The First Spider Suit

After everyone had built Harry his new armor, Peter, who also planned to make a proper suit, started getting anxious. The idea had been in his mind for a long time, but Harry's finished armor was already here while Peter's proper suit still existed only on his draft paper.

To hide his identity, Peter still wore his Pajama Hoodie while helping people around his neighborhood. It was no wonder that, after digging up videos of Peter's early days, Iron Man would later call him "Pajama Baby."

"You can't do this!" Peter rolled around on the lab floor. "Harry's armor is already finished, but my suit is still at the sketch stage! This is unfair!"

"Please! Harry has new armor, and I'm still wearing cheap discounted pajamas from the mall!"

Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Peter bounced all over the lab. He even hung upside down from the ceiling, swinging himself around with webbing like an acrobatic monkey.

Gwen rubbed her temples. "Peter, if you keep this up, I'm uploading videos of you swinging around the city in pajamas to YouTube."

Peter froze instantly, as though someone had hit pause. "Uh... you recorded that?"

Harry smiled faintly. "Not just her. We all did."

Lin Hai calmly pulled out his phone. On the screen was footage of Peter in his homemade red-and-blue "battle suit"—which was really just a hoodie, sweatpants, and a hand-sewn eye mask—getting scratched by a stray cat and yelping while catching a thief in Queens.

How could they not save such embarrassing footage of a good friend? Pulling it out in front of a mature, steady Peter Parker someday and watching thirty-something Peter lose it over this would definitely be hilarious!

"Fine, fine, I surrender." Peter jumped down from the ceiling and pressed his palms together. "Esteemed masters, please help poor Peter make a proper suit~"

In the end, unable to stand Peter's shameless whining and rolling around for a suit any longer, they agreed to help him make a proper Spider-Man suit. Only then did Peter cheer and stop acting like a child.

Even without Peter doing all this, everyone would have done their best to help him, but...

Lin Hai quietly leaned toward Harry. "So? Did you record it?"

After Harry raised a hand and made an OK sign, the two exchanged a smile. No words were needed.

Gwen, standing nearby, naturally saw their mischievous grins and facepalmed. Immature boys, poor Peter.

After making the Nova Armor for Harry and agreeing to make a Spider-Man suit for Peter, the group returned to campus life for the next week to relax for a while.

Weekend, Osborn Tower, Harry's laboratory.

Since Peter's suit did not involve much advanced technology, the only thing requiring secrecy was the materials. And since only Peter and Lin Hai had the main materials, they simply began making it in Harry's lab.

Gwen brought up an image on the lab's big screen, displaying Peter's body scan data. "Your fighting style focuses on high-speed movement and agile evasion, so the suit can't be too heavy."

"But it can't be too fragile either. Remember when you said you got grazed by a gang member's bullet while stopping a robbery? Aunt May almost found out," Harry added.

After a round of discussion, they settled on the suit's materials.

The main material would be Peter's self-developed high-strength webbing, supplemented by Diamond Fruit plant fibers. In areas that would not hinder Peter's difficult movements, they would increase the proportion of Diamond Fruit plant fibers.

For example, around the chest, back, arms, and legs. Drawing from many armor design concepts, this would greatly improve the defensive capability of those areas.

Lin Hai also designed a pair of vambraces for Peter, made entirely from Diamond Fruit plant fibers. Initial estimates suggested they could withstand slashes from alloy steel blades and point-blank handgun fire.

Harry helped modify Peter's goggles as well, adding multiple coating layers. Not only would they protect his eyes effectively, they could also prevent the blinding effect of flashbangs.

Next came the overall visual design of the suit.

When Peter drew up the design of "classic red-and-blue colors + web patterning + black Spider-Totem," the laboratory suddenly fell silent.

"That's actually not bad?" Harry said in surprise.

Gwen said, "It follows color psychology principles. Red conveys a sense of power, blue increases trustworthiness, and the black spider emblem on the chest was probably inspired by the spider that bit you?"

Though Lin Hai had expected this, he still could not resist taking a jab. "It's way better than the Green Goblin armor's 'Halloween pumpkin' color scheme."

Harry: "???"

Were they seriously never letting that go?

Gwen entered the design into the computer, and the rendered suit made everyone's eyes light up.

The sleek red-and-blue design had web patterns that shimmered faintly beneath the lights. The black Spider-Totem on the chest looked solemn and dignified. The vambraces, chest guard, leg guards, and other modules blended perfectly into the suit, providing extra protection without compromising its appearance.

This way, Peter's first proper suit no longer looked much like the first skintight suit Tony Stark would give him. Instead, it looked more like the second Iron Spider Suit.

Maybe it was just psychological, but the more Lin Hai looked at it, the more he felt that this Spider-Man suit they had designed together looked far cooler than the one Tony Stark would give Peter in the future.

With the plan finalized, it was time to get to work.

Peter sat before a specially made spinning machine, continuously stretching web fluid into strands of webbing, while Gwen adjusted the fiber density.

"Although Peter's webbing has greater tensile strength than steel wire, we need to make it more abrasion-resistant." As she recorded the data, she offered a new suggestion.

