Gacha God: New You (ch. 14) (Patreon)

Peter managed to live through the ordeal, but there were times when it was touch and go. I’m not sure if that was because the serum was made with me in mind, or if he was just having a much harsher reaction to it than I did. The transformation lasted for a solid eight hours, the first two Peter screamed his way through, before he blacked out from the pain at long last, then woke back up at hour six. He spent the rest of the time whimpering and shuddering, spitting the water out as much as he drank it down.

Black sweat had completely soaked through his clothing, stinking up the place. I really needed to invest in some air fresheners for the Cave of Wonders. Maybe an air conditioning unit. Which would need electricity. Eh, I would figure something out. In any case, after eight excruciating hours, Peter fell asleep for another eighteen. Ned was forced to cover for Peter, claiming that he was stay at his house. Michelle was camped out on the couch, her knees tucked up to her chest. Ned was pacing a lot when Peter was asleep.

And when he woke up and had a shower?

“Peter?!” Michelle blurted when Peter stepped out of the bedroom, and it wasn’t like I didn’t get why she was shocked. Ned stopped mid-step, looking absolutely exhausted and slacked-jawed at Peter. Peter was wearing some of my clothes that loosely hung off of him, but the teenager who had entered the Cave of Wonders could barely be recognized now. For one, the acne was gone. His skin was healthier, he gained what looked like fifteen pounds worth of muscle along with a solid three inches in terms of height.

Peter hadn’t been ugly before, just very… teenagery. And scrawny. Now the rough edges were smoothed over and the bright parts were given a polish. Now, the only real flaw was how utterly exhausted and haggard he seemed. Peter looked like he was about ready to sleep for another eighteen hours. He dragged a hand down his face, momentarily surprised to see Michelle was still here but he managed a meager smile.

“Yeah, it’s me. I know. I almost didn’t know who I was looking at in the mirror,” he admitted.

“Dude, I totally need to-” Ned began, looking to me for his own dose but before he even finished, Peter interjected.

“Don’t!” Peter exclaimed, making Ned flinch back at the harshness of his voice. Peter momentarily looked uncertain, his gaze flickering to mine as he searched for the words. “It’s… painful. Really painful, Ned. I… I don’t think it’s worth it,” Peter admitted after he did it. He rubbed one of his arms nervously, still clearly Peter, even if he did look better.

Michelle shot an accusatory look my way. I met it with a cocked eyebrow. “You need to chill,” I told her, making her lips thin. If she had a problem with me, then say so. The pointed looks and expressions were getting rather old. “You regret it, Peter?” I questioned, willing to wind back the clock if he really did. Even if it did mean wasting a cup of water.

I could see him thinking about it with a slight frown on his face, really considering it. “I mean… it’s done. And I’m never going to do it again,” he told me outright. “I don’t think anyone should. I… have no idea how you could want to, but… yeah. I think I’m going to head home, guys.”

“Are you going to skip school? It’s the Oscorp field trip,” Ned pointed out, and Peter waved him off.

“I don’t have it in me,” Peter admitted, heading to the stairs. “See you later,” Peter started, but Ned quickly joined him, leaving everything else behind to check on his friend. Peter shot him a grateful smile while Ned gave me a wave bye before both of them left the mancave. Leaving me and Michelle alone. I didn’t have an item that let me see the future, but I didn’t really need one to know what was coming. I looked at Michelle, cocking an eyebrow at her and she was all too willing to take me up on the silent invitation.

“Who are you?” Michelle questioned me, her tone sharp as she got off the couch. “What are you?”

Not the questions that I was expecting. “Sebastian Galahad Stillwater. And human. Mostly,” I tacked on with a small shrug.

“So, you’re… part alien?” Michelle questioned, making me wiggle a hand back and forth.

