Chapter 12

It's a normal morning for the Parker household. Peter is about to leave but Uncle Ben stops him.

"Peter, wait let me drive you to school for today."

"Oh, don't bother Uncle Ben"

"No, I insist."

Uncle Ben is driving Peter to school today no matter what. Uncle Ben drove Peter to school and stopped in the parking lot near the school.

"Well, I'll be going then, Uncle Ben."

"No Peter, wait we need to talk."

"Can't we just talk after school?"

"Or we could talk now. If you let me."

Peter sighs and doesn't want to have this conversation right now. 

"Okay, what do you want to talk about and why now Uncle Ben?"

"Because we haven't talked for so long, me and your Aunt May don't know who you are anymore. You miss your chores, you are always late coming home, and you keep doing experiments in your room till late at night. It is like we don't know who you are anymore."

"I just have other things to do."

"Is that why your grades have slipped?"

Peter flinched. Uncle Ben and Aunt May had found out for a while now. They found his test scores in his room and many tests had a D on them. This made them worried and want to talk to Peter.

"We found out about your scores recently. What happened Peter?" 

"I… I just have different priorities now "

"Different priorities? Your grades were such a point of pride for you Peter I don't understand. It is nice to see you discover sports but with your grades like this I don't think it is such a good idea."

"What! Uncle Ben, it will be fine. I still got to practice and I can get my grades up some other time."

"What's the matter with you, Peter? You can't just do whatever you want and expect everything will be fine. *sigh* Peter you're changing. I know I went through the same changes when I was your age."

"We're not the same Uncle Ben"

"Peter, these are the years where a man changes into the man he is going to become for the rest of his life. You're such a good kid Peter. You're father God rest his soul had a philosophy that he held to pretty strongly. And it's one that served him very, very well… He believed that if there were things in this world you had to offer, things that you did well better than anyone else… Things that you could do that help people or made people feel better about themselves… Well, he believed that it wasn't just a good idea to do those things. … He believed it was your responsibility to do those things."

Peter continues to listen to his Uncle Ben. He has never heard him talk about his father for years for fear of inflicting pain.

"Don't try to be something else. Don't try to be less. Great things are going to happen to you and your life, Peter. Great things. And with that will come great responsibility. Do you understand?"

Peter was silent before responding. "If he knew so much. Where the hell is he then!?"

Peter exits the car and slams the door shut, denting it a little. He then ran toward the school. He hated being lectured when everything was going well for him. It was also not helping when Uncle Ben talked about his parents. A sensitive topic for Peter.

Uncle Ben only looks at his nephew worried. "Come on Peter. Snap out of it. You can do it."

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In the Stacy household. Gwen woke up with bags under her eyes. She was out late at night as Spider-Woman. She was out there stopping some thugs and talking and taking pictures with her fans. She loved being Spider-Woman. The thrill and attention were what she wanted. But not everything was good. J. Jonah Jameson has been yelling and condemning her for being a vigilante. She always hears him complaining about her on the large television in the city when she swings by.

"This Spider-Woman is a menace. Always getting in the way of our city's police duties! They are our true heroes! Always bravely patrolling the streets and stopping crime."

Pictures are shown of Gwen interacting with her fans. "Look at her! She only wants fame and attention like a spoiled kid! We already have a man in armor roaming our city and we certainly don't need a woman in a mask throwing webs in our city! Wake up people! Spider-Woman is a menace!"

 She went downstairs after tidying herself up and putting on makeup to hide the bags under her eyes.

"Morning Gwen."

"Morning Mom *yawn*"

"Morning hon up late at night again? You're going to get more wrinkles if you don't get to bed early," said George.

"Shut up, Dad!"

The family of three started to eat their breakfast. George turned on the TV to check the news. What he saw however was a band performing. He saw a band playing with Spider-Woman on the drums. Hanging upside down on the ceiling as well as the drum set hanging upside down. Gwen sees this and is happy. She was invited a few weeks ago and they performed on live television. The one showing is a recording. It felt amazing to play in a band and her first performance was on live television. She is living her dream. How could she not be happy.

George looked at Spider-Woman and felt disappointed. "Such a shame seeing Spider-Woman like this."

Gwen hears her Dad and is confused. "What do you mean Dad?"

"She has these amazing powers but all she is using it for is to gain attention. She could have helped a lot more people with her powers. And of all the things that girl could do and she chooses to do that. As a cop, I shouldn't have feelings like this since she is a vigilante but I feel she is just wasting her potential."

