Harry let out a small breath as he sat down on one of the outer school benches, leaning against the hand rail with his legs on top of the bench. On the other end of the bench was Gwen who was looking over her science homework whilst Peter sat cross legged on the floor next to them, doodling in one of his notebooks. Meanwhile Felicia sat in-between Harry's legs, having just showed up and plopped herself in without a single word spoken, leaning back and relaxing against his body.
"Hey guys," Peter said suddenly, not looking up from his notebook. "I've got a question."
"What?" Harry asked, staring past Felicia's shoulder to look at him.
"Do you guys think it's possible for a coffin to have Wi-Fi?" Peter asked curiously as he looked up from his notebook, the other three immediately stared at him with confused looks on their faces.
"I beg your pardon?" Felicia asked slowly.
"Is it possible to get a coffin with Wi-Fi?" Peter repeated.
"Who on Earth would want that?" Gwen asked in a confused voice.
"Why on Earth would you want that?" Felicia asked, sounding just as confused.
"Yeah," Harry nodded in agreement. "What's the point? You'll be dead in a grave, what are you going to do? Have your spirit Instagram it?"
"I don't use Instagram," Peter pointed out. "None of us do, you've never used Instagram in your entire life."
"That's not the point, the point is that while you might be able to pay enough money to get a coffin with Wi-Fi, there is absolutely no reason for you to do so," Gwen responded, looking a hair's breadth away from rolling her eyes.
"I can think of a reason," Peter shrugged.
"Let's hear it then," Felicia said, sounding amused.
"This'll be good," Harry snorted.
"If I let it be known that when I die I will have a coffin with free Wi-Fi then I will definitely get a lot more people visiting my grave," Peter pointed out smugly. "Also, what if a mistake is made or something nefarious happens and I end up buried in this coffin alive? Huh? What then? If I have any sort of communication device on me then I can use it to contact you guys, and if I don't then I will at least have a higher chance of people finding out because they'll be coming to my grave to use my free Wi-Fi."
"Huh," Felicia blinked once Peter was done. "That...actually makes some sense."
"Genius," Peter grinned as he tapped his head with his pencil. "What do you say, Harry? You and I, start a business where we sell Wi-Fi coffins? Huh? You in?"
"I can not believe that I am genuinely considering this," Harry sighed.
"Well, you boys can make as many weird little business plans as you want," Felicia said as she looked over her shoulder and locked eyes with Harry. "But remember that today you're with me after school, no excuses."
"Yes Ma'am," Harry said, raising his hand and saluting her.
"Spiderman has made the news," Gwen said, having pulled out her phone partway through the conversation. "His capture of Mysterio is all over the news,"
"Really?" Harry asked, somewhat interested.
"Yeah, it's mostly positive, apart from the Daily Bugle."
"As in the biggest and most popular news service in America today?"
"Yeah, that one," Gwen confirmed. "According to them, it's highly likely that Spiderman and Mysterio were working together and that the two had a disagreement which lead to Spiderman turning on him and leaving him for the police."
"That's a load of bull," Peter said bluntly.
"Doesn't really matter," Felicia shrugged. "That's what people will believe. Sheep follow the shepherds after all."
"She's right," Harry agreed, knowing all too well how easy and happy people were to turn on someone. The same people that believed him to be responsible for saving them from a dark lord had turned on him once when they found out he shared an ability with him and once more when he had come half-dead out of a graveyard telling them that Voldemort had returned, not to mention all the damage to his reputation that Rita Skeeter had caused him with her stupid quick-quote quills and lies.
"So, what are we doing for our date today?" Harry asked as he followed alongside Felicia. Straight after school, he had joined Felicia who apparently had a good date planned, they were supposed to have this date yesterday, though that didn't happen thanks to the unfortunate work of Mysterio.
"Well, today I thought that we'd go a bit light," Felicia said with a small grin.
"What's light for you?" Harry asked curiously.
"I'm back," Harry said as he arrived home.
"About time," His mother said, sitting on the sofa with his father, the both of them watching TV. "You're lucky you called us earlier or we would have gone out looking for you."
"Sorry," Harry apologised.
"How was your day?" Norman asked.
"Alright," Harry responded. "Did the usual at school, oh, and Peter wants us to start a business selling coffins with Wi-Fi."
"I'm not going to ask," Norman decided.
"Where have you been?" Emily spoke up.
