Chapter Text
Midtown High School was a school that specialised in educating its students in the sciences, mathematics and technology. Only those who scored above a certain percentage on a series of entrance exams were allowed to grace its halls with their young minds. That or those who had the influence or wealth to pay for their child's spot.
Ten months ago, Penelope ‘Penny’ Parker had scored the highest in her grade on the entrance exams and had been formally accepted into the school. Four months afterwards, she began her first year at the High School. Four months after that, a tragedy struck her family. Her Uncle and guardian, Benjamin Parker, was shot and killed in front of her very eyes during a robbery of a bodega.
The perpetrator was never caught.
Her teachers watched as Penny became more withdrawn; she no longer partook in the robotics club, the biochemistry club or the Academic Decathlon, all of which she had once been a promising member of. Although her grades remained high it was clear that the death of her Uncle had hit her extremely hard.
Of course, what they couldn’t know was that was not the primary reason Penny had stopped having time for afterschool activities…
The bus pulled up to the apartment block, where a young girl was already waiting for it. Penny huffed impatiently at the slowness of the vehicle, as it stopped, the door opened, and she clambered on. She could run to school faster than that rickety yellow monstrosity.
Of course, just because she was Spider-Man didn’t mean she could avoid the school bus. Penny only had one suit, one that she’d spent weeks painstakingly sewing together, so she couldn’t risk getting it too damaged or dirty before a patrol. Not to mention, she only had so much web fluid to work with. She still felt bad for stealing from her school, but rich kids paid to go there so it's not the end of the world or anything.
Technically the school was helping her advance her hero career, so they should be fine with it. The school also hasn’t seemed to notice the chemicals she was taking yet. Screw her she didn’t have the money to buy the chemicals herself so she ‘borrowed’ some. So she will let the matter rest there.
She sat near the front, at an empty window seat and put her headphones in. Hopefully that would be enough to keep people’s eyes off her for the journey.
Thankfully, now her classmates were turning sixteen, fewer of the popular kids were taking the bus, instead driving their own cars in or being driven by their friends. It also meant Penny got a few more much needed minutes of peace before arriving at school.
She curled up a little in her thick sweater, it belonged to Uncle Ben and was probably the nicest piece of clothing she owned. Aunt May had helped her adjust it a little for her size and having it with her maybe reminded herself of him just a little. Like he was always with her giving her a hug.
She felt the bus stop and someone else climbed on. It was Ned, a boy in her class and a programming whiz, who like her, had no friends. He usually sat in the back in order to keep eyes off of him from bullies.
She couldn’t blame him for that, it was a solid strategy. No one in the popular circles seemed to know he existed.
He walked passed and sat down in the seat behind her. Ned was nice, so at least she didn’t have to worry about the journey.
But then Ned tapped her on the shoulder. People never engaged with Penny. Not even other losers. She had been target number one for every bully ever since she was five. Everyone who wasn’t a part of that pack steered clear in order to protect themselves. She took off her headphones with no small amount of waryness.
“Hey Penny?” He asked a little stilted.
“Um… yeah?” She asked back.
“Do you have the notes for chemistry? I’m freaking out about the test today.”
She gaped for a few seconds before her brain caught up to the situation and she managed to stutter out, “Oh! Yeah, ah… here.” She fumbled with her backpack for a few seconds before she was able to pull out her notebook.
It was falling apart at the seams and was damp from when she left her bag on top of a skyscraper in the rain last night during her patrol.
Ned didn’t mention the state of her notes. He just frantically copied what she had scribbled down.
“Thanks. I see you’re ready for this chemistry test.” Ned said after a few awkward seconds.
“As ready as I can be.” She said back. This was one of the longest conversations she’s had that hasn’t involved her being teased, hit, or feeling embarrassed in years.
“Maybe they’ll have the bonus question this time be ‘Who's been stealing from the storage room?’” Ned joked.
Penny swallowed the lump that suddenly appeared in her throat.
‘I hope not, since it’s me,’ she thought.
