Alex POV:
A few minutes later, at Neds house.
I arrive at neds house a little late, and peter and ned are already in the living room. Peter, in his full suit, upside down, hanging off the ceiling on his web. Ned was off to the side, drool leaking out of his open mouth and stars in his eyes.
Damn, his suit looks even better then cannon. Peter's suit was the classic Spider-Man suit, but it got the street hero vibe so much better. It wasn't super skin tight like the original, but a lot more bulky. It was a bit more like the Miles Morales suit, with it looking like he was wearing a hoodie over the suit, and he was wearing cargo pants. The colours were a lot more muted out as well, not that super vibrant red and blue.
Overall, it was so much more practical than his canon spandex. All the pockets would allow him to actually carry stuff around, the muted colours would enable him to actually blend into the shadows. The extra fabric should also help him against low temperatures, but I'm guessing that if he built it at Stark Industries, it probably should have a built-in heating system-
I catch something with my advanced senses. I hear a faint whirring noise near the center of his chest, as well as a trace of flickering blue lights through his hoodie. Is that a goddamn arc reactor??? The new version as well?
That was when they noticed me. Of course, I was hard to miss, with my big stature and the fact that I was carrying around a massive shopping bag.
"Yo! Good to see ya, Alex!" Pete said in an energetic tone, hopping off his web and landing on his feet.
Meanwhile, ned was just being ned, trying to peek into my shopping bag. "What's in the bag, dude? Snacks? Weapons? A cursed artifact? Wait, is that real bear head??" he said, squinting like he was trying to roll a perception check.
Unluckly, ned rolled a natural 1.
I lifted the bag over my head. "You'll see when it's time. Fashion can't be rushed."
Ned made an exaggerated pout and flopped dramatically back into the couch, arms spread in defeat. "Man, you guys both go off for a couple of months, and now you're all mysterious and cool. While I've just been incelmaxing on my computer..."
"Thanks, I guess?" Peter said, sounding more confused than anything.
Ned turned toward him, eyes lighting up again. "Speaking of which, dude! What even are your powers now? You did, like, a double backflip when you got here, and you can stick to walls and stuff!"
Peter rubbed the back of his neck and gave that awkward little grin he always does when he gets complimented. "Uh… kinda hard to explain? other then the stuff you just said, I got super strength, agility, durability, I have this little danger sense I think? I call it the Peter Tingle.... Oh, and I shoot webs now. From these." He flicked his wrists, and little thwip sounds popped out from the hidden shooters.
Ned looked so excited that it looked like he was about to faint. "Dude! So what, you're like some sort of human spider?"
"Yeah-" Peter was about to say, but I cut in. "Spiderman would probably be better for marketing, or maybe something without the word spider in it? I mean, who wants to be saved by a bug-themed hero-"
"Not a bug, an arachnid." Peter and Ned both cut in at the same time.
"Yeah, sure, arachnid. Whatever. But most people don't really like spiders. Are you sure you want to name yourself that? Just on my way here, I heard some old news reporter calling you a spider freak."
Peter strokes his chin, thinking for a bit. "Yeah, I got nothing. Usually, ned is good at this type of stuff. What do you think, Ned?"
Ned looks superbly giddy at the thought of getting to name a superhero.
"Okay, guys. Hear me out. Since you're a protector and an arachnid, what about, drumroll please, the Arach-Knight!"
Peter and I give this guy a deadpan stare. "Fuck no." we say in unison.
Neds expression fell. Then it rose again. He seems to have thought of something new.
"Oh, oh, what about like the Spinster, since you do flips and stuff while spinning webs!" He says excitedly.
"Okay, lets get this guy off naming duty."
"Agreed."
Ned goes back to crestfallen. Then I can practically see a light bulb light up above his head.
"Guys, I actually got a good one this time. What about... Nightcrawler!" He practically shouts out.
Peter looks interested, but I quickly end that idea. "Ned, I think that name might be copyrighted. Also, it sounds too... Evil? Maybe we should just stick to Spider-Man."
"Anyways! Alex, last time we met up, you said you had a plan to get powers. Did it work out?" Ned changes the topic.
"Of course I did. Who do you think I am? My life is like a videogame, remember? I got awarded powers for making it through that..." A cold shiver runs down my spine. "...Training."
I don't think they caught the horror in my voice when I talked about the training, because they just brushed past that fact and asked me what my powers are.
"Okay, I'm kind of like Peter, but if he's a spider, I'm a bear. I got super strength, durability, speed, and senses. I think I have one extra ability, but I'm not actually sure what it does yet."
Peter pauses. "Then all those people who called us the spider and the bear were..."
"Nah, that should just be a coincidence. Or not. I'm not sure how you got your powers, but my system thing might have given me the bear in particular to match my fighting style. I'm not sure, though."
Ned looks deep in thought. He perks up. "How about since you're based on a bear and you're the hottest out of all of us, we call you the Grizzler!"
Peter and I both facepalm.
"First, I already chose a name. Secondly, even if I didn't, hell nah." I state.
Ned just looks depressed now that all of his name suggestions have been rejected.
Then, Peter asks me the question that I've been preparing for.
"Yo, Alex, you got a suit?"
Ned also looks intrigued.
"You guys will see it when the time comes." I grin.
"You sure, dude? I came dressed in like a fully technical suit, and you're gonna wear, what," Peter peeks in my bag. "...A rug?"
"Trust the vision, bro. I know what I'm doing." I say confidently.
A few minutes pass with us just bickering and catching up.
"... So after Stark handed me his contact card, I ran into some kid getting bullied, and he reminded me of myself. Then I had this whole flashback, and that's why I want to help people, so they don't have to go through the same stuff that I went through." Peter rants, which brings me back to what's important.
I chip in. "Oh yeah, since we're like, not weak anymore, we can actually start doing the whole saving people thing now, right?"
"It's time for the debut!!!" Ned shouts out.
"So what, we're going to start going on patrols and stuff?" Pete asks.
"Exactly! However, we have one problem. I probably can use my enhanced senses to hear or sniff out everything that's going on, but I'm not that good at using my new senses yet-" I start.
"-And to avoid us just wandering aimlessly all night, we need some eyes in the sky." Peter finishes my sentence.
We both stare at ned.
He didn't even pretend to be surprised. "You want me to tap into police comms."
"Basically," we said.
He leaned forward, trying to swap his usual goofy persona for his cool nonchalant hacker persona, cracking his knuckles with way more flair than necessary. "I've already been working on it."
Of course, he had. What else would he have been doing all this time, if not for hacking?
"I've been listening in on NYPD frequencies for a couple of weeks. Just surface-level stuff, calls about robberies, break-ins, vehicle chases. Most of it's boring, but I've got a script that flags anything within a few-mile radius."
Peter looked impressed. "That's… actually amazing."
"Yeah," Ned said, clearly trying not to smile too hard. "Just need to clean it up a bit. Cut the junk noise. Maybe route it through your suits if I can get access."
I raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that illegal?"
Ned shrugged. "So is most of what you guys are about to do."
Point taken.
Peter stretched, cracking his shoulder. "So we good to start tonight?"
I glanced at my bag. "I still need to suit up."
Peter grinned. "We'll wait."