Waking Up

Peter Parker's alarm clock woke him up, just like it did every morning. He calmly turned it off and got out of bed. Peter never really described himself as a 'morning person,' but waking up was never a problem for him. It might have had something to do with the fact that it would never interrupt a dream.

Peter Parker never had dreams. If he did, he never remembered them. Last night was no exception.

He got dressed, combed his hair, and looked at his calendar. Today was Monday, and there was a red circle drawn around the date. There weren't any words written, but Peter didn't need them. He knew what today was.

Today there was a field trip scheduled for Oscorp Industries research center, which was mostly irrelevant to Peter. Peter had other plans for today.

This is it. Peter sat on his bed as he pulled on his shoes. I'm really doing it today. Without doubt, and without hesitation, I will do it today.

He consciously ignored the fact that there were several more red circles drawn on earlier dates.

Well, I MIGHT have hesitated in the past, but I'll really do it today. Peter stood up, placed his glasses in his shirt pocket, and grabbed his backpack. After a quick but deep breath, he opened the door to his room and walked out.

Today is the day that I ask Gwen Stacy out. I have to do it today. I have to be bold… confident… out of character.

Peter Parker was fifteen years old. He was just slightly below average height. He was a little on the skinny side. He had medium-length brown hair and brown eyes. He was farsighted, and sometimes wore reading glasses.

Peter Parker was not the boldest or the most confident person. He absolutely was not the bravest.

He had lost count of the number of times he woke up in the morning and told himself he would tell Gwen Stacy he liked her. And every time, he would never tell her. Peter could not find it in himself to say it to her face, no matter how many times he wanted to.

Maybe that's just who he was. A person who was scared of all risks. A person without the strength to change himself. These thoughts swirled in Peter's head and left a heavy feeling in his heart.

But… he wanted to change.

Peter shook his head and walked out of his room. He walked downstairs into his kitchen and greeted his aunt and uncle. Peter ate his breakfast, said his goodbyes, and left the house.

Just this, he told himself. I just want to do this one thing. Today, I want to tell Gwen Stacy how much I like her.

The field trip would start after lunch. If—when—Peter asked Gwen, it would have to be before then. Peter would rather not ask out his first crush in a place as crowded and noisy as the cafeteria. The best place to ask would be in the hallway in between classes. That was also crowded, but not as much, and no one would really notice them.

Gwen and Peter weren't strangers. They both knew each other from class. They talked occasionally. After all, Peter wouldn't have a crush on someone he didn't actually know. Gwen called Peter a friend. If Peter asked her on a date, she might say yes, right?

Right?

"I should just forget the whole thing," Peter muttered to himself as his class ended. He walked out of the classroom. He had already seen Gwen a few times, but hadn't worked up the nerve to speak to her. Lunch was next. He had lost his chance.

There were lots of days in the past where he ended up not asking her out, one more wouldn't be that serious. On the other hand, with that kind of mentality he'd never end up asking her.

Peter closed his eyes and shook his head as he walked (which, in retrospect, wasn't a smart thing to do while walking). I'll just have to ask her in the cafeteria, he told himself. I can't put it off again. I can't keep not-asking her forever. It'd be better to have her say no than to keep going like this. Yeah, that's right. Even if she says no, that's better than being nervous like this, right?

He had been asking himself, 'right?' a lot that day.

Peter was so nervous over the whole thing that he didn't even realize his eyes were still closed, until he bumped into someone. They both fell on their butts and Peter instantly started apologizing when he opened his eyes. "I'm sorry! I wasn't looking—!" It took him a moment to realize Gwen Stacy was the one he bumped into. Did this mean Fate liked him or hated him?

"It's okay Peter," she assured him, "I wasn't looking either." Gwen was about the same height as Peter. Her blond hair reached her shoulders and went perfectly with her blue eyes. She was wearing her backpack, but there was a book laying open in front of her. Apparently, she had been reading it while walking.

