🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸

🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸

𝙁𝙚𝙖𝙧.
𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙘, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣, 𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.

𝘼𝙨 𝙠𝙞𝙙𝙨, 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜.
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠...

...𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙮𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙙...

...𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜,
𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙤 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮.

𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙤, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮.

𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙨𝙠 𝙅𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙢.

𝘼𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙪𝙣 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧?
𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪.

𝙊𝙧 𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙡𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪,
𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙜𝙪𝙩𝙨.

𝙀𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙍𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙙𝙖𝙡𝙚 𝙃𝙞𝙜𝙝
𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙨 𝙖 𝙫𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬.

𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙘.

🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸

🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟭 - 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝘇𝗲𝗻

🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸

          𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙍𝙔 𝙒𝙊𝙆𝙀 𝙐𝙋 𝙀𝘼𝙍𝙇𝙔 that morning, he wanted to try something. That was the day of the tryouts for the variety show, and he would've shown everyone what he could do. He dressed in his fancy suit, wore his tie with the first button of his white shirt left open, he took his deck of cards and stood in front of the mirror in his room. He started to try a few versions of his opening joke, before starting for the last time his cards tricks. He still felt a bit awkward for the whole thing, but he pushed his negative thoughts aside, there was no need for them.

There was another person in the Osborn mansion that woke up early that morning, and that was Norman Osborn, that now was pacing in the living room agitated. He needed to wake up to make an early call to the security department. It wasn't so unusual that the man made a check up call once in a while to ensure everything went well, but that morning was different: that morning he received a worrying message from the security department, a message about the Research & Development wing of Oscorp. He dialled the number on his phone and, after a few rings, Gregory - the head of security - answered

Gregory: "Mr. Osborn-"

Norman didn't wait a second and interrupted him asking with haste

Norman: "What happened?"

Gregory was quick to reply

Gregory: "Mr. Osborn, some prototypes are missing."

Norman's eyes widened for a moment before he, with anger in his tone, asked

Norman: "How are 'some prototypes' missing, Gregory?! Isn't it your job to ensure that something like this never happens?!"

Gregory was in evident panic, but he kept his cool in order to explain everything to his boss

Gregory: "I know, sir. And I assure you that I inspect every wing every day to-"

But Norman interrupted him again with the same dangerous tone

Norman: "I don't want your excuses, Gregory. I want to know how is possible that my prototypes are missing, and I want to know that now!"

Just then he heard some commotion upstairs coming from his son's room. Norman was seriously losing his patience and, after hearing the noise, he said to the head of security

Norman: "I'll call you in a few minutes, and you better have an explanation if you don't want to go live under a bridge for the rest of your life."

He then closed the call and went upstairs. Harry was hastily picking up his cards from the ground. Out of nervousness, his hands had shook and his cards had fallen on the ground. Just as he finished picking them up, the door of his room opened harshly and, on the other side, there was his father. He had an angry expression on his face, and Harry realised the mess he got himself in. The man looked at his son up and down and asked with little patience in his deep voice

Norman: "What are you doing, Harry?"

Harry swallowed the lump he had in his throat and, with a small voice, replied

Harry: "W-Well, today there are the tryouts for the variety show, and I was thinking-"

For his father, that was enough. He had already too many problems to solve, he didn't need his son to add more, so he pointed his finger at him as he severely told him

Norman: "Don't even think about it. Take off all that stuff and get ready for school. I'll be dead before I let you make a fool out of yourself in front of the whole town."

With that said, he turned around and called back Gregory

Norman: "Speak, Gregory..."

Harry couldn't hear his father anymore, as he was too far from him. The young boy didn't know how to feel about what his father told him. He knew he should've felt heartbroken. But, somehow, he was numb. Yes, he was disappointed, but he was not surprised. A part of him always knew how that conversation would've turned out, that's why he never spoke about it with his father. As the boy put down his cards and removed his tie, he merely sighed in dejection.