“Depends on how much you’re stretching that definition,” I answered, being vague mostly to annoy her. Predictably, it worked like a charm because her eyes narrowed into slits. “Don’t be shy. Ask what you really want to ask. This whole glowering thing you’ve been doing is getting old,” I told her, telling her that I did notice.

Michelle licked her lips, “The invasion. You knew about it. You knew New York was going to be attacked. Peter and Ned think that you were working with Shield,” She added, gauging my reaction and the one she got was a very slow blink. That was… kind of hilarious, to be honest. They thought that I was working with Shield? That sounded like a pretty big leap in logic to me, but I guess they needed a rationalization of some kind.

Unlike me, they were mostly normal kids. I wouldn’t know, but I would guess most parents taught their kids to respect the law and stuff. Me being a Shield agent of all things probably made them feel more comfortable or something. They were dead wrong, but I understood why they would think that. Must have made the most sense to them.

“Are you?” Michelle pressed, not too pleased by my amused expression. She crossed her arms, cocking her head. She was trying to look confident, but it was pretty obvious she didn’t know what to make of me. It could pretty easily snip that misunderstanding in the bud. Offer some answers that I’m pretty sure would leave her with way more questions than she currently had. However… I wouldn’t.

It was way more amusing this way. For me, at least.

“If I was a secret agent, would I really answer that question?” I shot back, making Michelle’s jaw drop. “I’ll tell you what, though. You guess it? I’ll confirm it,” I told her with a laugh, shaking my head as I headed for the exit. That was way more entertaining. It would also be a good way to warm her and the others up to the truth when Michelle’s blind guesses got wilder and wilder. Either she would either guess it, or she would snap after even her wildest guesses missed.

It was going to be a hard truth to hear, I imagine.

Especially with a catholic background.

…

“Are you okay, Pete? We can take you to the hospital,” Uncle Ben said, his voice soothing from the foot of Peter’s bed. There was real concern in his voice. Peter realized that he probably wasn’t helping with burying himself under the covers to hide his face. It had been a lucky break that neither Uncle Ben or Aunt May were in the apartment when he arrived. Passing out again almost as soon as he reached his bed meant that when he woke up, he didn’t have an excuse prepared when Aunt May came in to wake him up.

So, he went with a tried and tested one. He was pretending to be sick.

“I’m fine, Uncle Ben. It’s just a headache. And a stomach ache,” Peter added, his voice still rough from waking up. As excuses went, it felt pretty flimsy. It was a little alarming how Uncle Ben was taking it so seriously. Pretty much the first thing that came out of his mouth after hearing that he was too ‘sick’ to go to school was an offer to go to the hospital.

There was a small beat of silence and the old spring in his bed creaked as Uncle Ben shared a look with Aunt May, who was standing at the doorframe. “If you're sure… I know you were really looking forward to going on this field trip. Maybe we could go on a tour on our own?” Uncle Ben suggested, and he really had been looking forward to the field trip. Oscorp was a really interesting company that was one of the few that could keep up with Stark Industries when it came to technological developments. With a focus on bioengineering, which was so awesome.

However, Peter wasn’t lying when he said that he didn’t have it in him. The memory of the fire in his veins that boiled his blood and seared him from the inside out… Sebastian told him that it had only been a few hours since he drank the Divine Water, but it felt like it had been an eternity of nothing but mindless pain and hearing himself scream. It was awful. It was the single worst thing he had ever experienced. He didn’t know what he was thinking-

No. That was a lie. Peter knew exactly what he was thinking -- that he would make himself look handsome with the Divine Water. That he would show off his knowledge in front of Liz, so she’d totally fall in love with him. Or something. The idea seemed so very hollow after feeling like his veins were filled with fire ants and they were all trying to chew their way out of him.

“Yeah… I’d like that, Uncle Ben. Thanks,” Peter answered after a moment, thinking that he wanted nothing more than to just close his eyes and sleep for the rest of his life.

