Spidey's Webslinging Oneshots

Paint It Black

Background: A patrol leaves Peter a little shaken up, but he tries his best to hide any fear from the events of that night. It isn't as easy to hide his troubles when others begin to notice a clear change in Peter's demeanor...

Peter had always learned to not get angry when using his abilities. While he was his strongest at that point, he was also terribly reckless and lacked restraint. He never used his full strength on any villain, even if it meant he'd end up injured. He'd rather get injured then seriously injure someone else.

But the thought of hurting someone fatally wasn't the only reason.

Peter was scared of himself.

Scared that he'd become the monster and menace people thought he was. The last thing he wanted was for people to fear him. He wanted people to be able to look at him as they're Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

This left Peter, and everyone who knew of his secret, in the dark about how strong he could really be.

Whether they wanted to know or not, one night would lead to the answer Peter had been dreading ever since the spider bite.

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The night had been fairly normal, and thankfully quiet. No super villains, burning buildings, gang fights, or flying spaghetti monsters.

Just a couple of muggers and drunks to take care of.

So for his brief moment of peace, Peter had decided to swing over to Central Park. He hasn't had the chance to relax in a long while, so why not do so in one of the prettiest places in New York City?

So here he was, sitting underneath a tree, typing away on his phone to his best friend Ned. Tomorrow, they'd build the Millennium Falcon set that Ned had gotten for his birthday. Needless to say, Peter was excited for the distraction.

School had been awful these past few weeks. Semester exams had put everyone on edge, students studying like their lives depended on it. Exams would start tomorrow on Monday, which meant that Peter would have little time for Spider-Manning.

Life at home wasn't going so great either, May was taking extra shifts to pay for this month's rent, leaving Peter alone at the apartment. The events of last year's Homecoming still haunted him and being alone at night didn't help him believe in his safety.

He had also been working more with Mr. Stark, becoming more of an intern than he could have ever hoped for. Helping with suit updates and fixing up the Avengers' gear was exciting. Every other Friday, he'd get picked up by Happy and driven to the compound for a weekend of late nights in the lab and mornings in the training room. This made Peter want to be at the top of his game, putting him on a lot of pressure to impress his mentor however he could, despite the obvious lack of sleep he's been getting.

With all of this stress on him, a little bit of fun couldn't hurt.

Right?

He was in the middle of responding to Ned's vine reference when a sudden buzz alerted him of danger. Glancing at his surroundings, the teen was surprised that nothing and no one could be seen. The only thing being within range was a skittering squirrel, hopping across the seat of a dimly lit bench.

I guess my sleep schedule is finally catching up to me...

That's when he felt something cold cover his hand.

In a wave of panic, Peter tried his best to shake off the strange substance that now covered his entire forearm. He could feel the cold goo grow and pulsate as it moved towards his chest. That's when his panic turned to horror.