With Great Power

Peter had just returned home from school, and he heard his Uncle Ben shout from the kitchen, "Peter! Come here for a second!" which caught his interest.

Walking through the hallway and into the kitchen, Peter saw Uncle Ben trying to swat a fly with a fly swatter, but he was failing miserably. "Peter, help me catch this fly, please. It's been harassing me all day, and I can't even think straight with all its buzzing."

Peter didn't hesitate to help, so he walked over to his uncle. Following his uncle's gaze, Peter found the fly buzzing around the ceiling lamp that hangs over the dining room table.

Every now and then, it would move and fly around to avoid being hit by the fly swatter, and it caused Uncle Ben to sigh each time. Peter focused his eyes on the fly, and in a second, the tingling sensation kicked in, causing Peter to react quickly and catch the fly with both of his hands before killing it. 

"Woah!" Uncle Ben exclaimed as he was shocked by Peter's reaction speed that allowed him to catch the fly within one attempt, and he couldn't help but admit, "I've been trying to kill this thing for over an hour now. Thanks, Peter."

Peter, who was still shocked at what this tingling sensation was and how it worked, awkwardly nodded. "Yeah, no problem. Anytime." He then walked over to the kitchen counter and took a paper towel to wipe the remains before throwing it into the garbage and washing his hands.

As he did this, Peter thought to himself, 'I need to give this tingling sensation a name. Hmm, perhaps 'Spider Sense' will do just fine.' Peter thought and soon heard Uncle Ben say as he patted his back. "Hey, Peter. Sit down for a minute; there's something I'd like to ask you."

Nodding once again, Peter dried his hands before sitting down at the dining room table, right next to Uncle Ben. On the table was a flower vase containing beautiful flowers, and there was also a TV remote that worked the TV that hanged in one of the corners of the kitchen.

Peter was so focused on Uncle Ben that he didn't even realize the TV was on, and it was showing a news anchor talking to the camera with an image of a tower in the left-hand corner.

"This just in! We have received word that Stark Industries is rebuilding their tower into something even more incredible than it already is. We do not have further information at this time, but it could be suspected of Tony Stark's—" As the news anchor was about to elaborate further, Uncle Ben shut off the TV so he and Peter could focus on their conversation.

Turning his head, Peter looked at Uncle Ben and waited patiently for him to ask whatever he wanted to talk about. Though, judging by the look on his face, it couldn't be anything good.

"Peter... have you found yourself in any trouble?" Uncle Ben asked, which caused Peter to repeat his last words. "Trouble?"

Nodding, Uncle Ben explained. "Listen, I know it's been only a day, and it may seem silly to you, but your aunt and I are concerned. You appeared unusual yesterday, and this morning, you stormed out of the house out of fear of being late for school. It's very out of character, and I'm worried that you're in some sort of trouble."

Leaning back into his chair to contemplate Uncle Ben's question and his response, Peter replied, "I, uh... I'm not in trouble, really. It's just that there's this girl—"

Peter was interrupted by Uncle Ben upon mentioning a girl. "MJ?" he asked, and Peter shook his head, saying, "No, this other girl in my class. She's not like the others, but we recently became friends. She and I... joined a club together."

Sighing in relief, Uncle Ben smiled. "Oh, good. That's good. If that's all, then my worries were nothing. I obviously don't know who this girl is, but make sure that you two are not doing anything you're not supposed to do. And, please, use protection when you—"

"Ah, stop, Uncle Ben. It's not like that, I promise." Peter covered his ears from remembering the good old birds and the bees talk he had with his Uncle Ben a year ago when he first attended Midtown High.

Putting his hands in the air, he said, 'Alright, alright. I just want to make sure you're safe and well.' Uncle Ben said, before continuing with a serious expression, "Peter, you have a good head on your shoulders. However, if you ever find yourself in trouble, and when you have the ability to do something great, you also have the responsibility to use that power wisely and for the benefit of others. Never forget, with great power comes great responsibility.'"

Peter looked at Uncle Ben and couldn't help but feel conflicted. There was a lot going on with Peter, and at the moment, he wanted to understand more about what's affecting him, and hearing this wasn't helping it since it put even more weight on his shoulders.

"I know, Uncle Ben. I just..." Peter looked at Uncle Ben and wanted to tell him so badly about what was going on with him and his body. Maybe if he knew, he could help him somehow, but Peter decided against it. Part of him felt like he would be viewed as a freak or that things would never be the same if he did.

Uncle Ben, however, looked at Peter, who was struggling with something that he was keeping hidden. He didn't know what it was, and Ben hoped that it wasn't anything bad. But unexpectedly, after telling him that he could speak whatever was troubling him, Peter got up without a word and left the house, along with his backpack.

