Not long after George Stacy left, Peter and Gwen finished eating as well.
However, as Peter got up to leave, Gwen stopped him.
"Hold on, you haven't opened your fortune cookie yet. Maybe there's a lucky prediction for your future inside."
Peter paused, looked at the fortune cookies on the table, and sighed with a mixture of aversion and helplessness. "Gwen, you know fortune cookies aren't even real Chinese food, right? They're just a gimmick. They might have even originated in Japan—"
Gwen clearly didn't intend to eat it either. She simply cracked the cookie open with ease and pulled out the small slip of paper inside to read. "'Keeping small secrets is a way to maintain stability in life.' See? I told you it works!"
"Then I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens if you ever get one that says 'Honesty is the best policy.'"
As Peter spoke, he opened the fortune cookie sitting in front of him. Inside was just a piece of fluff that didn't really say anything at all.
"'Too much is as bad as too little.' I have no idea what that's supposed to mean; it feels like it could apply to way too many things."
Peter stashed the slip of paper away as Gwen eyed the last fortune cookie on the table. "Hmm, there's still my dad's. He didn't take his. Should I bring it to him, or better yet, should we just open it right here?"
"If you're the one opening the cookie, is the fortune meant for you, or is it meant for Uncle George?"
Peter's question left Gwen silent for a few seconds. Soon enough, though, she decided to stop overthinking it. She cracked the cookie open and pulled out the slip of paper, which bore a clear and direct message: "Seize the opportunity, do not hesitate."
What was that supposed to mean? They always seemed to state things that sounded profound on the surface, yet lacked any real substance. Gwen shook her head, tucked the slip away, and picked up her bag. The two left the restaurant together and strolled down the street, where Gwen turned to Peter. "Do you have any plans for the rest of the day? Like, fighting any supervillains?"
"I do... though it has nothing to do with that. Jonah Jameson wants to see me about something." Peter described a situation that Gwen found entirely bewildering.
Gwen raised an eyebrow. "What for? Is the Daily Bugle doing an exclusive interview with Spider-Man?"
"No. Remember that photo I took earlier? The one where Mary Jane was interviewing Stark? Jonah was really pleased with it, and it made the front page. Now he wants to talk to me about it."
Gwen froze for a second, then pulled out her phone, tapping through it as she asked, "Mary Jane isn't going with you, right?"
"She didn't mention coming along. Why?"
"Nothing, it's just that we made plans to rehearse together this afternoon, maybe even do a performance. I was just worried she might miss it or run late." Gwen put her phone away as she spoke and offered Peter a wave. "Hope your talk with Jonah goes well."
Peter nodded. "As long as I don't tell him I'm Spider-Man, he'll probably be thrilled."
"This photo is simply exceptional, Parker! Honestly, if you weren't so gifted in scientific research, I'd have hired you as a Daily Bugle intern on the spot. Look at this shot! What do you think, Robbie?"
Jonah handed the front-page photograph over to Robbie, the Daily Bugle's associate editor. Taking a sip of his coffee, the veteran journalist nodded in approval. "The timing on this capture is truly brilliant. In a single shot, it completely subverts Tony Stark's usual image of a playboy—reckless and arrogant—making him look much more like a man of wisdom."
"I'm no fan of Stark," Jonah admitted, "but I have to say, whether this move of his was driven by pressure from Roxxon or his own choice, it's enough to turn him from an Edison into a Tesla. Everyone's been mesmerized by this photo. It's just a shame you're not a professional reporter, and the photo lacks that extra raw impact, or else we could have submitted it for a Pulitzer."
Hearing Jonah say that genuinely startled Peter, and he repeatedly waved his hands to politely decline the praise. However, Jonah and Robbie didn't stand on ceremony with him. Instead, they straightforwardly paid him a whopping five thousand dollars to purchase the exclusive rights to the photo—they had originally given him two thousand, but the subsequent impact of the report had far exceeded their expectations.
After all, the Daily Bugle was the only media outlet that hadn't mocked Stark Industries when their Arc Reactor hit a snag. As a result, they scored an exclusive interview with Stark Industries, making them the sole media outlet with a detailed grasp of the entire process after Stark announced he was making the technology open-source.
Naturally, Peter's assistance had been indispensable in that regard as well.
"Don't be so modest, young man. Watson told me all about it. Many of the professional questions in her interview were provided by you. If not for you—not to mention Watson—even if you tied up the entire Daily Bugle staff, none of us would have thought to ask about those technical details. Especially considering Tony Stark didn't brief us beforehand at all."
Peter repeatedly insisted it wasn't his credit alone. "I'm humbled. I merely made a tiny contribution."
"Be that as it may, you helped us out—you helped the entire Daily Bugle out in a big way," Jonah said, looking at Peter. "The Daily Bugle is willing to offer you a part-time internship position. Don't worry, it won't interfere with your internship at the Baxter Building or your studies at all. It's a simple gig: acting as a science reporting consultant for the Daily Bugle. If we run into any tech-related questions in the future, we might reach out to you for answers."
Peter thought back to the other Peter Parkers. In many universes, once Spider-Man landed a regular job at the Daily Bugle, he would gradually drift away from scientific research. As a pure photographer, Peter Parker was rarely treated well by Jonah. Yet, if you were the kind of heroic figure Jonah respected—like a police officer protecting citizens from criminals, a firefighter rushing into a burning building, or a scientist selflessly exploring the future of humanity—he would hold you in high regard.
He was even capable of changing his perspective on Tony Stark because of it.
At that moment, Peter recalled the slip of paper from his fortune cookie: Too much is as bad as too little.
"I might not have enough free time to help out constantly, Mr. Jameson, but I'll do my best. Thank you for the support."
Jonah laughed. "Excellent, Parker! Oh, and by the way, if you manage to capture any more photos as good as this one, I'll buy them all off you just the same."
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