Shadow Spider-Man shrugged and said helplessly, "You've got me there. Honestly, until this happened, I always thought concepts like 'the multiverse theory' or 'parallel universe hypothesis' were just wild ideas cooked up by overimaginative scholars. Who knew they were real?"
Peter mimicked his shrug with a wry smile. "Yeah, who didn't? I was just a novelist trying to scrape by. Who would've thought I'd end up in something like this?"
"You're a novelist? That's incredible!" Shadow Spider-Man gave him a thumbs up.
Peter forced a chuckle. "Not really. Just trying to make a living. What about you? What's your line of work?"
"I'm a private detective," Shadow Spider-Man replied. "I specialize in taking on corrupt capitalists. On the side, I collect useful news stories and sell them to newspapers to make a little money for living expenses."
Peter nodded slightly. It seemed like this Spider-Man's life wasn't much better off than Tobey's version of Spider-Man.
"So, Detective, where to next?" Peter asked.
Regardless of whether or not he had Spider-Man's abilities, Peter had already decided to stick close to this Shadow Spider-Man. For all he knew, the key to getting back to his own world might lie with him.
Shadow Spider-Man gestured toward the alleyway exit. "I don't have any concrete ideas, so how about we start by heading to the main street? We can look for clues or something. On the bright side, there might be a Spider-Man in this world too. Maybe we can find him and ask for help."
"Sounds reasonable," Peter said with a smile.
But as the smile lingered, a sudden thought popped into his mind.
"Got it!" Peter lightly tapped his left palm with his right fist, his tone becoming slightly excited as he quickly explained, "From what I know, Kingpin is one of Spider-Man's arch-enemies. If this world has Kingpin, then the odds of it having a Spider-Man are pretty high too!"
"Your reasoning is oddly phrased, but it makes perfect sense," Shadow Spider-Man agreed. "So, what's the plan?"
"There are three approaches," Peter said, holding up his hand.
"First, we find a tall building to perch on. Spider-Man tends to swing between city blocks, so staying up high increases our chances of spotting him. Even if we don't, we might notice areas of unrest—like car accidents, robberies, or fires. Spider-Man wouldn't ignore those kinds of situations, right?"
Shadow Spider-Man nodded in agreement.
Peter held up a second finger. "Second, we could look for Spider-Man's apartment or Aunt May's house. If I remember correctly, they should be in Queens, right?"
Shadow Spider-Man nodded again but added, "But my world's timeline is completely different from this one. My experience doesn't apply, and the addresses definitely won't match."
"Then let's start with the first option," Peter decided.
"Alright."
Without another word, Shadow Spider-Man raised his arm and shot out a webline. In the blink of an eye, he was on the rooftop.
Peter stared after him. "...Not taking me along?"
What kind of sneaky behavior was that?
He glanced at the wall in front of him, then down at his hands. The idea began to tempt him.
"Maybe... give it a try?"
With that thought, he extended both hands and tentatively placed them against the wall.
The cold sensation from the wall traveled through his fingertips and into his body, causing him to shiver involuntarily.
Almost immediately, a peculiar feeling naturally surfaced in his mind.
His hands... were really sticking to the wall!
It was the effect of bioelectric adhesion!
And bioelectric adhesion was one of Spider-Man's signature abilities!
Peter raised his left hand, placing it higher up on the wall.
It stuck again!
Then his right hand!
And again... it wouldn't let go.
He realized his feet couldn't grip the wall, likely because his shoes were interfering with the bioelectricity.
"Not having a proper Spider-Suit is definitely inconvenient," Peter muttered under his breath, then tried to release his hands from the wall.
But they were stuck fast!
Let go! Let go! Let me go!
He silently chanted this over and over in his mind.
His newly awakened ability was still beyond his control.
"What are you doing?" Shadow Spider-Man's voice suddenly rang out.
Peter looked up to find him hanging upside down, his hands and feet attached to a webline as he dangled from the rooftop, directly above Peter's head.
Peter's face flushed red with embarrassment. This was a truly mortifying moment.
Getting stuck on a wall because of his own powers was one thing—it was another thing entirely to have someone catch him in the act.
Thankfully, Shadow Spider-Man didn't seem inclined to mock him.
Instead, he reached out and patted Peter on the shoulder. "Relax, buddy. These are your abilities, your organs, and your partners. You need to trust them, feel them."
My abilities, my organs, my... partners?
Peter didn't respond aloud. Instead, he let those words echo in his mind, rising and falling with each passing thought.
The next moment -
Thud!
Peter fell to the ground.
Thankfully, he had only climbed about two meters high. Subtracting his own height of 1.8 meters, it wasn't too far of a drop—he just landed awkwardly on his backside.
But Peter wasn't concerned about that. Instead, he felt a flicker of excitement.
It seemed like he was starting to get the hang of it.
He quickly stood up, removed his shoes, and placed his hands against the wall once more.
Scritch, scritch, scritch!
He climbed up over three meters this time.
Then, he let go again.
Thud!
His feet hit the ground.
This time, he didn't stumble.
In that fleeting moment before landing, he felt a natural sense of balance, as if his body instinctively knew how to adjust. He landed solidly on his feet!
He climbed again. Then let go.
Climbed again. Then let go.
After repeating this process several times, Peter fully mastered the ability.
Now, he could freely climb up and down the wall as if it were second nature.
During this exercise, he noticed several changes happening to his body.
It wasn't just his newfound ability to climb walls.
His physical fitness had also undergone a tremendous improvement. Falling from a five-meter-high wall didn't even faze him!
Granted, for Spider-Man, this was perfectly normal.
But for Peter - an ordinary person just a short while ago, it was nothing short of a remarkable transformation!
Not only that, he realized his brain seemed sharper, more developed.
His memory had improved significantly. Games he had played before, movies he had seen—it all came rushing back with crystal clarity when he thought about them.
This extended to his language skills as well.
Peter had always been decent at English. He could read English books and watch shows in their original language without subtitles, but casual conversations—especially those involving uncommon vocabulary—often left him fumbling.
Now, though, he found himself conversing effortlessly with Shadow Spider-Man.
He hadn't even noticed the change earlier; it just felt natural.
His vision had also improved. Even in the dimly lit alley, he could see everything clearly!
And then there was the spider-sense, which had activated during his first encounter with Shadow Spider-Man.
All of this made it abundantly clear:
After being bitten by that mysterious spider, he now possessed the potential to become Spider-Man!
Why "potential" and not the full title of Spider-Man? Because being Spider-Man wasn't just about powers—it was about embodying a spirit!
For now, Peter set a small goal for himself: to prove he was worthy of these abilities and become a true Spider-Man.
(End of Chapter)
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