Lin Hai added Diamond Fruit fiber tissue into the mixing tank, allowing the two materials to bind together more effectively and form a unique composite fabric.

Harry handled the suit's electronic components. "Built-in communicator, environmental sensors, and..."

"Wait!" Peter suddenly raised his hand. "Can we add a music player? Listening to music while swinging on webs would be super cool!"

"Peter!" Gwen snapped.

Lin Hai said, "Well, well, well. I always thought you were an honest, low-key kid, Peter. Turns out you want to be that guy carrying a speaker!"

Gwen, Peter, and Harry: "...???"

No one paid Lin Hai any attention. After spending so much time together, they had learned to ignore his occasional bouts of insanity. As long as nobody reacted, he would return to normal on his own.

Harry quietly told Peter, "I can add it for you in secret, but don't tell Gwen. If she finds out, none of us will have a good time."

Half a month later, Peter's first proper suit was finally complete. The group returned to the underground training ground at Harry's home to test the Spider-Man suit.

"This is perfect!" Peter changed into the suit and struck all kinds of strange poses in front of the mirror.

"Peter, get over here already. That's enough narcissism for now. We still need to test it." Lin Hai stood at the edge of the field. "The rules are simple: stop short of serious injury, and no lethal weapons."

Harry wore the Nova Armor, its blue-and-silver suit gleaming coldly under the lights.

Peter put on his vambraces, with his Web Shooters ready to fire. "Come on, Nova! Let's see what Spider-Man can do! Duel me, armor boy!"

Peter attacked first, swinging on a web behind Harry. Harry twisted aside to evade him and countered with an elbow strike!

"Bang!" Peter blocked it with his vambrace, used the force to flip backward, and landed steadily.

"Your reaction speed? Is this that Peter jolt Lin mentioned?" Harry was extremely surprised.

Peter's smugly raised lips immediately drooped as he shouted, "Don't call it that! It's Spider-Sense! Harry, can't you learn something good from Lin?!"

During the next exchange, Harry tried to predict Peter's movements, but Peter saw through his intentions and changed his attack rhythm accordingly.

He no longer relied on webbing for rapid movement. Instead, he used the Taiji Footwork Lin Hai had taught him, his body as elusive as flowing water.

"What kind of bizarre move is this?" Harry threw a punch into empty air and nearly lost his balance.

"Chinese kung fu, bro!" Peter redirected Harry's force and flung him three meters away.

Harry activated emergency acceleration. The armor's hydraulic systems went into full output, and his sprinting speed surged instantly! But Peter had already anticipated it.

"Whoosh!" A web stuck to the ceiling, and Peter flipped through the air over Harry's head while another strand wrapped around his ankle.

"Bang!" Harry was dragged to the ground, while Peter landed lightly and pressed a finger against the neck connection of his helmet.

"Game over. Spider-Man wins, Nova loses." Peter looked immensely pleased with himself.

Harry lay on the ground, several joints in his armor system slightly overloaded from the intense battle.

"You dirty spider!" Harry called out between breaths.

"Smart spider~" Peter shrugged.

"This isn't fair!" Harry looked toward Lin Hai at the edge of the field. "He has superpowers and martial arts training! Coach! I want to learn that too!"

Lin Hai raised an eyebrow. "Learn what? How to get beaten up?"

"Kung fu! Fighting techniques!" Harry climbed to his feet. "I can't rely on armor forever."

Lin Hai knew Harry was right. Even someone as strong as Tony Stark had begun practicing boxing after becoming Iron Man. In the comics, Tony had even installed martial arts systems into his armor.

Lin Hai had originally planned to bring it up himself and have Harry train with Peter. This made things easier~

Peter patted Harry's shoulder. "If you really want to learn, welcome to the 'Getting Beaten by Lin Hai Until You Question Your Life' club. I finally won't be the only one getting beaten up forever. Yay~"

Gwen meticulously examined both of their equipment data. "The suit's performance meets the standard, but Harry, your operating proficiency still needs improvement."

Harry had no problem with that. One of his reasons for learning martial arts from Lin Hai was to improve his control over his own body, thereby increasing his operating proficiency.

Lin Hai made the final decision. "Starting tomorrow, one to two hours of martial arts study and combat training every day."

Harry, usually so elegant, stared with his mouth wide open. "I thought Peter was joking. Is it too late to back out now?"

Peter, Lin Hai, and Gwen: "No!"

That night, on a rooftop somewhere in Queens.

Peter stood against the wind in his brand-new suit.

"Now this is more like it!" He touched the spider emblem on his chest, then suddenly took a leap of faith—

"Whoosh—!"

Webbing tore through the night sky as a red-and-blue figure soared freely through the forest of steel.

In the distance, Lin Hai, Gwen, and Harry stood atop Osborn Tower, watching through binoculars.

"Thank goodness we don't have to watch him wear those ridiculous pajamas anymore." Gwen sighed in relief.

Harry stroked his chin. "How much do you think I could make if I sold the Pajama Baby video to the Daily Bugle?"

Lin Hai began seriously considering the question as well. "Maybe enough to buy you a new Nova Armor?"