hands. Yes, success. She tried putting on hand higher. Yes, another success. Her feet were now dangling. She tried crawling along the train. It was awkward and she lost control, landing on her feet.

Ok. Attempt number 4. Some people theorized spiders can stick to surfaces because of their bio electricity. Might as well test if all her body is sticky. She repeated the previous success but this time tried to get her feet stuck as feel. No success there. Maybe the shoes were far to thick or insulating. Let's try her knees. She struggled a bit but manage to make them stick. She moved slowly but surely, positioning herself parallel to the ground and began crawling.

Eventually she reached the other end of the train. She stumbled a bit, even losing her stickiness in one of her hands once, but she made it.

Experiment successful and theory proven. 

She giggled in delight, really liking this and feeling surprisingly comfortable.

She decided to get more familiar with her ability and began crawling around the train multiple times. Finally she let go. landing back on the earth.

She starred at her hand in wonder.

Ok, that changes things. 

If I have spider powers than surely that is not the end of her abilities. She closed her eyes recounting everything she knew about spiders.

A determined look crossed her features after she opened her eyes.

Right. Proportional strength. Surely that must be a thing. Right?

She looked around for a heavy object. Her eyes eventually settled on the train compartment she crawled around on. Those things weighed around 100 tons. even if she couldn't lift the object, at least she might have an idea of where she stands in terms of strength.

She went to one end of the train compartment and put her hands under the sturdiest part she could find. And she began using all her strength to lift. She groaned, her feet digging into the dirt, face red and chest heaving. The train groaned slightly as it was ever so slightly lifted up by her. She continued to exert herself a little more lifting the train just a little bit more, before letting go. The train slammed down kicking massive dust, making Gwen choke and cough. She stepped away from it trying to get fresh air. 

She looked back when she recovered and noticed the slight bend in the middle of the train compartment. She was horrified. Going by what she just experienced, she could easily kill someone if she didn't control her strength. She remembered how she shoved Bell into the lockers and shuddered. If she had lost control then...

No. 

No. Better not think about that.

She definitely needed to get that under control. By her estimation she could easily lift between 60 to 70 tons. Though it might also be less than that. She starred at the somewhat rusty compartment and finally noticed and noticed it was stripped of its insides. Definitely not a 100 tons then. Gwen sighed in frustration. To many unknown variables and too much guess work. Could be 50 tons or 40 or 65. Gwen released a breath. Unless she got better equipment she could only work with estimations. Not that she was gonna talk with anyone about that.

She's seen the movies to know what will happen. Best avoid such a fate.

Still she wasn't tired surprisingly. Did it also give her higher endurance? Or perhaps the trifecta? Higher constitution consisting of durability, stamina and regeneration? 

Yeah, Gwen wasn't all that eager to hurt herself and test her durability or regeneration. But stamina she could definitely do.

It has been years since she did it but like a long lost skill it slowly returned to her. Pure muscle memory taking care of things. Like a person who hasn't cycled in decades. She put her hands above her head and executed a perfect pirouette.

She smirked. She still got it.

She danced, and jumped and did splits in the air, did a standing split and danced and danced and executed all manners of ballet sequences.

Finally she stopped after an hour. No sweat on her forehead or even the smallest hint of fatigue. A joyful smile on her face. She missed this, why did she ever stop again? She immediately lost her smile. Right she was down in the dumpster, because she lost her mother. It was her that encouraged Gwen to dance, though never competitively, considering all the toxicity involved with professional ballet. 

She sighed. Focusing back to the task at hand. Increased stamina? Check. She really didn't want to test durability and regeneration. She wasn't a masochist.

She did notice one other thing. She was so flexible. Like ridiculously so. Some of the stuff she did should not have been possible. Her elasticity definitely atrophied, yet she was still able to do the splits.

Guess she can check that off too.

Huh.

She really did get the powers of a spideeeeer....

She narrowed her eyes turning her head to lock at her behind.

What do spiders do? Right, they spin webs in the form of silk. Where does the silk come from? From the silk gland. The exit right next to their ... exit, their butt. Gwen cringed. Yeah, no. Even if she had the ability she would never use it. It was very impractical. 

But also what was the sense of hers that warned her of the danger she was facing. That definitely did not come from a spider. Unless spiders really had such an ability and they just didn't know about it. It MIGHT be possible. Proving such an ability seemed hard.

Guess no swinging for her. 

Unless...

She starred at her wrists. She inspected her wrists and found no opening or anything of the sort where she could shoot organic webs from. Then again it was probably better this way. Even to her that sounded disgusting.

Gwen shook her head. Here she was complaining, while some would literally kill to have such enhancements fall in their lap.

So what if there was a slight set back? She'll just make ... ugh ... ugh... web shooters! Yes, she decided to call them web shooters. She will make those and then she can swing around.

Gwen mentally patted herself on the back.

Satisfied with her experiments and her conclusions she grabbed her things and started making her way home, leaving the yard behind.

High up on a far away apartments rooftop sat a person, having witnessed all of her antics. He shook his head. Guess intellect does not equate to wisdom. She should be thankful he ran interference on the cameras and a few other observatory devices, like eyes and stuff, thus keeping her out of the spotlight of any nefarious organisations. He shook his head, not that he was gonna tell her about this anytime soon.

He jumped down and started making his way home as well.

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Peter won the competition. Both Gwen and Bell congratulated him.

''Thanks, Mr. Parker. Put these down here, please,'' gestured Connors with his good arm to a spot on the table. Peter put the two boxes down just as ordered.