Peter got to his feet first and he extended his hand to help her up. Gwen held her book in one hand and Peter's hand in the other. Peter couldn't see it, but he knew he was blushing when he touched her hand. As soon as she was standing, he let go and took a step to the side.

'Crack!'

Peter hesitantly looked down and lifted his foot. His glasses were underneath, and broken. They must have fallen out of his pocket when he fell.

"Oh no," Gwen said. "I'm sorry, Peter."

"I—It's not your fault, Gwen," he hurriedly replied. He picked them up by the handle and lifted them in front of his face. Both lenses were cracked, but the glass hadn't fallen out. The other handle snapped off, though. "It's no big deal. They're not prescription glasses, just cheap reading glasses. I don't even really need them that much." Peter didn't want Gwen worrying over something as trivial as this. He carefully put the broken frames in his shirt pocket again, ignoring the handle still on the ground.

"Okay," she said. She still seemed upset, but believed Peter when he said it wasn't a problem. "Um, I'll see you later then." She quietly walked past Peter.

Just do it!! Peter spun around and said, "Oh, wait!"

Gwen stopped walking and turned back to Peter. "Yes?"

Peter blushed and looked around the room, trying to get his thoughts to start thinking again. "Uh… there's something I want to ask you." There, I said it.

"Okay, ask me," she said simply.

Oh crap, now I have to keep saying it! Peter struggled to look at her face as he continued. "Uh… Do you… if you want to… do something on Friday? Like… a date… maybe?"

"A date?" she confirmed.

Peter couldn't reply, so he just nodded.

Gwen thought about it for several seconds. Peter thought he was going to die from the nervousness. He had finally told her and now he was regretting it.

"Okay. I'd like that," she said at last.

"Y-you would?!"

"Yeah. You still have my number, right? We can call later and make plans."

"Uh, yeah, I have it, still." They had traded numbers during a group project earlier in the year. Peter hadn't dared to use it since, but he knew exactly where it was written down at home. "Uh… I…" Did she really say yes?

Gwen smiled, and she fought the urge to giggle. She could see how nervous he must have been to ask her. It was like nervousness was a paint color and it was dripping off of Peter. On one hand, it might be mean to say it was funny. On the other hand, to an observer, it was DEFINITELY funny. "Okay. Then I'll see you later," she said with a wave, and she started walking again.

Slowly, Peter waved back, despite the fact that she couldn't see him. He was trying to figure out if that had actually happened, or if his eyes and ears just started showing him stuff that wasn't real. Maybe he was dreaming. Oh wait, Peter didn't remember his dreams.

Then, Gwen really said yes. To HIM. Maybe he wasn't as nerdy as he thought.

Peter scratched that idea once he realized he was the only person in the hallway, and he was still waving.

"So, you have a date with Peter Parker this Friday?" asked Mary Jane. She was Gwen's best friend, despite the fact that she was arguably the most popular girl in the entire school. The cool thing about Mary Jane was that she didn't let the popularity go to her head, not that she wouldn't take advantage of it every now and again. She was well known for her mischievous side.

Mary Jane and Gwen were sitting next to each other in the cafeteria. They were the only people on their end of the table, so they didn't have to worry too much about eavesdropping.

"Yeah," Gwen replied, while paying attention to her food. "He asked me just a few minutes ago."

"Hmph, now I'm jealous."

Gwen paused. Then she looked at Mary Jane with confusion. "You like Peter?"

"What? No!" Mary Jane shook her head. "I meant I'm jealous you got a boyfriend before I did."

Gwen blushed slightly, but she didn't realize it. "One date doesn't make him my boyfriend, really."

"It doesn't? How many dates does it take?"

Gwen paused. "…I don't know," she said at last.

"Well, if not a boyfriend, what is he?" she asked with a smile.

"I…" Gwen paused again, longer this time. "…Guess we'll find out on Friday," she replied with her own defiant smile.

The bus soon arrived at Oscorp Industries. The teacher guided the students to the main research lab. In there, the students spread out and began talking to each other while waiting for the presentation to begin.