𝙋𝙀𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙒𝘼𝙎 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙀, trapped under the mechanical claws of the Vulture. The metal sharp objects had already pierced his suit and were currently digging in his flesh, blood pouring copiously from the fresh wound. His hands were clutching the man's mechanical boot, trying to push the claws out of his torso, but all his efforts were in vain. The man kept looking at him through his helmet, his vibrant green eyes staring at Peter's eyes. The young man had his mask still on, but as he blinked he didn't feel the material of his mask on his face anymore. His face was bare, unprotected against the villain's stare, whose face was still hid behind the creepy helmet. Peter had to do something, he tried to lift the claws from his torso, but they didn't budge a bit. He conjured all the strength he had left, only managing to say with a strangled voice, just above a whisper

Peter: "Please...don't...please..."

The Vulture, after two seconds, dug his claws deeper into the boy's torso, then said in an ominous tone

Vulture: "I already told you..."

Then, in his right hand, Peter saw him clutching the neck of a person. The rosy flesh was being squeezed by the metal gloved hand. Peter looked up, noticing the person's long brown hair, then his attention moved to their face. Peter's eyes widened in horror upon noticing that the woman that was being choked, whose hands were clutching Vulture's one in the desperate attempt to pry it off, was none other than his aunt May. The woman almost couldn't speak as her last strengths were leaving her. Peter moved again his gaze towards the man and could shake his head only a little, as he tried to yell, his voice not leaving his mouth. Vulture stared down at him and said in the same ominous tone

Vulture: "...I'll kill everyone you love."

Then, suddenly, the man jerked his hand and squeezed violently the neck of the woman, from which a loud 'crack' noise could be heard. Peter looked at her and yelled

Peter: "NOOOOOOO!"

Now suddenly standing on his feet in a dark room with no walls, he noticed a beacon of light illuminating a single spot on the ground, where his aunt was lying. He ran to her as fast as he could and got down on his knees, gently grabbing the woman's face, checking up on her. Her eyes opened in an emotionless expression and her neck having the purple imprints of human fingers, as all Peter could hear was the distant voice of his aunt saying

May: "Why, Peter? Why did you kill me?"

Then, behind him, Peter could hear another beacon lighting up. He turned around and saw, standing there in front of him, his uncle Ben. His bullet wound still present on his chest, visible due to the blood stain on his shirt. His eyes were devoid of pupils, his expression blank, and his skin pale. He looked like he had just come out of the tomb. He looked straight at Peter and then said

Ben: "You killed us, Peter. And you will kill everyone close to you."

Right then, Peter opened his eyes and sat up, gasping for air. His forehead wet with sweat, his hair damp, his nerves shaken. He looked around, gladly noticing that he was safe in his room. He checked his alarm clock, which was indicating 4:56 am. Peter sighed as he rubbed his face. It was just a dream. Just a dream.

He couldn't sleep that night, afraid of being haunted again by his nightmares. He could barely look at his aunt May in the eyes that morning, as he quickly grabbed his backpack and left after bidding a brief goodbye. On his way to school he kept glancing around, looking for possible signs of the masked villain spying on him, but he couldn't see him anywhere. Somehow, not seeing him was worse than seeing him, because Peter didn't know what to expect. It was like when he was little, when he was always wary of where his bullies could have been, almost too scared to walk in the corridors. He hated being so afraid, and he couldn't wait until his costume was fixed so that he could try to counter attack him. While he was still walking, he spotted Betty in the distance. She had her back turned to him while she was walking to school. Peter was about to run to her to say hi and to, maybe, finally talk. But memories of his nightmare filled his mind, and that held him back. He didn't know where Vulture was, but he couldn't risk him seeing her with him. Only then he noticed who was walking beside her: Jughead. Peter thought it was weird, since they never walked together to school, more so since they didn't live close by. Peter did not like that he and Betty hadn't talked things over yet, and he really wanted to do it that day, but it was too dangerous. At least for the time being, he had to stay away from her to keep her safe. In fact, he needed to keep his distance from everyone until he discovered more about the man with the wings. He stopped in his tracks when he realised that, if the man with the wings was really surveying him, his friends weren't the only ones in danger: everyone around Peter Parker was. In that moment, memories of his nightmare fuelled his mind with fear as he remembered his "uncle"'s words

" ...you will kill everyone close to you "

Peter couldn't let those words come true. At least for that day, he needed to avoid contacts with his friends at school, he needed to avoid as much contact as possible with other people at school. Begrudgingly, he accepted that he needed to do that to keep them all safe. Little did he know how this choice would have influenced his present and his future.

𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙍𝙔 𝙊𝙎𝘽𝙊𝙍𝙉 𝙃𝘼𝘿 𝙅𝙐𝙎𝙏 𝙎𝘼𝙏 𝘿𝙊𝙒𝙉 on his spot inside of the hall in which the variety show would've been held. He wished he had some glamorous talent that could've let him get on that stage too, but unfortunately he hadn't been gifted at birth of such a talent. Then why was he there? The reason was that, unlike him, his friend Archie had a talent, and he was about to have his audition. He was happy for him, and wanted to show his support. But he wasn't the only one there, in fact even Veronica Lodge and the Pussycats were present that day. It was almost time for Andrews to walk on stage, and both Harry and Veronica were wondering where all the others could've been. Just then, the door opened and inside walked hastily Gwen Stacy. The blonde quickly found a spot beside Harry and, after giving him a peck on the lips and sitting down, she asked

Gwen: "What did I miss?"

Veronica replied reassuringly

Veronica: "Nothing yet, Gwenny, you're just in time."

Gwen looked around a bit, and asked puzzled

Gwen: "Where are the others?"

Harry answered

Harry: "That's what we've been wondering until now."

Just then Kevin announced Archie's turn to perform on stage. The group moved its attention on the red headed boy on the stage. He was tense, that was clearly visible. He was almost in a trance as Kevin tried to get his attention

Kevin: "Archie Andrews?"

He then seemed to wake up from his trance. Veronica looked at him with a smile on her face, trying her hardest to reassure him that everything would've been fine, just like Gwen and Valerie were doing. The blonde murmured to the raven haired girl

Gwen: "I have a bad feeling about this."

And Veronica murmured back

Veronica: "He'll do it, he's just a bit nervous."

Kevin asked Archie

Kevin: "And what will you be auditioning with?"

Archie grabbed the mic with his right hand as he replied, still tense

Archie: "Uh, an original song that I wrote called 'I'll Try'."

But in the esplanades there weren't only those who wanted to encourage Archie, no. There also were those who wanted to bring him down, those being his football teammates. Amongst them there was Reggie, who said mockingly

Reggie: "Try harder! Maybe try not sucking so much."

The others laughed with him at their teammate who, in their opinion, was only making himself look ridiculous. Harry turned around, pissed at them for treating his friend like that, but decided not to cause a scene now that Archie was about to perform. The ginger head boy then had a sort of vision, his fear and tension making him see his teammates as wild bulldogs ready to devour him. He looked down at his guitar, trying to focus on playing his song, but his hand was shaking too much. Kevin was of course routing for his friend, but he also needed to stay professional and maintain his integrity, so he said to him

Kevin: "Take your time, Archie. Though, we do have people waiting."

His friends were anxious for him, while the Bulldogs and Josie were enjoying the show. Worried, Veronica asked to no one in particular

Veronica: "Oh my God, what is happening?"

And Josie, with a smirk on her face, answered to her

Josie: "He's chocking."

Wanting to solicit him a bit more, Kevin said

Kevin: "Archie? Clock's ticking."

Harry mumbled to himself

Harry: "C'mon, you can do this..."

But, after a few seconds, Archie couldn't stand it anymore

Archie: "E-Excuse me. I'm sorry. I gotta go."

The Bulldogs laughed at him as he ran away from stage, they clapped at him and Reggie said mockingly

Reggie: "Good stuff, man. Good stuff."

Not able to take it anymore, Harry got up and turned to look at them, then said angrily

Harry: "Quit it, you idiots!"

They laughed a bit more, and Reggie replied mockingly

Reggie: "Oh look, the rich kid has something to say, what did you say?"

And Harry answered

Harry: "What, are you stupid AND deaf? I said quit it, you idiots."

Then Reggie got up and replied angrily

Reggie: "You want a piece of me, Osborn?!"

Despite Gwen's tries to make him sit and calm down, Harry answered back

Harry: "I'm not afraid of you, you stupid idiot, nobody talks about my friends that way!"

Reggie was about to walk to him and give him a piece of his mind for calling him stupid, but then Kevin intervened and said

Kevin: "Reggie, you and your friends are requested to leave, now, before I call the principal on all of you."

