A Web of Fate

Cindy and Peter watched from several buildings away as the police arrived and arrested Johnny before they left and was now driving him to the station. After confessing to both Uncle Ben's murder and the break-in earlier that day, Johnny should be going away for some time.

Furthermore, Johnny should be confessing to the plans he had made, along with his co-conspirators. "How are we going to help him after he confesses? It's not like we can openly tell your brother to make sure he's safe."

Cindy approached the roof's edge, took a seat on the parapet, and then began to explain. "I'll give an anonymous tip and go from there. However, why are you so concerned about his safety after what he's done to your uncle?"

Putting his head down, Peter didn't know how to answer that. After giving himself some time to think, he finally responded. "I can never forgive what Johnny did to Uncle Ben. But he was a man who lost everything and was willing to do whatever it took to get revenge on the people who hurt him."

Cindy didn't say anything and watched as Peter got closer to the parapet. Peter, leaning on the parapet and gazing at the gathering of police officers at Johnny's apartment building, continued, "I was willing to do whatever it took to catch Uncle Ben's killer. No matter how long it took or what lengths I had to go through, I'd do it. And there I was; not even a day later, I had my uncle's killer in my grasp."

Peter clenched his hands into fists and waited a moment. Two small tears streamed down his eyes as he realized that, despite bringing Johnny to justice, it would take some time for him to fully grieve for what had happened.

Cindy took her right hand and rubbed his back, trying to comfort him as best as she could while waiting patiently for him to continue. With a slight chuckle and a cough, Peter continued, "I threatened and scared him. I said unbelievable things that, in my whole life, I would never say. And you want to know what it took to break free from that rage?"

Cindy, wearing a curious expression, softly inquired. "What was it?"

Peter gave a self-deprecating chuckle. "My uncle said that with great power comes great responsibility. That if I have the ability to do something great, I have the responsibility to use that power wisely. Despite having great power, I have been using it foolishly."

Cindy couldn't help but shake her head. "I think you're being a little harsh on yourself, Peter. It hasn't even been two days yet since we got our powers; we're not supposed to know everything right away. We're going to make mistakes, but I feel that we're off to a pretty decent start."

Peter nodded his head before shaking it. He looked down at his right fist before clenching it once more. "...You're right. However, I want to take this more seriously. Cindy, there has to be a reason why we have this power."

Peter looked over at Cindy, staring deep into her dark brown eyes as her hair flew along with the wind. "I think we've been given this power so that we could have a chance at doing something good. So that we can prevent tragedies like what happened to my uncle, the families that were chemically tested on by Oscorp, and what might happen on Halloween when those guys plan on releasing that bioweapon in Oscorp Tower."

Peter gently placed his hands on Cindy's arms, encouraging her to focus on him and his words. "Cindy, this might sound foolish, and I know that the chances of us dying are certainly possible, or those close to us might get dragged along with this. However, I'm willing to take this seriously and become someone who stops evil while giving hope to those who really need it. Would you like to—"

All of a sudden, Peter felt something soft placed on his lips. He had to blink his eyes to confirm that he wasn't hallucinating. He was asking her if she would like to join him so that together they could accomplish this when, all of a sudden, Cindy kissed him.

Her eyes were closed, and when Peter calmed down, he felt something passionate between the kiss they were sharing. Peter closed his eyes and focused on the feeling, as if a web of fate connected them. However, as he continued to experience this sensation, Peter also sensed two additional webs, although they weren't as strong as the web between him and Cindy.

As Cindy withdrew, Peter noticed that the sensation had dissipated. As she gazed into his sky-blue eyes, he heard her affirm, "Yes, Peter. I would love to go on this crime-fighting journey with you. Even if it means that we both end up dying, or whatever trouble befalls us, we have each other to lean on."

The two of them didn't say anything, and they continued to stare into each other's eyes until they noticed the sun was setting. Feeling awkward about what they had done, though they did not regret it one bit, they said their goodbyes before they split up and went to their homes. This time, though, they felt giddy about what the future might bring.

...

Peter arrived at his house before he entered. The house was awfully quiet, and it felt as if something was missing. "Something is missing..." Peter whispered to himself, taking the chance to wonder about his house and look through all the framed pictures of him, Aunt May, and Uncle Ben.

In each and every photo, no matter what, they were always smiling. Naturally, Aunt May made it mandatory for Peter to smile when he was younger, ensuring that everyone appeared happy. However, Peter soon realized that he was truly happy in every photo.

None of these pictures were fake, and they held deep memories that he'd always cherish.