“Hehe, if they knew I doubt they’d involve us,” she answered in a manner she was certain was above suspicion. “Maybe they’re using it to make drugs, Breaking Bad style?”
“What, Mr. Avery?” Ned snorted, putting his headphones on. “He can barely string a sentence together, let alone take on the NYPD.”
That seemed to be the end of the conversation. So Penny moved to put her headphones back in when she suddenly heard her name.
“Did you hear about Spider-Man?” someone several seats down asked their friend. “That Youtube video that was uploaded yesterday?”
“Yeah, the one where the policeman shot at him point blank and he dodged? It was insane!”
“It was freaky,” the other guy said. “If the police can’t stop him, who can?”
“He’s a hero, the police should let him do his thing.”
“Yeah right, nobody knows who he is, it’s only a matter of time before he kills someone, then what?”
Penny turned up the volume in her headphones. People could think what they wanted, but Spider-Man didn’t kill. When Spider-Man was around, everybody lived, even assholes who shot at her.
The first class of the day was physics and Penny sat down in her usual seat.
Phpfft!
The class burst out laughing as she removed the whoopee cushion that someone had placed on her chair.
“Starting the day as you mean to carry on, hey Piggy?” Flash jeered from behind her, to the delight of the class as they responded with more laughter.
‘Thanks Spider-sense, really coming in clutch today,’ she thought angrily as her face burned red.
She knew better than to say anything back to Flash. It would only make things worse, especially if his girlfriend decided to get involved.
“Hey Piggy,” Flash poked her in the back hard enough to make her fake glasses go askew. “I know you’re busy thinking of your next meal, but it ain’t polite to ignore someone.”
Penny grit her teeth and turned around.
“What do you want today, Flash?”
“I just wanted a friendly conversation, Piggy,” he said with false sincerity. “You’re always so judgy; I don’t judge you, despite there being just so much of you to judge.”
Muted laughter and giggling echoed all around her. People making wisecracks about her size. Sometimes Penny hated having super hearing.
It wasn’t even like she was fat or anything!
Well, she had been a bit chubby before the spider-bite, but now she was nothing but lean muscle. Not that it was obvious her physique had changed with her sweaters and propensity to change in the showers away from the other girls.
“Oh Flash,” came the dreaded silky smooth voice, and Penny felt her heart drop.
Gwen ‘Perfect’ Stacy sauntered past in her expensive pink converse, taking with her all of Penny’s hopes for a good day.
“You know Little Orphan Piggy is hard of hearing,” she swept back her beautiful blonde hair and sat down next to her boyfriend who kissed her on the cheek. “And hard of seeing. Of course, she only needs one sense and we all know what that is…”
She must have mimed something because more people broke out into giggles.
‘Just ignore them, Penny, they’re just words,’ she repeated silently to herself, her cheeks growing red and scrunching her eyes. She couldn’t believe she used to be best friends with Gwen. Gwen who she had trusted with every secret that she had. Who she believed would be by her side through everything.
Gwen Stacy who had ditched her the first chance she could to become one of the popular kids. Who left Penny in the dust to fend for herself without ever thinking about how Penny would feel. Who gave away every embarrassing and painful detail about her to everyone who would listen.
Until Gwen told everyone, no one had known she was an orphan.
Gwen hadn’t come to Ben’s funeral. Penny doubted she even knew what happened to her and May. And based on how Gwen never seemed to value their friendship, she really believed she didn’t care.
She felt the sting of tears in her eyes, but she pushed them down. She wouldn’t give Gwen and Flash the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
Penny’s eyes darted towards the door where she could hear another heartbeat enter the classroom. Mr. Dale, the Physics teacher, entered the room, where he could clearly detect something had just happened.
“Is there a problem here?” He asked in a tone that suggested he really didn’t care.
“No, sir,” Gwen replied jauntily.
“Miss Parker?”
She took a calming breath.
“No, sir.”
Telling never ended well for her either.
