Chapter 1: The Birth of a Hero?
It was raining in Queens.
The street gleamed with reflections from the streetlights, and puddles trembled with every hurried step. Inside his home, Peter Parker, a young boy of 3 years — especially mature for his age — was awake. His parents probably thought he was asleep, since they only made that strange noise when they believed he was sleeping. But he wasn't. He stood there, wrapped in a blanket over his shoulders, staring out the window.
He had always had trouble sleeping when it rained.
He never told his parents out of shame, thinking they'd believe he was a baby afraid of the rain. And, in his own words, he was already a big boy who shouldn't be afraid of anything.
So he had to manage — and he did. He had been sleeping alone, dressing himself, doing everything he could on his own for almost eight months, which he considered an achievement.
But tonight was different. It was as if something was calling him.
He thought:
— Why can't I slee...
When a flash interrupted him, a streak cutting through the yellow and purple sky.
A meteorite.
His eyes sparkled as he watched it. He'd always been a fan of science and everything considered "nerdy," so seeing a meteorite falling was amazing to him. Then he realized something: the meteorite had fallen near his house — about 800 meters away at most. He could see it. But it was raining, and his parents had told him not to go out in the rain.
But... if he didn't go now, maybe someone else would find and take his meteorite. He couldn't let anyone else take his meteorite.
Making up his mind, Peter grabbed his father's raincoat and ran after the meteorite. The coat, way too big for his body, dragged along the ground as he ran as fast as his little legs could carry him.
The rain fell like needles. The wind howled through the trees, making them creak like ancient creatures waking up. The ground was a mix of mud and wet leaves that stuck to his little boots, but he didn't stop. His heart raced — not only from the effort but from excitement. Every lightning flash lit up the path like the panels of a comic book. He felt like a hero on a secret mission.
Branches brushed his face, shadows moved between the trunks. It was scary, yes, but also magical. The world seemed bigger, wilder — as if something was about to change. And even without fully understanding, Peter felt he had to keep going.
Somehow, he didn't get lost. And finally, he saw the pale light in the middle of the forest and the scorched earth around the crater. It was there. He found it.
At first, it looked like a stone cracked in half, releasing steam...
— Probably ice turning into vapor because of the heat — he thought.
But that wasn't what caught his attention. It was something moving inside the stone. It was dark like ink, but it had life. It pulsed. It breathed. As if a piece of the very space had been ripped from the sky and thrown there inside the crater.
Peter approached, his eyes wide. This was unlike anything he had seen in his books or cartoons. When he reached out his hand, the substance reacted. It jumped onto his arm, as if it recognized him. Within seconds, it started spreading across his body — cold, wet, and alive.
He tried to scream, but no sound came out. He tried to run, but his legs failed. The rain faded away. The world seemed to sink into silence. For the first time in a long time... Peter was afraid. Not of thunder, nor of imaginary monsters.
It was the fear of something real.
Something that was now inside him.