6 Chapter 6: Cannon is Fucked

Sunday, September 12, 2006

7:30 pm

Queens, New York

Alex Pov.

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"SPIDERS!!!!"

My voice came out horst as my eyes shot open. It was uncomfortable to breathe with my mouth and throat so dry. At the same time, my vision was hazy but, surprisingly, was coming back to normal faster than I expected. Not wasting time, I took a moment to examine my surroundings, something I have typically done every day since my "reincarnation," but I wasn't familiar with the area. The first thing that I noticed was that I was lying on something soft but more firm. So a crappy bed, then this isn't my room. Next, I heard from beside me what sounded like an EKG that was calming down after a spike in what I can guess was my heartbeat; alright, a little concerning, but I'm sure there's nothing to worry about...wait, what sounds like traffic. At this point, my vision fully came back, seeing that I was already facing the window as the view of Manhattan was in the distance. 'Ahhh, The NYC in its twilight hours. I don't usually get this view back home, and if I am not in my room right now...' I sat upright to get a look at the surroundings.

"Okay, let's see...window with curtains, bed, EKG reading my heart rate, two chairs, one of which has my bag, a door in front of me while another was to my left, plain white pated walls and a pot for a fake plant." I snorted in amusement. "Ha, It's just a hospital room, Alex; nothing to worry yourself about," I stated before resting my head on the pillow.

Only to shoot right back up a second later, sporting a confused look. "Back the fuck up, hospital?" double checking, yep, this is a hospital room. 'Also, just to make sure...' I check under the sheets; I'm wearing shorts with this one; that's a plus never really like those gowns they make you wear.

"Wait, wait, wait, I'm getting off track here. Why am I even in the hosssss..." As if the universe wanted to give me a wake-up slap, my memories again flooded my mind. Informing me of what happened to put me in here and, more importantly, what it all meant. '...oh no,' and It was fucking terrible. My right hand instantly went to the back of my neck, hoping, no, begging to whatever deity out there that I was wrong, only to feel the faint trace of a small bug bite.

The radioactive spider bit me...

...

I HAVE SPIDER POWERS!!!!!!!

'No, no, no, no, this can't be happening!!!! I can't be spider-man!!!!!' I thought in pure panic. This Isn't how it was supposed to go; Peter was supposed to get bitten by the damn spider, not me! That fucking arachnid couldn't tell which twin was which for once!

This shouldn't be happening in the first place; I was supposed to be helping in the background and preferred it that way. Getting any superpower in this world is a death sentence; I spent my whole life with out-of-world memories telling me that fact is to be true. All I wanted to be was a guy in the chair for my brother, to be most far away from the crazy super-powered, supernatural being out there, to have a somewhat quiet life in this fucking universe, even if it's wishful thinking. Now what, am I just fated to this, to risk my life daily, to save a city so freckle that they could turn their backs on me at the drop of a hat? To go against people whose bloodlust and hate for me would be so great that they will stop at nothing, even team up to kill me and those I love.

I broke into a cold sweat, and my breathing became heavier as the seconds passed. My mind was going haywire as flashes of memories rushed through one another like a movie playing in 2x fast forward. Every single one shows all the worst things that happened to spider-man and what could happen to me as well...The last hunt, Venom, the clones, the other, the inheritors, and one more day were only a few of the images I saw, not to forget all the punishment I would be putting myself through both physically and emotionally if I ever dawn that mask. 'Shit, It's happening again!! Come on, Alex, pull yourself to-fucking-gether! Now is not the time for one of your attacks; you can't think straight like this. You need to think of something to escape this situation; this can't be your life now, right?' I needed to stop any panic attacks from forming, but it wasn't working. I wanted to pull my hair out, anything to stop Nate's fucking memories from pounding my brain like a hailstorm, but my body wouldn't respond; I was trembling. It was getting increasingly more challenging to breathe now, and my already loud heartbeat rang in my ear to where it was the only thing I could hear.