“Of course, Peter. May and I have to head out, but I want you to call us the moment you feel any worse, alright? I’ll shoot you a text every hour, okay?” Uncle Ben told him, patting him on the shoulder, they really were treating him like he was about to die because he was acting sick. Sure, it was his first time acting like he was too sick to go to school but still. Was this because he still tried to go when he had pneumonia back when he was in middle school? He had just wanted to learn about biology!

“Okay, I will,” Peter agreed, and Uncle Ben patted him on the shoulder once more before getting up.

“I hope you feel better, Peter,” Aunt May wished him before his aunt and uncle left his bedroom. Peter closed his eyes for a moment, hearing their footsteps retreat. Some minutes later, Peter heard the front door close, and almost as soon as it did, he tossed the covers off of his head to gaze up at the ceiling. Pinned on the ceiling was a poster of Iron Man. A really recent one too. The Avengers had really blown up because… of course, they would. Iron Man was Tony Stark. Thor was a member of the team.

The Hulk was pretty scary -- Peter still remembered hearing about how the Hulk and Abomination had fought in Harlem when he was a kid and how the military had been called. Bruce Banner, however, was incredible. His findings on the effects of radiation -- specifically gamma radiation -- had on human biology were totally off the hook. It was so cool.

Was it weird to still find heroes cool when he was working with one? Maybe. A little bit.

“I shouldn’t have done it,” Peter admitted to himself, pushing the covers off of him to sit in his bed. Mentally, he wanted to go back to sleep and just… wait out the memories of what it felt like to drink the water. It was insane that Sebastian drank it too. And he knew that he had warned him about it, but Peter couldn’t help but feel a little angry at him. Even if he knew he shouldn’t be -- Sebastian hadn’t undersold what it would feel like. Peter had still underestimated what that pain would do to him.

Looking down at his hands, Peter clenched and unclenched them. What he gained from drinking the water was there -- Peter knew he was pretty smart. Maybe not a super genius like Tony Stark, but he knew he was above average in intelligence. He figured that out back when he was a kid trying to explain the properties of covalent bonds to Uncle Ben and realized that he didn’t understand a word he had said.

He was smart. Thinking came pretty easy to him. However, Peter could feel it. His thoughts were coming faster. When he looked at a model that he had printed off at the HQ of Iron Man’s armor… before, he could guess how it was made. The materials needed, how the tech was implemented…

Now?

“I could build that,” Peter muttered to himself, dragging a hand down his face. The armor would need to be lightweight but durable. A lithium-infused carbonized titanium alloy would do the trick. Best use the alloy throughout the suit to prevent structural weaknesses. Redundancies would be important in case of damage -- some loss in efficiency was to be expected when you, like, got hit by Thor. But, with the right redundancies, you could still use whatever weapons that the suit might have. Mr. Stark used to favor ballistics back when he was fighting in the Middle East, but during the Incident, he used a lot of laser-based technology.

The real issue would be the system that the suit used. Peter wasn’t sure how Tony Stark actually used his suit -- was there a direct neural interface? Did he use a bunch of pulleys and levers? The physical movements could be easily explained as the suit moving in response to his body trying to move that way, but the adjustments needed for the thrusters, weapons, and maneuvers… having a manual input seemed like it would take too long.

Peter’s phone buzzed and he checked it to see that it was a message from Sebastian. “Do something to take your mind off it. It’ll help,” Peter read the message out loud. Sebastian drank the water. Twice. It was absolute madness to Peter, but Sebastian seemed a little insane himself. Still, he was probably the only one that could actually understand what it was like to drink that stuff. So, he sent a message back thanking him for the advice.

Looking around his bedroom -- science posters, a number of books, and a desk that had a few projects that he was working on at some point but they fell by the wayside. None of them seemed particularly interesting at the moment. His eyes drifted over to the poster again, his brain picking at the problem as he asked himself a question he never really considered in any depth.

If he were to build an Iron Man suit, how would he do it?

