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Hi! I’m Mark Lee, also known as, *drum roll* SPIDER MAN! Your friendly neighborhood superhero!
You probably don’t know me yet, but that’s fine. I’m still trying to figure out who I am as well.
It hasn’t been long since I got bitten by a radioactive spider so I’m still trying to make my alias stick. I don’t know how superheroes do it honestly, like Superman? Batman? Incredible Hulk? Seems like superhero names are naturally ridiculous, but those guys managed to make theirs stick. And people think they’re cool, which is great.
Anyways, it was exactly a month ago since I went to this science.. laboratory.. museum.. kind of thing (I have no idea what it was, but we were required to go, so I went! It was pretty dope too). That’s where the spider was, and my transformation started the day after it bit me. I felt like I changed into an entirely new person. But having super powers (I still feel giddy thinking about it) is not as easy and fun as it sounds. My powers include extreme heightened senses, superhuman strength, speed, reflexes, you name it. It is a LOT. I feel so jumpy and tingly all the time. And to be honest, I’m having a hard time adjusting to the changes, not just within my physical self, but also my mental one.
I have always had fast reflexes. I don’t know, my eyes and hands are pretty coordinated like that. But ever since I got bitten, things feel somehow.. off. I guess I am overwhelmed by what I call my *ehem* spidey senses. And they’re absolutely awesome, I feel awesome! Still, I can’t help but think that maybe these powers are not for me, they just seem a little too much for twenty-two year old Mark Lee.
Then again, I’ve already made myself a superhero suit, and I can’t undo whatever has been done to me, so I’ll just roll with it.
-
The day has started, and I wake up at exactly 7AM. The weather looks nice, a little cloudy, but the sun is peeking out of the skies. “This is a good day to be a superhero,” I tell myself.
I take a bath and put my suit inside my backpack. I don’t have classes until 1PM but I like to roam around the neighborhood to see if anyone needs my help. I have helped approximately twenty-three people ever since I got my powers. Well, actually, maybe just half of that if we’re talking about successful assistance.
As I said before, it’s not easy adjusting to my newly developed superhuman abilities. Sometimes, things work out for the best, but other times, they don’t. Horribly, at that.
Like that one incident when I was watching a basketball game at the court near my university, I like playing basketball, so I hang out there a lot. While wearing my suit. I know, it’s a little weird, I get a lot of stares. But I like to keep my identity private. Anyways, what was I talking about again? Oh yeah, that time when I was watching the boys play, one of the players threw the ball a little too hard. And it would have been fine, but there was an unsuspected lady walking at the sidewalk that was going to be hit by the ball, so I ran towards her. Fast. Too fast actually, because, well I, um, I ran past her. I guess you already know what happened. That was when I realized, man, being Spider Man is pretty damn hard.
Another fail attempt at being a superhero was the first time I figured out that I have spider webs! It comes out of my wrists. I know what you're thinking, gross, I get it. Sorry!
But yeah, I already knew that my fingers were able to stick on any surface if I willed them to (it was tricky at first because they would stick on everything whenever I got nervous, and when I say everything, I mean, everything!) So, I tried climbing up the side of a building, because why not? I was nearly at the top when I unconsciously looked down. Dude, I panicked so hard that my fingers unstuck! I forgot that I have fear of heights, which is stupid of me honestly. I started falling, but then I snapped my wrists upward because I was desperate to hold on to something then the webs came out! I can only imagine what would have happened if I didn’t snap my wrists like that.. better not think about it. Ever since that incident, I have preferred to act the superhero with both of my feet safely on the ground.
I’m currently walking around the streets, and I hear the familiar bustling of the people going to work and the deafening noise of the vehicles on the road.
“Ahh, feels like home,” I say as I take a deep breath of the heavily polluted city.
Suddenly, I hear a terrified shout behind me, and I am already running. I duck behind a set of trash bins and hurriedly put on my suit. I leave my backpack at the ground and start looking for the source of the sound.
“Help!” There, I hear it again, more closely this time. I run as fast as I can, ignoring the yelps of the people that I come across with so I can quickly help whoever that is. Three blocks pass and I see a streak of blue and grey running at full speed away from the alley it ran out of. I follow them and glance at the corner where I see a woman in tears shouting to stop the thief who took her belongings.
I catch up with the thief in a blue and grey hoodie and pull them by the shoulder to turn them around.
“Hey!” I exclaim at the thief, it’s a guy.
“Let me go!” the thief shouts.
I hold on to them and take the bag from their hands.
“Give it back!” he says.
I tightly hold his arm and look at him straight in the eyes. “Stealing. Is. Bad. Don’t do that again,” I firmly tell him.
