The next morning at Midtown High School, Peter headed over to Gwen’s classroom right after class ended.
“Gwen!
Over here…
come out for a second…”
Gwen was drawing when she looked up and saw Peter waving at her from the doorway.
After thinking for a moment, she tucked her sketch into her backpack, stood up, and walked over to him.
“What’s up, Peter?
Did you need something?”
Peter scratched his cheek and gave a dry laugh.
“There are too many people here.
Let’s find somewhere quiet to talk.”
Gwen understood instantly.
He wanted to talk about super powers.
She had noticed how close Peter had been with Harry lately and wanted to feel him out—to see if Peter had told Harry Osborn about getting super powers.
Without hesitation, Gwen nodded in agreement.
They walked to an empty corner.
After a brief discussion, Gwen blurted out in surprise:
“What did you say?
You actually told Harry Osborn about your powers?!
Are you crazy?”
Peter hurriedly waved his hands to calm her down.
“Don’t say that.
Harry’s my best friend.
If I can’t trust Harry, I really don’t have anyone left to trust.
But don’t worry, I promise I only said *I* have powers.
I didn’t say a word about you or Gaia.”
Gwen facepalmed and shook her head.
“You only have those few people to trust anyway, don’t you?
Besides, do you take Harry Osborn for an idiot?”
Peter blushed in embarrassment and changed the subject:
“So…
what do you think?
Do you want to join us?”
As he spoke, Peter recalled the line Uncle Ben always used to teach Gaia: *With great power comes great responsibility.*
Although Cousin Gaia dismissed the saying, Peter loved it.
He had always longed to possess power like Gaia’s or Captain America’s to help people—just like Ghost Rider and Moon Knight, fighting crime.
“‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ I’m not trying to guilt-trip you, Gwen.
I just want to use my power to help others.
Even if I can’t reduce New York’s crime rate by forty percent like Ghost Rider and Moon Knight, I still want to do what I can to help people.
Just like when we were kids and Gaia beat up the bullies for me.
This is what I’ve always wanted to do.”
Gwen looked at Peter in surprise.
Before today, her impression of him had just been the grade-level genius and Gaia’s younger cousin.
Now her view of him had completely changed.
Thinking of the suit sketch still in progress inside her backpack, Gwen smiled and agreed with a nod:
“Of course.
I think you’re right, Peter.
We really should use this power to help those in need.
But I have one condition: I get to design Gaia’s suit.”
Her words instantly made Peter frown.
He vaguely guessed her motive—*if you design it, won’t I be isolated again?
That’s crossing the line!
Impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
Never back down on matters of principle!*
The two engaged in a heated debate right there over who should design Gaia’s suit.
In the end, neither could convince the other.
They both scoffed, agreeing that each would design a suit and let Gaia choose for himself.
As the bell rang for class, they exchanged disgusted looks and parted ways in opposite directions.
…
Meanwhile, Gaia was at the club’s gym testing the new equipment Tony had sent over.
He had to admit, Stark was absurdly efficient to build all this in such a short time.
Not only was the speed comparable to 3D printing, but the craftsmanship was exquisite.
With the new equipment, the effectiveness of Gaia’s workouts increased by a quarter.
*Ring ring~*
His phone rang.
Gaia put down his equipment and pulled out his phone.
It was a text from Gwen asking for his body measurements.
Little Gaia excitedly leaped out: “Quick, quick, tell her 18—”
*Dragon Uppercut!*
Blasting Little Gaia away with a single punch, Gaia couldn’t figure out what Gwen was up to, but sticking to the principle of “don’t understand, but respect,” he still sent over his waist size and other measurements.
It didn’t affect his workout anyway, so whatever.
Right after sending it, just as Gaia was about to set his phone down and resume exercising, Peter sent a text the very next second.
He asked the exact same questions as Gwen.
“?”
Gaia looked at the message on his screen and fell silent for a moment.
After convincing himself that he probably wasn’t being isolated, he sent his waist size and measurements to Peter as well.
Having been interrupted repeatedly, Gaia stared at the contact name displayed on his phone: Peter.
He suddenly realized it had been several days since Peter was bitten by the spider.
Gaia swiped through his contacts, found his mother, and initiated a video call.
With a *whoosh*, the phone screen changed, revealing a white woman of European descent who looked to be in her late thirties or early forties with short white hair.
It was May Parker, Gaia’s mother in this life.
“Hi, baby!
Did you miss Mom?”
Hearing May talk to him like a baby, several dark lines appeared on Gaia’s forehead.
This was why he usually didn’t call.
Come on, he was twenty-three years old; why did she always treat him like a little kid?
Dislike it as he did, to prevent the Spider Curse from striking, Gaia still thought he should get the Parkers back.
With a double Spider-Man buff in play, he really couldn’t rest easy with the Parkers out of his sight.
“When are you guys coming back?
Godfather Jameson asked me to pass a message.
If you don’t hurry back, he’s going to dump all his work onto Dad the moment you return.”
Before May could speak, a white-haired man in his nineties with British flair appeared on screen.
“That old bastard Jameson is a real jerk, not even letting me enjoy my vacation properly.
I’m definitely going to teach him a lesson when I get back.”
Looking at the prematurely gray Parker couple in the video call, Gaia rubbed the top of his head, feeling his own future hair prospects were looking dire.
He let out a light sigh:
“I think you really ought to come back.
Over twenty days of vacation is plenty long enough.”
Ben Parker humph-ed in dissatisfaction:
“Whose side are you on anyway, kid?
I work so hard normally, what’s wrong with taking some time to rest properly?”
“Hey, why are you talking to my son like that!
I think Gaia’s right.
We’ve been out for so long, you’ve gotten too lazy, Ben!”
May shoved Ben aside and said to Gaia with a smile:
“We’ll be back in a couple of days.
Oh, by the way, Gaia, my boy, have you found a girlfriend yet?
When your dad was your age, you were already one year old!”
Girlfriend?
What girlfriend?
He was busy working out every day; where would he find the time?
He was naturally seizing every spare moment to savor the thrill of growing stronger.
For some reason, talking to them was exhausting.
Just as Gaia was about to answer as he usually did, Wanda’s voice came from the side.
“Gaia, can you come help press my legs down?”
Gaia looked up to see Wanda lying on a yoga mat with her legs spread wide, doing stretches.
“Where’s Pietro?”
Wanda put on an obedient expression.
Propping herself up with her hands slightly apart, her arms didn’t block her key assets, instead falling to the sides and accentuating them.
Finally, she sat up, arching her lower back slightly and tucking her legs into a duck-seat posture:
“Pietro isn’t here today; he had something to do.”
*(In reality, to seize the chance to be alone with Gaia, Wanda had dumped Pietro out on the street.)*
*See?
This is the real Wanda.
The one from last night was definitely an impostor.
The truth stands revealed,* Gaia thought with utmost conviction.
“But I’m busy right now…”
Just as Gaia was about to decline, May heard a girl’s voice from the other end of the line and immediately said excitedly:
“No problem, go ahead and help!
We’ll be back in two days.
Bye-bye!
Beep, beep, beep…”
With that, May hung up immediately.
Gaia glanced at the quiet phone in his hand, then looked up at Wanda, who was blinking her big eyes at him.
Putting his phone away, he said:
“Alright, I’ll help you.”
When it came to minor favors between friends within his ability, Gaia never refused.