Before Peter realized it, he had picked up a pencil and one of his graph paper notebooks to start sketching out designs. He wasn't a gifted artist by any stretch of the imagination. The doodles up to the clean page looked like they could have been drawn by a third-grader. However, as the pencil was put to paper, the image of the suit was conveyed clearer than he ever managed to get it. Time passed and Peter found himself looking at a halfway decent picture of an Iron Man suit.

A slight smile tugged at his lips. Idly, he considered a future where he actually made the suit. Went out with Sebastian and was an actual, genuine superhero. Wait- was being a superhero locked behind-

Peter flinched back, blinking as he was hit full force with a memory of the conversation he had with Ned and Michelle a week ago. It was startling. Not because he remembered, but because of how… sharp the memory was. Like he was there again. His brow furrowing, Peter grabbed a sheet of paper and started slapping down random numbers and letters on it. Flipping it over when he was done, he spoke them out loud. "2784K67348D5321793I790O9437S907T456GG807421344E34Q796U546R8042V1668X0622," Peter uttered before he flipped the paper over.

"Woah… I have a photographic memory now?" Peter muttered under his breath, seeing that the numbers all lined up. It was really apparent when he compared it to how he used to remember memories. Everything was sorta kind of there, but the focus point of the memory was front and center. Now it was like his memories were… clarified. Everything was there from the context, the memory, to what he felt at the time. It was pretty weird, to be honest.

With a shake of his head, Peter turned his attention back to the design that he was making, realizing that there were more changes in his body than just the cosmetic ones. "I couldn't wear this," Peter decided, ripping the picture out and tossing it away. "Tony Stark would totally sue me."

People would call him… Iron Boy. No. No way. That name conjured the mental image of kids in iron lungs or with polio. If he was going to be a superhero, he wouldn't rip from another hero. So, how would he really approach it? Should he start with a theme? A gadget? Skillset?

Pursing his lips, Peter drew up a few bubbles -- smarts, chemistry, mechanical knowledge. Those were his strengths. For weaknesses -- social awkwardness, flimsy physique, and generally everything else about himself. Okay, so… where should he go from there?

Peter didn't really know, so he started plucking at the random ideas and figured that before he could even start, he would need a power source. For something. Probably. So, he began designing one, recalling the battery that he saw in Sebastian's Air Treks. Small, and compact, but it was pretty powerful. Maybe something like that? Though, that probably wouldn't work -- as far as he could tell, ATs were extremely efficient with energy consumption because they generated energy even as they consumed it. Not enough to avoid a drain, but to severely lessen the battery's strain.

Which got Peter thinking about self-perpetuating machines. Which turned into the nature of energy and how it was converted into electricity, which was then consumed.

And, somehow, that became Peter designing an… implant. One that harnessed bioelectricity that humans naturally produced. He got the idea from the Matrix -- a lot of people ripped on the idea because of how horribly inefficient it was, but Peter always thought that the idea was cool. However, the idea was only feasible if you could design something that could run off of a hundred watts in a resting state. Meaning that it would need to be incredibly efficient, or you found a way to increase the bioelectricity that a human-produced in a rest state.

So…

He did.

The graph paper became filled with math equations and chemical solutions along with diagram s of molecules. Peter only really became aware of the passage of time based on how much his hand was starting to cramp and the occasional buzz from his phone. Ned had gone on the field trip and he was blowing Peter's phone up with as many pictures as he could take. Peter was thankful for it. Oscorp looked so cool and he almost wished that he just went to school instead. Especially the spider exhibit -- each one was a gene-edited spider with traits that it couldn't naturally have.

The technology was revolutionary. In twenty years, diseases like Alzheimers or genetic dispositions to cancer could be eliminated before birth. It was amazing.

And inspiring.

The serum recipe that Sebastian had given him was a decent enough starting point. Its goal was to make whoever took it survive the transformation process of the Divine Water. It was the water itself that broke the body down, making the DNA malleable enough for alteration. Peter never really considered it, but how difficult would it really be to add something else into the mix? Such as… something that could, in theory, make someone's body store and generate increased amounts of bioelectricity?

