Spider-Man : The Story of a Hero

New York — Connors’ Laboratory — Day

At the same time Peter had just left the Daily Bugle, Gwen and Eddie were walking side by side toward the Connors’ laboratory after the young woman’s shift at the restaurant where she worked as a waitress had ended.

An almost soothing calm settled between them. And yet, beneath that apparent tranquility, yesterday’s tensions were still very much present, as though they continued to weigh silently on Gwen.

— ”So... how are things going with Peter? Have you had a chance to talk to him yet?”

At that simple question, Gwen’s face darkened almost in spite of herself. A faint sadness mixed with embarrassment crossed her eyes, revealing the answer even before she opened her mouth.

— ”I tried... but it didn’t go very well...”

Eddie turned his head slightly toward her.

— ”What happened?”

Gwen hesitated.

Was it really a good idea to talk to Eddie about it?

Peter already seemed to lose his temper at the mere mention of Eddie’s name or the thought of her spending time with him. So telling Eddie what was happening between them... was that really the best thing to do?

She no longer knew what to think.

As observant as ever, Eddie immediately noticed her hesitation. In a calm voice, accompanied by the kindness that seemed so natural to him, he immediately tried to put her at ease.

— ”I mean... if you’d rather not tell me, I understand. Don’t feel like you have to.”

Gwen remained silent for several long seconds, carefully weighing her words before finally answering in a hesitant voice.

— ”It’s... complicated.”

Eddie simply nodded without trying to push the subject any further. His expression alone made it clear that he respected her decision.

— ”You two seem really close, though.”

A faint nostalgic smile appeared on Gwen’s face.

— ”Yeah... we are.”

The conversation ended there. The two of them continued walking in peaceful silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

Several minutes later, they finally arrived at the Connors’ laboratory. Two police cars were parked in front of the entrance. Their lights were off, but their mere presence was already attracting the curious glances of passersby. Yet neither Gwen nor Eddie paid much attention to them, continuing toward the building’s doors.

The moment they stepped inside, their eyes widened.

The laboratory was in obvious disarray. Equipment had been knocked over or broken, chemical components still littered the floor, and several police officers were carefully inspecting the scene in search of the slightest clue.

In the middle of all the commotion stood the Connors family. Clearly shaken by what had happened, they were answering the questions of the officers present. Among them was Yuri Watanabe, captain of the New York Police Department, whose calm and methodical demeanor contrasted sharply with the chaos surrounding her.

A few minutes earlier, Peter had also arrived at the scene. Refusing, however, to run into Gwen, Eddie, or the Connors, he had chosen instead to discreetly observe everything from the rooftop and the laboratory’s various windows, still dressed in his black suit with his backpack slung over his shoulders.

— ”Professor Connors! What’s going on?”

Worried, Gwen and Eddie almost ran over to their professors. Curtis hesitated for a brief moment, searching for the best way to break the news.

— ”Uh... well... we’ve been robbed...”

Gwen’s eyes widened.

— ”What?! But what happened?!”

Curtis took a deep breath before continuing.

— ”According to what the police told us... someone broke in through the roof last night.”

As he spoke, he raised his arm and pointed toward the laboratory’s roof. Instinctively, Gwen and Eddie immediately looked up in that direction.

Peter, who happened to be directly above them, quietly took a few steps back to avoid being seen.

But when he heard Curtis’s words...

He couldn’t help but feel deeply puzzled.

— ”The roof? Last night...?”

Eddie turned his attention back to Curtis.

— ”And what did the thief take? Nothing important, I hope?”

— ”Well...”

Curtis exchanged a glance with Martha. At the mere thought of what they had lost, their faces immediately darkened. Without saying a word, they slowly stepped aside, revealing behind them the enormous sphere that had once contained the symbiote.

It was now empty.

The extraterrestrial creature that had been inside it just yesterday was gone.

At the sight of it, Gwen and Eddie stood frozen, unable to find the words. The silence that settled over the room alone was enough to express the shock that had just struck them.

— ”We don’t know yet whether anything else was stolen, but one thing is certain... this person stole something extraordinary. No... something phenomenal. With the abilities of that symbiote, if our research had succeeded... this discovery could have changed the world.”

Seeing the deep despair written across their professor’s face, Gwen and Eddie could feel nothing but immense sadness for the two scientists.

— ”That’s horrible!”

— ”We’re so sorry to hear that, Mr. and Mrs. Connors...”

While Gwen and Eddie tried to comfort the Connors, Peter remained motionless on the roof, completely absorbed in his thoughts. The events of the previous day suddenly began replaying in his mind. The more he pieced the puzzle together, the more one conclusion became undeniable... until the truth hit him like a freight train.

— ”D-Damn it! Wait... I’M WEARING THE LAB’S SYMBIOTE?! I... I’m wearing a living alien?!”

He immediately thought back to everything that had happened since the previous day: the way the suit had detached itself from him of its own accord, the way it had then reattached itself to his body as though it were perfectly natural, and that strange ability to produce webs by itself.

The more he connected all those events...

The more astonished he became.

— ”This is insane... I really need to learn more about you!”

Meanwhile, inside the laboratory, Yuri Watanabe finally noticed the small group gathered around the Connors. She left the officers she had been speaking with for the past several minutes and walked toward them. As she approached, she immediately recognized Gwen Stacy.

Her expression softened almost instantly.

— ”Gwen?”

Hearing the familiar voice, Gwen immediately interrupted her conversation with her professors and turned toward the person who had called her. The moment she saw Yuri, she gave a slight start of surprise.

— ”Oh, Yuri?! What are you doing here?”

Yuri looked at her for a few moments.

