This was the worst. The absolute worst. The groans from around the class signified everyone seemed to agree with me.

“Settle down everyone” Ms Jane said. “I know students find it difficult when they can’t choose who you work with on a project, but it’s an important skill to learn.”

“But do we have to do it in these groups?” Gordon spoke up.

“Yes. No ifs, buts, or maybes. I want you guys to figure this out on your own. And remember your group will all be marked down if someone fails to participate. Class dismissed” she said. There was a groan in unison but Ms Jane didn’t seem to care. Did she actively hate us? Probably not, but she was a really harsh teacher.

I stood up stuffing things into my bag when I felt someone jab me in the side. I turned to see Kate glaring daggers at me.

“Don’t look at me like that you weirdo. God I really don’t want to have to talk to you” she said in her haughty tone. I furrowed my brow.

“Then why are you?” I said.

“Are you stupid? Actually, don’t answer that, it was a silly question. You’re in my group, give me your snap so I can put you in a group chat” she said.

“I don’t have snapchat” I said awkwardly. She just stared at me for a few seconds before making an aggravated sound and walking off. Weird.

I made my way to the front of the class as Ms Jane typed away at her computer.

“Uh miss”

“No Lucas, you can’t change groups” she said. Crap. I groaned, slumping as I walked away. This project was going to be a nightmare. Hopefully we could get through it whilst interacting as little as possible, but that was probably a longshot. Why the hell was she in so many of my classes?! I trudged out the classroom. I needed to go to the library to return the books I’d borrowed. They were way overdue and I’d gotten an told off for it twice already. I’d make my way to lunch afterwards.

I walked through the halls, taking my time to admire the school when my phone started vibrating. I looked around and then pulled it out to check. It was Ricardo. I answered.

“Lucas?! Lucas?” he said almost frantic.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“You need to get over here as fast as you can. We’ve made a major breakthrough and we need some more samples immediately” he said.

“I- how big is this?” I said.

“If this works, we could get rid of your gifts and fix the potential problem of those mutated by loose test subjects rampaging through the streets” he said. I froze. Already? I’d just decided to become a superhero and I was already being faced with the choice of getting rid of my powers.

“Lucas?” Ricardo said.

“I… I’m coming, just give me a sec” I said.

I turned back down the hallway and started running. I ran through the building before finally reaching my dorm. I locked the door and reached under my bed, grabbing the bag with my new suit in it. I stared at it. Nah, it was too much hassle to put on and take off. I looked out the window. Could I make it out the building without anyone seeing me? That might be a bit risky. Ah what the hell?

I unlocked the room door and rushed into the bathroom and locked the door. Just in case Eric needed something in here. I didn’t want him asking too many questions. I threw open the window and crawled onto the wall outside the wind flapping my tie into my face. Now that I was out here this didn’t seem like such a good idea. I couldn’t get away fast enough without someone seeing me.

I glanced upwards and a thought popped into my mind. Now that could work. I sprinted up the wall, keeping as low as possible so people wouldn’t spot me from their dorms. I reached the top of the dorm building and looked around. No one could see me from here, thank God. I shot out webs to either side of the building and held them tight before stretching them back. There was a building that I was aiming for. Hopefully I moved fast enough that even if they did see me, they couldn’t recognise the uniform, much less my face.

I pulled the webs a bit more and, with my heart thumping in my mouth, jumped forwards. The wind pressed against my face, forcing my eyes shut as I shot through the air. My spider sense buzzed and with my eyes still closed I tucked and rolled. I hit the ground and rolled across the floor before slamming into something. Ow. I opened my eyes. I was on a roof. I looked around. Phew, it was the roof I’d aimed for. I stood up and dusted myself off, before descending down a fire escape. I made my way through a few alleyways before finding myself on the street.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

I ran through the streets at a breakneck pace. Why the hell did I want to get there so quickly? Did I really want to lose these powers that badly? Had I not changed at all? I ignored my internal anguish and carried on running, finally I saw it, the massive globe of glass and the towers that surrounded it, the Bederson Research centre. I rushed up the steps and burst inside. I slowed down, heading for the food court with a long stride.

I entered the food court and spotted Lindon waiting by the doors. Two guards stood just outside the doors. Odd. I rushed over to him earning a few stares.

“Quickly, we might not get this chance again” Lindon said. He turned to step inside, but the guards stopped me from entering.

“He’s with me” Lindon said.

“He’s got no pass” one of them said. Crap. Lindon pulled his off and draped it around my neck.

“Is that better?” he said. The guards just stared at us for a few seconds before glancing to one another.

“Just come through” the one on the left said.

“Don’t tell anyone we did this” the second one said as Lindon ushered me down the hall.

There were more guards now. A lot more. I didn’t have time to focus on it, but the number was alarming. Something was going down. As we made our way over the walkway I saw the lab beneath us was completely empty. Weird. We exited and hopped in the elevator. We stood in silence as Lindon tapped his foot, watching as everything grew smaller beneath us.