I glared at my trembling hand, 'Come on; I need to move. Move, damn it!!!' once again, my body didn't move, but I kept trying even if it felt like this whole universe was mocking me, taking away my life and control, then giving me a curse. 'Give it back...!!!'

"..."

'Take it back...!!!'

"A.....x"

'GIVE IT BACK...!!!'

"A...lex..."

'TAKE IT BACK...!!!'

"ALEX!!!!" Despite the thundering beating and my angry cries, I heard a familiar voice calling me. Seeing a soft hand holding my trembling one, I turned my head only to face the person that I was honestly more worried for other myself. "G-Gwen?" she was, staring back into my eyes with a look that showed confusion and concern. She wore short shorts with black stockings and boots and sported one of many rock band shirts she had collected over the years.

"Yeah, it's me. Are you okay? I came to visit you today, but halfway down, I overheard something about your heart rate being too high, so I rushed to see you first...Alex, are you even listening to me?" she explains while quickly checking me for anything as I could hear footsteps approaching the room. However, that didn't matter; what did matter was what I saw while looking at Gwen or what memory came to me...I saw her death.

I watched as she fell from the top of the Brooklyn Bridge, then a white flash hit my vision, and the scene changed to where I saw Gwen again, this time falling from a high height inside what seemed to be a building before going back to the bridge...I know this scene. Both visions went back and forth with one another as if someone was comparing the two. She looked at me with pleading eyes, hoping I could save her. '...no...' I saw a hand coming from my view wearing a spider-man glove, forming the hand sign to shoot a web. 'please...not this one...' The web line fired to catch the already too-far Gwen Stacy, one of them even forming a hand reaching out to her. 'please, god...don't show me this now.' Gwen gently closed her eyes, already accepting her fate before the web line attached to them...then, 'no, no, No, No, NO!!!!' *Snap* 'Gwen!!!!!!!' I watched as her body dangled in the air, not moving. The scene changed again, and I saw myself in the spider-man suit holding the lifeless body of the woman I love, not Peter or Andrew Garfield, but me. I sat there, caressing my tears away from Gwen's cheek, begging her to stay with me; I needed to have that infectious laughter of the goblin in the background above me.

The memory faded away in a blink as I returned to reality, with Gwen now looking at me with even more confusion. At that moment, when the dam broke as my eyes began to water. "Alex, is something wrong? Why are you-" cutting her off, I couldn't control myself and pulled her into a hug. Burying my head into her neck, I tighten the hug, afraid that she could disappear from me, even if it could happen one day. "A-Alex?" Gwen said, still a bit stun by what was happening from what I could tell. Everything was happening too fast; there were just too many emotions that I was going through at the moment. I was angry about being spider-man; I was confused about why the spider bit me, but most of all... I was terrified about everything else.

I felt a pair of arms wrapping around me, hugging me back. "Shhhh... It's okay, Alex. I'm right here with you, so there's no need to be scared, okay? It's only a nightmare." Gwen said softly while stroking my hair, trying to calm me down. I could only continue to cry softly, 'If only it were, Gwen, If only it were.'

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We stayed like that for the next 15 minutes, not saying a word to each other. The two nurses eventually dropped by to check on me, and they seemed surprised that I was even up; weird, it was just a dirt nap. Though I didn't bother asking them to clarify, as I am not in the mood to talk to any doctors or nurses right now, they tried to get Gwen to leave, but she managed to convince them otherwise after sharing who she is connected to. Very rearly, it pays to be the commissioner's daughter, I guess. Not once did Gwen ask me why I was so scared, probably knowing I wouldn't answer her anyway, and I was thankful for that because I needed a moment to clear my head.

"You okay now, Alex?" Gwen asks after a while of silence.

I pause, "...Yeah, I think so." We finally separated, and I watched as she turned away slightly, awkwardly trying to hide the light blush on her face though I didn't say anything about it. "Um...thank you, Gwen; I needed that from someone."

"Y-yeah, no problem. *cough* So anyway, are you sure you're okay? No fever nor shortness of breath? Do you have any headaches?" like a mother hen, Gwen started to check my face and body for any sign of a fever or injury, taking small moments when examining my arms.