Flash’s parents were rich and had made significant donations to the school and Gwen was both liked by the teachers and her Dad was a Police Captain. George Stacy had driven her to and from sleepovers at Gwen’s house. He had watched Penny and Gwen play together on the playground. He had been at Ben’s funeral, had put his weathered hand on her shoulder and pulled her in for a long hug. Had asked when she would come over to Gwen’s house to talk. He promised to help find the man who shot her uncle. He was a kind man. She didn’t understand how Gwen could be so nasty and have her father say nothing to her.
He must not be aware of how much of a bully Gwen had become. Penny would know better than anyone how good of a liar Gwen really was. Plus he must be busy with his sons as well and never questioned it.
Not to mention Gwen was an honors student and made sure Flash always passed his classes.
It was unfair that people could be so cruel, but also be popular, athletic and smart.
“Good, then I can welcome you all back to the fantastic world of physics…”
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hours later the lunch bell rang and everyone gathered their things and made their way towards the cafeteria. Penny lagged behind like she always did as she walked towards her locker. She had no one to sit with, so it was easier to just have a pre-packed lunch and eat alone by the bleachers.
She walked over to her locker, snippets of conversation flying by.
“Do you think Diana even likes me?”
“I hate math. Can’t we have science without the math?”
“You’re never gonna believe this! I saw Spider-Man yesterday!”
Penny halted, ears straining. A couple of seniors further along the hallway were having a hushed conversation. Quickly she pretended to fiddle with her combination.
“This car tried speeding through 3rd street and skidded while I was shopping. He just jumped down out of nowhere and wham! Dead stop.”
“Are you kidding, he’s that strong?”
“Yeah, he even stuck around long enough for me to get a picture, look.”
“That’s so cool!”
Penny smiled. At least she had made somebody's day. She hadn’t realized the guy she saved yesterday went to her school. If she hadn’t been there, that kid might be in the hospital or dead. It was a sobering thought.
She reached into her locker to grab her lunch.
“Lost in thought?”
“Ah!” Penny shrieked. She had been so caught up in eavesdropping she’d missed someone sneaking up on her.
“Um, h-hey MJ,” Penny said, looking up at the taller girl. “You startled me.”
MJ was an enigma. Everybody seemed to like her, yet she never hung out with anybody. She was invited to parties with seniors, yet seemed to delight in her solitude. Nobody picked on her, yet she was usually alone. She was also on the academic decathlon team, a member of the art club and was just overall effortlessly cool.
Also she was one of the hottest girls in school.
“I can see that,” MJ looked her over. “A little high-strung today?”
“No just- lost in thought like you said,” Penny clutched her lunch to her chest, leaning away from the towering girl. “Um, not that it isn’t nice to talk, but you don’t usually talk to… well…”
MJ regarded her like a puzzle she couldn’t figure out.
“Losers?”
Penny flinched. MJ was also brutally honest.
“Well yeah. So did you want something?” She winced a little at how rude her question sounded but MJ didn’t seem to mind.
“I was talking to Liz and we both wanted to know why you suddenly quit the decathlon team.”
Liz Allen was the head of the Academic Decathlon team and had always been kind to Penny. Guilt wormed its way through Penny’s gut at the thought of letting the older girl down after she had been one of the few in this whole building that was nice to her.
“Oh, that was months ago…” she murmured.
“And the robotics club.”
“Well I was kicked out after not showing up…”
“And the chemists club.”
“Look, I’m just going through some things,” Penny admitted. She hadn’t really had time for clubs since becoming Spider-Man, and it wasn’t like she was really learning anything in them anyway. Designing the voice changer for Spider-Man, the web fluid, and web shooters had pushed her far more than any of the clubs had. She definitely wasn't lonely.
Not at all.
Not even a little bit.
If she said it enough times she would eventually believe it.
“By that do you mean still processing your…” she gestured towards her sweater.
Penny grew red.
“Y-yeah, I didn’t realize anyone knew.”
“They probably don’t. I just remember that your Uncle would often pick you up from school wearing that.”