“Why is this so urgent?” I said. Lindon looked at me with a frown.

“I phrased that wrong. Why did I need to get here so quickly? Couldn’t you take samples later?” I asked.

“No. We managed to pull off exactly what we needed, but we weren’t prepared and we don’t know exactly how we did it. It might not be repeatable for a while” he said. I looked at him confused.

The elevator came to a stop and we emerged, jogging over to the lab. Lindon opened the door and I paused at the sight before me. The lab was a mess, with almost all of the back wall covered in large scratches and black ooze. Ricardo sat in front of a bunch of lab equipment, a patch of blood on his lab coat.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

“Lucas, you’re here! Quickly, quickly, we need some venom and some blood, we don’t want this solution to dissolve” he said, ignoring my question. I rushed over to see a vial of black ooze moving about on its own. With every second it slowly shrank and its movements became more frantic. I closed my eyes and furrowed my brow, focusing on my fingers. I felt my nails grow and the poison start to seep out of them. I hung my fingers over the vial and let the poison fall onto the thing, watching as it’s movements steadily calmed down.

“What is that thing?” I asked.

“A mouse. Or at least it was” Lindon said.

“What the hell happened to it?” I said slightly horrified.

“We bombarded it with negative energy” Lindon said.

“Why?!” I asked.

“It’s nothing new. When the formula’s are failing and the mice are dying we bombard it with negative energy to see if we can get a reaction. This is the first time anything’s happened” Lindon said. I glanced at Ricardo who was still deep in thought.

“How does this help with removing my powers?” I asked. Ricardo finally glanced at me.

“Roll up your sleeve first, we need to give it some blood to stabilise it” he said. I frowned and just nodded. Ricardo turned back to look at the ooze, his face a mask of concern.

“This… thing isn’t like anything we’ve ever seen before. It’s difficult to call it an organism because it can barely sustain itself on its own. Sorry, I’m getting off topic. It absorbs negative energy. It damaged the transmitter and a few of our other machines. Theoretically, if we injected enough of this into your body, we could reverse the mutations caused by the original spider” he said. I glanced at the ooze as it seemed to grasp at the glass, as though trying to reach me.

I was suddenly a lot less sure about this. I finished rolling up my sleeve and Lindon took a vial of blood, before administering it to the ooze. Ricardo walked off, took a seat in a chair and grabbed a bunch of paper before scribbling away. He looked around for a second and his face contorted into disgust.

“Lindon contact the clean up crew. We need to clean this space up before we bring the volunteers” he said. Lindon didn’t respond.

I glanced at him watching as he just stared at the black ooze with wonder.

“Should I go?” I asked. I was met with silence. “Lindon?”

“Huh?” he said turning to me.

“Do you still need me? Or can I go?” I asked.

“Sorry, I’ll escort you out” he said. I glanced back at the lab as followed him out, staring at the black ooze. It wasn’t exactly what I’d expected, but we were finally making progress.

-

Now I’d done it. I sat outside the principal’s office my face buried in my backpack. Ms Hatton had told the faculty about my unauthorised leaving, and they’d been watching out for me. Because I’d been wearing my uniform I’d strolled back in without a care in the world and the receptionist had instantly gotten onto me. I was a fucking idiot. Dammit, I was so screwed. I heard the sound of arguing voices coming down the hall. They quickly grew nearer with the sound of recognisable thunderous footsteps. I recognised those voices. It was Maria, but she’d brought Quinten’s sister, Alexandra, too. Crap. They were gonna tear me a new one.

“Lucas how many times does this need to happen?!” Maria said aggressively.

“Maria, calm down” Alexandra said.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you!” she said, still angry. I kept my face buried in the solace of my bag.

“Maria stop shouting at him, this isn’t helping” Alexandra said. Maria went silent and I heard a thud as she sat down in the seat next to me. There were a few seconds of tense silence.

“Lucas, you need to talk to us” Alexandra said. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing” I mumbled.

“We can’t hear you with your face in the bag. Talk to us properly” Maria said, her anger barely restrained. I lifted my head out of my bag and glanced up at Alexandra then to Maria.

“Sorry” I said.

“Sorry?! You can’t jus-“

“Maria. Stop shouting at him. He’s your brother but that doesn’t authorise you to verbally abuse him” a voice said cutting through the air. We all turned to see the principal standing in her barely open doorway.

She turned to me, a look of disappointment across her face.

“I’m busy right now Lucas, so your lucky you won’t have to receive a lecture. All I can say is expect a suspension. You can leave” she said, closing her door. I felt my heart sink. Goddammit, I couldn’t do anything right. I gripped the sides of my bags tightly and hung my head. I felt tears well up beneath my eyelids. Now I had to tell Big sis what had happened.