"What on earth were you thinking?!" Aunt May's voice echoed through the dining room, trembling with barely concealed anger.
Peter sat at the dining table, his expression calm. "I just wanted to help."
"Help? You left Mary Jane all alone and ran into a war zone to help?!" Aunt May raised her voice.
"She was safe at the time-"
"I don't care whether she was safe or not, Peter!" Aunt May interrupted him, her eyes reddening. "What you did was incredibly irresponsible and incredibly dangerous! It's a miracle you survived. I simply don't understand why you would do that!"
"I... I wanted to save people-"
"Are you a police officer? Are you in the military? You're just a child, Peter, you-"
"But because of me, a man gets to go home to his family alive tonight!" Peter suddenly raised his voice, cutting her accusations short. "I saved his life, and other people's too. I don't regret what I did."
Aunt May froze, a flicker of alarm crossing her face. In her memory, Peter Parker had never talked back to her like this. But the person sitting here now was clearly no longer the boy who only ever meekly went along with everything.
"May, let's leave it here for tonight." Uncle Ben's gentle voice broke the deadlock. He patted his wife's shoulder lightly. "Go to bed. Leave this to me."
"But Ben, I-"
"It's all right, May. Go on," Uncle Ben soothed her gently. Aunt May sighed, nodded dejectedly, and turned to leave the dining room.
Only the two of them remained in the dining room. Peter softened his manner and apologized quietly. "Sorry, Uncle Ben. I didn't mean to talk back."
"It's all right, Peter. I understand." Uncle Ben looked at him, his gaze deep. "I just want you to understand that you're everything to Aunt May and me. If we lost you..."
"But I saved people, Uncle Ben." Peter looked straight into the older man's eyes. "Isn't this what you've always taught me? If I have the ability to help others, isn't that my responsibility?"
Uncle Ben fell silent for a moment, then a faint, gratified smile touched his lips. "I suppose it is. Go to bed, Peter. We'll talk again in the morning. Don't forget you have school tomorrow."
Peter nodded. "Okay... good night, Uncle Ben."
Back in his bedroom, he locked the door. Peter slumped onto his bed and let out a long breath. He took the web-shooter damaged during the battle in Harlem out of his drawer. One could still just about function, while the other had been reduced to a pile of scrap.
He tinkered with it for a while before reluctantly giving up on repairs. It would have to be rebuilt. If he really intended to continue down the superhero path, his current equipment simply wasn't good enough. The shooters needed to be more durable, their capacity had to be increased, and perhaps he could try developing webbing with different functions. If he had had several types of webbing available against Abomination, he definitely wouldn't have been so much on the back foot.
As he pondered this, there was a sudden knock at the window.
Peter's hand jerked, nearly sweeping all the parts on his desk onto the floor. He looked up to see Mary Jane hanging from a tree branch outside his window, waving at him.
He opened the window, looking utterly bewildered. "Mary Jane? How did you get up here?"
"I climbed the tree." She pointed at the old oak beside her and winked. "Can you let me in?"
"Of course." Peter stepped aside to let her into the room, then closed the window behind her. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
"Nothing. Your Aunt May and Uncle Ben didn't give you too much of a scolding, did they?"
Peter smiled wryly. "They did, but I deserved it. What about you? Didn't Aunt Anna blame you?"
"No. Aunt Anna's reasonable. She even thought I should have gone with you." Mary Jane rolled her eyes. "But she kept going on about how amazing you were. I've heard enough to last a lifetime."
"Amazing doesn't quite cover it. Maybe 'absolutely spectacular' would be more appropriate," Peter joked.
"Don't get too full of yourself, Parker." Mary Jane gave a little huff, but her eyes were full of admiration. "Still, you really were cool tonight. Especially when you saved that man. That steel column must have weighed at least a few tons!"
Peter shrugged. "Maybe. I was too busy saving someone to weigh it."
"You look so skinny. I honestly can't believe you have that much strength." Mary Jane looked his slight frame up and down. "You barely have any muscle."
Peter tensed inwardly and gave a dry laugh. "An adrenaline rush. People can tap into their hidden potential in an emergency." This girl noticed far too much. That wasn't a good sign.
"Maybe." Mary Jane didn't press the matter and changed the subject. "Anyway, I just came to make sure you were okay."
"I'm fine. Just a little tired."
"Really? I can't sleep," Mary Jane complained. "I'm too nervous."
"What are you nervous about? Didn't Hulk run off? The military must have frozen that big green guy in a block of ice by now."
"Not that!" Mary Jane sighed. "School! Tomorrow's my first day at Midtown High School!"
Peter chuckled. "Relax, Mary Jane. It's just school. There's nothing to panic about. You're pretty and smart. The boys will go crazy over you, and the girls will be fighting to be your best friend."
Mary Jane laughed. "Do you really think so?"
"I'm sure of it. So relax. High school isn't the end of the world."
The two chatted about it late into the night. After Mary Jane left, Peter closed the window securely. Having a friend like this really was nice. Peter Parker desperately needed normal social interaction. As for whether they would become a couple in the future, he would let things take their course. Having a good friend was enough for now.
The next morning.
Peter sat at the dining table, leafing through that day's Daily Bugle. Hulk's battle was the front-page headline, while at the edge of the page was a blurry candid photo of him making his way through Harlem.
The report didn't reveal his real identity. The media and the public had given him a code name: "Spider-Man."