In an alternate reality, Peter Parker's daughter could even see the future through her Spider-Sense. And let's not forget Madame Web. So, developing my Spider-Sense to the highest level is my dream and my main goal as Spider-Man.
There's room for improvement, right? But that's just wishful thinking; let's see how developed it is now. I'm climbing the flimsiest of structures, and after fifteen minutes of "backyard parkour," the beam beneath me buckled and broke. Of course, my Sense of Intuition had reliably warned me of danger a couple of seconds before. Of course, thanks to my reflexes, those few seconds were more than enough, but I would have liked a little more time to react. This is the Achilles' heel of this ability—its inconsistency.
One moment it's warning you of an attack from behind, happening right now, the next, it's informing you of a danger that might happen in five minutes. Or, for example, how do you react to the "danger" emanating from snowflakes during a snowfall or raindrops?
But there are also such "glitches," like influencing through radio waves or, for example, a gas that blocks Sense. The Green Goblin developed one in the comics. I don't even want to mention symbiotes. So, even a dream ability has its weaknesses.
That's why it needs to be trained, made stronger. A plan for the future has been developed. So what do we have in the end? Spider-superstrength, yes—we don't even feel four tons. Spider-speed, well, not exactly "super," to be honest.
I can clearly run faster than many athletes, but that's all. But it does produce something else. Spider-endurance—I can test myself for eight hours and barely break a sweat. And, beyond all praise, Spider-Agility and Reflexes. They work together for me, as they developed best. I react to everything like a mongoose. And I won't even mention agility—I'm nimble, fluid as water—in short, a born dancer.
That's all I've discovered. I tried shooting webs from my hands, of course, just in case I found channels for organic web launching, but to no avail. The same goes for the stingers on my forearms or telepathy with spiders. That happened, too. I didn't even count on abilities like Miles's in the comics, namely bioelectricity and the ability to temporarily become invisible. Although, it's not over yet.
My feelings tell me that everything was oh so complicated with that bite. After all, I don't recall Peter ever killing the spider that bit him in any version. So who knows what could have happened if its entrails got into my bloodstream at that moment. But I don't want to worry about it; the less you worry, the more nerve cells you'll carry in old age.
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That's pretty much how the next month of my life went: school, lab, training, and so on. But today I finally felt the first nudge of canon.
A poster screamed: "Will you dare to face Crusher Hogan in the ring?! Last three minutes with our champion and win five hundred dollars! And if you're skilled enough to defeat the invincible Crusher, you'll get two thousand!"
What a number. A very common situation for Spidey, one might say his first appearance in public, and also the event after which Parker makes a decision that leads to consequences that will haunt him until his death.
It's worth participating solely for the chance to stop this show's thief. It also wouldn't hurt to get a few extra bucks. After all, you need something to make your first costume. And materials aren't cheap these days. I remember Pete getting screwed after his performance, but I won't make his mistake.
First, never take off your mask. Second, stand firm. "Speaking of the mask," I said, smiling slyly. "Wrestling as Spider-Man in a run-of-the-mill wrestling match? A bit shallow for me, but as... 'The Masked Marvel,' for example. Heh-heh. It'll be fun. And I won't have to worry about the costume: a white T-shirt, jeans, shoes, and a pre-made balaclava, maybe a little tweaked. It's beautiful. Let's do that." With these thoughts in mind, I headed home, having torn down the poster first. There were still copies on the stand.
"I'm home!" I announced at the door.
"Hi, honey, how are you? Hungry?" my aunt asked, taking off her oven mitts.
"No, Auntie, thank you, I'm going to the lab, and then to the city library. I need to study for a project, and there are fewer distractions in the library." I hate lying to Auntie, but I doubt they'll let me go if I say I'm going to fight in the ring for money.
"Library, did I hear right?" Uncle Ben came down from the second floor. "I just need to go to the construction site, I'll give you a ride and then pick you up."
Damn it. The last thing I want is Uncle Ben there. We'll try to get out of this.
"I won't refuse the offer of a ride, but I don't need to pick him up. I promise I'll be back before ten. You know, Uncle, if I dive into books, I'll only emerge from them myself," saying this my eyes were as honest as possible.
"Okay, I trust you. What time do you need to leave?"
"In a couple of hours."
"Okay then."
"I'm going to the lab."
"You mean the basement?"
"The laboratory!"
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Having descended into the Spider's Lair, I set out to carry out my plan.
Ha, it really feels like a comic book. Okay, time to test what I've been wasting the last three weeks on. I want to once again thank the spider that bit me. If it weren't for that little guy, I never would have figured out how to recreate the formula for synthetic webbing. Apparently, I instinctively figured out how to mix the right enzymes, and after selecting the right chemical compounds, things really took off! And the secret, really, was easy to unlock.
You take the mixed liquids and place them in a special reservoir, or cartridges. I had to whip them up myself, using a soldering iron, so I only have seven web-like portions so far. It's quite difficult to make them from scraps or tin; even my engineering genius can't handle that. We'll see. But none of that matters. It's a success. I'm equally proud of the web-shooters. Of course, it's just a prototype right now; we'll improve the technology, but even the shooters I have now are a source of personal pride.
They're massive, to be honest, and it'll take time to develop smaller, more convenient models. Right now, they're half-forearm bracelets, somewhat reminiscent of the mechanisms from the 1994 cartoon. But for something created in less than a month, it's an incredible success.
I stayed up nights working on everything. Although the lion's share of success lies with my endurance, thanks to which I only got three to four hours of sleep, and the rest of the time I worked in the lab.
I filled the launchers with cartridges and hid the "bracelets" in my backpack. Now let's work on my face. I decided to do a little magic on the mask with some webbing. Well, why not? If you look at it, it's just an old hat with eye slits, but if you take a specially reinforced webbing formula with a slow-decay formula and apply a little of it to the mask, you'll get a slightly shiny, grayish mesh substance. It looks good, plus a bit of canon.
I checked my old gym T-shirt, nondescript blue jeans, and ancient school shoes. Granted, it's far from the best wrestler's costume, or even the "Spider" costume from the first Raimi film. But that's the point. Not that I planned on abandoning my "showman" image if my performance today was remembered in the future. Take Jameson, for example, but I'll do everything I can to ensure the "Masked Marvel" isn't associated with Spider-Man.
A reasonable question: "Why add webbing to the mask then?" Come on, let me fool around a little.
So, everything's ready and packed. Time to go.
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