Before leaving, Peter could hear Uncle Ben yell, "Peter, wait!" But he ignored it and left the house to reflect on Uncle Ben's words and what it would mean for him now that he had these powers.

After leaving, Peter pulled out his phone and texted the first person who would understand his troubles. He told them to meet him somewhere private so that they could talk.

...

Peter was sitting on a public bench right across the street from an abandoned warehouse. The longer he sat and waited for this person to show up, Peter reflected more on Uncle Ben's words. "He just doesn't understand. I know he means well, but I wish I could tell him. I..."

"Hey, Peter!" Hearing a familiar voice call out to him in the distance, Peter looked over to see Cindy walking toward him as several strangers walked along with her as they walked to and from wherever they needed to go. No one seemed to care for either Cindy or Peter, so they were able to freely talk about whatever.

Cindy sat down next to him and asked, "So, why did you suddenly text? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that you did, but was there something you wanted to talk about?"

Peter looked up at the afternoon sky, with birds flocking in a direction, bundles of clouds moving slowly, and the sun setting inch by inch upon the horizon. Taking a deep sigh, Peter asked Cindy, "Do you ever feel like telling your parents about what's happening to you?"

Cindy, however, immediately shook her head and replied, "No, I don't." And after seeing Peter becoming more interested as to why she feels this way, she explains, "I think that my parents are very busy people who already carry a great burden with me in school and my brother as a police captain. If I told them now, not only would I run the risk of being judged by my own family, but it would also put a burden on them. It's safer for me and my family if I keep them from knowing about me—about us."

Punching his shoulder gently, Cindy gave Peter some time to think about what she said, while Peter did exactly that. 'It's not like I'm dying or anything. And in the future, I'll understand more and be able to do more.' He thought before looking at Cindy and thanking her.

"You're right. It's better that we keep those close to us from knowing. It'll protect them." Peter said this to Cindy, who smiled and nodded. Peter then saw Cindy get up and point her thumb over to the abandoned warehouse that was across the street.

"Wanna go and explore that warehouse?" She asked, to which Peter responded with a nod. After standing up, Peter followed Cindy across the street once it was safe, and when they walked over to the abandoned warehouse, they saw it was guarded by a fence.

Both of them looked at each other and smiled, as they both remembered the incident with the police officer in the alleyway from earlier. They knew that it'd be a little risky since they hadn't changed clothing after getting spotted, but they thought that they'd be fine sneaking into the abandoned warehouse.

After climbing over the gate with little to no effort, Peter and Cindy ventured onto the premises before entering the building to see nothing but the place littered with dust, dirt, and grime. Cobwebs were scattered throughout the corners of the buildings, and they both saw several insects crawling in and out of empty boxes that were placed here and there.

Aside from that, the inside of the building's walls were made from brick, and there were hanging metal chains that connected to the ceiling. The floor was made of concrete with several markings on it from old machines or painted markings.

"It's barren," Cindy said as she kicked up a cloud of dust from her feet as she looked around in dismay. Peter felt the same too, until he realized something. "Actually, this place might be perfect just for us."

"How do you mean?" Cindy asked him with a face full of wonder, seeing how useless this place seemed to be to her. Thankfully, Peter shed some light, "We can use this place to understand more about our powers. Like a secret hangout."

Cindy nodded and thought that this was a good idea since it's relatively close to where they live, and the warehouse is abandoned and doesn't seem like anyone else is interested in using this place whatsoever. As for how it will be useful for their powers, Cindy didn't know, so she asked him his thoughts.

"Well, think about it. We got bitten by a mutated spider, right? Surely we can test here what powers we gained from it." Peter explained and started listing off everything they knew. "First, we got superhuman strength, and we were able to run for a good amount of time, so it's safe to say we got superhuman stamina, as well as superhuman agility, too. Next, our hands are sticky, and we got that spider sense—"

"Spider sense?" Cindy asked Peter since she wasn't aware of what he called the tingling sensation they both get. Though, after explaining it to her, she felt that it now made sense and that she liked the name. However, she also had something to add. "I think we also have superhuman speed, too. This morning, I missed the bus, and I live about a half-hour to forty-five minutes away from school, so I had to sprint there as fast as I could. In no way could a person run from where I live all the way to school in such a short time."

"I see..." Peter's face adopted a curious expression, and he was interested in seeing what other abilities they may have. Nonetheless, there was one ability they had that Peter really wanted to get the hang of since it would be really inconvenient otherwise, "We should start getting used to the whole sticky-hand ability," to which Cindy agreed very much.

They both then started to figure out what caused their hands to become sticky and how to make it stop.

...