Have you ever known you were having a dream, but you let it continue just to see what happens? Scott let the dream play out, if not to avoid waking up in pain, than to watch a better version of the day’s events play out in his mind. In his dream Scott was strong enough to defeat Hydro-Man and the police, he flew through the air like a bullet and caught Felicia in his arms before the police could take her away. He swung away with a duffel bag still slung over his back, wads of cash flowing out behind him. That’s how it was supposed to happen, if only…

When he opened his eyes it was dark and he had no clue how much time had passed - at least ten hours. He didn’t recognize the room he woke up in, it was a room with chipped paint on the walls, a ceiling fan spinning on the ceiling, and a bed with a stiff mattress and a metal frame placed in the corner. ‘Am I trapped with a serial killer or something?’

Scott noticed that his wounds were treated, he had bandages on his face and there was a blood stained rag on the nightstand next to him. He stood up from the bed and felt a pain in his chest where his ribs were, that was new. He walked over to the door and turned the doorknob, it was unlocked. It led to a run down abandoned laboratory, with broken windows and debris littered about. In the center of the room was the man with metallic tentacles on his back who ‘saved him’ from the police. He was tinkering with something on his workbench, and so didn’t notice Scott.

“I could punch him, knock him out and run.” Scott considered. That was the cautious thing to do, but Scott rarely took the safe option, and curiosity got the better of him.

“Why did you help me?” He asked.

The man turned around, lifted a pair of goggles off his eyes and awkwardly smiled. “Ah, you’re up.”

“Yeah.”

The man pulled away from his desk and walked over to Scott. “I suppose it would be confusing to be helped by someone you have never met.”

“It is.”

“Yes, well, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Otto Octavius.”

“You can call me Tarantula.”

“Very well.” Otto cleared his throat. “I have been contemplating starting a life of crime.”

“You?” Scott chortled. “I’m sorry, you strike me more as the high school science teacher type.”

“Looks can be deceiving, but you’re right. Before today I had never committed a crime.”

“So why start?”

“Look around you kid. You think this place always looked like this?”

“I just figured you found this place.”

“I built this place, and long ago it was a thriving hub for science and technology. I enlisted the help of gifted minds, and we were on the verge of amazing innovations that could’ve changed the world.”

“So like Tony Stark?”

“Maybe without the outrageous ego, sure. But one day it all fell apart, I was working on a device that harnessed the power of the sun and turned it into the most powerful and clean energy source on the planet. When I was ready to show it off to the public something went wrong, it exploded and killed dozens of people - including my wife.”

Otto’s story jogged a forgotten memory out of Scott, he recalled seeing a story on the news about a laboratory building exploding. His eyes widened as the puzzle pieces came together.

“That was you?”

“Yeah, though I hate to admit it. That event ruined me. My name was now attached to a tragedy, Oscorp dropped their funding of me and even a year after the tragedy I couldn’t get anyone willing to back my inventions. So I decided ‘f**k it’, I won’t let my creations go to waste. If rich billionaires don’t want the world to have my inventions, I know the criminal underworld will salivate for them.”

“So you want to sell your fancy robot arms on the black market?”

“I have more I can offer than just tentacles.”

Otto grabbed something from his workbench and handed it to Scott, it was his web shooters. They had clearly been altered somehow.

“Did you design this? It’s a marvelous design.”

“No, I’m not good with technology. Someone else did.”

“Well, they’re quite gifted but I had some improvements in mind that I implemented while you were asleep.”

“Oh? Like what?”

“I added a switch knob on your glove, you can switch what kind of web you want to fire off. There’s four settings; standard, rapid, extra strength, and static web.”

“What do static and extra strength do?”

“Static just electrocutes the web before it fires, it’s about as powerful as a taser. The extra strength mode creates thicker, more durable webs but at the cost of using more of the fluid.”

“Wow. Those are really useful.”

“And that’s what I can do in an afternoon. Imagine what I could do with more time, and what I could offer you and your friends.”

“Yeah but, we already have a tech guy.”

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“I’m more than just a tech guy, Tarantula. I saw who you guys were, and what you all were doing and said to myself ‘Those are the people I want to work with.’ So I’m asking you if I can join.”

“Oh.” Scott scratched his head. “Well, I don’t decide that myself. I have to ask our leader.”

“If you could put a good word in, I’d appreciate it.”

“Yeah, I can do that.”

“Thanks. Are you hungry?”

“Honestly, I’m starving.”

“There’s some TV dinners in the fridge.” Otto pointed to a refrigerator that Scott initially thought was broken like almost everything else in this place. He opened the door and saw a stockpile of food in the freezer, eventually settling with sweet and sour chicken.

——

After a doctor’s examination Philip was diagnosed with a concussion and some scrapes and bruises, he was told to rest and take some medicine but was cleared to leave. The first thing he did when he got out was go to his partner’s room, where Misty was waiting outside. Inside he could see Gabriel’s family gathered around the officer’s hospital bed talking to him. Misty looked mentally and physically exhausted.