“Y-you noticed?”
“I like to watch people,” MJ admitted, “Most people don’t pay attention to these things, but I do. It’s a nice sweater.”
“Thank you. Um, did you need anything else?” Penny then internally cringed, that sounded so bad.
“Not yet,” MJ said simply. “Catch you later, Parker.”
“Catch you later… too,” Penny waved awkwardly, feeling a little tender.
She hadn’t realized that anyone other than her and May would notice Uncle Ben was gone. It was… reassuring in a strange way. That the world had lost Uncle Ben rather than just her and Aunt May, that he truly had existed beyond their small apartment. That he had made a difference in the world.
She chose to ignore how it was MJ who noticed Ben was gone and not Gwen.
The rest of the day passed in a daze. Even when Flash continued his name-calling, even when someone painted a pig on her locker door and even when one of Gwen’s friends tripped her up in the hallway and all her books and notes scattered all over the floor, Penny held on to that feeling.
That Ben wasn’t truly gone, not until nobody remembered him.
When school ended, Penny was buzzing. Ever since the bite, she’d had so much energy that needed to be released that sitting in classrooms for most of the day wasn’t going to cut it. Now being Spider-Man she could release all that pent up energy in a community friendly way.
Most days there wasn’t much going on, occasionally she would stop someone speeding, maybe a mugging or two, but most of the time it was just swinging around the city and seeing how fast she could get from one end to the other.
She had also discovered that she could use her webs to slingshot herself around the city by pulling back on rooftops and then letting go.
It was so much fun.
Penny waited until the hallways were empty before retrieving her backpack, staying below the sight of the lone security camera and walking up to the roof of the school. A quick superhuman hop and she was on top of the roof where she kept her Spider-Man suit.
Aunt May was taking a late shift at the hospital today so she wouldn’t be missed for quite some time.
Penny put her school clothes in her backpack and Spider-Man swung away from the school. Within minutes she was sailing through the air between skyscrapers, senses peeled for anyone she could help.
For the first time that day, Penny felt herself truly relax, going through the motions of swinging as she practically flew through the city. Throwing herself high into the air just to catch herself last second and build up momentum for the next swing.
Flipping and diving and performing every acrobatic move she could have dreamed of with ease, flying high above the streets of the city, Penny felt truly alive.
“Help!”
“Well duty calls,” she smiled, quickly swinging over towards the cry.
She soon came across a bunch of people looking around.
“Hey there, ma’am,” Penny said, hanging upside down next to them.
“Ah!” the woman yelled in shock as the rest of her group muttered and pointed at her. “What are you?” she asked in heavily accented English.
“I’m your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man,” Penny replied, thankful her voice changer made her sound older and more reassuring. “How can I help you? Was there a mugger? Did you lose a kid?”
“We’re looking for the zoo!” the woman replied.
She spent twenty minutes with the woman and her tourist group trying to figure out which zoo they wanted to go to. After directing the group as best she could, Penny swung away.
“Aonther day was saved thanks to Spider-Man!” she said to herself as she swung higher.
The streets flew by beneath her as she rocketed above the traffic below.
“Ha, I’m probably the fastest thing in New York! It’s basically a parking lot down there.” she yelled out as she flew over the miles of traffic below her, “Woohoo!”
Then she heard sirens. Numerous fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances were careening down a nearby road. She quickly followed after them, easily keeping pace as they turned a corner.
She gasped at what she saw…
Initially, New York had been split when it came to Spider-Man. Hero or Menace? Well-meaning do-gooder or illegal vigilante? Potential Avenger or in way over his head? Newspapers were split, boroughs were split, and the people of New York were split.
Until the Blaze.
Now, when anyone mentioned Spider-Man, the Blaze would be the first thing that came to every New Yorker’s mind.
On a cool spring evening in Manhattan, an eight-story block of flats caught fire. The smoke could be seen from everywhere in the city; a towering pillar of black reaching out to the sky.
