CHAPTER 2. POWER TESTING
(Damien's POV)
Like I said, I had been called delusional more times than I could count. Therefore, trying to shoot a web from my wrists wasn't an entirely foreign practice to me. (That, and all the ninja seals I could perform)
I was a big spiderman fan. And just like any spiderman fan, I wouldn't mind having some spider powers.
In my memories, there were vivid memories of actual spiderman encounters (and mild resentment), alongside my own fictional memories.
But the most important memory was that of being bit by a gold-colored spider that could shoot gold-colored webs.
But first, I had to evaluate what was going on. Still looking at my self at the mirror, I had a chat with myself.
"So, I died-" That was my opening statement, and my reflection gave me a subtle nod.
"Twice." I said that word delicately while squinting my eyes. After a brief stare, my reflection nodded once. "At the same time."
"But in two different realities." That was more of a question than a statement.
"And this is not an hallucination? Everything feels real, and both my memories are real. Like I have been living two different lives?" I wasn't sure I wanted to take that sanity test right then. So I chose to leave it at that.
"I'm sure there is a perfectly good explanation to what's happening." I whisked away the tension building up in my brain.
"But to the matter at hand." I addressed the most exciting issue in my agenda. "There is a possibility that I have spider powers."
"I don't want to get my hopes up, but there is no point in dwelling in theory." I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Raising my right arm, I positioned it to face the mirror with my palm stretched out.
Then, with a practiced reflex, I pulled my middle fingers back toward my wrist and released them like a trigger, hoping that some substance would come out.
"Fwush!" The small sound that came out prompted me to open my eyes, but I neglected opening them at the same time. Very slowly, I opened my left eye to the possibility.
"Whoa." Mesmerized by what I saw, my right eye opened up almost immediately to the sight of a gold-colored web in the middle of the mirror.
Curious, I shot more webs in quick succession, only to be further impressed by my ability to shoot webs, but also how quickly I did it.
Finally, I lifted my right hand and landed one heavy, but friendly slap on my cheek to confirm that I was actually experiencing what I was doing.
WHACK!
"Oouuuc.." The friendly slap had turned out to be more powerful than I had expected.
"Where did I get so much streng-? Oh." Soothing my cheek, I realized the source.
There was no doubt about it, I had some tricks up my sleeves, but I was more tests away from claiming that I was like spiderman.
Furthermore, I was curious about my webs.
"Why are they gold-colored?" I asked myself while shooting a series of more webs all over the bathroom.
"Because I was bitten by a gold-colored spider?" My inner voice answered, hypothetically.
"Was it radioactive?"
"Why don't I need a web-shooter?"
"Can I really become a super-hero?"
"But why is all this happening to me?" "I mean, why me?"
"What's the procedure for shooting web-lines?"
"How long does it take for the webs to dissolve?" "Do these golden webs even dissolve?"
My trail of thoughts was longer than that, but I seemed to be processing it faster than usual.
"Heightened brain activity." I registered my other ability.
"I gotta test my strength and agility, and also swing around the city." I planned, a rush of excitement and nostalgia guiding my steps as I located the closet.
My bathroom was webbed all over as I left, but I was hoping by the time I came back, all the webs would have dissolved and vanished.
"Not that I'm complaining about everything else, but why am I fat?" I wondered as I changed into a black t-shirt and draped a red hoodie over it. "I could have just kept my more lean body."
"Again, not that I'm complaining about everything else." I made it clear to the universe.
From the left section of the closet, I selected a less baggy sweat pant, picked a random pair of socks from the drawers beneath, and slid into a pair of sneakers from the shoe rack.
"But I could always hit the gym." I took a deep breath as the reflection on the closet window disappointed me. "Although I don't know where I can find one specifically designed for super strength to really burn these calories."
---
Even in Marvel, New York was pretty much a crowded city. It wasn't easy to find an abandoned space free from direct observation, so I figured I would just improvise.
I wanted to test my strength, agility, and take a tour of the city with web-lines.
Putting on a mask I had bought to cover my face, and with my hoodie covering the rest of my head, I decided to start with strength.
It was a sunny Saturday afternoon, and after covering my street, I came across a lorry packed by the road.
Six men had just unloaded a heavy-looking metallic sheet from the lorry, and from the open doors, I figured that the remaining sheets were bound to be similarly heavy.
Intending to lift it, I walked deliberately toward the lorry, once the men were out of sight. But people still walked by.
"Okay, time for some spider strength." I bent my knees while at the mid-section of the lorry on its left side, grabbed it from below and raised my body weight along with the lorry.
"Ergh! Okay, that's heavy." There was a strain, but I managed to lift it and ignore the gasps and stares.
"Not bad." It felt good lifting something so strong with one hand, then supporting it with my other hand to balance the weight once I had raised it high enough.
But it was a little too heavy than I had expected, and before it could crash my bones, I carefully replaced the lorry, clapped my hands to wipe the dust, and jumped on top of it to test my reflexes.
Once on top, I made a back flip from the lorry's side and guided my feet to touch the lorry's sideboard. At this point, I was sure anyone watching believed I was a crazy freak, but I didn't care.
I was too excited by my ability to stick to the lorry's side, even if it was for just a moment, before my hands touched the ground.
I didn't expect to bend so violently and still feel alright.
But as soon as my hands touched the tarmac and my legs left the sideboard, I pushed my body back up with my hands as fast and as powerfully as I could with the aim of landing on the lorry's top, once again.
I landed on top with a little more violence than I expected, and the truck bending lower from the pressure showed this. However, its structural integrity prevailed, and I was about to step down when the crew came out yelling at me angrily.
Talks about calling the police got me jumping from the truck to nearly the second floor wall of the building they had been in, while this time planning to be more delicate on how I landed on the wall.
However, from the much force I had applied to jumping, I was sure I had left more than a dent on the lorry and the crew wouldn't like me any better.
"I got the landing right, but how I balance my strength needs more than a little practice." I observed as my body delicately (kinda) stuck on the wall of the building.
Being on the wall felt strange, yet natural, as if my spatial awareness was balancing my experience in two distinct ways. At one moment, it would feel like the building side was like leaning on the actual, horizontal ground, then I would realize that I was in a vertical space.
But more aware was the tingling sensation at the back of my mind warning me that I was in danger and that I should... jump to the left?
"Spider sense!" I followed the instruction without reading deep into it, and as soon as my body stuck to the left part of the wall, I looked below to see the angry crew hurling things at me.
"They do not look happy." I crawled faster to get to the top of the building.
Web shots - check
Super strength - check
Amazing reflexes - check
Sticky-ness - check
Spider sense - check
Now all that remained was web-lining. Something that I was really eager to try, and the enthusiasm was overwhelming due to the nostalgia of seeing all those spider-people doing it.
However, I was curious if I needed a web-shooter for it. I still didn't understand how I could shoot webs without need for assistance.
Was there something different about my spider powers?
Something special?