Dreaming of You

Spider-Boy

— "What's so important?" I asked, a tinge of irritation creeping into my voice as I approached the couch where everyone was gathered, including a few unfamiliar faces. Peter, with his usual nonchalant demeanor, casually nested himself between Miguel and Peni. "We're deciding what to eat for dinner," he declared as if it were the most crucial matter in the world. I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in disbelief. "Wait, that's what you called me for?" I questioned, my annoyance evident in my tone. Peter, seemingly unfazed, retorted, "Yeah why?" "You said it was important! I was in the middle of-" I exclaimed cutting myself off as I didn't want to out myself. "Forget about it." I sighed as everyone looked at me confused. The room fell into an awkward silence as everyone exchanged puzzled glances. Peter, now directing his attention to the pressing matter of dinner, continued, "So, I was thinking pizza." "Dude, you gotta lay off of those." Miguel chimed in concerningly. A back-and-forth bickering match on Pizza of all things began between Peter and Miguel, leaving me increasingly impatient. Miguel finally put an end to the squabble by suggesting, "Alright, can we just get Lyla to make something so we can actually focus on the important thing?" Peter reluctantly agreed as Miguel motioned towards Lyla. Lyla nodded and gave him a salute before blipping out of existence. My curiosity grew as I asked, "So, there actually is something important?" "Yes, Peter was kidding." Miguel replied. "No no I really was-." Peter protested, only to find a piece of webbing suddenly covering his mouth, shot by Miguel, eliciting laughter from the rest of us while Miguel continued to speak.

— "Now that that's out of the way, lemme introduce you to everyone here." Miguel said, gesturing towards the others seated on the couch. "This greyscaled gentleman is Peter Parker, but you can call him Noir to avoid confusion." He introduced, directing my attention to the corner of the couch where a figure in the familiar Spider-Man costume with an added detective's cloak sat. He and the costume were entirely gray, and he appeared engrossed in solving a Rubik's cube. He gave me a casual wave before returning his focus to the puzzle. "This is Peter Porker, but you can call him Ham," Miguel continued, prompting me to look next to Noir. To my surprise, I found a humanoid pig donning a Spider-Man costume sitting there, waving at me cheerfully. Oddly, nobody in the room seemed to react to the talking pig. "And of course, you've already met Peter B. and Peni," Miguel continued, acknowledging my prior encounters with them. "You've only met those two because, well, you can see why we couldn't send Noir and Ham there," he added, as Ham and Noir waved at me again, and I awkwardly reciprocated.

— "Even sending Peni there was a bit of a stretch, but we made it work somehow," Miguel confessed with a shrug. Peni kicked him under the table but he remained unfazed, continuing to speak. "But anyway, here are our different roles." Miguel explained. "Peter B. over there will be helping you with the overall Spider-Man training, things like web swinging, stealth, etc. Your main mentor so to speak as he already took on that mantle a long time ago for you." Miguel explained as Peter shot me a peace sign before moving on. "Peni will teach you the more technical side of being Spider-Man, things like inventing your own gadgets, hacking, designing the whole lot. As much as I hate to admit it, she's better than me at it." Miguel admitted, glancing over at Peni, who couldn't help but smirk at the compliment. "Noir and ham will teach you hand-to-hand combat. Don't let their appearance fool you as they're some of our best combatants." Miguel added, directing my gaze towards Noir, who was still wrestling with the Rubik's cube, and Ham, who was trying to assist him. "I will be teaching you more about the rifts and glitches and how it affects the Spider-verse." He explained. "And finally, Gwen," he said, causing my heart to skip a beat. "She's closer to your age than the rest of us and still a greenie, so she'll act as your training partner and guide." Hearing this, a wave of excitement and nervousness washed over me. "Wow that's a lot." I admitted, scratching the back of my head. "Hey, what abt me cuz?" a voice called out from the doorway behind me, grabbing our attention.