32 Prom Night

'I'll hit it, alright.' Eren thought to himself, still in absolute awe at how beautiful Cindy Moon looked in her prom dress.

"What can I say, I'm a lucky guy." Eren told her, extending his hand out to her. "Shall we?" Cindy grabbed his hand, and the two of them began walking toward the school, hand in hand. Eren couldn't stop smiling as he walked with Cindy and Cindy took notice, looking up at that rare smile with a smile of her own.

She knew if she pointed it out, he'd realize it and probably stop, so she simply stared up at him as she grabbed onto his arm. As the two continued to walk together, a familiar voice could be heard from behind them.

"Yoooooo!" The voice said and immediately, the two recognized who it was. Harry Osborn, sticking his head out of the window of a limousine, appeared behind the two teens and parked alongside them. "Hey, guys!" Harry said, still hanging halfway out the window. "Hey, y'all." Lily said from behind him, waving to the couple from the other seat in the limousine.

"What's up, guys." Eren said, waving back at them.

"Hey." Cindy said.

"You two love birds look like you need a ride, c'mon, hop in." Harry then pushed the door open, and without any hesitation, the two got inside the limousine.

The inside of the limousine was all white, and spotless, and was filled to the brim with snacks and drinks, some being of the alcoholic variety. As soon as Eren and Cindy sat down, Harry handed each of them a can of hard seltzer, though the two hesitated briefly. Seeing this, Harry used his charming words to persuade them.

"What? We're basically adults now. Having one won't be so bad, it'll be fun." Harry smiled charmingly, extending his arms further until the two of them reluctantly grabbed the cans. Cindy and Eren looked at each other briefly before opening the cans and drinking with their friends.

After a few minutes and a few drinks, Eren looked around to see that both Lily and Harry seemed to be a little bit buzzed as they slurred their words and wobbled slightly. 'Are they just lightweights or could it be my powers giving me a higher tolerance?' Eren thought before looking at Cindy and noticing that she didn't seem to be affected by the alcohol at all. 'Yeah, they're just lightweights.' He deduced, smiling at Cindy before taking another sip from his drink.

Harry, speaking from the heart, grabbed Eren by the shoulder and began giving a speech in the back of the limo. "This man, Eren Parker... What can I say that can't already be said? I mean look at him, not too long ago he was just some nihilistic, yeah I know big words, kid who didn't have a care in the world and got bullied by Flash… or Eugene Thompson. Now, look at him, handsome, genius..." Harry's sentence stopped briefly as if he forgot what he was going to say, leaving everyone in the limousine speechless.

"Oh, uh, my point is, I'm so glad to call this guy my best friend in the world. Cindy too, you're great I love you both. I love you too Lily, so much. I would literally DIE for all three of you." Harry leaned in and hugged Eren, though Eren sort of leaned over and pushed Harry off of him gently.

"How much did you have to drink?" Eren asked Harry, looking over at Lily for an answer as she was less drunk than him.

"Well... I had about five before you guys came and he had like..." She began counting on her fingers until she ran out of fingers to count on. "I don't remember."

Eren laughed slightly at the absurdity of the situation. There was no way the two of them would be allowed into prom in this state, however, due to Harry being the owner's son, he figured they'll probably let him in regardless.

A few more minutes passed and the four of them had arrived at Osborn Academy, exiting the limousine before taking a look at the transformed school building. There were bright, flashing lights scattered all around the campus, along with balloons and a massive sign saying "Welcome Class of 2022!".

"That's us!" Harry said, pointing at the school sign with a wobbly finger. "Okay, you two go in there and have fun okay." Harry said, grabbing Eren by both the shoulders and nearly causing them both to fall over. "You better treat Cindy with care, protect her you hear me? Or else I'll beat you up. Don't let anyone look at her funny." Harry demanded as he continued to slur his words.

"Are you not coming inside?" Eren asked Harry, struggling to maintain his balance as Harry aggressively shifted his weight back and forth.

"Yeah... yeah, yeah, man. Lily and I are just gonna go sober up real quick... and do some things and then be back okay. We'll see you two later, okay bye." Harry let go of Eren's shoulders before getting back into the limousine with Lily and pulling off.

Both Eren and Cindy watched the limo disappear into the distance before laughing amongst themselves. "I'm so glad they didn't try to come inside, it would've been a total disaster." Cindy said through her laughter.

"Yeah, thank God." Eren told her, shaking his head in disbelief at the still absurd situation they found themselves in. "Well, forget them for now. Let's head inside, yeah?"

The two teens, locking arms, made their way inside the main building of the school, being greeted by balloons, decorations, and loud music. A few classmates greeted the couple as well, complimenting them and giving them kind words, something Eren was far from used to. However, many people simply looked on without saying a word.

Eren could tell that these glares were different than the ones he used to receive, somehow. Rather than looking at him like an outcast, they seemed impressed. That shy, scrawny nerd no longer existed as he once was. He was now a man, one with a confident stride and a beautiful woman around his arm.

Making their way past the onlookers, Eren and Cindy found themselves inside the school gymnasium, the main area of the party. The music was booming, everyone was dancing, and the happy mood was infectious. Eren wasn't the type to dance, he didn't even know how aside from the few dances he learned in P.E. class, but even he wanted to bust a few moves.

As they continued into the gymnasium, a classic song from the 70s began playing and all of the future graduates began dancing as if they had traveled to that time period. Once again, Eren Parker had the biggest of smiles on his face and Cindy couldn't get enough of it. Even the other students took notice, many of them seeing his teeth for the first time in the years that they'd known him.

The party continued on for hours and the ballots for the royal couple were being collected. Most people assumed that Flash Thompson and Gwen Stacy would win, however, there were a few other couples in the running with them.

