I'm working on Marvel's Spider-Man in American comics.

Chapter 38 Theme Day (3)

The air conditioning in the comic book shop hummed, but it couldn't dispel the gazes focused on Peter Parker. Those glances were like sticky syrup, envy mixed with bitterness. After all, the lucky guy who could bring a beautiful girl like Gwen to buy cosplay costumes was a rare sight in a store filled with nerds and potato chips.

However, he was neither reading comics nor chatting with others. He was just waiting for Gwen to change her clothes while scrolling through his phone, checking the latest crime map of New York that Jarvis had given him.

The good news is that New York has been quite peaceful recently, so peaceful that Spider-Man has no place to use his skills.

The bad news is that this is probably because someone else is doing the work for him.

Many new videos of Spider-Man fighting various gangster villains have appeared again. The videos are completely in his style and have similar actions to his. If Chameleon had not been caught, he would have suspected that it was Chameleon who did it.

Or maybe it was Chameleon who did it, either escaped or was released. After running straight out of Herman, he shouldn't have expected much from the NYPD security, they were like the breakfast that Chief George made for Gwen - practically non-existent.

"Are you sure this is okay for me to wear?"

Peter looked up and saw Gwen coming out of the fitting room. Gwen was now wearing Supergirl's classic comics costume. After turning around, she asked Peter uncertainly. Peter, of course, responded with an encouraging smile.

"Of course, it suits you."

"When I first got it, I was worried about the length of the skirt, but fortunately, even my dad wouldn't say anything about it."

"You could have worn some pants underneath if Uncle George was worried."

Gwen gave her a confused look. "Are you sure? Superheroes wear pants or something under their uniforms?"

"We're just attending a school theme day, Gwen. We're not going to San Diego Comic-Con, so no one's going to say anything even if it's wrong. Besides, you've already seen superheroes like Sherlock Holmes and Pikachu costumes at school."

"Okay, wait a minute, I'll go change my clothes."

After Gwen entered the dressing room, Peter continued browsing his phone, sending a request to Jarvis to investigate the fake Spider-Man that had appeared in the city. This time, this fake Spider-Man was no simple cosplay, complete with full web-swinging graphics and an extraordinary fighting style. Even without the Chameleon, the yet-to-be-revealed Mysterio was also secretly causing trouble.

Peter still had no idea why Mysterio hadn't yet made a move to reveal himself, instead staying behind the scenes. Was it because his equipment wasn't perfect yet? He could only rely on a fixed projector image, unable to create illusions at any time, or fool thermal imaging, so he chose to hide?

Peter frowned, unsure of the other party's intentions. He still had the ball with him. He could go to the Avengers Tower to analyze it in the evening.

"Do you have anything else to do?"

Gwen, who had already bought the cosplay costume, asked Peter. Peter was a little surprised and asked back, "What?"

"Well... you know, I told you, I can't catch you anymore after you go to high school. You get up very early every day, and we don't go home together after school, so I was wondering if you were very busy and were always out."

After hearing this, Peter didn't know how to explain it for a moment. He held the phone that didn't contain any unexpected information and shook his head: "No, really, nothing about club activities, evening runs, or anything like that."

"Really?"

"Really? Nothing, wanna go home together?"

Gwen looked at Peter suspiciously, but still said nothing.

"Then, let's go together."

Peter breathed a sigh of relief and clutched his phone, hoping nothing would come up on the way that would require Spider-Man.

Not everyone is in a similar good mood. For example, when Culkin was caught by Peter Parker rummaging through his cabinet today, he didn't know why he always felt very scared, as if he was worried that Peter Parker would turn into the freak in Spider-Man costume in the next second and rush up to break his legs.

The thought that Peter Parker might be Spider-Man filled Carl with fear. He thought about how he had bullied him and others since childhood. With his superior physique, he had never felt any problem bullying anyone. But if he were bullying someone who could lift a car and smash it on someone, every thought of it filled Carl with fear. But more than that, every time Carl thought about how that skinny Peter had made him so frightened, he felt even more angry.

I'm actually afraid of that little guy? !
Angry and frightened, Carl returned home. There was no one else at home except his mother. Mrs. Jin asked her son nervously.

"Are you okay, Carl? I see you're not in a good mood..."

"If you can tell, then stop talking nonsense! Is dinner ready?!"

Carl said rudely and threw his schoolbag on the table, then turned on the TV and watched the live broadcast of the game.

Carl stared at the family photo on the fireplace. His father's hand, wrapped around his shoulder, was wearing a Rolex Green Submariner—a watch that should be rotting in prison with its owner. He couldn't help himself, or the old man would have handed him a gun and told him in that whiskey-scented voice he remembered.

"Hey, since you're scared, just follow him and shoot him dead. Then you'll never have to be afraid of a dead person again."

"I miss you so much, Dad." Carl muttered to himself as he picked up a can of beer on the coffee table, opened it, and drank it himself. Then he thought of Peter Parker and crushed the can with gritted teeth.

"Oh my god, Carl you're bleeding."

Mrs. Jin brought dinner over and found that Carl's hand was cut by a can. She quickly found the alcohol and gauze at home, but Carl Jin flicked them away with his hand and took the gauze to disinfect himself.

"Who can eat this little bit?!"

"And more."

After driving his mother away, Carl disinfected his hands and returned to his room after dinner.

He kept thinking about the silk-like things he found in the chemistry lab and the similar spider silk he found on the day of the thriller. He wanted to check the next day to see if it was the same thing, but the next day, the thing was completely gone.

Damn Peter Parker.

Lying on the bed, Culkin opened his phone and searched for Spider-Man. There were some clips of Spider-Man doing heroic deeds, which obviously happened when Peter Parker was still in school. But he didn't know why, he just felt something was wrong.

He pulled the brightly colored spider from his schoolbag, the Osborn Industries spider. He placed it around Parker's neck. It was his masterpiece, a token of his gratitude for Parker's three years of defiance against him in junior high.

It was for this reason that he made the spider into a specimen and used it to scare others.

"Even if Parker really became Spider-Man with this spider, it's meaningless... the flesh inside has been taken out, leaving only an empty shell."

Just as Culkin was about to put the spider down, he had a bold idea - why not try eating it?

It's made with alcohol, not formalin, and it's been months, so you won't die even if you eat it. At most, you'll feel nauseous for a few days. If this shell still works...

Culkin hesitated, placed the spider on the table, and then lay down on the bed.

He closed his eyes, and before he knew it, the scene of Spider-Man fighting against Thriller and smashing a huge billboard on Thriller flashed before his eyes.

Kalkin was so scared that he sat up immediately, looked at the spider specimen on the table, grabbed it, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed the whole specimen into pieces, and then swallowed it into his stomach.

He didn't know why he did this, but perhaps after he gained some sense of security, Culkin fell asleep peacefully.

(End of this chapter)