It wasn't an answer that he was going to find in a single day, but the question was there. And he had a three-day weekend to figure it out.

…

He didn’t figure it out over the three-day weekend. Sadly. Mostly because he was teaching himself advanced biology. One of the foremost experts on DNA and how it mutates was a Professor Charles Xavier, but he hadn’t put anything out in the past decade. Still, everything he wrote was very enlightening. The next best person was Dr. Bruce Banner -- he specialized in types of radiation, but he had a number of papers on the effects of gamma radiation on the body put out over the years. You know, before he became the Hulk.

“You sure you’re okay?” Ned asked as they made their way to school. Ned was giving him a cautious look like he was made out of glass or something. It probably didn’t help that Peter had been dodging him over the three-day weekend, not showing up at the Mancave even once. He tried on the first day, but the moment when he actually started walking there, his mind went to the Cave of Wonders. Sebastian standing over him, telling him that it was going to hurt, and himself so full of confidence that he could take it.

He went home after that, not quite ready to deal with that memory he really wished he could forget.

“I’m good, Ned. Promise,” Peter replied, giving his best friend a smile. He was doing better. Sebastian was right -- having something to take his mind off of it helped a whole lot. He was itching to do more research now, but he had to settle on doing equations in his mind while he walked. “Just glad to be back at school.”

“If you say so,” Ned returned, sounding like he didn’t believe him, but his friend offered a shrug as they made their way up the school steps. The hallways were crowded and Peter narrowly ducked underneath a drone that was flying that was followed by a ‘sorry!’ It did feel good to be back at school. He missed it. And it helped him feel… normal. Though it did feel a bit smaller, that was just because he was a few inches taller.

It was as they were making their way to their first class -- chemistry -- that someone noticed him. It wasn’t who he thought it would be either. Liz glanced over them as they entered, her eyes widening at him. “Peter?” She questioned and… he didn’t look that different, did he? What was he? A troll?

However, any indignation that he could have mustered immediately went right out the window when he realized Liz Allen was talking to him. Talking. To. Him. “Nuuhhh, yes,” Peter responded, giving a nod, and he knew that this memory was going to kill him later when he thought back on it. “That’s me. I’m Peter.” Actually, it just might be killing him now.

“Are you feeling better? We missed you at practice. And the Decathalon,” she added and Peter wished that Ned would stop looking at him like that. Like a proud father who looked upon his child that finally managed to string more than three words together in front of his crush. He might have said something, but even his improved brain struggled to process that Liz said that she missed him. Well, ‘we’ missed him. But Liz was in that we, so, technically, she said that she missed him.

There was a beat of silence as Peter took a half second too long to answer, “Uh, yeah. It was just, like, a stomach bug. A lot of puking-” It was official. He never got his hands on time travel technology because there’s no way that future him would let past him start talking about puking in front of Liz. That was gross. She was going to think that he was gross. “-and stuff.” Being vague was worse. Somehow.

Liz, the veritable saint that she was, just nodded. “I think something is going around. Cindy came down with something too,” Liz offered, making Peter look over to the assigned seat of Cindy Moon. He had never spoken to her, but he had seen her around. She was really smart and, interesting enough, she had an eidetic memory like he now possessed. He recalled something about her going to Oxrford University- no, that was something he overheard.

“She’s still sick?” Ned spoke up, a note of worry in his voice. When Peter glanced at him, he elaborated, “she had to leave early on the trip because of a fever and stuff.” So, she was out of it for four days? That was a bit more than the stomach bug that he allegedly had.

“She said she’s feeling better, but decided to milk it while she could,” Liz admitted, offering a shrug. Ned made a sound of understanding, but Peter didn’t quite get it. The worst part of school was Flash. Everything else about school was awesome.

