TROUBLES

Two weeks later

5:37 P.M.

An abandoned factory Warehouse, Queens, New York

Inside the rundown warehouse facility, a dark figure flipped off a wall, twisting mid-air as she followed a trajectory to a nimble landing on the floor. She immediately followed her landing with another jump to the adjacent wall bouncing off of it with quick movements.

Her agility was supreme but even she was aware that her movements lacked the grace and fluidity of a well-trained athlete.

After years of leading a life with books and computer screens, Petra was now testing the capabilities of her enhanced body fuelled by spider genetics. It was absolutely incredible what her newfound abilities were helping her achieve. From inhuman feats of climbing walls to jumping up to fifteen meters in a single leap, she could do it all seamlessly and without much effort.

Now it was all a matter of combining them and mastering them through practice.

She was wearing tracks as she performed her activities in the factory, leaping off the ceiling this time and curving her trajectory into a quick forward thrust as she landed on her hands and somersaulted on to her legs for a perfect landing.

Also, having abandoned her glasses quite a few days ago, she was yet to face any kind of major difficulties like her previously poor eyesight or any other hindrances.

But her fascination with her new gifts had come to fruition a few days ago when she had participated in a basketball match in P.E. class.

Now, granted her control on the ball was poor when she began playing but she was still easily the quickest player on the court.

She remembered quite clearly the awestruck look on most of the guys when she had run from one end of the court to the other in less than five seconds and scored a flying dunk on the shoulder of Flash Thompson. The complete silence afterward and the claps from an amazed Gwen Stacy were her only reward for the impressive effort.

By the end of the hour, she had not broken a single sweat. Her performance that day not only solidified her as a major hidden talent in the eyes of the coach but also gave her a sense of exhilaration and newfound confidence.

It almost made her feel like she was a new person altogether. Something she felt more and more as the days had progressed.

The strangest thing happened when after two days of shedding her old timid nature, ditching her glasses and being more social than ever with her classmates, she was cornered in the school hallway during recess by a senior who wanted to ask her out to prom.

When it came to treading new grounds, she was utterly clueless about how to deal with such a situation having never faced one before. However, before she could answer with a "Yes" or "No", her fight or flight mechanism kicked in and she ran away from the boy with a hurried sorry and blushing till the roots of her hair.

Despite this awkward confrontation, she began to realize as the days passed by, that people were starting to notice her. This was a wholly new concept and something she had always feared before but one she was relishing quite a lot now.

Meanwhile, inside the warehouse, she climbed down from a broken ledge and drank a few sips of water from her bottle. The light from the sun was waning outside as the streetlights were being lit to illuminate the dark evening. She saw all this through the huge windows and considered going back home.

Maybe a bit later.

This empty warehouse had been a great spot for spending time alone. It had always stood on her way to school but she had never thought much about it till recently when she had badly needed a place to test her skills and abilities.

She had explored the place quite thoroughly the day before and had found it to be very cozy which inadvertently led to her now spending a considerable amount of time not just for testing her abilities but also just wantonly wasting time by herself in the massive facility.

Laying her head against the wall she thought of catching a short nap before heading home. But right above her head was a giant cobweb with a spindly-legged spider at its center bearing down on her. She blew gently on the web and saw the spider skitter away from her.

She slept for an hour.

7:17 P.M.

The Parker Residence, Queens, New York

"Where were you?" greeted May's stern voice as Petra walked in through the back door.

"Library"

"It's well past seven"

"I had some work" she replied swinging her bag as she headed up the stairs.

"That's a little convenient isn't it?" May shouted from the kitchen.

"I was busy Aunt May. Can't we drop this?"

"Well, you're the one being odd Petra. You've been moody for days now. I've hardly gotten a word in"

"No, I haven't"

"Even Harry's worried"

"Harry called?"

"He showed up in his huge black limousine a while ago. What's going on with you?"

Petra walked back down the stairs and faced her Aunt's grim face over the kitchen counter. "It's nothing. Just transitioning…"

"What does that mean? And why on earth have you stopped wearing your glasses?"