Firefighters swarmed like ants trying to get the blaze under control, but the fire was too fierce. It seemed to swallow the building whole in its fury. The sheer heat pushed back the responders; nobody could get close. Figures trapped inside waved frantically from the windows, screaming out for people to save them.
Another contingent of firefighters had arrived when disaster struck. Something inside the building exploded and a man was sent careening out of an eighth-floor window. Hundreds of phones captured the sight, thousands were watching live as news anchors, firefighters and police, everybody watched helplessly in horror as he fell.
Thwip.
Only for him to be caught by a red blur.
Separate livestreams and news channels caught the moment Spider-Man gently lowered the man to the ground. For many it would be the first time they’d seen or heard the superhero in person.
“Don’t worry, you’re safe now,” Spider-Man said, setting the man down. His voice was even, a man’s voice, strong and kind, yet light enough to be reassuring and caring.
“M-my family…” the man croaked, barely audible through his hacking coughs. “Still… in there!”
“I’m on it!”
Spider-Man then leapt, eight-stories high, back into the building. Through the very window the man had been forced outward.
Hurried commenters quickly tried to grasp the situation.
“He went back in!”
“Who was that?!”
“He just jumped up there, holy sh-,”
“Was that Iron Man?”
Only for a figure to immediately come back out the window, carrying three people, one over the shoulder and two kids squeezed under an arm. He swung over to the man and reunited him with his family.
“Is that all of them? Good!” Spider-Man said breathlessly, before taking a running leap back into the building.
“He just jumped back in again!”
“Get them some blankets!”
“Get those trampolines set up! Stop gawking!” a nearby Fireman ordered.
Thwip! Thwip!
Every minute or so, Spider-Man would come back out, holding a man or a woman or a child in his arms. Then without hesitation would swing back in once again to clear another floor.
The Fireman worked seamlessly, holding trampolines for Spider-Man to deposit people safely into, before swinging back into the building, buying him more time to save people.
As the number of missing people dwindled further and further. The tone of the night quickly shifted from horror and fear, to one of hope and sheer awe.
Spider-Man’s red suit grew blackened with soot and smoke. Tears and burns were appearing along his suit, revealing his skin, yet he never even slowed down.
The crowds cheered every time he appeared with another person in his arms and gasped as he swung back into the inferno.
All eyes were on Spider-Man that night.
Thwip! Thwip!
It was incredible. He reunited families who thought they were lost.
Thwip! Thwip!
The elderly and disabled who couldn’t escape were saved.
Thwip! Thwip!
Even trapped pets were returned.
Dozens and dozens of people were saved and reunited with families. The ambulances were slowly filled with hacking and coughing but alive people. Those who hadn’t been able to get out before the fire grew too strong had been saved.
Pets in terrible states themselves clutched by their owners who feared they would lose them if they let go. A little boy openly sobbed in joy as Spider-Man handed him his small fish bowl, containing a single goldfish.
But the fire continued to burn. As if angered, the building erupted with flame, bathing the entire street in orange light. The Police and Firefighters forced the perimeter of journalists and bystanders back. It was too hot for anyone to get closer.
They whispered that the building was lost; anyone who was still in there was as good as dead.
And it was then the night reached its climax.
Spider-Man swung out, a young woman under his arm. She was coughing violently as he handed her over to the paramedics.
“I think that’s everyone!” he yelled to the fire chief, before even he was overcome with a horrible cough, doubling over as he tried to catch his breath.
“Please!” the woman yelled out, resisting the paramedics, and screaming between her own harrowing fits of coughing. “My daughter… she was hiding in the basement!”
Spider-Man stood up like he’d been electrocuted and ran back towards the building.
“No, stop!” someone tried to grab him.
“It’s about to come down!” a Fireman yelled in warning.
But Spider-Man ran regardless. A flaming wooden pillar fell in front of the door to the building, Spider-Man flipped over it and disappeared completely from sight.
The whole city collectively held its breath.