Peter wandered around the lab, looking at everything. Peter loved science, and all of the equipment here was catching his attention and keeping it. He had actually been looking forward to this field trip for a while. It was one of the reasons he picked today to circle his calendar (well, to put another circle on his calendar, that is).

The idea was, if Gwen rejected him, Peter would use this trip to cheer himself up. It didn't occur to him that there wouldn't be a need for that anymore. He still couldn't figure out what surprised him more: that he finally asked out Gwen, or that she said yes. He still hadn't given up on the dream theory. Oh wait, yes he did. Peter didn't remember his dreams.

Peter noticed Gwen waving to him from another part of the room. Slightly surprised, Peter walked towards her while trying to avoid bumping into other people. He reached Gwen and saw the redheaded girl she was standing with. She was slightly taller than Peter and Gwen, and she had green eyes.

"Hi Peter. I wanted to introduce you to my friend, Mary Jane. Mary Jane, this is Peter. Have you met each other before?"

Peter nodded. "Um, kind of. I think we share a class or two."

Mary Jane stepped between Peter and Gwen. She crossed her arms. "So, YOU'RE the geek who thought he was good enough to start dating the best friend of someone as popular as ME. And without my okay, no less."

Peter had no idea how to react. He waved his hands in an apologetic manner as he tried to say… something. "No… I was… well… I thought… I'm sorry!"

"She's joking." Gwen's voice was deadpan, but her expression said she was annoyed at Mary Jane.

Mary Jane smiled and put her hands behind her back. "Gotcha."

Peter stared at Mary Jane for a moment. Then he frowned and said, "That was mean."

She laughed briefly. Then she waved at Gwen and said, "I'll leave you two alone for a while. Ciao." Then she walked away, not the least bit upset.

"Is she always like that?" asked Peter.

"You should she her when she really does disapprove of someone. Do you remember the time when Flash Thompson made Debra Whitman cry during the science fair?"

"Umm…" Peter shook his head. "No."

"Oh. Well, Mary Jane was the one who dropped that water balloon on him from the school roof."

Pause. "Flash got a water balloon dropped on him?"

"Yeah. And you know what else? When Flash and Debra started dating, I almost thought Mary Jane put him up to it. She denied it when I asked her, but…"

Pause. "Flash and Debra are dating?"

"I take it you don't gossip much."

Peter looked embarrassed. "I guess not."

A man named Howard Backyard knocked on the door to one of the much smaller research labs within Oscorp Industries. A woman's voice replied, "It's unlocked." Backyard entered the lab.

Natasha Quarter sat in a swivel chair in front of a desk, looking at the door and Backyard. Behind her, on another desk against the wall, was a glass tank covered with a blanket. She had been waiting for Backyard to return since the start of his meeting. "So, does Mr. Osborn…"

Backyard shook his head. "I don't think he suspects anything."

Quarter crossed her arms and looked to the side. "We shouldn't have to worry too much. We've already taken care of all the evidence, except THAT of course," she moved her head back to indicate the tank. "And in two days we can sell the thing and be done with this."

"It's not just Osborn, you know. Anyone who sees that is a security risk."

"Yeah, You-Know-Who was very strict. 'No witnesses, no leaks, no exceptions'."

"I don't agree with his idea," Backyard said. "Working in secret means we have to steal material without Osborn noticing. There's only so much we can steal that way. Does he really think we could make a working prototype like that?"

"We're only supposed to make a prototype. After he buys it, HE'S the one who has to make it work," Quarter reminded him.

"I'm starting to get sick of the whole thing. A part of me regrets saying yes to that offer."

"Since when are you brave enough to say no to a crime boss?" she asked with a smirk.

Backyard gave an embarrassed smile. "True." The smile faded. "And on top of all this stress, some high school decided to have a field trip here. Imagine, teenagers coming to this room by mistake, taking pictures with their cell phones, putting this little secret on blogs and the like. Osborn and You-Know-Who would both have a fit."