Reggie was beyond irritated, and before walking out, he pointed his finger at Harry and said

Reggie: "I don't care how rich you are, Osborn, you'll pay for this!"

Kevin then said

Kevin: "I'm about to call the principal, Reggie."

After that, the Bulldogs walked out of the hall. Harry was breathing heavily, angry at them for the way they always behaved, and Gwen was standing by his side, trying to calm him down. She had never seen him so worked up, so mad, and so the situation caught her by surprise.

Valerie watched Archie run away and, being the only other friend he had that also knew a thing or two about performing on stage, took the initiative and followed him to comfort him the best way he could. She walked out of the hall and found him sitting on the ground, visibly embarrassed and hopeless at what happened. She gave him a smile and sat down beside him. She didn't say anything, she just sat there, waiting for him to be ready to speak. He held his head with his pointer finger and thumb as he, finally, said

Archie: "When I was up there, looking out, I don't know. I just froze."

She immediately replied to him with the same friendly smile

Valerie: "That was stage-fright, Archie."

Still, he didn't understand. He was used to people watching him perform, so why was that situation different? He replied to her

Archie: "But when I'm on the football field, the stands can be packed. Packed. And it doesn't affect my game at all."

Then Valerie explained him the reason why this time it was different

Valerie: "Archie, singing makes you vulnerable in a way that football doesn't."

But Archie thought that there could have been also another reason to his stage-fright and said

Archie: "Or maybe what I was missing out there on stage was my team, or at least a partner."

He briefly got his lips wet, then asked her

Archie: "What if we sang 'I Got You'?"

But Valerie answered

Valerie: "Archie, I'm a Pussycat. We're headlining the show."

But Archie was persistent

Archie: "What if you sing with them first and then me? Just this once. To help me get my sea legs."

Then she sarcastically asked

Valerie: "Have you met Josie?"

Valerie knew how Josie was, she knew that her team captain was very strict, and that even the little help she's been giving Archie would not have sat well with her. She was decisive and answered to a hopeless looking Archie

Valerie: "I can't step over the 'Cats."

𝙄𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙈𝙀𝘼𝙉𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀, Betty and Jughead were in the Blue and Gold, investigating on what they found on the pictures Betty was able to take of her mother's notepad. She read what was written on some sort of receipt

Betty: "'The Sisters of Quiet Mercy'."

She then raised her head and walked a few steps towards a sitting Jughead and asked

Betty: "What is that, like a church? Or a charity?"

Jughead tapped on his computer, searching for informations on internet, and he indeed found them

Jughead: "No, it's a 'home for troubled youths. Where disenfranchised teens will learn such virtues as discipline and respect...enjoying lives of quiet reflection and servitude.'"

Betty was speechless. Her sister got sent to some sort of boarding school, so that she could receive some reeducation, and only because she was with Jason? She could only mutter

Betty: "Poor Polly."

After a few seconds, Betty picked up again her phone and checked if she did receive any texts, but nothing. Jughead, noticing that, asked her

Jughead: "You still haven't called him, have you?"

She looked at him and, after putting the phone down, she asked

Betty: "Why should I have? I mean, I would, but he would ask me what's happening and...I'm so tired of lying to him."

He then turned around, looking at her in the eyes, and said

Jughead: "Look, I get it, okay? But do you really think that ignoring him will make things better?"

Betty then asked him, hopeless

Betty: "So what should I do, Juggie?"

He got up and said

Jughead: "Be honest with him. Tell him that, for the moment, you can't tell him what's going on, but that you will as soon as you can. Don't leave him like this, because he now probably thinks it's something he did wrong."

Betty briefly looked down at her phone, a picture they took of themselves as the Lock Screen. She was so caught up in wanting to protect him, that she didn't stop a second to think about how she was making him feel. She looked back at Jug and said with decision

Betty: "I'll go look for him and I'll tell him."

Jughead smiled at her and, placing a hand on her shoulder, he said

Jughead: "You're doing the right thing, Betty, I'm proud of you."

She smiled appreciatively at him, and the two of them hugged tenderly. Despite the situation she had to face in that moment, Betty was happy to have Jughead by her side. And Jughead was happy to be able to help Betty face this situation. He would never have left her alone, ever.