I chuckle at this, "Gwen, I'm fine; I'll say I feel better than okay; I feel amazing. Maybe once I'm out of here, I could go for a run. No, wait, what about doing one of those spartan runs that I heard flash say that he could win? I bet you $10 that I mop the floor him in, say,10 minutes tops. Maybe less if I don't have any triple pepperoni from Leo's,...on second thought, 10 minutes sounds fine." though I said this, I wasn't kidding about feeling amazing. I'm not sure what was in that spider's Venom, but now that my mind is cleared, I've noticed how strong I'm feeling; stronger than what another ten years of MMA training could get me usually, that's for sure. 'Is this what it feels like to have superpowers?'

"You won't be doing any running until you get some proper rest first," she said, shaking her head in exasperation. "Still, seeing you're back to your old self is good. In the meantime..." Gwen then immediately punches me in the shoulder hard.

"Ow, seriously, punching people in a hospital; have you no shame, woman." I said in mock pain, 'I know she punched me as hard as possible, but I bearly felt that.' That didn't even tickle.' It didn't stop Gwen from hitting me some more.

"This is for that crazy stunt you pulled back in Oscorp, Mr. "I don't feel so good." You scared me half to death when you killed over like that; I thought you died back there." having enough of being hit, I gently caught her hands to calm her down since I saw her eyes started to water up slightly.

"Hey, take it easy, Gwen; I'm still here too, okay? What happened at Oscorp caught me off guard, that's all. What I said back there was the best thing I could say then. I'm more confused about why I'm in the hospital in the first place; I mean, I was only out for what half of the day? It seems a bit much for just passing out; not like I'm not grateful or any-"

"Alex, you been unconcerned for two days! Your heart practically stops back at Oscorp!"

I think I went pile, "...Come again?"

"When you passed out, I immediately rushed over to check on you, only to find no sign of a heartbeat. I-I panic; I thought I watched you die before me, a-and I didn't know what to do. If it wasn't for Harry calling for some medical staff, who knows what would have happened...I just..." I hugged her to ease her worry. I didn't know what to say; what could I say? First, I got bit by the spider; then I found out that I was bedridden for two whole days; I'm just going to ignore the part about me dying cause I'm already dealing with too much anyway.

"Hey, it's okay, Gwen; as we both said, I'm still here. So, no more crying, okay? From both of us. Here, why don't you fill me *rumble*...heh, with food if you have any." I say after a while of comforting Gwen this time; funny how fate works.

She smiles slightly, "*sniff* Really? You chose now to think of food in a time like this?"

"I was unconscious for two days like you said; cut me some slack, will you?"

" Fine, Fine, but you're only lucky that I think that airplane and hospital food are gross." she said, taking a pair of corndogs from one of her bags and handing me one.

"Amen, to that." I took the offer corndog, and we playful toss with them. As we ate, I couldn't help but be curious about what else went down at Oscorp. Remembering something before I "passed out," I asked, "Hey, Gwen, I know you don't want to talk about what accord to me at Oscorp; trust me, it's comfortable for me too. However, can you please tell me what else happened back there? I remember hearing a cry of pain before everything went black."

Gwen thought about it momentarily before sighing, "Alright, but you still owe me for that stunt you pulled; I'm still mad at you. So, long story short, the field trip was canceled early after a pair of students was amidated to the hospital." she pauses seeing my confused look. "I know. That 'girl' you were chatting with near the spider case also passed after screaming in pain." 'A girl I was talking to was bitten as well? ... Hold up, you don't mean...I need some clarification.'

"Where was Peter in all this...drama occur?"

"He was still talking to Dr.Conners about the different experiments the doctor performed over the years and decisions about his internship." Yeah, that proves it; that or any spider didn't even partially bite Peter. This means, ladies and gentlemen, that cannon is officially fucked. Not only that, but the girl who was also bitten had to be Cindy, and now I have to be on the lookout for that as well; fantastic. Where is that damn notebook when you need it; cause I might as well make a fucking list.