Five Months Ago

Professor Curtis Connors sat in the high-backed leather chair. He sat on one side of a meeting table, surrounded by a group of about six or seven other people. All of them were dressed in business attire. File folders lay in front of each of them and each folder contained documents on different applicants for Empire State University’s genetics scholarship. The applicants that now vied for the approval of this committee were all in the top percentile.

Doctor Miles Warren stood at one end of the table and removed the glasses that covered his eyes. Warren, like Connors, was an expert in the field of genetics and it was Warren’s work over the years that allowed him to become the Dean of the College of Science at Empire State University.

Connors served as one of the chairs of the department and his research in the field of genetics had already propelled him to the upper rungs of the academic world. His articles in various science journals were greeted with different types of responses—from praising his insight and his keen mind to damning him for trying to play god with human physiology. Connors glanced down at his right arm… or what remained of it, anyway. The sleeve of his suit jacket was folded in half and pinned at the shoulder. His missing arm was the motivation behind his work in stem-cell research.

“We do have a few contenders for this scholarship, as you can see from the documents in front of you,” said Warren. “They’ve all scored remarkably high on their tests, their essays are well-thought and professionally constructed. Now comes the difficult task of narrowing this list down to one person. The first one we have is Edward Brock. Any thoughts?”

Connors opened Brock’s file and looked through the information contained within. Edward was definitely a bright young man, but in his essay, there seemed to be a certain haughtiness about him, an arrogance that Connors could not quite pinpoint.

“I think we should pass on him,” said Connors. “He doesn’t strike me as the type who is looking at science as purely a means of benefiting himself.”

“That’s not always a bad thing,” said one of the committee members.

“No it’s not, but I think we should look towards someone who has a stronger passion for science,” said Connors. “I’ve met many people like Brock before. Opportunists will leave the moment something more profitable comes along.”

“We also have this young man,” said Warren. He closed Brock’s file and slid it under the stack, then opened the next one in the pile. “Peter Parker. He and Brock are tied for the highest scores. His essay, however… he seems to lack the same confidence Brock has.”

“But he’s passionate,” said Connors.

“Parker… why does that name sound familiar to me?” asked another committee member.

“He mentioned in his essay that his father was a scientist.”

“That’s true, he’s Richard Parker’s son,” said Warren.

“He’s got my vote,” said Connors. “Richard Parker was a genius. He was working in the same field as I am and I’m convinced that if not for his untimely death, he could have discovered a cure for cancer.”

“We do have other things to consider in this scholarship, though,” said Warren. “Do you feel young Parker would be up to the challenge?”

“Since the recipient will be serving as my lab assistant, I think that makes me more qualified to make this decision than anyone else,” said Connors. “And yes, I believe Parker could live up to the challenge. Assuming the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree—and judging by his test scores, that’s not a difficult assumption—our young Mr. Parker could really go far in this field.”

“He’s certainly racked up the credits,” said a committee member. “Look at this… he’s taken enough college-level classes to earn him sophomore status. He can pretty much bypass all his general education courses. With a workload like this, the kid must not have much of a social life.”

“You know what that shows me?” asked Connors.

“What?”

“Dedication, passion. Two things the recipient of this scholarship needs. You know my feelings on this, Miles. I vote for Parker.”

“He certainly does seem the most qualified…” said Warren. “Alright Curt, congratulations. It looks like you have a new lab assistant.”

WITH GREAT POWER

Part I: Fresh Start

By Dino Pollard

Two Weeks Ago

Ben Parker slid a plastic crate inside the trunk of the Chevy Blazer. There were several boxes in there already, complete with a suitcase or two. He closed the trunk door breathed a sigh of relief.

“All packed up?”

Ben smiled when he heard the voice and turned to see the form of a seventeen-year-old girl with shoulder-length red hair and large, green eyes. She was the niece of Ben’s next-door neighbor, Anna Watson, and Ben had known her since she was a little girl.

“Well, if it isn’t my adopted daughter,” said Ben. “How you doing, MJ?”

“I just came over to say goodbye to Peter,” said Mary Jane. “Where is he?”