“How is he?” Philip asked. “And how are you?”

“His condition is bad. He’s got a few broken bones, he’s going to be in here for a while. And me? I'm alright.” Misty sluggishly responded.

“Why don’t you take the rest of the night off? Gabriel isn’t going anywhere.”

“They attacked a hospital before.”

“This place is crawling with cops, Misty.” Philip put a hand on her shoulder. “You need sleep.”

Misty sighed. “We couldn’t bring Justice to any of them. Gabriel is hurt and George…”

“I heard. Please don’t blame yourself, remember who’s at fault for this.”

“Oh trust me, I haven’t forgotten.”

——

Scott sat cross legged on the floor and waited for the microwaved food to cool down.

“Does the TV work?” He asked.

“Yup.” Otto responded.

Scott grabbed the remote and turned the TV on, the channel was set to the local news. The headline read ‘Deadly bank robbery in NYC’. Scott grimaced at the sight of him, in costume fighting the police, broadcasted to millions. A man appeared on screen, he had a short trimmed mustache and salt and pepper hair. The name ‘J. Jonah Jameson’ appeared below him.

“This webslinger is a menace and a danger to everyone in New York City! These superhumans are getting out of hand, they think they’re above the law and we need to show them that isn’t the case. Even the police are working with superhumans now!”

“You’re becoming famous.” Otto remarked.

“Thanks, I hadn’t noticed.”

The realization came over Scott that this event may have bigger consequences than he imagined. Sure, he knew death and imprisonment were possible but he never fully considered the ramifications this all could have. A police officer saw his face, and now Darren knows what he’s been doing. People are probably worried, it’s been hours without a word from him. Of course he left his phone at home, which at the time seemed like the smart thing to do. He needed to get in contact with people, so he stood up.

“Thanks for the food and for patching me up, but I got to go. Can I borrow some money for a taxi?”

“Yeah. How should we contact each other?”

“I can find you here if I need to.”

“Okay. Tell your leader about my proposition.”

“Got it.”

Scott took twenty dollars, grabbed his backpack and changed out of his costume. Luckily he had a spare outfit in the backpack. He walked down the road and flagged down a taxi, which he took all the way home.

——

It was 2:31 AM according to the taxi’s clock, which he was pretty confident was correct. Scott walked up the steps to his apartment and fumbled with the keys for a bit, until the door opened on its own. Darren looked shocked to see Scott in front of him, and brought him in for a hug.

“Agh! Watch the ribs.” Scott groaned.

“I’m glad you’re okay bro, I’ve been worried about you.”

“Don’t. I can handle myself.”

Scott walked into the apartment and sat on the couch with a worn expression on his face.

“Scott, what the f**k have you been up to since you got bit.”

“You saw on the TV.”

“Yeah, but I’m trying to understand why you think this is a good idea.”

“Three hundred thousand dollars. That’s why.”

Darren looked astonished to hear that number, a flurry of questions came to mind.

“What? How?”

“Don’t worry about it dude, we’re never going to have to worry about being poor again.”

“Scott, you don’t understand how bad this is. People who do big crimes like that, they never win. They’re always caught.”

“I won’t be.”

“Why? Cause you got super powers?”

“That’s one reason.”

“Scott, you have to stop. You can’t keep doing this.”

“Why should I?” Scott’s tone turned spiteful. “And how are you any better? You’re a drug dealer!”

“Yeah, but I’m just selling to a couple people I know. It’s some money on the side, it isn’t robbing a f**king bank. You keep doing this, you're gonna ruin your life.”

“I’m not gonna let some drug addict tell me about ruining my life.”

“What?”

“Yeah I saw you last night, passed out on the couch with a pipe. You think you’re so much better than me, you always have.”

“Scott that’s…” Darren looked hurt by Scott’s venomous words, sad eyes turned into an angry scowl across his face. “You know what pack up your shit and get the f**k out of my place.”

“Fine, but don’t come asking for a dime from me.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t.”

Scott turned and went into his room, slamming the door behind him. He dug into his nightstand drawer and pulled out his flip phone, which he called Adrian with.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m at my apartment. Can you pick me up? I need a place to stay.”

“Sure, I’ll be right there.”

“Thanks.”

Scott hung up the phone and sighed. “Let’s grab our stuff.”

Over the next twenty minutes Scott threw everything important to him into a pillow case, he didn't own a whole lot of stuff. Once he finished he wiped the sweat off his brow and took a good look around at the room that was his for four years. He’d probably never step foot in here again. At the edge of the room was a bloodstain on the wall, from the spider that gave Scott his powers, and that he killed. The blood stain was washed out, more pink than red, and reminded Scott of how much had changed in such a short time.