Then a faint amused smile appeared on her face.

— ”Need I remind you that I’m a police captain?”

For a brief moment, Gwen stood frozen before realizing how silly her question had been. She had known Yuri for many years. Embarrassed by her own remark, she let out a small nervous laugh before answering with an awkward smile.

— ”Oh, right... stupid question.”

Seeing Gwen speak to Yuri with such familiarity, Eddie, along with Curtis and Martha Connors, exchanged surprised glances, clearly intrigued by the relationship that seemed to exist between the two women.

— ”Uh... you know each other?”

Martha immediately nodded.

— ”I was just about to ask the same thing.”

Yuri turned her head slightly toward them.

— ”Yes. Actually, I’ve known Gwen ever since she was a little girl.”

At that revelation, a mixture of surprise and admiration immediately appeared on the faces of everyone present. After all, having a captain of the New York Police Department among your close friends was far from ordinary.

Amused by the situation, Eddie stepped a little closer to Gwen before quietly whispering a few words in her ear.

— ”You could say you’ve got one hell of a protector.”

Gwen simply answered with a small knowing smile, silently nodding without needing to say a single word.

At that very moment, a police officer approached Yuri to relay some new information. She excused herself with nothing more than a glance before stepping away for a few moments, leaving the small group to continue their conversation.

— ”I’m glad to see you’re surrounded by good people, Gwen. That’s a good thing.”

Eddie gave an amused smile.

— ”If you’ve got a problem, at least you know who to call!”

That little joke drew a few light laughs from Gwen and the Connors, briefly easing the atmosphere. Peter, on the other hand, was far from sharing their amusement.

Still hidden on the laboratory roof, he watched the scene without taking his eyes off Eddie. The more he saw him smiling beside Gwen, the more a quiet anger rose inside him. At that moment, there was only one thing he wanted to do...

Destroy him.

But that thought was abruptly interrupted when a ringtone echoed from inside his backpack. Curious, Peter quickly pulled out his phone. An alert from the police frequencies had just appeared on the screen.

Supervillains were attacking and robbing a bank.

Down below, after finishing his conversation with a fellow officer, Yuri returned to the Connors, Gwen, and Eddie. Her face had regained all the composure and professionalism that defined her.

— ”As for the break-in, we’ll do everything we can to recover what was stolen. Unfortunately, that’s all we can do for now. I have another case to deal with, so I can’t stay, but my colleagues will take care of the rest.”

Martha slowly nodded.

— ”And what about the laboratory?”

— ”It will remain closed for a while. But we’ll get back to you as soon as we have any news, so don’t worry.”

Curtis nodded as well.

— ”Alright... we understand. Thank you, Captain.”

Yuri answered with a simple nod.

Her tone remained professional, but she was still doing her best to be reassuring.

Then her eyes returned to Gwen, and a faint smile reappeared.

— ”Anyway, Gwen... it was nice seeing you.”

Then, realizing she hadn’t said a word to Eddie, she pointed at him slightly with a friendly smile.

— ”You too, kid.”

She gave the group one last look before beginning to walk away.

— ”Have a good day.”

She had barely taken a few steps when she suddenly seemed to remember something. She stopped, turned back toward them one last time, and said naturally:

— ”Oh, and before I forget... say hi to Peter for me, Gwen!”

At those words, Eddie, Curtis, and Martha all wore the exact same surprised expression. They exchanged a brief glance before asking the exact same question at the exact same time.

— ”She knows Peter too?!”

Meanwhile, Peter continued to discreetly observe the scene from the rooftop.

His gaze slowly shifted from the screen of his phone, where the alert about the supervillains was still displayed, to the inside of the laboratory.

He hesitated.

— ”I’ll come back later to look for information about the symbiote. For now... let’s go pay those so-called supervillains a visit. And while we’re at it... let’s take the opportunity to ask them why they gave me that damn sting the other day.”

The moment that thought crossed his mind, the black suit suddenly reacted on its own. Its surface strangely distorted before several growths resembling thin black tendrils slowly emerged from it.

Right before Peter’s eyes, they gently took hold of his phone before making it disappear inside the suit itself, as though it had just absorbed it.

Peter stood frozen for several seconds, unable to look away from what he had just witnessed. The scene raised countless questions, but in the middle of all that confusion, one feeling nevertheless prevailed:

Admiration.

The abilities of this creature surpassed anything he could ever have imagined.

Determined, yet with the same cold look in his eyes, Peter finally launched himself into the air toward the bank currently under attack by the supervillains.

Meanwhile, at the Connors’ laboratory, everyone eventually left the building. Once outside the entrance, Martha turned to Gwen and Eddie.

— ”Well... you two have the rest of the day off, kids. We don’t know how long this will take, but we’ll keep you updated.”

— ”Alright!”

Eddie nodded as well.

— ”I can’t wait to come back and see the lab back to normal. Hopefully the symbiote will be found.”

The Connors gave them a sincere smile to thank them for their support. Even so, it was impossible not to notice just how deeply the break-in had affected them.

After a few moments, the two scientists walked away, leaving Gwen and Eddie alone in front of the laboratory.

— ”There’s still plenty of time left before the day’s over... would you like to grab a drink?”

Gwen hesitated.

Part of her feared it would create even more problems with Peter... at least if he ever found out. And to be honest, she didn’t particularly want to spend time with Eddie.

But, on the other hand...

Maybe he finally had the answers she had been searching for since yesterday. The answers Peter stubbornly refused to give her, answers that only continued to fuel the tension between them.

After thinking it over for a few moments, she finally made her decision.

— ”...Yeah. Why not.”

TO BE CONTINUED.