Charlie shrugged, finishing off the last slice of pizza and feeling much better. However, synthesizing spider silk protein required both energy and time.
Ding~
The elevator door opened, and Charlie casually stepped in under the curious gaze of a man standing nearby.
Silence.
"Ahem, I'm O'Neill, a fashion design student," the man in the suit cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence and handing Charlie a business card.
Charlie patted himself down, "Uh, sorry, I don't have any pockets."
O'Neill's hand froze awkwardly, holding the card for a few seconds.
"No worries, your suit looks amazing, like it's made of metal."
"Yep, nanotech—pretty cool, right?"
"Oh wow, that's incredible! Does this kind of technology already exist?"
"No, I won it by beating the Resurrection Tournament."
"Haha, you're funny."
"That's what people usually say about me. But I think I'm a serious Spider-Man. Still, I'll take the compliment—who can resist a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man who's both humorous and has strong arms? Oh, I can tell you a joke too. Have you seen the green Godzilla? I raced it just the other day—"
"Okay, Spider-Man, here's your stop." O'Neill backed up, his interest waning.
Charlie paused, "Sorry, couldn't help myself." He quickly exited the elevator and tapped the spider emblem on his chest, causing the nanometal to recede instantly.
He flagged down a taxi on the street.
"Hi, Queens, and run the meter."
When Charlie arrived back at Black Street, it was already morning. Just as he fished out his keys, his friendly neighbor poked her head out of the window to greet him.
"Charlie, you're back?" A beautiful girl with auburn hair waved from her window.
Charlie looked up, glancing at her lace pajamas.
"Yeah, Mary Jane, you're up early."
"I'm always up early. By the way, where's my gift?"
"Gift?"
"Yeah, we had such a fun chat on the phone, and you promised me a lipstick."
Charlie: "..."
He patted his pocket, remembering that this was the phone he took back from Norman.
After he had died under the antenna tower last time, Norman had taken his phone.
So... what has Norman been doing with my phone these days?!
A bad feeling swept over him.
Sure enough, after brushing off Mary Jane, Charlie went inside, where Uncle Ben and Aunt May were already having breakfast.
"My dear Charlie, why didn't you call ahead? We've missed you!" Aunt May pinched his cheek, smiling warmly.
"Charlie, where's our gift?" Uncle Ben added, turning around seriously.
Charlie: "..."
He rubbed his face and forced a smile. "The gift is in my suitcase. It'll arrive in a few days."
"Okay, I'm looking forward to the scarf you promised me." Aunt May's face lit up with anticipation.
Uncle Ben, sitting at the table, said seriously, "If you forgot our gift, don't bother coming home again."
Charlie's eye twitched. Was family really this fragile?
After crafting a convincing story about his "vacation," Charlie finally managed to escape the interrogation.
Back in his room, he hurriedly opened his phone and checked the messaging apps. His expression turned increasingly grim.
After a moment, Charlie let out a long sigh, fighting the urge to scream.
As expected, he was socially dead.
So this was the Green Goblin's idea of a cruel joke?
Charlie sighed again, pulling out a green key from his pocket.
This was what Norman had thrown to him before dying—it must have been meant for Harry.
He had to find a chance to give it to him.
Thinking of his best friend Harry, Charlie felt a headache coming on. Once again, fate had pitted him against the Goblin. Would Harry follow in his father's footsteps and become the next Green Goblin?
He felt like he had to do something about it.
Charlie put away Norman's key and collapsed onto his bed, falling into a deep sleep.
At 3 PM, Charlie woke up, standing by the window and basking in the sunlight.
Taking a deep breath, he felt completely refreshed and full of energy.
Thwip~
He shot a web at a passing bird outside the window. "Nice, looks like I'm fully recovered."
Charlie gently helped the bird fix its feathers and glanced at his class schedule.
He had a lab class today—time to head to school.
He also wondered whether Norman had been kind enough to excuse his absences.
Hmm, probably not.
After releasing the bird, Charlie grabbed his backpack and headed for the door.
"I'm off to class. Don't wait up for dinner."
After saying goodbye, Charlie rode his bike into the city, making a stop to buy gifts for Aunt May and Uncle Ben.
As for Mary Jane...
Forget it. Money is meant to impress women, not to be spent on them.
Luckily, he had earned plenty of cash from the thugs last night—enough to buy some gifts.
At the gift shop, Charlie filled in the shipping address and realized he had only twenty minutes left before class.
He ducked into an alley, tapping his chest as the nano-metal suit covered him again.
Scaling the nearby walls, he spread his glider wings and soared toward Empire State University.
He had graduated from Midtown High earlier that year and had gotten into Empire State University, as he had hoped.
In the Marvel universe, plenty of superheroes and villains had ties to this school.
Like Doctor Octopus and the Lizardman.
Thwip~
Before long, Charlie swung into the campus's forest park, retracting the nano-suit and adjusting his casual clothes before stepping out of the trees.
"Hey, Charlie, nice physique!" one girl called out.
"Yeah, and you're so pale," another teased.
Under the shade of the trees, the passing girls giggled and gave Charlie teasing glances as they walked by.
Charlie's face darkened, and he silently made his way to the lab building.
In his phone, there were a few selfies—pictures he had taken to show off his new muscles when he first became Spider-Man.
That's right, Norman had used his phone to send those pictures to a bunch of girls.
After all this time, the whole school had probably seen them.
So as Charlie walked, many bold girls blew kisses his way, while the more reserved ones blushed and looked away, with some even turning around and walking in the opposite direction.
It was a complete social disaster.
Charlie's classmates watched him like an exhibit in a zoo, which drove him nuts inside.
And just when he thought it couldn't get worse...
"Charlie, please stop bothering me. I'm not interested in guys like you at all. Maybe after you've seen more of the world and become a better person, we can talk."
A proud, confident girl rolled her eyes at him and walked off, leaving Charlie speechless.
He clenched his fists, barely holding back the urge to hit something.
What a disaster!
"Hey, Charlie."
Hearing his name, Charlie turned to see a fashionable, sunny boy running toward him, grinning mischievously.
"So, this is your type? No wonder you're so cold to Mary Jane." Harry playfully nudged Charlie with his fist, waggling his eyebrows.
Charlie's eye twitched as he pointed at the girl's retreating figure.
"That's your fiancée."
Harry instantly got mad, "Why are you insulting me?"
"Your fiancée."
"Stop it! I challenge you to a duel."
The two of them jokingly wrestled their way into the lab classroom.
As expected, their classmates shot Charlie strange looks as soon as he entered.
Ignoring the murmurs, Charlie kept a calm face and headed to the corner lab bench.
As long as he didn't feel embarrassed, the embarrassment... still fell on him.