Then there was an almighty crack and then a groan. Like an old god had awoken from underneath the city. The building lurched and then came down. It folded in on itself and fell. Everyone screamed as the area was covered in ash and dust.
“Get back! Get back!”
It took a few minutes for the air to clear enough for people to see.
The ruins were still smoldering, and the firefighters quickly set at it with water. But morale was gone. Spider-Man had not come back out.
Live news reporters turned towards their cameras with solemn looks.
“The masked hero just went in… and did not make it out...”
“The building has collapsed with the red-man still inside…”
“That was- that was Spider-Man, from Queens! He’s just- he just went back in there! I didn’t see him come out? Did anyone else see?!”
“I think he’s gone…”
“Everybody get back!” the police waved, trying to force everyone away from the scene, even as microphones were shoved into their faces.
“Captain Stacy, was a lack of prompt emergency response the fault of the Mayor’s recent policies?”
“Get back now!”
“Captain Stacy, as the newly promoted captain of the precinct do you feel responsible for the death of this hero?”
“Get back from the scene!”
“Captain Stacy-,”
CREAK!
As one, New York silently watched.
Behind the dust and the smoke and under the fading fire, the crumpled building moved.
“No fucking way…”
A blackened figure clambered upwards, an arm raised as they pushed on the weight above them.
And the weight yielded.
Parts of the building simply fell away as Spider-Man staggered to his feet. Unfurling, he revealed a small mass below him that he scooped up into his arms.
New York watched in awe as Spider-Man walked forwards, carrying the unconscious child in his arms.
Thousands of pictures were taken of the moment. It was the frontpage news story on every network in the country for the next few days. It was printed on magazines, newspapers and even shared as a meme on forums for years.
‘New York Loves you Spider-Man!’
‘Superhero Spider-Man saves 73 people from burning building’
‘Forget the Avengers! Spider-Mania is here!’
‘Hero or Menace? What do you think?’
Spider-Man had no idea this was happening, exactly how much their reputation had just shifted from what she had done. She handed over the kid to the mother as they were swarmed by paramedics and stopped to catch their breath.
She could hear more sirens approaching as police officers and firefighters attempted to secure the collapsed building, making sure no one came close. Which was great for Spider-Man as she could hear the paparazzi all crying out for her, trying to get a statement.
Penny doubled over coughing. Superhero or not she had inhaled a huge amount of smoke and it was not agreeing with her. With this many people around she didn’t dare pull up her mask, even to cough.
Her whole body hurt, her arms in particular. That rubble had been hard to shift, especially with the little kid under her.
“Seriously, who lets their kid play alone in a basement?” she muttered, before hearing a click from behind.
“F-freeze!” a police officer had pulled out his gun and pointed it at her. “Hands up!”
She slowly turned around, not bothering to look up as she continued to cough. She held up a finger at the officer, the universal signal that she needed a second but the officer didn’t care.
“I-I said hands up!” he yelled.
“Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something here?” She asked finally looking up and then felt like the wind had been knocked right out of her.
Because the officer who was pointing a gun at her face was Captain Stacy.
Gwen’s father, the man who was there for her when she needed it the most. Had given her a hug and a promise that he would find Ben’s killer.
He didn’t seem to be aware of how her brain was short circuiting because he jabbed his gun forward again and yelled, “Hands up! I won’t ask again! Anything you say may be used against-,”
Thwip!
The man cried out in shock as his hand, and gun, was suddenly stuck to the nearby police van. She didn’t stay long enough to feel bad about webbing Captain Stacy, taking the opportunity to make a quip followed by a tactical retreat before she started to spontaneously cry.
“It’s just that easy folks,” Spider-Man swaggered, before giving the policeman a mock salute. “Keep up the fine work here, Captain Stacy. Good job with those people you saved- oh wait.”
Thwip!
She leapt up and swung away.
“Don’t-worry-it-dissolves-in-a-couple-of-hours-arrest-me-later-thank-you-bye-bye!”
The crowd roared as she swung away.
