WEB OF LIES [TRANS PETER PARKER]

five

Chapter Five

Peter's POV

I practically flew home that day, although it was really more like just running super fast, because flying was Iron Man's thing. Why couldn't I have been bit by a bird, or- or a dragon, or something? Spiders are creepy!

Instead of going up to the apartment through the elevator, I decided to try something new. I entered the alley next to the building and leaned against the adjacent brick wall, staring up at my bedroom window. I hadn't gone back here in a while, and I was beginning to remember why. I heard Flash's taunting in the back of my mind. "Penis Parker, I know something's wrong with you. You even cry like a girl!" Flash and I had gone to middle school together, along with probably a quarter of our peers, so he knew  that I was trans and he would never let me forget it.

He used to follow me home from school with his posse and leave me lying among the dumpsters. But of course, that was before Ned. Now, Flash still pushed me around at school, but it rarely got as bad as it had at the beginning of freshman year. I shuddered at the thought that Flash knew my biggest secret. Or, was it still my biggest secret? He didn't know about my... spider thing. Seriously, I needed a better name for that.

With my pent up anger unleashed, I took a running start for the wall. One hand latched on and then the other, and soon I was scampering upwards. The rough feeling of bricks against my skin was a fair price to pay for the feeling of freedom. It was like I could just climb away from all the taunting and teasing, like for a moment I was finally a man instead of Midtown High's Token Trans Kid. I mean, a mutant spider man, but a man nonetheless.

I was fr-

"Oh shit." I heard the sound of my grip ripping from the bricks before I felt myself begin to fall. A nice trampoline to fall back on would really help in a moment like this, or perhaps something more practical like a parachute. Either way, I was going down.

I scraped at the air, one hand catching hold of a window ledge in the process, but I was too panicked to help myself. I slipped from my hold on the frame, catching sight of my last hope; The sound of metal creaking nearly blasted my eardrums out - exaggeration - as I wielded the foldable fire escape ladder. Having underestimated my strength, I yanked it down with all my force, causing it to loosen dramatically. I was still dangling six feet high as it came to an abrupt stop, part of it bent out of shape and the whole thing crooked. It was about to collapse.

Eyeing the lid of the dumpster beneath me and a few feet forwards, I used all my night to swing my legs back, forth, back and forth again, this time leaping onto the plastic surface. I landed with a thump and a crack, the ladder creaking with relief.

I was pretty sure I had smashed the lid of the dumpster, but regardless I pulled myself back onto the ground beneath just as quickly as I had fallen.

I was going to have to get started on that webbing if I wanted to keep playing around like this.

Having braved the climb back up to my window, I slipped inside and began filtering through a bin of clothes under my bed that I rarely wore anymore. I pulled out a pair of blue sweatpants and a red hoodie.

After debating whether to take my binder off, I decided to keep it on, and changed my clothes quickly. Then, I went searching in the closet in the hall until I found a ski mask. It was also from quite a few years ago and the face of it was designed to look like Iron Man's mask. It was a little embarrassing to wear now, but at least nobody would know who I was.

Fit in my new gear, also with a pair of fingerless black gloves, I slipped back out the window. I stood on the ledge staring upwards, and finally got up the courage to scamper up to the top of the building.

The view from here was breathtaking, and it wasn't just because of my enhanced eyesight. I was practically on top of the world. Eyeing the roof of the building next to me, I took a running start - generating more speed than I ever had before - and leapt over the bustling street below. My legs wobbled in midair and a gargled scream exhaled my lips, but nevertheless I safely stumbled a few feet onto the next roof.

The panic began to fade into laughter, and I let out an exaggerated, "Woohoo!" before sprinting onwards and eyeing the target once more.

I wasn't quite sure what exactly I was supposed to do with these powers, especially since I wasn't supposed to get them in the first place. Nobody knew, and I intended to keep it that way. In fact, my only source of guidance was the Avengers, but I was sure that they wouldn't be much help to some kid from Queens. For now, this was just going to be my secret side gig, and my mind buzzed at the thought that this was my life now. I was... Spider-Boy.

I dramatically threw my shoulders back and stuck my chin out as I said aloud, "No, I'm Spider-Man."