"Now you're just being paranoid," Quarter said.

Backyard looked at her like she was stupid. He whispered, "We're breaking company protocol behind Osborn's back, making a weapon for a crime boss, because he waved a sack of money in front of us. If this got out Osborn would blacklist us, You-Know-Who might even kill us, and no judge in New York would save us. I'm allowed to be paranoid."

Backyard took a deep break before continuing. "Besides, if a co-worker besides Osborn saw that tank, we could keep track of his movements or maybe even cut him in. We can't really do that with a random teenager we don't know."

"Good point," Quarter agreed. "But on the other hand, if a random teenager saw that tank, would anyone even notice if he just happened to 'disappear'?"

After the field trip ended, the students gathered outside the building as the bus pulled up. Some students got on the bus, but many decided to walk instead. Peter was one of the latter. He didn't want to risk running into Gwen and Mary Jane again.

Peter sat on bench as the last of the students boarded the bus and he thought to himself, Forget nervous, I'm just plain cowardly. Confessing to Gwen was supposed to be the hard part, but he still couldn't form a decent sentence around her, unless he was showing how clueless he was about anything.

Peter blinked. He realized something. He wasn't wearing anything on his back. Cowardly, clueless, and now forgetful. Peter ran inside the building to find his backpack, just as the bus was pulling away.

For whatever reason, Peter didn't see anyone inside the building. He guessed they were only 'on display,' so to speak, for the field trip.

It had taken Peter a lot of footwork, but he eventually found his backpack. Bad news: the backpack was found, but now Peter was lost.

It was a lot easier to lose your way inside Oscorp when you didn't have a dozen classmates and a tour guide to follow. Every hallway looked exactly like every other hallway. None of the doors were labeled ("WHY aren't these labeled?" he asked himself). And he still couldn't find anyone on the staff.

Even if he did find someone, would he get in trouble for being here after the field trip ended? Well, if that happened, Peter would just tell them the truth; he left his backpack inside and he was trying to find it. They would forgive him for that, right?

I need to stop asking myself 'right?' all the time. I just know I'm going to regret it eventually.

Peter came to the conclusion that he needed to find someone. He had no idea HOW employees found their way through this maze, but they must be able to do so somehow. He systematically began knocking on every door he found. When he got no answer, he opened the door just to make sure no one was there. When he noticed the lights out, he closed the door and moved on to the next one.

Eventually, he found a room that was empty, but the lights were on. Curious, Peter stepped inside. It seemed to be a lab, but it was much smaller than the one he saw that afternoon. There were many desks crowding the room, plus one swivel chair. On the desk farthest from the door, there was a piece of white cloth covering what was shaped like a tank.

Slowly, Peter walked to the tank. Without even thinking about what he was doing, he carefully pulled the cloth off.

Something that looked like clay coated the bottom of the tank. It was mostly black, with some bits of red mixed in. It looked like thick liquid, but it was completely still. Not even a ripple on the surface. Peter didn't touch it, he just stared at it for several seconds. He heard footsteps behind him. Then Peter remembered he wasn't really supposed to be there. "Sorry, I was—"

Before he could turn his head, he heard a clicking sound. He had heard that sound several times on television, but it was nothing like hearing it in person. Despite that, he knew exactly what it was, and it terrified him.

It was the sound of a gun being cocked. "Don't move," a woman's voice said.

Despite the warning, Peter slowly turned his head. Over his shoulder he saw a tall man with short blond hair, and a woman with glasses and orange hair tied in a bun. The woman was pointing the gun at Peter.

The man said, "I TOLD you someone from the field trip might see it."

"That you did. Remind me to doubt your paranoia less often."

What's going on…?!

"It's too bad we have to kill a kid," the man said, although he didn't really sound all that upset.

"I know. But You-Know-Who was specific," the woman told her partner. "'No witnesses, no exceptions.' He even told us he would help cover up any murders."