𝙂𝙒𝙀𝙉 𝙁𝙊𝙇𝙇𝙊𝙒𝙀𝘿 𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙍𝙔 to his locker. He didn't know what came over him back then. He only knew he felt angry and that he would've never allowed someone to treat his friend that way. Gwen, having never seen her boyfriend acting like that, was visibly concerned and, as he opened his locker, she asked him

Gwen: "Harry, what is going on?"

Harry pretended not to understand and asked her, barely looking in her eyes

Harry: "What do you mean?"

Gwen saw through his facade and said

Gwen: "You've never lashed out on anyone like that, Harry, not even at Flash."

Then she caught his attention by gently grabbing his arm, stopping him from putting more books in his locker in order to avoid her, then when he looked at her she asked him in a kind manner

Gwen: "Hey, did something happen this morning? Something with your father?"

He had no words as he, embarrassed, lowered his head. In that moment Gwen knew she was right, so she used her other hand to gently caress his face, tenderly making him look back at her. She gave him a smile, but he could tell that she was feeling bad for him, then she asked him

Gwen: "What did he do to you?"

Harry was about to tell her but, just like always, he justified him as he said

Harry: "Nothing, he... he just wants what's best for me."

Gwen lightly shook her head as she said

Gwen: "Harry, you can't keep justifying your father's mistakes. If he did something to you, then please, tell me."

But Harry had taken his decision. He gently removed her hand from his face and, after kissing the palm of it, he said calmly with a smile on his face

Harry: "Don't worry, Gwen. I just overreacted. Everything's good, I swear."

Gwen hated seeing him doing that. It was as clear as the day that something had indeed happened, and she couldn't understand why he just wouldn't tell her, why he just wouldn't admit it. At the same time, he knew that he would've never understood why he acted like that. When you grow up with a father as important as Norman, you learn to know that, if you want his respect, you have to earn it. You learn to know that, if he managed to handle a company as big as Oscorp, he probably knew what was best for your future. And, as Harry grew up, his desire had always been to make his father proud of him. Maybe the variety show was the chance he was looking for to do just that, or so he thought. What he did know was that his father knew best, and he knew that, if he entrusted his future in his hands, he could be sure to have success. And maybe, someday, he would've gained his respect. After assuring her that it was all fine, Harry closed his locker and grabbed his backpack, carrying it on his shoulder, and walked towards his first class, all the while Gwen stood there, watching him walk away, incapable of doing anything to make her boyfriend open up to her. Incapable of helping the one person who made her feel like more than the quirky friend next door. She needed an advice, someone to talk to that would've given her the solution, and the only one that knew Harry Osborn better than her was Peter Parker.

𝘽𝙀𝙏𝙏𝙔, 𝙅𝙐𝙂𝙃𝙀𝘼𝘿, 𝘼𝙍𝘾𝙃𝙄𝙀 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙑𝘼𝙇𝙀𝙍𝙄𝙀 𝙒𝙀𝙍𝙀 𝙎𝙄𝙏𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 by a table outside enjoying their lunch break. While Archie and Valerie were having their own conversation, Betty and Jughead were talking about their next move. Betty was particularly motivated now

Betty: "It's been months, there's got to be a reason my mom and dad don't want me to see Polly...but I don't care anymore."

Jughead smirked, proud that Betty was determined not to let her parents dictate how she should've acted, proud of the fact that she was willing to fight for her sister. And, just like that time long ago, he was willing to stay by her side no matter what. Just then Archie noticed the two of them talking about something serious, so he asked with curiosity

Archie: "What are you guys talking about? Anything I can help with?"

Betty looked at Jughead, not knowing how to answer to his friend, and Jug came to the rescue

Jughead: "What we're attempting here is a stealth operation, Archie. If we go in there with the entire Musketeers Gang, forget it, we're compromised."

And then Betty remembered something useful to divert the attention

Betty: "Well, don't you have to practice for the variety show anyway?"

Archie's hopeless expression returned when he heard that question and, as he looked at Valerie sitting at his right, the latter reciprocating the look silently saying 'sorry', he replied dejected

Archie: "Uh, no, I don't."

But, just then, the group heard the voice of the unstoppable Veronica Lodge, who said

Veronica: "Except that yes, you do. Thanks to a certain Veronica-Ex-Machina."