The guy seems to have recognized my mask as his eyes widen. “Oh shit, you’re that guy. The guy with the spider. The guy. There. At bank. You. You’re the one who beat up the bank robbers!”
I’m shocked. That was two weeks ago, nobody really paid any attention to the news of the bank robbery, but I guess thieves pay attention to that kind of news.
“Oh um,” I stutter, a little flustered from being recognized. “Well, yeah it’s me, I’m Spider Man,” I tell him.
“Spider.. man?” he asks, looking confused then shakes his head. “Whoever you are, please I’m begging you, I won’t do it again!”
“Oh please,” I say and roll my eyes. “I already see the lady with the authorities. So, I’ll just bind you to this street post and I’ll be on my way,” I tell him. I lay down the purse at his feet and tie him to the post with my spider webs. I wait until the lady and the authorities are near enough and I start running away from them.
-
I slow down my pace to a jog to get my backpack in the alley a few blocks back. I turn around for a second to see if anyone is following me, there’s no one, good.
“Ack!” I hear as I bump into something solid. It’s a person.
I am about to say sorry when I see the guy’s eyes full of grief looking at the ground. I follow the direction where he’s looking and sees a fallen half-eaten sandwich.
“My sandwich,” the guy says.
“Oh my god! I’m so sorry, dude, I really am, I just turned around for a second, I’m so sorry,” I tell him, sincerely apologizing.
The guy slowly turns his eyes upward to look at me. “That was my breakfast,” he says, his voice dripping with disappointment.
“Oh, shit man, there’s a McDonald’s just right across the street, I’ll buy you anything you want, I’m really sorry,” I offer to make up for it.
“Great!” the guy answers with no hesitancy whatsoever and immediately regains his composure. He stands at the edge of the road, ready to cross it. He looks back at me and raises his eyebrows, “Well?”
“Oh, right, yeah let’s go!”
-
“You’re going to eat… all of that?” I ask as he puts down the tray with a mountain of food in it. “You were only eating a sandwich earlier though..” I whisper.
“Yeah well, you said you were going to buy me anything I wanted,” he sighs happily and starts digging with the fries. “Are you sure you’re not going to eat?”
“I um, I can’t, I have a mask,” I answer.
“Remove it then?”
“I can’t.. I,” I stutter. This is pretty embarrassing. I’m definitely going red behind the mask; thank God he can’t see it. “I need to keep my face hidden, because you know, I’m a superhero,” I say awkwardly, my shoulders drooping a little bit.
“Oh right, I saw you on the news the other week! Aren’t you that spider… person? Spider boy? Spider.. ling? Or do you identify as the web-faced, red-colored tarantula?”
“Well, I’m. Wait, what? Tarantula?” the guys shrugs. “It’s Spider Man dude, come on.”
“Right, I’m Haechan by the way, nice to meet you, spidey,” Haechan says as he takes my hand and shakes it vigorously. “Aren’t you supposed to have fast reflexes or something? Isn’t that your thing?” he asks me.
I straighten up in my seat, feeling proud from having my abilities recognized. “Yes. It is. My thing, I mean. Fast reflexes,” I answer. Why do I keep stuttering?
“Then why did you let my sandwich drop?”
Oh. I did not expect that question. I just realized what happened.
“I um. You know, I was,” I try to explain myself, fumbling with words as well as my hands. I cannot keep still in front of this man, why the heck is that? “I was pre-occupied. My mind was. I just stopped a thief from taking a lady’s purse and I was you know, walking back and I was thinking about what happened. So. Yeah, sorry about that again.”
“No, it’s fine, I just asked, sorry if that was invasive,” he says, not looking very apologetic. “But since we’re at it, why do you want to keep your identity hidden? Are you also faking your voice? Because I can definitely recognize that if I met you somewhere else. Also, how old are you? You don’t really seem like a man yet, are you a teenager? Or younger? Or are you my age? I feel like you’re in college too.”
Wow, he definitely did not mean his apology for being invasive.
“I don’t know why you expect me to answer all those questions.. I just said I wanted to keep my identity hidden so..” I reply. He shrugs again and keeps on eating; he takes a bite off his burger and slurps on some coke. Then silence. He stops talking.
The silence feels awkward. I clear my throat. “I um, you’re right. I don’t really seem like a man yet, I’m still pretty childish, but, I am a man. I’m twenty-two years old now, I’m assuming we’re in the same age range. And I do go to college. I major in English.” Great, so much for keeping your identity private, Mark. Way to go!
Haechan nods and looks at me dead in the eyes. I look back at him but can’t keep it up, so I look away. God, he is making me feel extra tingly. I can’t keep still.
