Peter swung across the city, laughing like a little kid.
"WOOOOHOO!"
"This is the coolest thing ever!"
He fired another web.
FWIP!
The web stuck to a tall building, and Peter swung smoothly through the air.
"I think I'm getting the hang of this!"
Just then...
SNAP!
The web suddenly broke.
"What?"
Peter's smile disappeared.
"...Why did it break?"
He began falling.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!"
Luckily, his danger sense activated.
Instinctively, he fired another web.
FWIP!
The web attached to a nearby water tank.
Peter swung underneath it...
...only to smash face-first into a giant billboard.
THUD!
"Owww..."
A smiling toothpaste model on the billboard seemed to stare at him.
Peter rubbed his forehead.
"I don't think superheroes are supposed to hit advertisements."
---
A few minutes later...
Peter finally reached home by climbing through his bedroom window.
He looked at himself in the mirror.
His hair was full of dust.
There was bird poop on one shoulder.
His shirt had a huge tear.
"...Mom is definitely going to ask questions."
Just then, his mother knocked.
"Peter?"
He panicked.
"Y-Yes?"
"Can I come in?"
Peter looked around his messy room.
The broken table.
The torn clothes.
The web hanging from the ceiling.
"Oh no."
He quickly grabbed the web.
It refused to come off.
"Come on!"
He pulled harder.
Instead, his entire cupboard tipped over.
CRASH!
His mother opened the door.
"What happened?"
Peter smiled awkwardly.
"I was... cleaning."
His mother looked at the destroyed room.
"The room looked better before you started cleaning."
"...Fair enough."
---
That evening...
Peter sat down to do his homework.
He opened his mathematics notebook.
Five minutes later...
His pencil snapped.
"...Oops."
He picked up another one.
SNAP!
"...Seriously?"
On the third pencil, he carefully loosened his grip.
"This much strength should be enough."
The pencil survived.
"Finally."
Just as he started writing...
His spider sense buzzed.
Peter immediately rolled off his chair.
WHOOSH!
Nothing happened.
He looked around.
Silence.
"...False alarm?"
A second later...
A tiny mosquito landed exactly where his face had been.
Peter blinked.
"My spider sense warned me..."
"...about a mosquito?"
He sighed.
"This thing needs better priorities."
---
The next morning...
Peter arrived at school.
Harry noticed the scratches on Peter's face.
"Dude..."
"What happened to you?"
Peter answered immediately.
"I... fell."
Harry nodded.
"Down the stairs?"
"...Sure."
"Several times?"
"...Yes."
"Into a billboard?"
Peter froze.
"How do you know about the billboard?"
Harry burst into laughter.
"I was joking!"
Peter quickly covered his mouth.
"...I mean... not a billboard."
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"You've been acting really weird lately."
Peter laughed nervously.
"Nope."
"Totally normal."
At that exact moment, Peter accidentally squeezed his juice box.
POP!
Orange juice exploded everywhere.
Harry slowly wiped juice off his face.
"...Normal, huh?"
"Very normal."
The entire classroom burst into laughter.
---
After school, Peter decided he needed proper training.
"If I'm going to become a hero, I need to control these powers."
He walked to an abandoned factory on the edge of the city.
"Perfect."
"No people."
"No interruptions."
He placed five empty cans on a wall.
"Target practice."
Peter aimed carefully.
"Web... shoot!"
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
"Web!"
Nothing.
"Come on!"
Still nothing.
Frustrated, he shouted,
"PLEASE SHOOT A WEB!"
FWIP!
A thick web blasted out of his wrist...
...straight into his own face.
The sticky web covered his mouth, nose, and eyes.
"Mmmph! Mmmph!"
He stumbled backward blindly...
...and walked straight into a hanging tire.
BOING!
The tire swung back and smacked him again.
BOING!
Peter finally ripped the web off his face.
He sat on the ground, breathing heavily.
"Okay..."
"Rule number one..."
"Never yell at your own powers."
Just then, a slow clap echoed through the empty factory.
Clap...
Clap...
Clap...
Peter instantly jumped to his feet.
A tall figure stepped out from the shadows wearing a black hood and a silver mask.
"So..."
the stranger said with a chuckle,
"You're the famous hybrid."
Peter took a fighting stance.
"And who are you?"
The masked man smiled.
"Someone who's been waiting to meet you."
The stranger's eyes suddenly glowed bright green.
Peter's danger sense exploded.
For the first time...
It wasn't giving him a warning.
It was screaming.