The city looked different at midnight.
Not dangerous exactly. Just honest. The daytime version of Queens was all noise and motion and people performing their lives for each other. The midnight version was quieter. More itself. The kind of place where things happened without an audience.
Peter moved across the rooftop at a jog, suit active, lenses feeding him data. FSIS had flagged three points of interest in a two-mile radius. Nothing critical. Just the city being the city at an hour when most people were asleep.
He had been out for forty minutes. This was his second patrol.
The first night had been reactive. Someone needed help and he responded. Tonight was different. Tonight was deliberate.
He was learning the city from above, mapping it the way he had mapped everything else in his life — systematically, with full attention, building a picture that would eventually be complete enough to act from instead of just respond to.
"Biometric check," he said quietly.
"All systems nominal," FSIS said through his earpiece. "Heart rate 72. Suit integrity 100 percent. Web fluid at 91 percent left, 89 percent right. Current temperature 54 degrees Fahrenheit. Wind from the northwest at 8 miles per hour. Adjusted swing trajectory calculations updated."
"What's the first flag?"
"Possible mugging in progress. Corner of 83rd and Elmhurst. Two individuals, one appears to be backing away from the other. Body language consistent with threat scenario. Police response estimated at eleven minutes."
Peter was already moving. He crossed two rooftops, dropped to a fire escape, and looked down.
Below him, a man in a grey jacket had another man backed against a chain-link fence. The one against the fence was maybe sixty years old. He had both hands up. His bag was on the ground between them.
Peter assessed. One suspect. No visible weapon yet. Non-lethal intervention. Clean exit before anyone looked up.
He dropped.
The web line caught the grey jacket at the shoulder and yanked the man off his feet before he understood what was touching him.
Peter had him against the opposite wall, wrists webbed together, before the sound of impact finished echoing off the concrete.
Nine seconds from drop to done.
He looked at the older man. "You okay?"
The man stared at him. At the suit. At the spider symbol. His mouth opened and closed once.
"Sir," Peter said. "Are you hurt?"
"No." The word came out small. "No, I'm fine."
"Pick up your bag. Go straight home. Don't stop." Peter looked at the webbed suspect, who was making a sound somewhere between a word and a noise. "Police will be here in ten minutes."
He went back up the fire escape before either of them could say anything else.
---
Twenty minutes later, a car ran a red light on Junction Boulevard and clipped a parked vehicle. The driver got out, looked at the damage, looked around, and started to get back in.
Peter dropped a web line across the hood and pinned it to the lamppost on the corner.
The driver pulled the handle. The door opened fine. The car did not move. He pulled harder. Still nothing.
He got out and looked at the front of the car. Then looked up.
Peter was crouched on the lamppost eight feet above him, white lenses looking down.
The man sat down on the curb and put his hands on his knees. He did not try to run.
Peter called it in through FSIS on an anonymised line and kept moving.
---
He was home by 1:15 AM.
The house was quiet. Uncle Ben's reading light was off. Peter came through his bedroom window, deactivated the suit, and sat on the edge of his bed for a moment.
His hands were not shaking this time.
'Good,' he thought. 'That's progress.'
He pulled up his status mentally. It had been three weeks since the spider bite. The system had been tracking everything.
[STATUS]
[Name: Peter Parker]
[Age: 16]
[STATS]
[Physique: 27.3]
[Mind: 15.2]
[Spirit: 11.9]
[TRAITS]
[Enhanced Memory: Perfect recall of intensely studied material. 35% recall from single viewing.]
[Adaptive Mutation: Cells analyse and optimise foreign genetic material beyond original design parameters.]
[Spider-Sense Integration: Precognitive warning system fully merged with base nervous system. Response now pre-conscious.]
[SKILLS]
[Reading: Master]
[Mathematics: Master]
[Linguistics: Master — 25 languages fluent, 3 additional in progress]
[Body Control: Master]
[Martial Arts: Master — 347 distinct styles. Active integration of spider-enhanced movement patterns ongoing.]
[Engineering: PhD-equivalent across 7 disciplines. Applied robotics added.]
[Genetics: PhD-equivalent. Active research: cross-species DNA integration protocols.]
[Computer Science: PhD-equivalent. Systems architecture. Cryptography. AI development.]
[Biochemistry: PhD-equivalent.]
[Neuroscience: PhD-equivalent.]
[Materials Science: PhD-equivalent. Synthetic spider silk properties now fully mapped.]
[Physics: PhD-equivalent.]
[Tactical Operations: Advanced. Real-world application begun. Field experience: 2 missions.]
[ENHANCEMENTS — ACTIVE]
[Spider-42 Integration: Complete — 127% efficiency]
[SYSTEM FUNCTIONS]
[Temporal Acceleration: Active — 24 hours per 1 real-world second]
[Proficiency Panel: Active]
[Personal Dimension: Active — City block scale]
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