"I was on a date with Felica," Harry answered as he walked over and hopped over the sofa, landing next to them.
"Stop jumping on the couch," Emily said, lightly swatting Harry's shoulder. "What did you two do?"
"Well, she had told me that she had something planned." Harry began explaining. "We did laser tag and go-karting as well before we stopped to have a bite to eat,"
"Oh, so things are going well with this Felicia then?" Emily asked curiously.
"So far," Harry nodded. "What about you? Things going well in your relationship?" He asked jokingly.
"So far," Emily smirked.
"Shame, always thought you could do better."
"You two are a barrel of laughs," Norman said dryly. "I'm almost tempted to not tell you the big news," He added to Harry.
"Big news?" Harry echoed. "Father, you have my curiosity, what is it?"
"Tell me, son, do you know how to keep a person in suspense?" Norman asked as he stood up.
"What are you..." Harry trailed off as he started to realise what exactly his father was planning. "Oh no, do not be that guy right now."
"I am entirely going to enjoy being that guy right now," Norman said with a small smirk before walking off.
"Father, Father, Dad, Dad?" Harry called as he stood up and followed after him. "Dad? Dad? Daddy Osborn? Big O? What is it? What's the news? Father?"
"So, guys," Harry said as he met with Peter and Gwen in Peter's basement. "I've got some news."
"Parker Coffins are a go?" Peter asked hopefully.
"No," Harry said regretfully. "But I do have some other news. Good news."
"Oh, great, that's so much better than bad news," Gwen replied in a serious voice.
"Indubitably," Harry agreed. "But anyway, the good news is that Dad told me yesterday that we got permission to have a lab."
"Are you kidding?" Gwen blurted out. "Harry, that's amazing!"
"Spectacular even," Peter added excitedly. "We're getting our own lab?!"
"Darn right, we are!" Harry grinned. "Think of the possibilities my definitely sane friends, Dad said it'd be ready within a week. The equipment won't be state of the art or anything in comparison to other Oscorp labs, but we will be definitely stepping up from what we were previously working with."
"Holy shit! That's amazing!" Peter exclaimed, bouncing on his feet with excitement. "I...I can't believe it. Our very own lab to do whatever we want in."
"Well, not anything we want," Harry corrected him. "There will be supervision there, obviously, but I know a way to work around it." He grinned.
"I'll be down in a bit," Dr Curt Connors told his wife before he trudged up the stairs and walked into his bedroom, closing the door behind him. He let out a small sigh and was about to turn around before he heard a 'thwip' sound, a second later something flew past him and his door handle was covered in what appeared to be a web. Dr Connors gasped before turning around and spotting Spiderman hanging from a web attached to the centre of his ceiling.
"This a bad time?" Spiderman asked.
"I...you couldn't have knocked?!" Dr Connors gasped, taking a moment to get his breathing under control, his one hand holding his chest. "You nearly gave me a heart attack,"
"Sorry about that, but with me being who I am, I'm not the sort of person who can just walk up to a house and knock on a door without attracting attention," Spiderman said apologetically. "So, how are you? Has your other half showed up at all?"
"Not really," Dr Connors admitted. "I've been performing tests to try and work out what caused the...'reaction' I had, thankfully I haven't yet seen any signs that would indicate you and I will be battling again."
"That's good news," Spiderman said in a pleased voice.
"I have that burner phone you mailed me as well," Dr Connors told him, tapping his trouser pocket. "I keep it on me at all times."
"That's good of you, Doc," Spiderman said approvingly. "How is your family taking it?"
"My wife...she...she knows what had happened to me," Dr Connors sniffed. "She knows...what...what I had done, what I could have done. Now, now...she worries more than ever, for me. Worries about my health, worries I might do it again, worried I might hurt someone, sometimes she...she's even worried I might hurt my own son. I know she doesn't mean to be, but I can see the thought process playing out in her head. She's worried that one day she'll leave me alone with him and he'll get eaten."
"We won't let that happen," Spiderman said in a firm voice. "Your kid, does he know what happened?"
"No, no, definitely not, thank you very much!" Dr Connors said quickly. "I...I can't tell him that, I...I won't tell him that. Nor will I let anyone else do so. He...he doesn't deserve to live the rest of his life knowing that his father is a monster."
