The Amazing Spider-Man 3

Chapter 32

Gwen and I were sitting on the roof of an apartment building. The hard wind sliced through our hair.

"Did you notice anything different after the ink got on your suit?" Gwen asked.

"No," I blurted. Wait...why was I even lying? "Um...yes." I shook my head, wondering why I had said no.

"What?"

"I felt stronger, faster, better, smarter..." My voice trailed off.

"You are acting strange, too. Like, you don't think before you act. That's more than just ink, Peter. We have to figure out what it is. You have to get it off. What if it gets in your skin?"

I shrugged. "Why does it matter?" I stopped. What was wrong with me? She was right. I was acting strange. "But I'm only wearing underwear under this. What if the ink got on that, too?"

Gwen smirked. "Do you have any extra clothes?"

"No...not with me."

"If there's a problem, I'll grab you something."

"Fine." I began removing my suit, which was completely soaked with the black substance. My suit actually looked pretty cool, solid black.

I already had the top half removed. My skin was fine, the normal peach that it always was. Then I began slipping off my pants. My underwear wasn't black yet.

"There," I said, tossing my suit onto the roof. I stood in front of Gwen, only in my underwear. She was smiling.

I was suddenly overcome with relief as I was no longer in contact with the suit. I felt a little weaker, but more like myself. I no longer wanted to cause any damage. I began to feel guilty for allowing Mysterio die.

"I wonder if we can get this black stuff out," she said, reaching for the suit.

"Hey!" I called to her. She stopped. "I don't want it to get on you."

Gwen nodded, removing her gloves. "If it only soaks in clothing, then my bare hands should be fine." I nodded in approval, and she reached for my suit. The chilly air on my bare skin caused me to shiver.

Gwen lifted my black pants, then wrung them out. The black substance dripped on the roof. "Hey! It's coming out!"

"Stop!" I said. "We don't want to leave any behind. If it really did cause me to act strange, I don't want anyone else to get it." Gwen nodded, then stopped.

"We need to take this to a professional to see if they know what it is..." she suggested. "What about Tony Stark? We're supposed to see him again soon, right? He's the smartest person in the city!"

"He's not exactly the friendliest..."

"I'm sure he'd be interested in something like this."

I sighed. "Very well. We'll try."

Gwen and I headed to my house. We snuck in my bedroom window, because I didn't want Aunt May to see me in my underwear. I didn't want her to know about the strange substance.

"You need to keep this somewhere that it doesn't get on anything else," Gwen said. We were sitting on my bed. I was wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. "We can wring out some of this stuff, but surely not all of it will ever be gone. You need another suit."

"Yeah..." I said. "Maybe I could seal it in a suitcase or something."

"Great!" She said. "We should keep a little in a jar to take to Tony. We don't want him to see your suit."

"Yeah. But how will we explain where we got it?"

"Uh...we could say that we were wandering through town and we saw Mysterio. We didn't know who he was, and we were just looking, and found this. How's that?"

"Sounds good to me."

We sat for another minute. The streets outside were once again deserted. Everyone had returned to their homes after the power turned back on. Workers wouldn't arrive until the next morning to clean up the broken glass.

"I need to tell Aunt May we're okay. And...you need to go home," I said.

Gwen nodded reluctantly, and left the way we came. I did as well, coming in through the front door. I didn't want Aunt May to know I'd been inside for a while. I carried my backpack, pretending my Spider-Man suit was inside it.

I opened the door with a creak, finding Aunt May lying asleep on the couch. I smiled, then tiptoed over to her. Perhaps I didn't need to pretend to return through the front door. She would have slept through it, anyway.

I covered her up with a blanket, then left her a brief note on the coffee table, basically just saying I was okay and had gone to bed.

I returned to my room, inspecting my suit before I put it away in a suitcase. I removed my web shooters, since they were not black. I set them on my nightstand, then closed my suit away in the case. I planned to make a new one the following day.

I snuggled up into my sheets, closing my eyes, my back to my nightstand. I didn't see what happened next; I was already sleeping.

A black speck was on the strap of my right web shooter. It spread, and soon, the entire strap was a solid jet-black.