They're deciding whether or not to kill me and I don't even know what's going on!

"I'm not trying to talk out of it, I'm just saying I pity the guy. He must be the unluckiest person in the city."

Am I really going to die? Just for seeing that black ooze?

I don't want to die!!

Suddenly, all three of them heard footsteps. The man looked in the hallway and the woman quickly hid the gun in her coat. Peter dodged to the left and hid under a desk.

The woman looked back and didn't see the kid. "Crap!" The man closed the door and locked it. They couldn't keep it locked all the time because a co-worker might ask WHY it was locked. But in a situation like this, he could afford to make an exception. The two of them walked to where they last saw Peter, and started looking under the desks.

Peter was curled up in a fetal position, eyes clenched shut, hands over his head. This was for real. One of them had a gun and he heard them agree to kill him. Over an accident. Peter agreed when the man called him the 'unluckiest person in the city.' Peter was terrified. This was happening so fast.

Peter Parker was not the boldest or the most confident person. He absolutely was not the bravest.

He had lost count of the number of times he woke up in the morning and told himself he would tell Gwen Stacy he liked her. And every time, he would never tell her. Peter could not find it in himself to say it to her face, no matter how many times he wanted to.

Maybe that's just who he was. A person who was scared of all risks. A person without the strength to change himself. These thoughts swirled in Peter's head and left a heavy feeling in his heart.

But… but he DID change!

I don't want to die!

He wasn't sure how, but he finally confessed to Gwen. His nerves still wouldn't let up around her, but he was changing. He was getting better. Just like he wanted. But now he was going to die, just like that.

Not yet…! It isn't fair…!

It was as if some impartial god of death just flipped a coin and picked him to die. Peter didn't want to die yet. Not after he finally started changing himself. Not after he finally got his wish.

I want to stay alive…

please… somebody…

…

save me

…

At that moment, Peter Parker fell asleep.

And someone else was waking up in his place.

He moved out of the desk and stood up, facing the wall. The woman noticed and pointed her gun at his back. He turned his head and looked at the two. To the woman's surprise, she heard him chuckle for a second. "I don't know what I'm doing here," he said with a smirk, "but there's no way I'm letting you knock me off now."

Backyard and Quarter blinked.

Peter ran toward Quarter, trying to get her gun. She snapped out of her shock and fired. He dodged to the left, but the bullet was so close he could feel the air next to his face. He noticed that the gunshot didn't make much noise—The woman must be using a silencer.

As he dodged the bullet, Peter (much to his embarrassment) fell down on his butt. Sitting on the ground with his back against another desk, he was about to get up, when the gun was pointed in front of his face. He narrowed his eyebrows. This sucked.

The woman said nothing. She slowly pulled the trigger.

Acting on reflex, Peter kicked her arm straight up. The bullet went above Peter's head and crashed into the glass tank on top of the desk. Using the same leg, Peter kicked the lady in her stomach. She dropped her gun and reeled backward. Backyard caught her from behind and steadied her balance. Quarter saw her gun sliding across the floor, ending up under another desk on her right. She dove and reached her hand underneath, trying to touch it.

Peter considered grabbing her, but he saw her accomplice watching him, ready to stop him if he caused trouble. Peter winced. That man was bigger than him. Peter knew the man could beat him in a fistfight, especially if the lady forgot about her gun and helped him.

Peter looked behind himself. The second bullet had broken the glass tank on the desk. The black ooze was spilling out of the broken tank and onto the wooden desk. In order to make a break for the door, Peter needed to take care of that man before that lady got her gun back. He grabbed a handful of the black ooze with the intention of flinging it into the man's eyes—

—But to Peter's shock, the ooze began covering his hand. The entire content of the tank quickly covered Peter's arm from his fingers to his shoulder, and still spread. It shocked Peter at first, but he calmed down and allowed it to cover his body. He was finished otherwise, so he hoped this black and red liquid, which was changing into some kind of suit, would help him.