As many of the students continued dancing the night away, the music lowered and a boy's voice could be heard from the speakers. "Mic check, mic check. Can you guys hear me?" A freckle-faced boy stood on the stage, holding a notecard with his left hand and rubbing his arm with his right as he spoke nervously. Eren, remembering the headline he read earlier and that the boy had the Connors Procedure done, thought to himself 'He must be suffering from those symptoms they mentioned. Speaking of which, where's Connors?'. Eren looked around briefly as the boy continued to speak on stage, though Dr. Connors was nowhere to be found.

"What's wrong, Eren?" Cindy asked, looking up at him as she still latched onto his arm.

"Nothing." Eren said, shaking his head. "I was just curious where Dr. Connors is. Most of the other teachers were here at some point, I guess he's busy."

Coming back to reality, Eren continued to listen to the boy speak. "After one last dance, we will announce this year's royal couple!" The boy cleared his throat. "I recommend voting for me and Michelle." he said jokingly before clapping his hands together a single time. "With that said, let's slow things down a bit, shall we?"

With those words said, the lights dimmed and a slow, melodic piano song began to play, signaling to the many near-graduates to begin slow dancing. 'Talk about deja vu.' Eren thought to himself, remembering that daydream he had earlier. Without any hesitation, Eren looked down at Cindy, smiling softly before extending his hand outward. "Shall we?" He invited her, prompting her to wrap her arms around his neck as he wrapped his around her waist.

The two began to dance, staring into each other's eyes passionately as the music set the mood.

This was it.

The moment that Eren Parker had been waiting for.

The moment he would tell Cindy exactly how he felt and officially ask her to be his.

After taking a few seconds to calm himself down, the boy spoke to his date confidently. "Cindy." He said softly, staring into her eyes with confidence as if his heart wasn't about to leap out of his chest. "Hm?' She answered nonchalantly, hiding the fact that her heart was also pounding vigorously.

"I didn't think I'd ever come to prom, honestly. But those times when I did imagine it, it was just like this. Me and you dancing in each other's arms, looking into each other's eyes just like this." he told her softly. "But that dream of mine, the one where you play the biggest role, doesn't end on this night."

Stunned, Cindy did nothing but continue to look into his eyes, nodding slightly as her cheeks slowly turned rosy. The soft, melodic music continued, as did Eren's confession.

"I want to be with you, Cindy. I mean for real, for real be with you. So, I uh..." Eren hesitated as his heart pounded, still looking into her eyes. "I wanted to ask you, tonight. Will you be my girlfriend?" As those words left his mouth, it felt like a two-million-ton weight had finally lifted off of his chest.

Without any hesitation, Cindy gave her answer. "Yes." She told him. "I've been waiting a long time for you to ask, of course I will." With those words said, Eren and Cindy both began leaning closer to each other, closing their eyes as their lips began to become drawn to each other like magnets.

Finally.

The moment Eren would finally kiss the woman of his dreams.

However, just when things were looking up, the world around Eren Parker began to crumble.

'My Spider-Sense!' The boy thought as his eyes immediately shot open. To his surprise, Cindy's eyes were wide as well, just like they were in his vision, though before he could think too much about why, his eyes darted over to the corner of the room, noticing that the boy from earlier began shaking violently in his date's arms.

"Josh? What's wrong?" His date asked him, though before she could receive an answer, Josh lunged at her and took a massive bite out of her neck and bringing her to the ground. The crowd began to scream and panic, both Eren and Cindy were completely stunned as the boy began shredding his date apart.

As if it were automatic, time seemingly slowed down around Eren due to his processing speed being so enhanced at the moment. 'What do I do...' He thought, scanning the room with just his eyes and thinking of the best course of action. 'No one's looking at me right now.' He double-checked, then triple-checked everyone's eyes in the room just to be sure that not a soul was looking at him. 'If I put on my costume...' Eren looked down to see that Cindy was still looking at him, the only one whose eyes were still locked onto him.

'Damn it.' He thought, realizing that if he were to save everyone from whatever was about to happen, Cindy would have to know the truth. Deciding what needed to be done, Spider-Man suited up, his suit emerging from seemingly within him in a second, and dashed toward Josh and the girl.

Cindy, stunned, grabbed her chest and looked on at the red and black-wearing hero with wide eyes. 'Eren is Spider-Man!?' She thought to herself, never having guessed that he of all people was the man beneath the mask.

"Let go of her!" He yelled, struggling to pull the boy's mouth away due to his sudden inhuman strength. 'What!?' The hero thought to himself before using even more of his strength to pull the boy off of her.

Everyone in the room was in shock. They were so distracted by Josh devouring his date that no one noticed when Spider-Man 'entered' the room, it was as if he had appeared out of thin air.

Once the seemingly zombified boy had been removed from the girl, Spider-Man delivered a mighty punch to his jaw, rendering him unconscious.

Spider-Man inspected the boy's body, noticing that his skin had become rough like a reptile's and was starting to discolor and become green. His teeth were sharp, like that of an alligator or crocodile, and he had incredibly sharp talons on his hands. Before Spider-Man could get a closer look, a girl's scream, one of pure dread and despair could be heard behind him.

"Michelle! Michelle! Please wake up!" The girl screamed, shaking her friend's body in an attempt to resuscitate her. However, it was of no use as tendons and blood began spilling from her lifeless corpse.

Spider-Man's lenses widened. 'I let my guard down... and I hesitated...'. The weeping girl shook Michelle's lifeless body as her neck, nearly detached from her body, swayed from side to side, spewing blood all over the panicking girl's white gown.

Eren Parker, under his mask, looked on in horror as guilt began to build up inside of him. For the first time in his hero career, a person died within his reach.