“You should take off your mask, it’s pretty hot,” Haechan suggests.
It is hot. Summer this year is the worst and wearing a suit during the day is just pure torture, but necessary in my case.
“No, I’m good, but thanks,” I answer, I can feel my face heating up, and it’s not because of the weather.
“I kinda want to see your face, you’re quite an intriguing person. Also, I feel curious as to who I’m eating with right now. I’d feel better knowing who you actually are. But I guess you wear that mask for privacy, but also to appear mysterious, yeah?” Haechan asks then squints his eyes. “I bet you’re cute underneath the mask,” he says teasingly.
This is just too much. “Oh, thanks I guess. I think you’re cute too.” Fuck. Did I just say that? What is wrong with me. I pinch my thighs hard from the embarrassment.
Haechan is about to bite his burger but stops midway. He looks taken aback from what I said. “Um, thank you,” he replies. His lips start curling upward. He’s smiling! He also looks a little flustered. Well, now we’re both red. The only difference is that I can see how red his face is, and he can only imagine mine.
Haechan reaches for the ketchup at his side when he knocks his coke sideways. My reflexes start to kick in and I catch it. “Woah. That was close, but I got you,” I tell him, clicking my tongue. He laughs and shakes his head, “Impressive, spiderling.”
He finishes eating and we make our way towards the exit. It feels like we’re both trying to slow down our steps, but we’re finally making our separate ways.
“Thank you again, Mr. Spider, it was an honor meeting you,” he stretches out his hand and I take it.
“You too,” I say, and I try to take my hand back but, jeez, it’s stuck. “Oh. Fuck. Sorry. Just wait a second,” I take a deep breath and pull it. It comes off.
Haechan tries to hide his smile for my sake, but our eyes meet, and we can’t help but crack up.
“Well, I guess that’s it,” he says. “I wish I had your powers so I could just swing on buildings. It would be a lot faster.”
“Actually, I don’t use my webs like that. I’m a little scared of heights,” I answer, a little embarrassed.
“Oh, really? Do you get paralyzed by it or you just start panicking when you realize you’re at a high place?”
“Um, the latter, I guess?”
Haechan nods like he understands. “If you like, you can just try doing it, don’t look down below, focus on the building tops. Or look at the sky. Just a suggestion, but don’t force yourself if you really can’t, that’s totally okay. It seems pretty fun. You’re young and powerful, so try out as many stuff as you can, or you’ll regret it later on. And you’re like, physically invincible right? What’s the worst that could happen?” he adds.
I smile, it makes sense. Maybe I’ll try doing it. “You’re right. I promise I’ll try doing it, and if I manage to succeed, I’ll find you again. Then I’ll buy you whatever you want, wherever you want.”
Haechan smiles. “No. Next time, it’s my treat. And maybe I’d see your face by then,” he says then he immediately turns around and walks away.
“Goodbye Haechan, take care out there!”
Haechan raises his right hand and waves in acknowledgement.
-
I stand in front of a relatively low building, it’s only three stories high. Good for practice.
I climb up the stairs and reach the rooftop. I look at clear skies, it’s beautiful. What a perfect day.
I walk near the edge and keep my eyes up. “Don’t look down, don’t look down, don’t look down,” I tell myself as a mantra.
I stand at the edge of the building. There’s only air and God between me and the ground down below. Still, I stay there and keep looking straight ahead. It’s not so bad as long as I don’t see how high up I am.
“Okay, I can do this. I’m Spider Man. I’m powerful. I can do this. Just one short swing and it’s all good,” I tell myself as I shake my limbs to prepare.
I step my right foot off the ledge, close my eyes, take a deep breath, and I step my other foot off. Suddenly I’m falling.
I can feel the warm summer wind blow against my face. The air whistles loud in my ear and I can feel the ground coming up, fast. I open my eyes and stretch my wrist up towards the beam on the next building. The webs come out immediately and they hold firmly onto the beam. I’m swinging.
“Whoo!” It feels nice, I can feel the wind rush past me, and I am pumped with adrenaline. I look at the sky and swing towards the bright, full sun; I am happy, and I feel like this is it. This is what I’m meant to be doing. Finally.
I am Mark Lee, also known as, Spider Man. I may not be the perfect superhero, but I try my best not to let my fears and doubts prevent me from being a good one.
Also, I met a boy today, and somehow, he inspired me to be braver, have more will. Now, I better find him fast, because of all the times I could have jumped off a building before, I chose today.
All because of him.
I hope my webs don’t have a limitation because the nearest university is a little far from where I am. But whatever, I can just get back down and run. No biggie.