"I know monsters," Spiderman spoke, his voice soft and quiet yet powerful enough that Dr Connors hung on to his every word. "I have seen monsters, I've run from monsters, fought monsters, killed monsters. I know monsters and I know how to see them. I also know what suffering looks like, and I can tell you right now that I can very easily see the difference between a rampaging monster and a suffering man. Believe it or not, you're not the first guy I met who suffers from involuntary animal transformations."
"Really?" Dr Connors asked sceptically.
"Yeah, he turned into a wolf-man creature."
"A werewolf?" Dr Connors asked with disbelief.
"Pretty much," Spiderman replied. "I know, it sounds a bit..."
"Ridiculous," Dr Connors scoffed.
"You mean like a guy that can climb on walls or a man who can turn into a lizard?" Spiderman countered.
"That...is a fair point," Dr Connors conceded. "How did he deal with it?"
"He didn't," Spiderman said in a sad voice. "Not as far as I know at least. He pushed everyone away and isolated himself. I hope that you don't have to suffer the same fate. You don't deserve that, nor does your wife or your son."
"In life, I find that people seldom get what they deserve," Dr Connors said in a disappointed voice.
"Unfortunately," Spiderman agreed, dropping from his web and quietly landing feet first onto the floor. "But that's why people like us have to do what we do, to help people. And that's what I want you to do."
"And how is that?" Dr Connors asked, unable to hide his curiosity.
"My webs, they don't come from my body," Spiderman told him, pointing to the webshooters on his wrist. "These little devices are what is used to make and shoot my webs."
"Ingenious," Dr Connors whispered as he pulled out his glasses, he put them on and stepped forwards to examine the webshooters.
"I've fitted a spray in that will dissolve my webs," He explained before aiming the spray at the door handle, the webs on the handle began instantly dissolving.
"Did you make this yourself?"
"No, I had help, from three very intelligent young friends of mine," Spiderman responded. "You should know at least one of them, his name is Harry Osborn."
"Osborn?" Dr Connors blinked, his eyes snapping up to look at Spiderman. "Little Harry? Does Norman know about this?"
"No, and he won't," Spiderman said firmly. "My name is Potter, James Potter," He added, grimacing slightly at that lie and being glad that his mask stopped him from having to completely hide his emotions. "I was...in a bad place. But then my life changed, and...let's just say I owe a lot to the existence of those three. They made my webshooters, they're basically my gadget team."
"I see," Dr Connors frowned. "The suit as well?"
"Oh yeah," Spiderman nodded. "They're little geniuses."
"Why are you telling me this?" Dr Connors asked, removing his glasses. "You know full well that I could very easily go to Norman Osborn along with Miss Stacy and Parker's guardians."
"Just as you know very well that I can tell the whole world that you're a lizard," Spiderman reminded him. "You've trusted me not to, and I ask the same of you. I tell you this because little Osborn is going to have access to a lab soon, a lab that you'll be in charge of."
"How did you know that?" Dr Connors demanded.
"It was my suggestion that he do this, we both agreed that you'd be a good fit which is why when he made his proposal, he suggested you," Spiderman explained. "You're smart, intelligent, one of Oscorp's best and brightest. The kids trust you, so I'm going to take a leap of faith here and hope that you'll keep our secret. If you want to help people then this is your opportunity to do so. Let the kids continue to help me, help them out if you want. Help me protect this city, and the people in it. While you're doing so you can use the lab to help keep your scaly side in check and continue to work on your...little problem." He added, gesturing to the missing arm. "We all plan to make a difference in more ways than just beating up criminals. There are millions of people in the city with millions of problems from missing limbs, diseases and crime-filled neighbourhoods."
"Hmm," Dr Connors hummed but did not say more.
"We have the choice and the ability to help them all," Spiderman continued. "I am offering you a choice. Join me, join us, and imagine what we could accomplish together, what we could create, and what we could save. The countless innocents we could help together. I know I can't fix every problem in the world, but I am willing to try my best. Are you in or are you out?" He asked, extending a hand out to Dr Connors. The brown-haired man stared at him for several long seconds, looking thoughtful.
"I have my doubts about this," Dr Connors admitted. "But I am in." He said, placing his hand in Spiderman's.
"Good," Spiderman shook his hand before letting go. "I look forward to seeing what you and the kids will cook up."
"Curt!" Dr Connor's wife called from downstairs. "Your food is ready."
"Coming," Dr Connors called from over his shoulder, he turned his head back to look at Spiderman and his words died in his throat as he saw the wall-crawler was no longer there. "My life is definitely a lot weirder than it used to be."