C4 Spider-Man (Patreon)
Content
On his way home, Peter managed to pickpocket a few men in nice suits. He didn’t want to rob poor people as they have no money and he would feel bad, so he kept his targets to the wealthier-looking men. Women usually kept their money in purses, which would be harder and more noticeable when stolen, so he stayed away from them as well.
Thanks to his enhanced senses and reflexes, Peter didn’t bother taking their wallets and simply emptied them before placing them back in his rich victims' pockets. He would brush shoulders with someone, snatch their wallet, pocket the cash, and slip the wallet back to them.
When he arrived back at his apartment, Aunt May was in the living room watching Korean Dramas with her phone nearby. As soon as she saw him walk in, she muted the TV and looked at him expectantly.
“Okay, what’s going on?” She asks from her seat on the couch.
“What do you mean?” Peter asks, hoping to avoid whatever is going on.
“You have this weird sickness this morning, then you stay out longer than you ever have before? Not to mention the rips in your shirt and jeans. Something is up. Now spill...” Aunt May looks him up and down.
“I... uhh.” Making a split-second decision, Peter comes up with a good excuse. “I got an off-the-books job to pay for a date, but I haven’t asked the girl out yet.”
“...” May looks into Peter's eyes, searching for any deception. “That’s it?”
“Yeah, this morning was just food poisoning though.” Peter adds with a shrug.
“What about your clothes?” She says gesturing to Peter's ripped outfit.
“I was working on a construction site.” Peter explains easily.
“Huh, so that’s why you’re more muscular now...” May mutters as she stands and walks up to Peter before wrapping him in her arms. “Please don’t hide things from me. I thought you were in trouble or doing drugs. If you needed money, you could always ask me. You don’t have to get a dangerous construction job.”
“I’m sorry, May.” Peter said as he hugged her back. “Don’t worry, today was my last day of work. I’ve saved up enough money to last a while.”
He felt bad for Aunt May. She technically lost her nephew, or son since she raised him, and now someone else has taken his place. At this moment, Peter swore to himself that he would take care of May as thanks to the old Peter.
As they separated, Aunt May looked at him with an inquisitive smirk.
“So, who’s the lucky girl?” She asks like a paparazzi ready to get her scoop.
“I’ll bring her over sooner or later. You’ll find out then.” Peter says as he heads toward the bathroom.
“What? You can’t just drop something like this on me and walk away. I need to know.” May follows him with a pout on her face.
“Well, you’ll just have to be patient.” Peter says with a smirk as he closes the bathroom door in her face.
—————————————
-One week later-
After a full week of school and training in the warehouse basement, Peter was finally ready to meet the Ancient One. If he wanted to safely become Spider-Man without worrying about risking his everyday life and the safety of people like May, Ned, and eventually MJ, then Peter would need her help.
During this past week, Peter found out that he could enhance his already ridiculous powers with exercise. Though because of his already crazy level of strength, that exercise is something that would flatten the best bodybuilder in seconds. He also has his powers completely under control at this point. It took a little training, but he doesn’t break things on accident or hear/smell things at a crazy level anymore. Though he can If he tries.
The underground warehouse has been renovated into a makeshift gym. Peter already had the extreme bench press, so he just needed to add on with other equipment made from random junk and held together by his webbing, which he found is extremely durable.
There is so much web in that basement that it actually looks like a spider's lair, ready to trap any prey that wanders in.
Other than that, Peter has used his stolen money to update his wardrobe a bit. He didn’t mind the old Peters style, but he wanted to bring a bit of his old self into this new life of his, which pretty much consisted of hoodies, joggers, jeans, white shirts, and a pair of white Nike air max’s.
Ned was surprised by his change in clothes, while May gave a few good comments about how he looked recently.
The only problem Peter has had this week, if you can even call him that, was Flash who kept trying to mess with him and failed horribly. On Wednesday, he tried to pick on Ned, since he couldn’t do anything to Peter, but Ned wasn’t having it. He followed in Peter's footsteps and ignored Flash completely, and since Ned is almost always with Peter at school, any minor physical bullying was thwarted by Peter at every turn.
Sadly, Peter has been too busy to put together a prank on Flash, but it would come soon enough.
After school was out on Friday, Peter said goodbye to Ned and took the subway to the New York Sanctum. The Sanctum Sanctorum is located on 177A Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, New York City.
Standing outside the big double doors, Peter nervously knocked. He would be meeting the strongest person on Earth, The Sorcerer Supreme. Otherwise known as the Ancient One.
As the door creaked open, a Caucasian man in monk robes peaks his head out.
“Can I help you?” He asks in a New York style accent.
“Uhh... I’m here to meet with the Ancient One. Do I need to schedule an appointment or?” Peter asks nervously.
“Huh?” The man says as he looks at Peter weirdly. “Please come inside. I’ll contact the Ancient One for you.”
As the man opens the door, Peter walks in and admired the architecture of the big open entrance hall.
“Thank you. Should I just wait here?” Peter asks as the monk rushes off, leaving him standing there. “Alright, I’ll just stay here...”
Feeling curious as he waits, Peter walked around the entrance area, looking for anything interesting or possibly magical. Sadly, they don’t seem to leave anything like that just laying around, which makes sense.
After waiting a few minutes, the monk came running back out of breath.
“T-The Ancient One will see you now.” He pants for breath as he motions for Peter to follow him.
Taking a stance and making a circular motion with his hand, a golden spark appears in the air and forms a large circle. In the center of the circle appears an entirely different location.
“Wow, is that a portal?!” Peter exclaims as he walks up to it and puts his hand in and out. He has seen this in the movies but it’s a different experience in real life. ‘I hope I’m able to learn the mystic arts.’
“Follow me.” The monk says as he steps into the portal.
Following him through, Peter teleported all the way across the world to Kathmandu, Nepal in Kamar Taj. He didn’t know that for sure but the room he appeared in looked very similar to the one Doctor Strange first met The Ancient One in all her baldness.
There were tables set up around the room and a couple Masters dressed in robes sat and drank tea. The Ancient One was nowhere to be found, so Peter turned around to ask the monk that guided him, but he was already gone.
“Umm, hello.” Peter turns back to one of the serious-looking monks. “Is the Ancient One on her way?”
Sadly, he doesn’t get an answer, so Peter concluded that they may not speak English. After waiting an awkward couple of minutes, someone else finally arrived.
“Thank you for keeping my guest company Masters Simone and Chao. You may return to your duties.” The Ancient One rounds a corner and enters the room.
“Yes, Ma’am.” “No Problem, Master Ancient One.” Both of the masters say as they bow and leave the room.
“They spoke English that entire time?” Peter asks rhetorically with a confused look. Turning to the Ancient One, Peter gives her a small bow. “Hello, do you play jokes like this on all of your visitors?”
“Yes, especially the interesting ones.” She says as she takes a seat at a table and grabs a waiting tea kettle. “Would you like some tea?”
“Uhh, sure thanks.” As Peter sits across from the Ancient One, she waves her hand, conjuring a tea set for them to use.
“Cool...”