Cap12:)

I ended up running all the way out of the suburbs and into town. I ran past deli's still open and a few super markets. People didn't bother looking at me, guess they were used to seeing people jog at all hours of the day.

But soon I found myself at the abandoned train yard a few blocks away from home. Peter used to come here for when his experiments had a more...explosive intention. He always found climbing the 30 feet tall fence the hard part, but now I could clear it with a single leap.

The place had one giant hangar rusted over and overgrown with weeds. People didn't come here often, even kids who were looking for a place to crash avoided it thanks to the fence and lack of comfort.

I however came here for another reason.

I went up to the hangar and grabbed the doors. I pulled with all my might and they groaned as slowly the doors were pushed to the side.

Inside I found several types of machineries. There was a stack of railway lines off in the side, some were ten feet long, others thirty feet and beyond. There was even an abandoned train car in one corner as well some chains hanging from the ceiling and what looked like a generator off in the side.

This place honestly made me feel like it could be my secret hide out, my home away from home. It just needed….well it needed a lot of work.

But first, maybe it was time to see what I could really do? I walked up to one of those ten feet railway lines and grabbed hold of it's sides. I gripped it as hard as I could and in one swift motion tried to lift it up.

To my immense surprise, I found myself holding up the beam of metal over my head, a victorious grin on my face.

I threw to the ground and panted, this was amazing, it must have weight what? 500 pounds? Maybe more? I could military lift that over my head straight off the bat! One could only imagine what can do with some actually training.

I couldn't be a muscle builder though, Spider-man was always more of a gymnast than a brawler, like Nightwing, he was….exactly like….woah.

Just then I had an epiphany. Who were the two most popular comic book characters in Marvel and DC?

Spider-man and Batman. They didn't have comic power or some kind of deus-ex machina to give them what they need. Well, Batman did have his utility belt, but that's besides the point.

Spider-man and Batman were very much alike. They both suffered great loss which gave onto them a duty, for Bruce it was vengeance, for Peter it was responsibility for the powers he now possessed.

They were also focused on small time crime, while other heroes faced aliens and other shit, Batman and Spider-man always seemed to stick to their cities. Sure they would often venture out, but always came back.

There were a lot of things different about them, true, their attitude, the fact that Peter was piss poor and Bruce was rich as balls.

But there were a lot similar as well. They both mainly fought with their fists and minds. They were both highly valued despite being a slightly advanced human, Spider-man did have his powers, but they paled when compared to those like Thor.

Heck even some of their villains were the same! Joker and the Green Goblin. Black Cat and Catwoman. Sandman, Clay Face. The list went on. But I was starting to see a pattern here.

Peter and Bruce were reflections of each other. One had powers to help him out while the other had his training and his mind. If I wanted to be Spider-man I couldn't just repeat what Peter did, no, I had to be better, I had to be superior to him!

….God that makes me sound so much like Otto.

But getting back to the point, if I was to improve Batman, I would give him spider powers to make him even more combat savvy than he already was. I would also give him Peter's amazing engineering mind to help think of solutions he wouldn't even begin to question where possible.

But if I was to improve upon Spider-man? That would be a taller order.

I would need to learn to fight like Batman, master so many types of combat people would lose count. Be smart about fighting crime, not just swinging into battle all crazy, hoping for trouble. I would need to know everything I possibly can to fight crime, learn things I previously thought pointless.

I couldn't have the gadgets, to expensive. But I could build my own, make them from scratch. It would be difficult, maybe even pointless, but….but if I could, it would be so cool!

I felt a great big smile coming on my face, I imagined myself as a mixture of Spider-man and Batman, a hero unlike any other. A hero who could surpass the call of justice and fight the good fight, protect people.

But….but it was just too much.

I leaned against the hanger wall and looked around. Why should I go through all this trouble? For people who I don't even know?

Why...no, I can't think like that. I remember what the battle between the Hulk and Abomination did. I need to be a hero, I have to be. I always wanted to help people and now that I can why should I be a mediocre hero? Why just be a wall-crawler when I can be so much more?

I stood up with a confidence I didn't know I had. I had a goal, to be the greatest hero of both worlds, not because of some fucking death in the family bullshit, but because if I didn't, I knew what would happen. I knew that people would die. They need me, and I need to be my best.

I got back home and turned on my computer. I began to search online for the skills I would need. Kind of stupid I know, but I needed to start somewhere.

I made a list, things that I would need to learn to do to become the best. To become the Spider-Bat!...yeah, no, maybe I should just stick with Spider-man.

I found a dojo that taught mixed styles of martial arts. Karate, Judo and Taekwondo, each for a period of two hours, from 3 to 9 in the night. Usually people would register for one class, but I wasn't ordinary people.

I wouldn't be able to start going out and saving people immediately, I didn't have a suit ready or my web shooters. I didn't even have a plan of attack. So I needed to be patient, to bide my time and learn, grow. Spider-man wouldn't be born anytime soon sadly, no, this will require patients.

I would also need to learn everything could, mechanics, chemistry and physics would be my core subject to focus on. Maybe...maybe I should also focus on other things as well, like languages?

With mind made up I began feel sleepy. With a smile I went to bed, strangely enough that night I had a dream of bats and spiders, needless to say I woke up screaming for my mommy.

The next day at school I tackled classes a bit differently. I had gone to the library before class and took out a guide to learning french. While the teacher taught us history, I snuck in bits of french.

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