‘Keep calm, Penny, keep calm,’ she thought to herself, her heart pounding. ‘I can’t believe he just tried to arrest me after I saved all those people. What is it gonna take to show them I just want to help?!’
After a few minutes she landed on a rooftop, pulled her mask up to show her mouth and properly coughed.
She was exhausted and everything hurt, especially her chest. She was going to pay for inhaling all that smoke and her skin was tingling. Spider-Man clearly wasn’t fire-proof. No further experiments needed to test that hypothesis.
“Oh wow, at least I look as bad as I feel,” she remarked, looking at her reflection in one of the glass buildings. She looked like she’d dived through a blender that had been tossed in an oven. Her suit was torn and shredded and she was covered in burns and bruises and cuts.
Thankfully the padding she used to keep her figure androgynous hadn’t been compromised, but a line had been torn across her stomach. Had it been a little higher, someone might have seen the padding.
She cursed, she was low on webbing as well.
Perhaps it was best Spider-Man retired for the night and maybe spent the evening watching Netflix in a clean bathrobe. Or in an ice bath.
Unfortunately, she’d have to make some more webbing first. May wasn’t going to give her any more allowance until the weekend, so she’d just have to ‘borrow’ the materials from the chemistry lab again.
Of course since nobody would be around, she could also shower and change in the gym locker room so she didn’t smell like sweat, soot and burnt spandex. Then walk home and wash her suit on the highest, hottest setting on their washing machine.
It was a solid plan.
She swung back to the roof of Midtown High to grab her backpack with her clothes and quickly made her way into the chemistry lab, easily avoiding what little security there was at the school.
She turned on the lights, grabbed the hidden key for the chemical storage room (‘Really Mr. Avery, in your desk drawer?’) and began gathering what she needed.
“Wow, it’s stuffy in here,” she fanned herself with her hand, before shrugging and taking off her mask. “Ah, that’s better.”
She took a cautious sniff of her mask.
“Oh god, that’s bad!” she gagged, laying the mask on the table. “Like May’s burnt lasagna.”
It would only take about an hour to make web fluid of the quality she needed.
She could get it started, have a shower, change and then even if by some freak accident someone did come across her then she could make some excuse about having extra chemistry work to do… or something.
“That’s a good plan,” she muttered to herself, yawning as she turned on the Bunsen burner. “A little low on adipic acid… Mr. Avery forgot to stock up. I can’t make my webbing without it though.” She rummaged through the teacher’s desk looking for the delivery schedule.
“Shipment comes in tomorrow during homeroom. Looks like I can make more web fluid during lunch… Avoid Gwen, Flash, and their lackeys.”
Something made her look up, a noise? Was someone coming? Penny listened. She had been too focused before, but now she could hear a heartbeat.
A heartbeat, inside the room?
She spun towards it and saw a small red light poking out of an almost closed cupboard.
Thwip!
“Argh!” screamed a boy as they were yanked out of the cupboard by her webline.
Penny tried to control her breathing as she caught the handheld camera he’d been holding. He’d filmed her, he knew she was Spider-Man.
She crushed the camera in her hand and leapt forwards as she looked into the frightened eyes of… Ned?
“P-Penny?” he spoke, as if unable to believe it. “You’re the one that’s been stealing from the chemistry lab?”
Penny was frozen.
“I-er…”
“And you’re… dressed as Spider-Man, from Youtube?” He slowly stood up. “A really dirty Spider-Man…”
Her brain was broken, actually broken, she surmised as she continued to stare in silent panic.
Ned frowned.
“A Spider-Man who looked like he'd just been baked in an oven…”
‘Come up with an excuse, say anything!’ she begged herself.
“I like to… cosplay?”
“Wh-why are you asking me?”
‘Why can’t I speak to boys at all!?’ Penny lamented internally. Externally, she said nothing, still staring at Ned in blind panic.
“Where’s my camera?” he asked, before noticing the pieces in her hand and on the floor. “You broke it. H-how did you break it? How did you get it?”