''Now a few ground rules. I trust you are up to date on safety procedures in the environment of a lab?,'' Connors asked Peter, who nodded,'' Good, I want these uphold at all times. But here are some more. No recordings or photos. No taking out any experiments out of the lab. And communicate with me. I'm more than willing to indulge you a little, that was after all the point of the competition, so don't be afraid to ask me anything. Aside from that you are free to watch me work and take notes. Understood?''

Peter nodded and immediately shot his first question:'' In that case Dr.Connors may I ask what you are currently working.''

Dr.Connors nodded smiling, having anticipated just such a question. He gestured with his good arm towards his missing stump and began explaining a somber look giving way to his features:'' You probably noticed my missing arm. There was a time when I had it and then I lost it in an experiment. Yes, Mr.Parker such accidents can happen even to the best of us. I was just lucky enough to escape with my life, certainly something my wife Martha tries to remind me of everyday. But for me, it was the unluckiest day of my life. I wish for nothing more but to hold my son Billy high up in the air like I did all those other times. I trust you can imagine how hard this is with one arm?''

He gestured to something on the other side of the room. A wall filled with multiple diagramms and formulas greeted Peters eyes, who pushed his glasses for that little bit of extra clarity. There was also a table filled with equipment and two rats in a cage, both missing a leg. And a lizard in another separate cage.

Connors continued:'' Since then I have been dedicating my life to finding a solution for me and others of my like. I believe cross-species genetics can be a viable answer for that. I have been trying to take the characteristic of lizards who can regrow their entire limb and apply it to other species,'' gesturing to the rats,'' And up until recently I have been working for Oscorp. And we made great strides in progress, but then we hit a wall and couldn't overcome it. And you know how it goes with corporations, when something doesn't net or promises them money. They removed the funding and I didn't like that and made too much of a fuss, they got annoyed and fired me. I'm still trying to make some progress, but with little money going around progress has been rather slow. I feel we were so close too,you know, that is the most frustrating part. I believe that if we could just make...''

''... the Decay Algorithm work, you would be able to sustain the changes in the DNA permanently and enable the transference of the the lizards characteristics to other beings.,'' Peter interrupted only half paying attention to Dr.Connors passionate speech, and analyzing everything on the wall.

Connors starred at Parker genuinely impressed someone so young would understand this, until slowly confirming;'' Yes, of course. You are indeed correct Mr.Parker. The Decay Algorithm.''

''May I?,'' Peter asked, gesturing towards the workstation.

''You may, but don't touch anything, Mr.Parker,'' Dr.Connors mirthfully chuckled turning towards the yet unopened boxes and opened them. He began taking out the ampules and sorting them in the closet. There was no point in not indulging him a little, just as he had said in the beginning. He doubted anything would come of it, but if nothing else a bright mind can have the first taste of what it was like working in this field.

Sometime during the sorting Peter came back and laid out a paper in front of Connors. It was a very long formula indicating the amount of the different solutions to make the serum work. Connors looked at it fully expecting to see something he already tried or just simply didn't work. The more he read, the more his face slacked until he finally put the paper down shacking his head.

''Some of the most brilliant minds have worked on this for almost half a decade and you just ... How did you do this?,'' Connors questioned impressed.

Peter gestured around him, until he bashfully tapped his head with his pencil, releasing a explosive burst of air.

Connors smiled at the young man before him, fiercely impressed.

''Peter, would you be interested in becoming my lab assistant for longer than the duration of this internship?,'' offered Connors.

''Really? Of course Dr.Connors,'' Peter immediately accepted.

''Call me Curt. At least outside of School hours. Come. We have much work to do Peter, thousands of ailing people depend on us.'' Connors passionately said guiding them both to the lab station.

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How exactly did she get here?

Gwen stared at her reflection in the mirror. One month has passed since Peter has started his internship. Since then she has been working tirelessly on her outfit and web shooters.

She starred at them. Two 'wristbands' were firmly secured around her wrists. Or more accurately her web shooters. It was difficult trying to build them. First she had them from her father, then she needed the right amount of quantity for all the different components, then she had to further adjust the quantities to her body weight and then she had to work on a firing mechanism that wouldn't impede her movement or trigger at every hand gesture. And they were working as intended, she even took them for a test drive in a hall on that abandoned train yard and swung around for a bit. She practiced enough that she has gotten pretty familiar with great heights by now.

But she managed it. She felt extremely proud of them. 

Her babies.

...

That sounded better in her head.

But that was not the only thing she worked on. She also worked on an outfit. Her pants were completely black, the black continuing and ending over her chest in a big V like pattern. Her underarms were adorned with pink web like pattern. The rest of her outfit + mask was white. Inside of her hoodie the same pink web like patterns could be found. Her mask had big white lenses so she could see and of course she couldn't forget her green ballet shoes. In that regard the hardest part was keeping this a secret from her dad.

It was only now that she was inspecting herself in the mirror, that she asked herself what she was doing. Or more accurately what she was trying to accomplish.

She definitely didn't want to become a hero, that's for sure.

No.

She remembered what she told the boys all these weeks ago and she was not about to prove herself a hypocrite. Even behind their backs. She stood by what she said.

Saving people should be done by authorized people only. She was not going to swing about and take the law into her own hands while executing some form of vigilante justice. No. No. That was her fathers job. Her father will uphold law and order.

She quickly undressed herself of her outfit and web shooters and threw it in the closet, closing the door behind her without another look and leaving the suit in darkness.