“Oh, he should be down in a minute, just getting together some last-minute things. You know Pete—sharp as a whip when it comes to science, but as far as everything else goes, he’s scatterbrained.”

Mary Jane smiled and let out a slight giggle at Ben’s rather astute observation of his nephew. Ben was around sixty and very good-natured. Fifteen years ago, Ben’s brother Richard died alongside his wife Mary in a plane crash. Ben and his wife May were left to raise their nephew.

“Pete! You coming or what?”

That nephew now appeared in the door of the small, two-story house in Queens. He was on the verge of nineteen and had shaggy brown hair, a thin frame and a pair of glasses over his brown eyes. He carried a backpack slung over his shoulder and wore a button-down shirt that was completely open and a white t-shirt underneath. Behind him was a woman in her late fifties with short, silver hair.

“MJ, this is a nice surprise,” said May.

“I thought I’d stop by to see you guys off,” said Mary Jane.

“Now isn’t that sweet of you,” said May with a smile. Peter smiled at Mary Jane as well, but seemed a bit shy about the confrontation. Ben noted this in his nephew’s face and cleared his throat.

“May, I think I misplaced the directions to the campus, you mind helping me find them?” he asked.

“I thought you left them on the kitchen counter,” said May.

“I may have left them on my desk though, so why don’t you check the kitchen while I check my study,” said Ben. Without even waiting for a response, he placed his hand on May’s shoulder and guided her back to the house. She became a willing participant in his plan to leave the two young friends alone in the driveway.

“So… you ready for this?” she asked. “Going to the big city, off to college and wild parties, huh?”

“Yeah right, maybe I’ll even join a frat,” said Peter with a grin. Mary Jane laughed at the comment. Peter scratched the back of his head in a bit of a nervous gesture.

“Y’know… we’ve spent our whole lives seeing each other every day, so it’s gonna be weird not having you around,” said Mary Jane.

“I’ll still be around, it’s not like I’m going out of state. I can come back on the weekends.”

“Knowing you, you’ll probably be too busy studying or dissecting something.”

“Probably right, knowing my luck,” said Peter. “But it’s your senior year anyway, you don’t want your geeky childhood pal hanging around you all the time.”

“Hey, I like my geeky childhood pal!” said Mary Jane. “How many guys do I know who would let me rant about my ex over a tub of Ben and Jerry’s?”

“Don’t give me too much credit, I just like ice cream,” said Peter.

“MJ!”

Mary Jane looked over her shoulder and saw a middle aged woman standing on her front porch.

“I’ve gotta go, my aunt and I are gonna pick up some stuff for school,” said Mary Jane. She wrapped her arms around Peter’s small frame and hugged him tightly. “I’m really gonna miss you, y’know that?”

“I’ll miss you, too,” said Peter as he returned the embrace. “You’ve got my address and number at the dorms, right?”

“Yeah, I got them in that e-mail you sent me last week,” said Mary Jane. She released him then said, “I’ll write to you. Promise.”

“And I’ll see you soon,” said Peter. “If I don’t come back before then, I’ll be back for your homecoming weekend. No way I’d miss Midtown’s homecoming game.”

“Peter, you never went to the homecoming game once when you were in high school,” said Mary Jane. “I had to practically beg you to take me to prom so you wouldn’t be stuck in that basement all night.”

“Well, this time, I’ll go to the game,” said Peter.

“Whatever you say, tiger,” said Mary Jane. She kissed him on the cheek then walked back to her house. Peter smiled to himself and went inside to find his aunt and uncle.

The chaos of moving day was well documented among college campuses all across the world and Empire State University failed to be an exception to that rule. A task that proved even more difficult when moving into a dorm room on the tenth floor of Lieber Tower, only two elevators, and a line of people trying to get in all at once.

It was an event that took practically all day for Peter to finally get all his boxes into his new room. His aunt wanted to stay and help him unpack and fully move into the room, but Peter told her he could handle it. May tried to protest, but Ben sided with Peter and the two convinced her it was time to go. She cried when she kissed Peter goodbye and told him to call her immediately if he needed anything. Peter assured her he would be okay. His Uncle Ben wasn’t nearly as bad, but he simply told Peter to stay focused and have a good time.