“Um…”
Ned’s brain seemed to recover quicker than hers.
“Oh my god,” his face went from angry to shocked. “You actually are Spider-Man.”
“N-no, Ned, I’m not…”
“You just yanked it out of my hands and crushed it,” he said excitedly. “That was-”
“I-I’m so sorry, Ned! I’ll pay for a new one! Just please-,”
“That was so cool!”
“-don’t tell anyone I’m-, what?”
“That was so cool, you just grabbed it with your web and crushed it in your hand! You must be so strong, like that’s unbelievable! You were so fast too, I didn’t even see!”
“Ned!” her hands were on his shoulders and he gasped. “Ned, please! You can’t tell anyone I’m Spider-Man!”
“O-oh don’t worry, I won’t!” he smiled nervously, before his face fell. “You’re-you’re not gonna kill me are you?”
“What? No!” Penny replied, shocked that he’d even ask. “Spider-Man doesn’t kill people.”
“Oh good,” Ned breathed, looking genuinely relieved. “I really thought I was a goner there.”
He then took another look.
“I mean, this is amazing, I mean really… but why do you pretend to be a guy?”
“Um… It’s a long story…”
“And why do you look so… beat up?”
Penny let Ned go and staggered back into a chair, and put her head in her hands. Suddenly feeling twice as exhausted as before. Someone else knew. Someone from her school. Someone from her class even.
“Yeah, I just had to save some people from a fire,” she bit her lip and looked at Ned. “What are you doing here? Why were you hiding in a cupboard?”
“Oh, I was trying to find out who was stealing from the chemistry lab,” he said brightly, before his face suddenly fell. “Not that I’ll tell anyone it was Spider-Man. Or you, Penny.”
“Thanks, Ned,” she sniffed. “Sorry again about your camera.”
“That’s fine, it was a disposable anyway. So what are you using this stuff for?”
“Making my web fluid.”
“No way, you make that stuff here?! That’s amazing!”
Penny felt her face grow hot.
“It-it’s not that impressive...” she murmured.
“I mean, I thought it came out of you like an actual spider.”
Her face scrunched up.
“Ew, no!”
“But that would be cool!”
“No it wouldn’t! It comes out of their asses.”
“Imagine swinging though!”
Penny burst out laughing at the thought. She couldn’t stop it, the thought of swinging through the city like that, people’s reactions.
“They would hate me so much!” she laughed, before her laughter gave way to coughing. “…well even more than they already do.”
“Er, Penny?” Ned asked nervously as she doubled over with a horrible wet cough. “Are you ok?”
Penny could see the black liquid she hacked up seeping through her already filthy gloves.
“I’m fine,” she said as she stood back up, trying not to let Ned see how shaken she was. “I heal really quick.”
“Well if it means anything, I don’t hate you,” Ned said. “You’re Spider-Man, you’re a superhero. Like Iron Man or Captain America or Thor.”
“Yeah, well not everyone sees it that way, but thanks Ned.”
“No problem Spider-Man- I mean Penny,” he coughed as she gave him a flat look. “So… does anyone else know?”
She shook her head.
“No-one knows… except you.”
“Wow, that… is a lot of pressure to keep a secret.”
“Ned…”
“I will, don’t worry! Just… wow, I’m the only one, huh?”
She nodded.
“Oh. Wow.”
Eventually Ned seemed to process the monumental task of not telling anyone the one thing he knew about her and she convinced him to go home. And that they would talk tomorrow on the bus.
She spent her evening completing her revised plan. She had to wait to refill her web fluid, so she showered and changed, walked home keeping her head down from passing strangers, and then spent the evening washing her suit and figuring out how to afford the supplies to repair it.
As she lay in bed, her tattered suit safely tucked away, her thoughts drifted back to Ned. The fact that he knew bore into her mind, making her toss and turn.
‘It will all be ok,’ she thought to herself. ‘Ned’s a nice guy. I can trust him.’
However, it would be the next day that everything got surreal.