Backyard was frozen with shock. Quarter, still in the reaching position, was in equal shock. They were told to create a prototype bio-suit, but Backyard and Quarter made it very clear that as long as they made it in secret, their first attempt most likely wouldn't work. The client's men would have to fix any mistakes themselves. But there was the prototype. It was obeying its programming by covering the life form that touched it. It was molding into its suit form. Their prototype was a complete success.

Soon enough, Peter was fully covered by the bio-suit. It was deep red on the forearms, torso, head, and forelegs. It was black everywhere else. Large white almond-shaped eyes covered the face. They were white on the outside, but Peter could see perfectly from the inside. He examined his hands, then the whole suit.

And he decided it wasn't half-bad. He smirked from behind his new mask.

Quarter snapped out of her daze first. She finally reached her gun and fired it at Peter. Peter acted on reflex again and jumped. He dodged the bullet completely. But more than that, he twisted upside-down in midair and landed on the ceiling. And he stayed there, sticking to the ceiling by his hands and feet.

"Whoa…" he mused, "this suit is more useful than it looks."

Quarter fired two more bullets, which Peter easily evaded while staying on the ceiling. Peter came to the conclusion that he didn't want to be target practice all afternoon. He noticed a window above the desk where the broken tank was. He leaped toward it, feet-first, and broke right through the glass.

Backyard and Quarter ran to the now open window. They looked outside, but they didn't see the kid. He wasn't on the ground three stories below, and he wasn't sticking anywhere they could see on the outside wall. The kid moved fast.

In review; the lab they weren't officially supposed to be using had a broken window. There were two bullet holes in the walls, two holes in the ceiling, and a fifth bullet in what was now a pile of broken glass. The witness had escaped. And on top of it all, the prototype bio-suit was gone. The same prototype bio-suit Backyard and Quarter were supposed to sell in two days.

"This… is very… bad."

Peter woke up with a jolt. He snapped his head around, trying to get his bearings. He was sitting on the bench outside of the Oscorp building. His backpack was sitting next to him. There was nobody else in the area.

What… just… happened? He was totally flabbergasted. He remembered looking for his backpack, getting lost, two people pointing a gun at him, hiding under a desk, and then… nothing.

"I guess I dreamt the whole thing," he said. "Otherwise I'd remember what happened next, right?"

Wait, he DID remember something after that. The dream had gotten blurry at that point. Something about a red and black suit, and jumping off the walls? At least, that's what he thought it was about. "What a weird dream," he mumbled.

Peter didn't realize it at the time, but that was the first dream he could ever remember.

"Wow, it's getting late," he noted. He got off the bench, grabbed his backpack, and started walking.

As Peter walked towards his house, he began to wonder about his day. The thing in the lab had been a dream, but what about the rest of the day? He assumed everything that happened before the field trip was real, but could he be sure? Even about the part where he asked Gwen for a date? He had been wondering if that part was real ever since it happened.

Peter fell asleep after the field trip ended. It would be pretty strange to get a dream from that time confused with something that had (or hadn't) happened so much earlier in the day. But… it wasn't impossible.

He opened his front door and entered. "I'm home," he announced.

Peter's Uncle Ben and Aunt May were sitting in separate chairs watching something on television. They were in their 50's, both with gray hair and blue eyes.

"Hello, Peter," May replied. "Did something happen after the field trip?" She was referring to how long it had been since the field trip was supposed to end.

"Um, I broke my reading glasses today, so I went out to buy some new ones." That was true, but he left out the part where he fell asleep and missed the bus. Peter didn't see the need to say something embarrassing like that.

"A girl named Gwen Stacy called earlier, asking for you," said Ben.

"She did?" Peter remembered that he never told his aunt or uncle about his crush.

"I told her you would call back once you got in." Ben smiled mischievously. "Gwen's that girl you have a crush on, isn't she? Did you finally tell her you like her?"

Peter turned bright red. "What?! How did you—?"

"Your Aunt May told me."

"How did SHE—?"

