"Hi, Peter Benjamin Parker, you and I need to have a good talk."

"I-I-IRON MAN?!!"

He was right there in front of me in his shining armor, the mark 85...Iron man.

"Yeah Mr. Parker, Iron man. You know, I've been keeping an eye on you lately, ever since that spider bit you and you almost got hit by that car. I have to say, I'm impressed."

"C-impressed? Really?"

"Yeah boy: I saw the flying you did today. I was about to step in, then I saw you were swinging on something that had come out of your wrists. Can I see?"

I lifted the sleeve of my sweatshirt and showed him my web shooters, he looked at them for a few moments, then said

"Hmm...crude of course, but definitely effective from what I've seen. The really extraordinary thing, though, is the liquid you use for the webs: according to what the tools tell me, they have a very complex chemical structure, no one has ever come up with such a formula. Who makes it for you?"

I couldn't believe it: Tony Stark, Iron man, said that my work was extraordinary! Promptly I answered him

"I-I."

"Not bad, kid! Now, though, let's get down to the nitty gritty."

There, too good to be true

"What did you think you were doing just now? If I hadn't shown up you'd be dead! Plus the cargo has vanished. What exactly was your plan?"

"I-I...I listened to what they were saying. I know where they are taking the cargo and when it will arrive. I wanted to knock them out and ask them what was in the crates."

"Here's a free lesson for you: if you can't beat them, don't start the fight. You're a kid, what were you hoping to do against adult killers?"

"It's just...I wanted to be like my uncle."

"Your uncle?"

"Yes: as a young man he operated as Spider-Man. I wanted to follow his example and stop those guys from getting away with it...but I failed."

"Listen, you made a contribution and I appreciate it, but from now on leave such matters to the seasoned heroes, alright? These are matters too big for 12 year olds like you, you risk hurting yourself or others. If you want to be a hero join A.A., learn slowly."

"M-ma..."

"No 'buts', now go home: your uncles will be worried. Don't worry about those bad guys: if need be the Avengers will take care of them. If you need help, if you or your family are in danger, just use this." he handed me a circular device with the symbol 'A' of Avengers "Press the button and the nearest heroes will come to your rescue. Now I'll say goodbye, it's been a pleasure, Peter Benjamin Parker."

After that he took off. As I watched I still couldn't believe that Tony Stark had come to all this from scrap in a cave. I decided to go home and do as Mr. Stark said, so I started swinging and once I got inside the house, I decided to tell Uncle Ben and Aunt May all about it. I told them about the web shooters, my first swing, the guys in the alley, their suspicious cargo, and my encounter with Iron man. Of course they agreed with what he had told me, Uncle Ben said.

"It was unconscionable and reckless what you did, Peter: they could have killed you!"

"But, Uncle Ben, you always say that with great power comes great responsibility: it was my duty at least to try!"

"It would have been your duty if you had had the power: remember that experience is power too, Pete. You didn't have enough experience to take it upon yourself to stop them."

"..."

"I'm not saying you won't become a hero: I'm just saying that, before you do, you'll have to learn and gain experience with the little things. Therefore, Peter, I ask you to wait and be patient, for if you do not, you will cause pain to yourself and others."

"All right, Uncle Ben."

I decided that I would spend some time with Wanda and Peter: it had been since the field trip that we hadn't spent time together. So I went to the Maximoff house and knocked on the door. Wanda ran to the door and opened it

"Hey Pete!" she said, hugging me "Where have you been? You didn't leave your room for a whole day - Pietro and I got worried!"

I noticed that he was there with her, so I took the opportunity to talk to them about everything that had happened in those days. It felt so good to be able to talk about it and get it all out of the way.

"So what are you going to do now?" asked Wanda.

"I...I think I'm going to go to sleep."

"So you're going to listen to your uncle and Iron man?" asked Peter.

"...yeah, I guess so."

After that we said our goodbyes and I went to my room.

I tried hard to fall asleep, but I couldn't sleep a wink: all I could think about was those guys and their suspicious cargo. Were they weapons? Was it drugs? Or worse? I knew I should have stayed put, but I couldn't let those guys carry on whatever they were doing, so that night I put on my black shoes, pants, sweatshirt and gloves, plus the mask I'd recovered that day: I had to be invisible. After that, I slipped my web shooters on my wrist, climbed out the window and headed into town, hoping to find something that would lead me to the villains' hideout.

Once I got near the alley I heard voices, one of which was...peculiar

"Tombstone? Why are you here sir?"

"Kingpin sent me to you to retrieve the rest of the shipment and to make sure that clown from this morning doesn't get in our way."

Tombstone...from the name and the reverence with which he was treated I deduced that he was in charge of that clique, plus it was the second time I had heard the name 'Kingpin', I wondered who it was, but I didn't have much time: they had already finished loading the rest of the crates onto the truck and were starting to move. I decided to follow them at a safe distance using the cobwebs, until I arrived in front of an abandoned warehouse. Tombstone got out of the truck and looked around with a mocking smile on his face...was this a trap?

I couldn't delay now, so I gathered my courage and entered the warehouse through one of the windows.

It was dark...I could see a single light in the center of the room, illuminating one of those big crates, so I went over to examine it. It was all too quiet...I forced the crate open, but inside...just a note

<CAUGHT!>

Then more lights came on, the door was barred, and I was surrounded by Lapide's thugs, pointing guns at me: it was a trap, and I had set it off.

I took up a fighting stance and prepared myself when, suddenly, I heard a window break and, in no time at all, I found Uncle Ben standing beside me.

"U-Uncle Ben?!"

"Like hell I'm going to let you face your problems alone!"