"Hah, I remember this." Peter uttered these words as he picked up a photo of himself, Aunt May, and Uncle Ben, who unfortunately ended up blurred. "Uncle Ben had trouble taking the pictures since he wasn't used to the 'fancy cameras.' We ended up taking this picture a hundred times before we decided to go with this one."

All of a sudden, Peter heard someone behind him say, "That was your uncle's favorite picture. I, of course, wanted a better one, but he insisted that this was the one we were going to frame."

Turning around, Peter saw Aunt May dressed in lounge wear. Her hair was disheveled, and black streaks had fallen from her eyes due to the tears she had shed the day before. As they saw each other's faces, they gave each other a bitter smile.

"This one, though." Aunt May walked over and picked up a framed picture of when Uncle Ben taught Peter how to ride a bicycle. "I love this picture. To this day, I could still remember seeing his proud face when you finally managed to pedal on your own."

Peter obviously knew of this, and it was part of his top five memories with Uncle Ben. However, it was so hard to rank them that he ended up putting all of them at number one.

Nodding as he tried to hold back his tears, Peter said. "I miss him so much..."

"I do too..." Aunt May allowed herself to cry as she hugged Peter, using each other's embraces to grieve. They didn't know when things would return to normal or if things would ever be the same.

Nonetheless, with each day that passes, it'll become a little bit easier.

Separating from each other, Aunt May asked Peter if he was hungry, and he said that he could use a bite to eat. After all, he hadn't managed to eat anything after he caught Johnny, but he couldn't tell her that.

They entered the kitchen together, and Aunt May started preparing something for the two of them to eat. Peter sat down at the table and started to think about everything that had happened so far. And as he was in the middle of thinking about this, he suddenly felt his phone vibrate.

Peter pulled his phone from his pocket and opened up his messages. It was a message from Cindy, telling him to watch the news channel and do it quickly. Frowning, Peter turned on the TV as the remote was on the kitchen table, and when he switched to the news channel, he saw something... unbelievable.

Two news anchors were currently broadcasting some disturbing news. "Just in: Police have apprehended the suspect, Johnathan Tanner, responsible for Benjamin Parker's murder and the break-in on 78th Avenue in... Regrettably, the transport vehicle responsible for Johnathan's arrest was involved in an car accident. Reports say that there were no survivors, including the deaths of two police officers and Johnathan Tanner. As for why or how the accident took place, we are still gathering more information. Please stay tuned to be updated—"

Aunt May had been making something to eat for the both of them until she heard that the police had caught Uncle Ben's killer, naturally drawing her attention to the TV. However, when she heard that the suspect had died, she sighed with mixed feelings. Nonetheless, she decided to look over at Peter to see how he's dealing with the news, but Peter's face looked as if he had seen a ghost.

"Peter? Are you alright?" Aunt May asked, but Peter shook his head slowly before getting up from the table and calling someone on the phone. However, he informed Aunt May prior to ascending the stairs. "I'm fine; I just need to talk to someone real quick. I'll be down in a minute!"

Finding it weird and concerning that Peter would go up the stairs to call someone right after hearing the news, Aunt May decided to think nothing of it. She suspected that he might have been angered by the fact that his uncle's killer, who was also her husband's killer, had an easy death. It's not as if she had wanted this outcome all along, but perhaps Peter saw it differently.

Soon after, Peter found himself sitting on his bed in his room, engaged in a phone call with Cindy, who was also sitting on her bed in her room. Peter couldn't help but ask, "How did this happen? Do you believe it could be the people he worked for?"

Peter was feeling so terrible that he thought the police would just take care of everything and that he didn't need to worry about anything. And yet, after turning himself in, Johnny had paid the price for trying to do something good. This just didn't sit right with Peter.

He heard Cindy say over the phone, "It has to be them. There's no other explanation. I was just preparing to make the anonymous call before all of this happened."

The two of them became silent, trying to find a reason why this happened and what tipped off the people Johnny worked for. They kept thinking until it dawned on them. "His apartment was bugged!"

Peter started speaking first, "There's no other way for them to know that Johnny was going to turn himself in unless they knew beforehand. Otherwise, they couldn't have prepared for this to happen."

Cindy then elaborated further, "Yes, and they obviously heard Johnny telling us what happened. If that's the case, then they must be looking for us as well. I doubt they were able to follow us because of our abilities."

Looking out the window, Peter shook his head. "We just have to hope that's the case. I think that we shouldn't see each other in public for a little while. Everyday, let's meet at our hangout after school, and try not to be followed."

Cindy agreed and said, "We should meet tomorrow, in the afternoon, and start discussing more ways we can protect ourselves, as well as a way to hide our identities, and what we would do from now on."

"Understood."

...