After putting the sheets on the bed, Peter set up the laptop he had been given as a graduation present from Ben and May. He put up some framed photographs—one of him with Ben and May, another of his parents taken before their death and a few of him and Mary Jane, including one where Peter was dressed in a tux and Mary Jane in a stunning black dress.

Peter looked at the other side of the room. He hadn’t met his roommate yet, but he was already moved in and had everything set up. There were a lot of photographs pinned to the bulletin board of his roommate with different girls and guys. Pictures of young men in football uniforms and young women in cheerleader outfits. Several posters were on the wall, including one of John Belushi from Animal House wearing a sweatshirt that read “COLLEGE” and drinking a bottle of whiskey.

Peter’s exploration of his roommate’s life prior to college was brought to an end when he heard a knock on the door. He opened it and standing in the frame was a beautiful woman with a great body, jeans, tight-fitting black tank top and long blonde hair that spilled down her back.

“Hey, how are you?”

Peter opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He stood in stunned silence, his eyes fixed on the gorgeous woman before him.

“Quiet type, huh?” she said with a smile. She extended her hand. “I’m Gwen Stacy, your R.A.”

“R.A.?”

“Resident advisor.”

“Oh, okay,” said Peter. He stood aside and held the door open for her. “Umm… come in.”

“Thanks,” said Gwen and she stepped inside. She looked at him and he was silent for a few moments. “So… what’s your name?”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” he said. “I’m Peter. Peter Parker.”

“Nice to meet you, Pete.” Her eyes scanned across the room and she turned back to him. “Looks like you guys are pretty fast at unpacking.”

“Well I guess my roommate was already moved in, I haven’t seen him at all yet.”

Gwen walked over to the roommate’s side and glanced at the photographs. “Yeah, he did, I met him last week.”

“I thought today was move-in day?” asked Peter.

“Oh it is, but some organizations have students move in earlier. Like the football team, marching band, cheerleaders… that sort of thing.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Anyway, I’m just going around, introducing myself to everyone on the floor,” she said. She sat on Peter’s bed. “I thought it’d be nice to get to know everyone since we’re all gonna be living together. There are a bunch of activities and the like for freshmen during this first weekend before classes start. I’ll talk more about that stuff tomorrow though, I’m gonna have a floor meeting at eleven. That okay with you?”

“Sure.” Peter sat in the chair at his desk. “I mean, I’ve gotta meet my advisor or something later on in the day, but that should be fine.”

“So what’s your major?” asked Gwen.

“Biology,” said Peter. “I’m looking to go into genetics once I graduate.”

“Oh wow, I have no brain for science at all,” said Gwen. “I’m an English major, so I was so happy to just get out of science class alive.”

“That’s kind of like me with English, I think it’s one or the other.”

“Where are you from?”

“Queens.”

“What made you decide on ESU?”

“They gave me a good scholarship, I basically have a free ride,” said Peter.

“Whoa, congratulations. Wish I was that lucky. Dealing with the financial aid people can be a huge pain.”

“How long have you been here?” asked Peter.

“I’m in my junior year,” said Gwen. She looked at the photos by his bed and picked one of them up. “This your girlfriend?”

“Oh no, she’s just a friend of mine,” said Peter.

“She’s pretty.”

“We pretty much grew up together, so she’s my best friend.”

Gwen nodded. She stood from the bed. “Well, I wish I could stay and chat with you, but I really have to meet the other people on the floor. Anyway, if you need anything, I’m in room 1050. So feel free to stop by whenever.”

Today

Peter’s body felt like it was falling apart. Every muscle ached and he was covered in bruises and cuts. He held his hand against the brick wall to steady himself, but the pain was almost too intense. He gritted his teeth and wondered how in the hell he found himself in this situation.

The buzz returned to his head, snapping his attention away from his injuries. He sprung into the air, narrowly avoiding a slab of concrete that struck the spot he had been standing on. His body twisted and flipped in the air and he landed on his feet.

“You’re fast, I’ll give you that.”

The voice was deep and gravely. Peter stood tall and faced up against the jade creature that stood before him.

“But speed alone won’t save you!”

The creature leapt at him again and Peter prepared himself for its next strike.