Chapter Twenty-Two: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

“How did you manage that?” Peter was astounded at how a single call from Arthur could make the police change their attitude so drastically.

“A friend of mine helped out, he’s an agent,” Arthur replied.

“An agent? You have friends like that?” Peter was genuinely amazed by the sort of people Arthur seemed to know.

“It’s the weekend tomorrow. Come over to my place tonight—I have something good to give you,” Arthur invited.

“Alright, let me call my aunt and uncle first,” Peter said, pulling out his phone to call home.

Once the call was over, Peter saw an Audi sports car pull up beside him. Arthur, sitting in the driver’s seat, called out, “Get in!”

“Wow! Is this your car?” Peter asked as he climbed into the passenger seat, never having ridden in such a nice car before.

“Yeah, it was a gift from another friend. This friend of mine is extremely wealthy. I’ll introduce you someday,” Arthur said.

“Sure, but I’m worried your rich friend won’t be too fond of me,” Peter replied self-consciously.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be very important to him someday.”

“Huh?” Peter didn’t understand what Arthur meant.

“You’ll see,” Arthur said, a note of mystery in his voice.

Arthur’s Oceanfront Villa

It took Arthur an hour to drive Peter home—Friday traffic in New York was as congested as ever.

“We’re here. Come on in, make yourself at home,” Arthur said, opening the door and inviting Peter inside.

“Wow, I can’t believe how big your house is. And it’s an oceanfront villa! Your family must be loaded!” Peter exclaimed as he looked around.

“This is my own place. I live here alone. I never knew my mother, and my father’s gone too,” Arthur explained.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you could afford a villa already, and you’re still in high school,” Peter said, feeling a surge of sympathy for his new friend.

“It’s alright—it’s all in the past. I own a restaurant not far from here, right on the beach. Business is booming,” Arthur explained.

“You own a restaurant too?” Peter was floored. The life of the wealthy was beyond his imagination.

“Let’s make dinner. I’m starving,” Arthur said, pulling ingredients from the fridge.

“You can cook?” Peter asked.

“Living alone teaches you a thing or two. But tonight’s menu is simple—everything’s ready to go,” Arthur said as he prepared the meal, which mostly featured seafood. He steamed lobster, sea snails, and king crab, sautéed French mussels, seared steak, and finished with fried rice—truly a feast fit for the gods.

In just half an hour, Arthur had the table set with a sumptuous spread. Peter helped where he could.

At the dinner table, Peter sat across from Arthur. They enjoyed the seafood and sipped soft drinks—no alcohol for students.

“How is it? My cooking’s nothing special,” Arthur asked.

“It’s amazing—the seafood is so fresh, and the steak is just right. Your cooking is way better than my aunt’s,” Peter said, praising the meal. He couldn’t help but compare it to his aunt’s meatloaf; the difference was night and day.

They ate with relish, chatting as they dined, and by the time they were finished, it was nine in the evening.

“Thank you for the wonderful meal!” Peter said cheerfully.

“I have something for you, too. Here, open it.” Arthur handed Peter a neatly wrapped box.

Peter took the box, unwrapped it, and found a brand-new Leica digital camera inside.

“I noticed your camera broke last time, and I know you love photography. This is a digital one—you won’t have to buy film anymore,” Arthur explained. Of course, he thought, now you’ll need to buy lenses...

“I can’t accept this—it’s too expensive!” Peter protested, quickly setting the camera back on the table. He knew how much it cost; it was far beyond what he could accept.

“It’s not that expensive. Take it, as a friend. Or do you not want to be my friend?” Arthur teased, pressing the camera back into Peter’s hands.

“Of course I’m your friend. Alright, I’ll accept it. Thank you!” Peter said gratefully. He made a silent promise to himself to buy Arthur something just as special when he could afford it.

“I’m glad you like the gift. Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

In this way, Arthur won Peter’s affection and became his closest friend.

…

On Monday, Arthur went to school as usual, but noticed that Peter was acting very strangely today. He was no longer wearing his thick-rimmed glasses, and seemed distracted in class. Could it be...?

At lunch, Peter caught a set of falling utensils from a nearby classmate with surprising reflexes.

Arthur asked, “What’s wrong? You seem off today.”

“I’m fine, just didn’t sleep well last night,” Peter replied listlessly.

Arthur shrugged it off and nudged Peter with his shoulder. “I’ve noticed that girl keeps sneaking glances at you. I think she likes you.”

Peter followed Arthur’s gaze and saw Gwen Stacy, their classmate. Their eyes met, and Peter blushed, quickly looking away. “Don’t say that...”

“How about a bet? Go talk to her, ask her to the movies this weekend—she’s sure to say yes!” Arthur teased.

“Forget it, you must be imagining things. Let’s go,” Peter said, backing out. Arthur just chuckled and let it drop.

After school, Peter walked home deep in thought. Arthur watched his friend’s retreating figure and thought, He must have superpowers now. Things are finally getting interesting.

Arthur’s high school life was otherwise uneventful: school, home, the occasional get-together with friends at his restaurant. Peter, meanwhile, was becoming increasingly secretive—who knew what he was up to.

Tony had come to see Arthur once, telling him that he was being poisoned. The arc reactor in his chest used palladium, a radioactive element, and every time he used it, his blood was poisoned further.

Arthur could only comfort Tony, urging him not to give up, and assuring him that he would find a new element to replace the palladium. He also advised Tony to use the suit less often.

Arthur relayed Tony’s predicament to Nick Fury, and hinted that the answer might lie among Tony’s father’s belongings. When Nick asked how Arthur knew this, Arthur could only claim it was intuition.

…

A few days later, Arthur received the news that Peter’s uncle had passed away and attended the funeral.

At the funeral, Peter whispered to Arthur, “Uncle’s death was my fault. I let the killer go to get back at someone, and Uncle was shot because of it. I’ve never dared tell Aunt May about this.” He recounted what had happened, omitting the part about killing the perpetrator himself.

Arthur comforted Peter as best he could, reminding him to remember his uncle’s last words: With great power comes great responsibility. Arthur resolved to remember that himself.

Peter was wracked with guilt, growing quiet and withdrawn. He was still friendly with Arthur but barely spoke to anyone else. The other students understood what had happened and didn’t press him.

Meanwhile, a new superhero calling himself Spider-Man had appeared in New York, fighting crime all over the city and earning the title of the people’s friend.

Seeing Peter so downcast, Arthur took the initiative to speak with Gwen, telling her that he was Peter’s best friend and that Peter had always liked her. He explained that Peter had been feeling low since the family tragedy and hadn’t spoken much lately, and asked Gwen to try cheering him up. Gwen agreed.

Love, as it turned out, was a powerful force. Two weeks later, Peter finally began to recover from his uncle’s death and gradually returned to his cheerful, talkative self.

One day after school, Arthur invited Peter over for dinner, but Peter declined, saying he had plans.

“You’ve been busy every night lately. Are you secretly going on dates with Gwen?” Arthur asked with a mischievous grin.

“Don’t talk nonsense. I’m not going on dates every night. I’ve been working with a professor, researching a formula for the cross-species genetic decay rate,” Peter replied.

“What formula is that?”

“It’s an algorithm my father developed. In theory, it can fuse the genes of different species—like giving humans the regenerative ability of spiders,” Peter explained.