Chapter 12- First Confrontation and First...

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"You know... when you mentioned a partnership, I didn't expect that," Arthur said to Gwen.

They were in their shed, testing their powers once again.

"Stop being a crybaby, Art. Have you ever thought about what makes it possible for you turn invisible or shoot lightning?" Gwen asked, holding a notebook in her hand.

"I confess it crossed my mind, but can we get to the part where I get stronger?" Arthur replied, stretching his arms. 'It doesn't matter much, my invisibility is like an upgraded camouflage, and my bioelectricity is generated gradually by my body.'

"Hmm... okay, have you ever thought about imbuing electricity into your punches?"

"...no."

"So it would be interesting to try."

"Hmm... I'm not sure if my web shooters can handle it," Arthur comments before taking them off, mentally noting a new visit to May's house.

....

"I think it's not working," Gwen said after seeing him stand still for 3 minutes.

"You think? It's hard to control," Arthur replies, still not fully mastering this aspect of his power. 'And there's still the issue of releasing more than necessary.'

"I think I have an idea on how to train this," Gwen said, going to her bag and searching for something.

"What would this brilliant plan be?" Arthur approached her, curious about the idea from the only person he knew with intelligence comparable to his own. 'My plan was to keep an electronic device on until I use up all my energy.'

"I found it! You can take this and begin your training," Gwen replied, handing him a power bank.

"...let me see if I got it, your idea of training is for me to carry this without burning?" Arthur asked, uncertain. '...you just want me to be your walking porter, don't you, Gwen?'

"Exactly, as expected from the second smartest in the family," Gwen confirmed. Initially, she was quite apprehensive about the idea of her brother being Spider-Man. Now, helping him, she began to get excited about the concept, especially about being his partner. 'With the two of us together, nothing can stop us!'

"Let's be honest, Gwen, you know I'm the smartest," Arthur said before starting to apply energy to the device.

Boom!

"...I think it exploded," Gwen said, breaking the silence after the two stayed quiet with the quick failure.

"Haa... we'll have to buy more of these," said Arthur disheartened. 'How troublesome... I'll have to train a lot.'

"Hey, don't get discouraged. When you manage to do this, we'll be unbeatable," Gwen tries to cheer him up, giving a pat on his shoulder.

"We?"

"Of course! I was thinking something like 'The Spectacular Spider-Man and his partner Oracle' - the unbeatable duo!"

"You know... it's not a bad idea, but you better take out the part about being unbeatable, it's going to jinx us."

You're right," Gwen replied, determined to stop saying things of the same nature.

"So, I think it's time to put this duo into action," said Arthur, going to put on his costume.

"Yes!" Gwen exclaims excitedly. Today would be his first day helping Spider-Man.

Going to the laptop that Arthur brought her, Gwen began to work on it, accessing the city map that was updated with incidents in real time.

"Arthur, this 'little baby' you brought is amazing."

"I know, Peter Parker had a lot of interesting stuff in his secret base," Arthur commented, stepping out of the shed. "Oracle, do you copy?" He tested if the communicator in his mask was working.

"The name caught on? I like it!" came the response.

"I guess it did. What do we have for today?" Arthur turned serious; there were moments for playfulness, and there were moments when lives were at stake. 

"There's a fire happening two blocks to your left," Gwen said seriously, knowing that now it was for real. The laptop showed Spider-Man's location.

"Okay," Spider-Man responded, heading in that direction at high speed between the buildings.

***

Spider-Man approaches the three-story building engulfed in flames. "How many people are still in there?"

"The firefighters believe a father and daughter didn't make it out; their apartment was on the third floor," Oracle responds.

"Got it, I'm going in," Spider-Man says, entering the third floor through an open window. "Is anyone in here?" he shouts amidst the flames.

"COUGH! COUGH!" The smoke was thick, making it difficult to see and breathe. 'Damn it! Maybe I need to-' Spider-Man interrupts his thoughts when he hears a weak scream, heading quickly in that direction and having to break down a door.

He finds a man holding his daughter in a corner, running towards them. He realizes that the man is unconscious and the girl cries, begging her father for help.

The girl is scared when she is released from her father's embrace. "Calm down, little one, everything will be fine now." She looks up and sees the mask of her favorite hero.

"Cough-cough... Spider... cough-cough... Man?" she asks.

"Yes, everything will be okay," Spider-Man replies calmly, holding her with one arm and the father over his shoulder with the other. "Let's get out of here, try not to breathe too much."

Spider-Man exits the room and runs toward where he entered. He knew that breaking a window could cause an explosion. Upon reaching it, he jumps onto the firefighter's crane, who was trying to control the fire.