She then got "accidentally" in the middle of Archie and Valerie and said nonchalantly

Veronica: "Excuse me."

Betty, confused, asked her

Betty: "What do you mean?"

While Kevin sat down as well, beside Jughead, Veronica explained

Veronica: "Oh, nothing, just that I had a few words with our director-slash-host...and reminded him that he's heard you sing on numerous occasions."

Kevin briefly interjected, asking sarcastically

Kevin: "Even though it compromises my artistic integrity?"

Then Veronica continued

Veronica: "Cutting to the chase, you have a slot, if you want it."

As she sipped her coffee, Archie didn't know what to say. He was grateful of course, but he didn't want to embarrass himself again, so he said

Archie: "Veronica, thank you, but you saw what happened."

Kevin then sarcastically commented

Kevin: "We all did."

As he went back to his drink, Archie continued

Archie: "Playing my songs in front of you guys is one thing...but getting back up on that stage by myself?"

He slightly shook his head as he said

Archie: "I don't know if I'm ready for that."

But, as stated before, Veronica was unstoppable, and said to him

Veronica: "If it's a partner you're looking for, Veronica Lodge is more than willing and able."

Valerie watched the exchange with great interest as Betty, surprised by the Latina's words, commented with a smirk

Betty: "Veronica, I didn't know you could sing."

She nodded while glancing down and said

Veronica: "Like a nightingale."

Then she moved her gaze back to Archie and asked him

Veronica: "What do you say, Archiekins? Be the Jay to my Bey?"

Archie and Veronica exchanged looks and smiles before he chuckled, accepting her generous offer. Just then, Gwen arrived at the table with her backpack on her shoulders and greeted everybody

Gwen: "Hey guys."

The others nodded to her and both Betty and Veronica noticed the weird expression on her face, so the latter asked her

Veronica: "Gwenny, are you okay?"

And Betty commented

Betty: "Yeah, did something happen?"

Gwen sat down beside Betty and, after sighing, said

Gwen: "Something happened between Harry and his father this morning."

Archie leaned forward and asked

Archie: "Something bad?"

Gwen nodded, but didn't say more, so Jughead asked

Jughead: "So, what did exactly happen?"

She looked at him and exclaimed

Gwen: "That's the point."

Then she turned to look at the whole group and said

Gwen: "He won't tell me. He keeps saying that it's nothing, and that he wants only what's best for him, but I can see there's something that he doesn't wanna say."

Betty then put a comforting hand on hers and asked

Betty: "Have you tried talking to him?"

Gwen nodded and said

Gwen: "Yeah, of course, but nothing. Look, guys, I need some advice, and the only one who knows Harry the best is Peter. Has anyone seen him?"

The boys and girls looked at each other with puzzled expressions and, after a few seconds, Betty said

Betty: "Actually I've tried looking for him too this morning, but nothing."

Gwen then took out her phone and said

Gwen: "I've tried texting him, calling him...but nothing. Do you guys think...?"

And Jughead continued

Jughead: "That something happened? Maybe. In the last week he's been a bit distant. He's been like this since..."

And Veronica continued with a realisation on her face

Veronica: "Since the Jason Blossom's memorial."

Kevin then asked, perplexed

Kevin: "I'm sorry, what does Jason's memorial have to do with Peter?"

Archie looked at Kevin and explained

Archie: "Peter has lost his parents when he was very little."

And then Betty continued

Betty: "And also his uncle more recently."

Kevin's eyes widened as he covered his mouth with his hand in shock. Then, after he removed it, he asked

Kevin: "So you think...?"

And Gwen nodded as she said

Gwen: "This is affecting him more than he wants us to know. He's been through a lot in the past months, with the death of his uncle, the lost of the drive-in...I did my best to stay close to him, but..."

Betty was confused by that and asked her

Betty: "Wait, what has the drive-in have to do with this?"

Gwen looked at her strangely and said

Gwen: "Betty, you don't remember? He loved that drive-in. Between trying to save it and doing his part-time at Pop's, he didn't have time to process things. I wanted to do something nice for him, so I borrowed the projector one last time and organised a movie night for him."