George couldn't help but remember Kamen Rider's words. 'The world is changing Captain Stacy. We have a group of super-powered people living in New York. A mutant group advocating for their supremacy. And not too long ago an alien invasion. More super-powered people will continue to appear either by accident or naturally. And how many do you think among them will be willing to do good and not turn into crime.'

"…" Gwen was silent and thought about her father's words.

'Am I really wasting my potential? What does he mean I can help more people? I'm already helping people and isn't that enough?' Gwen thought but she then remembered what Ace said to her. 'If you are only doing it for fame. You are going to hurt yourself and other people if you continue.'

Gwen continued to think about her actions until she saw Kamen Rider on the TV helping people. She watches his actions and sees how many people he protects. Gwen really had a lot of things to think about.

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In an office, a man in a suit has been checking the files pertaining to the Kamen Rider. It was Alexander Pierce, a high-ranking member of Hydra. He has been eyeing Kamen Rider ever since his debut. Hydra wants his technology and has been trying to recreate it ever since. He tasked Arnim Zola Hydra's lead scientist to study and recreate the Rider System. Unfortunately, he only could produce meager results. Pierce tasked Fury to bring the Rider to SHIELD but even Nick Fury's attempts were unsuccessful. The Rider always manages to slip away in their surveillance even when he patrols nearly every day. This made Pierce frustrated.

*Call connecting*

"What is it, Pierce? I am in the middle of an important experiment!" Arnim Zola answered Pierce's call but Zola was annoyed by Pierce's interruption.

"What is the progress of the armor project?" The armor project is the recreation of the Rider system.

"Poorly… making a power suit is fine. But compared to the Rider it is too bulky, expensive, and not as powerful."

"So no progress." Pierce was disappointed by Zola's progress

"Do not insult me, Pierce. How about you? You should be trying to capture him by now."

Pierce frowned. "He is proving to be… difficult."

"Then you should try harder! If we can get his technology Hydra can improve by leaps and bounds! Imagine an army of soldiers wielding the Rider's power. No one can stop us! Not even the Avengers."

"I am making plans to capture the Rider but it needs time and needs to be discreet. We do not want to expose Hydra yet." said Pierce

"Very well, I hope you succeed."

"Now for another matter. Zola, what is this I hear about you letting one of your test subjects escape." Pierce received intel that one of Zola's experiments is on the loose and is now somewhere in New York.

"Oh, that one. Do not fear. Even if it is found. It would have no connection to us. That experiment was a failure. I was trying to create a new super soldier serum from the base of a rat. But the subject just turned into a wild beast running only with its instinct."

"I hope you're right. I don't want anything else to have complications. Make sure to secure your experiment. I don't want to hear another has escaped again."

Zola frowned at Pierce ordering when they were of the same rank. "Very well,"

The call was cut off leaving Pierce by himself.

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In the sewers of New York are two men holding a camera.

"Dude, it reeks down here are you sure what you read is real?"

"It's true man! A giant rat is living down here. If we can get it on tape. We will be instantly famous."

"And what if it attacks us?"

"Don't worry I have an anti-rat spray here. Stop being a coward and let's go!"

The two men are going through the sewers desperately trying to ignore the smell of sewage in the air. They saw a group of rats scurrying somewhere and they decided to follow them.

*crunch, crunch*

The two men gulped a mouth full of saliva. "Dude, you hear that?"

"Y-Yeah… I think we found it."

"They slowly peeked around the corner to see a giant bi-pedal rat munching on what seems to be human remains."

The two men looked horrified. They found their giant rat but they caught him eating his dinner. And his meal was human. The view did not do well on their stomachs. They almost felt like puking.

"Dude, let's get out of here before we become its next meal!"

"Ye-yeah we probably should."

As they were slowly about to retreat. One of them accidentally kicked a can.

*click, click, click*

The giant rat looked immediately at them and the two men started to run in fear.

"Aaaaaagh!"

*CRY*

The giant rat started chasing after them and grabbed the man not holding the camera.

"Help me!"

His friend was dragged into the darkness and heard a sickening bone-crunching sound. The man continued to run and never looked back. He found a ladder leading to the streets. He thought he could escape until suddenly a swarm of rats clung to him.

"AGH! Get off of me!"

He tried to swat away the rats but the giant rat caught up to him.

"NO! PLEASE!

The last thing he saw was the claw of the giant rat going down on him.

***

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