"Excuse me, folks," Spider-Man says to the astonished firefighters. Descending to the ground, he approaches an ambulance. "These two need urgent help; they inhaled a lot of smoke," Spider-Man tells the paramedics.

The medics quickly attend to the unconscious man, realizing the severity of his condition.

"Please... COUGH... don't leave me." The girl clings to Spider-Man's chest, still in shock and afraid.

"I'll stay by your side until they finish," Spider-Man reassures her, sitting next to her on the stretcher, while a doctor provides initial care.

"Is my daddy going to be okay?" The little girl asks the doctor, holding Spider-Man's hand.

"He's going to be fine, don't worry." The doctor tries to convey reassurance, even though he knows the man's situation is complicated.

"WHERE ARE THEY!" They hear a loud voice outside the ambulance.

"Mommy!" The little girl exclaims.

"MY DAUGHTER!" The woman enters and embraces her daughter.

Spider-Man, seeing this, prepares to leave. The girl would be fine now.

"Thank you, Spider-Man, for saving my family," the woman said, holding the girl as close as possible.

"You're welcome, ma'am, bye little one." He bid farewell to the family, swinging away. If only he had been faster, the man wouldn't have been hurt so badly. 'Haa... I can't save everyone. I hope he survives.'

"Oracle, situation resolved."

"Okay, there's a fight three blocks away."

"I'm on my way."

***

"It was an excellent day of work... partner," Arthur said to Gwen after returning to the shed.

"Yes! We're the best duo," Gwen said, running to him and jumping into his arms.

"Hey," Arthur begins to spin her around.

"Hahaha!"

Arthur stops spinning and puts her back on the ground. "Come on, Gwen, we need to head back. We have classes tomorrow."

"Am I finally getting my web-swinging tour?" Gwen asks excitedly, packing up her things.

"Hmm... I don't have a spare mask here. If someone sees your face, we'll be in serious trouble."

"...right," Gwen responds dejectedly.

"Don't be sad; next time, I'll take you for sure."

***

"Hey, Art! The new Spider-Man showed up again," Ned said after seeing his friend enter the dorm.

"Seriously?" Arthur asks, placing his backpack on his bed and going over to Ned.

"Yeah, so far, he's solved several crimes, and in all of them, there's something in common: the thugs say he's terrifying. Apparently, he doesn't control his strength; many of them ended up with a broken limb."

"What are people saying?" Arthur asks curiously, wanting to know what people think about his harsh methods.

"The majority of the population likes it. This Spider is more decisive and causes less damage to establishments and the city. There are few groups that say he is very violent towards criminals."

"What do you think, Ned?"

"Well... He treats people well; that's what matters to me"

"Got it, I like him too. I'm going to take a shower," Arthur finished, grabbing clean clothes and heading to the bathroom. 'As expected, my quick and less destructive methods pleased the population. Those who didn't like it are just hypocrites who have never suffered at the hands of criminals.'

***

"It was a busy day." I thought lying down, the lights in the room were already off; today was my second day as Spider-Man.

"The feeling in my chest has stopped." I reflect, placing my hand on my heart, the emotion that haunted me for so long ceased since I gained my powers.

Many questions and no answers, I still have to find out who killed my father. "Haaa." I sigh softly, closing my eyes.

!!

I sit up urgently, spider-sense warning me there was a predator hunting.

'I've never felt so much danger.' I quickly jump out of bed and put on my uniform. Climbing out the window, I head towards the creature, knowing this would be the most dangerous fight I've ever faced.

***

OSCORP

Connors looks at the serum inside the injection device, reflecting on his superior's words; he and his wife lost their jobs due to his hesitation. Connors had always longed to regain his arm, and now that he was so close to that goal, he was discarded as if he were trash, and the work of his life was usurped. Determined, Connors injects the serum into the remaining part of his arm; he himself would be the guinea pig.

His vision starts to darken. "What's happening—" He falls to the ground unconscious.

***

Connors wakes up slowly, rising to his feet, he realizes that his previously nonexistent arm is now wrapped in some kind of second skin. As he begins to unwrap it, Connors sees that a new arm has grown.

"This is... incredible... I did it... Hahaha!" Connors heads toward the phone, wanting to inform his superior that the formula worked; calling him, Connors continues to marvel at his new arm.

"Emma, it's Curt, is he there?" Connors asks the secretary as she answers the phone.

"Unfortunately, no, doctor, he's driving to the Brooklyn Veterans Hospital."