"I don't need 'em anymore," she replied.

"But you've worn them for ages. They were thicker than a pair of dictionaries"

"Exactly, they made me look bad," Petra said but hesitated as she looked at her aunt's suspicious expression. "Where's Uncle Ben?" she asked instead.

May's expression became cloudy as Uncle Ben was brought into the conversation.

Her reaction was no surprise considering the fact that Ben had just been fired from his job a few days ago. Ever since then, the atmosphere at home had been troubled to say the least. It was also why she found herself spending time away from home more often.

"Uncle Ben's not home"

"Well, where is he? Is he out looking for a new job?"

"Petra you really needn't need to worry about it"

"How? We're always short on money… How can I not worry about this?"

May looked defeated and there were signs of early wrinkles on her otherwise relatively youthful skin. "We're going to get by fine. Your Uncle is far more resilient than you think."

"But maybe I should try working some shifts on my downtime. I could help"

"There will be none of that. You're gonna go to school and continue bringing stellar grades. One day those grades are going to get you into the best colleges in the country. No, if anyone has to work it'll be me"

Petra tried convincing May that she could help but it all fell on deaf ear. Eventually, she had to succumb to Aunt May's stubbornness as she walked back upstairs.

Needless to say, however, things were not alright at home.

The next day – Saturday evening

Somewhere in The Bronx, New York

"Crusher Hogan! Crusher Hogan! Hogan Hogan!" went the chants by the audience around the ring as Petra sat beside Harry, Liz, and Flash at the back of the arena.

Why are we here?

"Why are we here?" asked Liz vocalizing Petra's thoughts to Harry.

The extremely large muscled man in the center of the ring raised his hands up towards the air as his enemy was wheeled away by the medics, possibly with a few broken bones.

"Crusher Hogaaaannnn!"

"I thought it'd be fun" shouted Harry above all the noise. "It's entertaining isn't it?"

Judging by Liz's expression though, it was anything but entertaining.

"Ladies and gentlemen," came the voice of the host with the microphone as he walked around the ring, "Who here is willing enough to talk on the invincible Crusher? Who here has what it takes?

"If you think you can take the Crusher down… we have five hundred dollars in cash for the acclaimed individual. Step right up if you want that money people!"

A resounding roar went around the arena at the mention of money.

"That's some serious cash," Flash said to them, "You know what, I'll be right back…"

He came back with a dejected look a while later. "I couldn't get in," he said, "The traffic is horrible up there. Too many people"

"Let's just sit back and enjoy" replied Harry to him as he leaned back with a chilled out expression.

They stayed there for an hour at most before deciding to leave. They were all standing outside on the pavement next to Harry's limousine when Petra excused herself for a minute saying she dropped something inside.

She entered the arena and sneaked right up front next to the host and shouted at him, "I wanna take him on!"

By sheer luck, the host noticed her among the huge cacophony of voices around him. Everyone around her was a dude.

The host leaned down next to her, "You have my attention. What is it?"

"I wanna fight the Crusher"

"Hah!" he scoffed

"I'm serious!"

"I really don't have the time. If it isn't obvious to you - no girls allowed in the ring with men. Not unless you wanna hold up signboards… but even that requires you to be above age"

"I don't care. I can fight and I wanna fight. I also want the money"

I need the money.

"Not possible honey. Show me a driver's license and maybe I'll get you in the ring to hold up a few signboards. That pays well too"

She walked out of the arena somewhat angry but also dejected that her approach hadn't worked. But she also badly needed the money, Ben and May were in dire need of some… and given her new powers, that fight with Crusher would be a breeze for her.

No, she was absolutely determined to do this.

Author's note: So I know I've taken a long time but I'm slowly inching towards the end of the origin saga for Petra. I may possibly need one of two chapters more to wrap it up and then I have a few plans that I'll discuss in future updates.

As always, feedback is appreciated and thanks to everyone reading and following this story. Also thanks for being so patient with the slow buildup (I'll pick it up don't worry)… I did try to pick up the pace with this chapter but let's see what happens. A lot of ground still left to tread in the future.