Betty was shocked, how could she have forgotten about his boyfriend's love for the drive-in. And she never talked to him about it, taking for granted his happiness, not knowing that it was not his girlfriend, but his friend's gesture that made him smile. She was so focused on Archie that she forgot about Peter, again.  Jughead then, with a smirk, asked

Jughead: "So that's what you needed the projector for, huh?"

Even more shocked, Betty turned around and asked him

Betty: "Wait, you knew?"

And Jug replied

Jughead: "It was inevitable. Gwen had to call me to use the projector. I don't think anyone else sitting here had any idea."

Jughead immediately understood why Betty was so shocked and surprised, so he immediately extinguished the fire that was about to burst. Then, Gwen intervened in order to bring back the conversation where it started

Gwen: "Anyway, what matters is that I find him. If you happen to do it before me, can you please tell him to call me?"

The boys and girls sitting at the table nodded, wanting to help the blonde to solve the family problem. All the while Betty was now even more conflicted on the talk she needed to have with Peter: on one side, they both needed it in order to solve their problems, but on the other hand he was already suffering so much. Was it really necessary to make him anxious about her sister too? As Gwen thanked everyone and got up to walk away, Betty examined the pros and cons in her head, and decided that yes, she needed to talk to him in person.

𝙂𝙒𝙀𝙉 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙊𝙉𝙄𝘾𝘼 𝙒𝙀𝙍𝙀 𝙒𝘼𝙇𝙆𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙏𝙊𝙂𝙀𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍 in the construction site in which Fred Andrews was working. The raven haired girl was carrying a small plant with her. After a couple of steps taken inside that zone, Gwen looked at her friend and said

Gwen: "Thanks, Veronica, but I really don't want to cause you any disturb."

Then Veronica looked at her with a smile and replied

Veronica: "Nonsense, Gwenny, giving you a ride home is all but a disturb. I told you, I just wanted to give this to my mom, and then we'll go."

Gwen was curious as to why her friend's mother was now working with Archie's dad, and asked

Gwen: "But wasn't your mother working at Pop's with Peter?"

Veronica answered

Veronica: "Yeah but, as you can imagine, the pay wasn't the best."

After a couple more steps, Veronica continued with a more serious tone

Veronica: "After what happened with my dad, my mom is trying her hardest to ensure that we both can lead a somewhat normal life. This little present I got here is just a small way to say 'Thank you for everything you're doing'. She deserves this and much more."

Gwen smiled at what she said and, looking ahead, she said while glancing at her a few times

Gwen: "I know a thing or two about parents struggling for their children."

Veronica understood what she meant and asked

Veronica: "Your father, right?"

Gwen nodded and continued

Gwen: "When mom passed away, dad had to be the father and the mother in the family. He stayed by my side when I cried at night, and he was out there working to ensure I had everything I needed. There are no words to describe how much he means to me. Sometimes I feel like I don't show him enough."

Veronica smiled at her friend and, putting a comforting hand on her arm, said

Veronica: "I'm sure your father knows it, Gwen. Somehow, they always know."

The two girls exchanged friendly smiles and Gwen gently rubbed her arm to silently say her 'thanks'. The two friends noticed a truck moving in front of them, so they briefly stopped, then they side stepped and continued to walk towards Fred Andrews' office, but they saw something that made them stop in their tracks. There, inside the office, Fred Andrews and Hermione Lodge were locked in a passionate kiss. Gwen was shocked to say the least and, as she moved her gaze to Veronica, her reaction wasn't much different than hers, if not understandably worse.

🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸

🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟮 - 𝗚𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗪𝗵𝗼?

🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙇𝙄𝙈𝙊𝙐𝙎𝙄𝙉𝙀 𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙋𝙋𝙀𝘿 right in front of George Stacy's house. The ride was quiet, none of the two girls dared to say anything about what they saw. Before climbing off the expensive car, Gwen put a comforting hand on Veronica's and asked her

Gwen: "V, are you gonna be okay?"

Veronica chuckled a bit before commenting

Veronica: "You called me 'V', Gwenny. That's a bond for life, you know?"

The blonde chuckled as well as she looked at her friend, who looked at her as well and said

Veronica: "I'll be okay."