Their conversation was cut short when the teacher came in and the lesson began. He kept half an eye on the lesson while he did a bit of self-studying as he double-checked his math and thought process on the combinations of certain chemical compounds. He would need data on how to fine tune the theoretical serum, but it wasn’t like he was going to go experimenting on people.

To avoid the suspicion that he was goofing off, he answered every single question that the teacher put out so she wouldn’t come looking over his shoulder. The same went for the rest of his classes. Chemistry, Advanced Calculus, lunch, then History followed by English -- the last two were the most boring, but they were requirements. It was the latter that Peter was dreading because he had managed to dodge Flash all day.

A foot bounced underneath the table that Peter sat at, keeping an eye on the door as he waited for Flash to show up. They had assigned seating, and Flash sat directly in front of him. His foot abruptly stopped bouncing when Flash finally did arrive. His bully scanned the classroom, his eyes immediately going to Peter. His expression immediately tightened with his eyes widening a fraction, and Peter got ready.

Sebastian wasn’t wrong. At the core of what he said about other people’s opinions. Peter did think that he took it to an extreme, but at the core of it, he was right. So… he was going to stand up for himself. The moment that Flash said something, Peter was going to… tell him to shut up. Or something. Honestly, he hadn’t thought that far ahead. But he was ready. Sort of.

Flash took his seat, and Peter immediately braced himself for a ‘Penis Parker’ greeting, a rebuttal on the tip of his tongue. Only it never came. Flash took his seat and didn’t look back at him, saying anything at all. Not what he expected, but Peter was still ready for the sharp remarks throughout the class…

Only they never came. The class went by in excruciating slowness because the class itself was boring, but his guard was constantly up. Peter nearly jumped out of his skin when the bell suddenly rang, but Flash outright jumped out of his seat and headed for the door. Not a single word was uttered to him.

“That’s it?” Peter questioned, feeling extremely conflicted. How many times had he wished that Flash would just leave him alone? And the one time Peter intended to stand up for himself, Flash… what was going on? Did Sebastian do something? He probably did something.

Getting up, Peter hurried out, seeing Flash was already halfway down the hallway. Not quite running, but he was power walking. Peter’s lips thinned, tempted to give chase, but he felt someone thump him on the shoulder, and he saw it was Mary Jane. “Peter! Sebastian was right -- you do clean up good,” Mary Jane remarked, her tone casual and Peter was pretty sure he blushed all the way down to his bone marrow. “Here,” she said, handing him a slip of paper.

A ticket.

“I’m going to be in a play. Saved you a good seat,” Mary Jane said, her tone brimming with confidence. “Are you going to be there?”

“Uh, sure?” Peter answered, having no idea when it was but it wasn’t like he had a really busy schedule or anything.

“You better! See ya!” Mary Jane said, skipping off down the halls to hand out more tickets. Based on how Ned raised a hand with one in it, she was giving them out to everyone she knew. Peter waited for Ned to catch up to him before he continued walking with his friend in tow.

“Have an interesting day?” Ned questioned, earning an uncertain shrug from Peter, before proving that he only asked because he had one. “I did. Guess what? Tully downloaded the system update, and I have, like, complete access to his phone.” Ned whispered, and while he was obviously trying to keep his voice down,his excitement made the whisper a loud one.

That was actually great news. “That’s awesome, Ned! Did you find anything?” Peter questioned, eager to know. Armand was a total bad guy and they were about to dish out a serving of Justice.

“Yeah. Guy sends out like… a lot of unsolicited dick pics -- did you know that’s not a crime? Feels like it should be. Anyway, I have a few names that I’m looking into, but we have a few leads on his criminal associates. He knows some guys in… uh… hold on… Union Allied Construction, some guy named Leland Owlsley… and someone named James Wesley. So, we could like… take down a criminal enterprise!”

Wow…

Maybe he should pick up the pace on that whole super suit?