Chronicles of the Spider

The Move

15 Years Ago

Earth Prime

Peter had almost finished packing his things. He was ready to go back home. 

Alfred and Peter had found a very nice apartment in the city. It was a penthouse in Manhattan, the type of place that Peter could never even dream of affording in his past life (apart from his stint as CEO, of course). Peter had written his GED exams, and had aced them with scores never seen before. He felt that he was cheating a little bit, what with him having the memories of two genius scientists, but he did what he had to do. He had received admission to Columbia University, and he was planning to finish it as soon as possible. His father had finished high school at fifteen, and Peter took a little pleasure in finishing faster than him.

Peter knew that, while Spider-Man was currently retired, he would suit up again one day soon. He knew himself well enough that at the first sign of trouble, he would immediately jump headlong into danger to save people. It was one of his greatest weaknesses, and had got him into trouble multiple times with his bad guys, but he had saved many people due to his actions.

It would definitely be easier to be a hero with a larger budget. That was a lesson that Peter had learnt later in life. Otto's Superior Spider-Man suit, while it represented things better not thought about, was much more effective and technologically advanced than his classic suit. That was due not only to Otto's prodigious intellect (which he now had as well), but also because Otto used his funds from Parker Industries to build it.

Peter had signed up for college under the name of Peter Parker, an homage to his old life, in order to distance himself from the Wayne name. He wanted to earn the degree of his own merits, and not allow even an iota of doubt about whether he was capable or not.

Alfred had hired him a butler: a young woman named Alice Langford. Alfred had done an extensive background check on her. She was twenty seven, British, had degrees in hospitality and education, and had worked in the Royal Marines as a Commando. After a tour in Iraq, she had returned to her country, hoping to join a hotel. However, Alfred reached out before that through some family friends and contacts, and got her to join him as Peter's guardian in New York. Alfred had interviewed her multiple times, had her shadow him, and tested her in a variety of situations. Peter didn't even know what they had done, but Alfred came and told him that she was very competent and capable.

Alice was a tall, lean woman with red hair and blue eyes. When Peter had spoken to her, an increasing number of times over the past two weeks, he found her smart, capable, and determined. She was also very good looking, but as a thirteen year old, it didn't exactly matter much to him. 

Another thing that had changed with Peter over the past three weeks was, funnily enough, the colour of his eyes. Peter's eyes were a shade of pure gold, a very unique colour that, Peter knew, was the same colour as the Web of Life. Alfred, Alice, the doctors, and even his father had commented about the new look.

On top of that was the sudden bulking up of his physique. Peter, while always an active child, was always thin, but after the first night out of the hospital, he woke up to find himself looking like a mini Olympian athlete. Every muscle on his body was defined and lean, with not a hint of extra fat anywhere. He was even more well built than he had been when he was bitten by the spider in his past life. Peter had managed to hide it from everyone by wearing large clothes, but he was nervous about now going and living with a stranger. 

Peter had also been investigating his powers. His ability to stick to surfaces was still there, as was the rest. However, his strength, speed, agility, and reflexes had multiplied exponentially. Where before, his base strength was ten tons, multiplied further by adrenaline, today, he was able to life fifty tons flat out, not accounting for the adrenaline rush. Peter had tested this in an abandoned junkyard. His speed was also much more. He had measured his upper limit of around 200 miles per hour, but now he was five times faster than that! Sometimes, the world seemed to be moving slow motion for him, and he could perceive things much better than before. His agility and reflexes were similarly magnified, and all signs pointed to them increasing even more as he grew up.