Ben motioned for Peter to come closer, which Peter did. Ben put a hand to Peter's ear and quietly whispered, "Your Aunt May knows everything."

"That's very true," May proudly replied from her chair.

Peter was still bright red. "I'll… be right back…" He walked upstairs towards his room. When he came back to the living room he was holding a piece of paper. He walked to the telephone and began dialing.

May whispered to Ben, "Let's give him some privacy."

"Or at least pretend to," Ben retorted. The two turned off the TV and walked to the adjacent room.

With an aunt and uncle like them, Peter thought, who needs little siblings? He waited for Gwen to pick up.

"Hello?" said Gwen's voice.

"Um… I…" Peter shook his head. "I-It's Peter. My uncle said you called earlier."

"Yeah, I wanted to talk about our plans on Friday."

Peter smiled. He didn't dream it after all. "To be honest, I wasn't even thinking of anything specific. The hardest part was just asking."

He heard Gwen laugh, but Peter didn't feel embarrassed. "You really don't need to be nervous all the time, Peter."

"Yeah, I'm starting to understand that." His words were coming out much easier.

"Mary Jane used to tell me that all the time." Gwen started mimicking Mary Jane's voice. "'Worrying too much just gives you wrinkles! Take one look at my Aunt Anna and you'll know what I'm talking about! Oh, but don't tell Auntie I said that!'"

Peter laughed out loud, and Gwen quickly joined in. Pushing down his giggles, Peter tried to get the topic back on track. "Well, was there anything in particular you wanted to do?"

Gwen thought for a moment. "Well, a movie I was interested in came out recently. We could go see that."

"Okay, I'd like that."

On that day, Peter finally made himself ask out Gwen Stacy, his first crush. Even better, Gwen agreed to go out with him. And for better or worse, Peter finally remembered one of his dreams. But he had no way of knowing the true significance of that last fact.

I can hear Gwen's voice in my ear, but I'm not nervous anymore. I did it. I think…

I think I'm okay the way I am.

Author's notes:

I started my first fanfiction a while ago, but that one is only in summary format. I consider this my first real fanfiction. I've had this idea in my head for YEARS and I'm so glad I've finally written it down. I take a lot of inspiration for this from "DNAngel," as well as "Spider-Man: the Animated Series" and "Ultimate Spider-Man" (I came up with this long before "The Spectacular Spider-Man" premiered, but I might incorporate some of that as well).

This chapter is long because it's the pilot. The next chapters will be shorter (supposedly). I have a lot of ideas for the future of this story, but I'm not exactly sure how to get there. My next update will probably take a long time (I am notorious for dropping off the face of the earth, just look at my other story). Please bear with me until then.

One thing I wanted to do with this story was feature an alternate personality that ACTUALLY WAS an alternate personality. Not a magical spirit or a demon or an alien or the soul of an ancient pharaoh. I want to make it clear that Peter's alternate personality is inherent to him, not to the suit. The suit has no mind of its own. Peter's alternate personality is NOT Venom. Moreover, I do not think I will even be using Venom in this story.

About Spider-man's costume. It's symbiote-like, but it's not an actual symbiote. Like I said before, the suit has no mind of its own. Right now it looks like his regular costume, except the blue is replaced with black and there's no web pattern. Not that the color of the costume affects the plot in any way.

Howard Backyard and Natasha Quarter are original characters. I didn't want to use pre-existing characters because their role is (supposed to be) so minor. However, they will be making some more appearances.

This is my first attempt at a regular fanfiction. It probably stinks, but I did my best. This turned out a lot longer than I thought it would, and yet I feel like I didn't finish everything I would need for a good pilot (pilots are hard). I'll talk more about Peter's alter-ego in the next chapter. I hope you'll read it.

Oh! I almost forgot. DISCLAIMER: I do not own Spider-Man or anything connected with it (or DNAngel for that matter).

—It wasn't until those people had given him the name "Spider-man" that he realized, he didn't know what name he had before.—