My dreams were of the Osborne Labs letting spiders loose in the city. They all crawled and skittered and scrambled straight for me. I tried to run, but it was no use. I'd been surrounded.
The swarm of arachnids closed in for the kill, pincers clacking.
"No!"
I woke up, heart pounding and covered in sweat.
At least I felt better.
Rubbing the spider bite, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and was immediately assaulted with a barrage of sights, sounds, and smells.
It was like someone had amped up life to an almost unbearable degree. On purpose.
Starting to panic, I crashed to the floor, holding my head.
Too much.
I laid there like that for a while, breathing hard and fighting to stay conscious.
To even hear my own thoughts was a struggle.
After a bit, it dulled somewhat and I was able to think more clearly. Maybe it was a random migraine of some sort? A freak brain tremor? Was that even a thing?
Moving slowly, I stood up and trudged to the bathroom outisde my bedroom. It was Sunday morning, which meant a shower and then free time. Yawning, I closed the door behind me and ripped the doorknob off.
"Uh..."
I held it in my hand, mystified. What in the world was that?
Oh, right. I guess it was time for Uncle Ben to fix the door. It had probably just been loose and chosen that moment to fall off. Or something.
Gently, I set the knob down on the counter and grabbed my toothbrush. In doing so, I knocked a cup of water over and sent it flying across the room. It clonked against the door and left a huge crack in the wood. I winced, eyeing the broken cup now lying on the floor.
"Double uh..." I mumbled, scratching my head.
Next, I got the toothpaste tube and spun the cap off. I squeezed, meaning for the paste to go onto my brush as was norm, but it arced up higher and splattered all over the bathroom mirror.
It seemed everything was going wrong today.
I sighed exasperatedly and wiped some of the toothpaste off with my toothbrush.
After brushing my teeth, I needed to turn on the cold water to rinse my mouth out. Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem, but today was officially my first "off" day. Hesitantly, I reached over and turned the faucet handle. It came away in my hand.
That was when I realized that the handle was stuck to my hand. Maybe I had weird magnetic fingertips that decided to show themselves just now? Some sort of newly developed telekinesis?
I ran around the bathroom, trying to yank it off, but to no avail. Now both hands were glued to the handle. I lowered it to the floor, put my foot over it, and pulled. Hard.
Too hard.
I flew back and cracked my head against the faucet and water gushed out.
Blinking water out of my eyes, I scrambled for a towel and forced the handle back into its relative place. The towel was then shoved on top, and left alone.
Well. Apparently that was my shower for the day.
I came out of the bathroom and sneaked back to my own room, not even noticing that the bump on my head was nonexistent.
As I passed by the mirror, I noticed my muscles appeared, well, bigger. Maybe carrying my bookbag home was more of a workout than I thought.
That had to be it.
Right?
Then, I realized my vision was out of whack. In a good way. It was perfect, and I wasn't wearing my glasses, or my contacts. What the heck was that from? Toxic waste? Exposure to some sort of radiation?
I knew I was going through a weird time with my body and all that crap, but this was beyond normal.
Wait.
Hold the flipping phone.
Hold it.
Now throw it on the ground and watch it shatter into a million billion little pieces.
The newest addition to the Avengers team. Spidey. The Webhead.
Still see those phone parts? Try to put 'em back together. Repair it.
I did an article on the dude a while back, explaining his "abnormalities" as best I could. So, basically, I was an expert on the Spider-Guy.
See how hard it is? Multiply that by ten -no, a hundred- and one would basically have the level of difficulty I had believing in this über-mega-weird and highly improbable theory.
And most of those "abnormalities" he had... Well...
Was I... Was I... No way. I was just a normal kid. Quirky, yeah, but normal.
Starting to sympathize yet?
Yet the proof is all right here... Did I have to dress up to hide my identity so all the bad guys didn't know who I was, too? What about saving New York from a crazy guy on a flying thing? Join the Avengers and save the world?!
I hope so.
I excitedly checked my wrists, mentally crossing my fingers.
Oh, YEAH.
Sure enough, there was a whitish-clearish circle on each of my wrists. No way! I touched one. It was sticky, like that gross chewed-up gum on the underside of a bus seat. When I pulled my finger away, a trail of something came with it. No way. No stinking way! Was I a female version of Spider-Man?
NO WAY!
I pointed my hand at the wall and curled my middle finger and ring finger in. Just like Spidey. I flexed my hand and a thin stream of web shot out and stuck to the bedroom wall opposite my window.
NO WAY!
It came from my wrist! My wrist! I made the gesture with my other hand and pointed both outside of my window. Sure enough, two lines of spider string zipped out to the brick wall of the building next to mine.
NO WAAAY!
I paced around my room, examining my wrists. How could this happen to me, a relatively normal high-schooler? I was nobody special. Why me, of all the people in New York? This was scientifically impossible, yet here I was, a freak of nature.
Heh.
Lovely.
Taking a shaky breath, I did my hair in a ponytail and slipped on a newer pair of capris and a red t-shirt. I was definitely taller, too. Had I had a growth spurt or something?
Maybe.
From what I knew, the Webhead officially joined and is now the newest recruit in the Avengers Initiative. But that meant small-scale problems like minor robberies and mugging were left alone. So when Spider-Dude became a part of the Avengers, he gave up his "job" for a bigger, better, more appreciated one.
Thanks a bunch, Spidey.
But did that mean I was destined to take over for him?
Was I really the brand-new Spider-Man of the Big Apple now?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<·<Pepper_B_Parker*Alias:_Spyder*Position:_S.H.I.E.L.D._agent>·>
Wow. Another lonnnnng chapter. Sorry, guys. It's somewhat challenging, separating my big fat story into all these different parts.
FYI: That vid's audio up there really pulled at my feels. It's like a perfect foreshadowing for later! Hint, hint...