"No, he can't. Emma, you have to stop him." Connors speaks before starting to feel a severe headache. 

"I would try, but I can never reach him when he's on the bridge. I'll ask him to return the call as soon as he can." The secretary responds before ending the call.

Connors staggers, falling to the ground disoriented.

"Darling! What happened?" Martha Connors enters the office, going to her husband in concern. "How do you have an arm now!? Don't tell me you applied the serum; we haven't done enough tests yet!" She said, helping Connors get up.

"It's okay, dear, I just need to sort something out first, stay here." Connors responds, heading to the exit, covering the new arm with a coat.

"Curts! You can't go out like this." Martha tries to stop him.

"I said stay here!" Connors leaves the room, planning to hail a taxi to the bridge.

Martha looks alarmed at her husband's back; at that moment, his voice turned monstrous, like a beast. Martha then goes to her husband's papers, seeing what he put in that serum and praying that her assumptions are wrong.

***

"To Holton Avenue, after the river. I'm in a hurry," Connors said as he entered the taxi.

"Through the tunnel or the bridge?" The driver asks.

"The bridge! Take the bridge!" Connors replies, watching his new hand morphing into something beastly.

"Okay."

***

On top of the bridge, Arthur searches for what triggered his Spider-Sense. 'Where are you? There are so many people here... perfect time for traffic jam,' Spider-Man thought, surveying the multitude of cars.

"ROAARRR!!!"

'Is that some kind of dinosaur?' Arthur swings towards the noise. When he arrived, he saw several people fleeing from their cars and a monster walking on two legs, easily surpassing a height of 3 meters, with a long tail and claws.

Spider-Man watched the monster toss a car off the bridge. "Damn!" He lunged toward the car, shooting a web at the rear and connecting it to the bridge. Then, he saw the monster throw another one. "Give me a break!"

Managing to save the car, Arthur quickly went after the creature, which seemed to be after someone. "Hello, beautiful creature, do you come here often?" He asks, landing a kick to the monster's back.

The Lizard turned around when he felt the impact on his back, when he saw a human in front of him, he attacked brutally.

'Quickly', thought Spider-Man, seeing the claws coming, ducking and dodging in time. Arthur tries to land his own blow, but the monster effortlessly grabs his hand.

Grabbing the human's hand, the Lizard lifts him high and releases, using his tail to deliver a powerful blow to his stomach.

As he is thrown far away and hitting a car windshield, Arthur feels all the food coming back up. "Stronger and enhanced reflexes, it's time to get serious." He mutters, advancing toward the monster and becoming invisible.

'Where is the human!? Where is the human!?' Lizard couldn't locate the man who came after. Before he could search another car, he felt something coming from above.

BAM!

Arthur threw a car onto the creature, hoping to knock it out. Seeing the monster emerge unscathed from the impact, he knew the battle would be much tougher. 

Lizard turned, searching for whoever had the audacity to attack him. Not seeing anyone, he continued to look around. Then, he felt something moving rapidly in his direction, slashing whatever it was with claws. Lizard realized it was a motorcycle.

With the monster focused on the motorcycle, Spider-Man concentrated electricity in his hand and advanced through the creature's blind spot, connecting his hand to its back and releasing all the electricity he had.

ZAAPP!!!

"ARGGHHH!!" Lizard roared in pain.

'It worked, now I nee-'

!!

Arthur looks down in pain, seeing three claws cruelly piercing his abdomen, blood streaming from the wounds. His invisibility beginning to falter. 'He recovered too quickly!!'

"YOU!... AGAIN!" Lizard, infuriated, withdraws his bloodied claws from Arthur, who falls to his knees on the ground. Blood flows abundantly, staining the uniform with red. Intense pain overwhelms his senses as he struggles to maintain composure.

"ARGH!" Arthur groans as he's lifted off the ground by the head. Even with blurred vision, he can see the triumphant look in Lizard's eyes before being thrown off the bridge.

Arthur felt the fall and the impact approaching, 'I relied too much on my powers again!' he thinks, curling up as much as possible, preparing for the collision with the water.

SPLASH!

"Haaa... Haaa." Bringing his head out of the water, Arthur takes a deep breath, feeling the severity of the wounds in his abdomen and knowing that when the adrenaline wore off, he was in trouble.

Trying to raise his hand, he realizes he has no strength in his body, his vision darkening. 'No! I can't pass out here-'

Spider-Man begins to sink into the water, unconscious from blood loss and injuries.

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or songs featured in this fic. Additionally, I do not claim ownership of any products or properties mentioned in this novel. This work is entirely fictional.