Gwen nodded and was just about to climb off the car, but then she turned around and hugged Veronica. The latter was surprised, but after a couple of seconds she returned the gesture, appreciating the comfort her friend was giving her. A few moments later, Gwen detached from the hug and, just before exiting the car, she said

Gwen: "I'll call you, okay?"

Veronica nodded with a smile on her face as Gwen then, after giving her another small smile, opened the car door and got out. After the door closed, the car sped away, leaving Gwen on the sidewalk. She turned around and walked towards the entrance of her house. After opening her house, she was greeted by a joyful barking noise. She looked towards the ground to the Golden Retriever puppy that was wiggling its tail upon seeing her. She smiled at the happy puppy and kneeled down to caress it, while saying with her 'puppy voice'

Gwen: "Hey there, Lady. How's my pretty girl?"

After giving her puppy the attention it was seeking, Gwen got up and walked towards his father's study. Once in front of it, she found the door opened and the light on, with her father leaning on the table he was sat down by. She got closer and, once she was close enough, she hugged him from behind and gave him a kiss on the cheek. The man smiled and greeted his daughter

George: "Hey there. I didn't hear you coming in."

She looked at his desk, which had many sheets of paper on, then asked him

Gwen: "You didn't hear Lady either. Tough case?"

In that moment he realised he had been so caught up in his work that he did not hear the door opening up, nor the little puppy barking happily. George rubbed his tired face with his hand while sighing. Gwen could tell he was exhausted and, as she walked around him and stood beside him, she looked at him and asked

Gwen: "I've never seen you like this. What are you working on that has you feeling so tired?"

Now, normally George would simply reply that he couldn't share details of his cases to other people, but in that moment he was truly feeling hopeless, that plus he being tired made him tell her

George: "There has been a series of thefts against Oscorp. Their vans have been robbed while on their way to the New York headquarters."

Gwen furrowed her brows in confusion, then she leaned on the desk to check the many sheets of papers, while asking

Gwen: "When did it all start?"

He leaned back on his chair and replied

George: "Since the start of this year."

Gwen inspected the many papers and, glancing briefly at him, asked

Gwen: "Are there any suspects?"

He sighed and answered dejected

George: "None."

She stopped and, looking at him, asked with a shocked expression

Gwen: "None? Really?"

And George, while looking at her, answered

George: "At least none of which are identifiable. The only shred of evidence we have found..."

He leaned forward and inspected the many sheets of paper on the desk and, finally, he picked up one of them, a photo signage, and passed it to her as he finished

George: "...this."

Gwen picked up the photo and looked at it. It was showing a blurry shadowy figure, with scary glowing green eyes. Those eyes really gave her the creeps. As she brought up her right hand, so that she held the picture with both of them, she asked

Gwen: "What is this?"

He shrugged and answered

George: "We're not sure. The silhouette almost resembles the one of a person, but the image is too distorted to actually determine if it's that, or a drone."

Gwen thought about it for a moment, then asked him

Gwen: "Do you have maybe a digital version of this picture?"

Now George was the confused one and, as he leaned forward, he asked looking at her

George: "What are you thinking?"

Gwen briefly licked her lips and then turned around, looking at him, and said

Gwen: "I might know how to make the image clearer, but I need two things."

George stood up and asked her

George: "What do you need?"

Gwen looked at him and said

Gwen: "A digital copy of this..."

George nodded and replied

George: "Done. What else?"

And Gwen answered

Gwen: "I'll need Peter's help."

But George sighed and said

George: "Gwen, telling you is already breaking the rules, you can't involve another person into this."

But Gwen lowered her hands by her sides and replied

Gwen: "Dad, please, Peter is the most intelligent person I know. He's good with computers. He's the only one who can help us."

He sighed while looking to the side, he lightly shook his head before he brought his gaze back at his daughter, who was looking at him expectantly, waiting for his answer.

𝙋𝙀𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙒𝘼𝙎 𝙄𝙉 𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝙍𝙊𝙊𝙈, attaching something to his chalkboard, when he heard the doorbell from downstairs. He looked in the direction of the door in his room before looking again ahead and closing the blind on the said chalkboard. After that he walked fast downstairs to open the front door and, when he did, he found Betty Cooper standing behind it. He was surprised at the fact that she finally was there in front of him. She was clearly nervous as she looked at him, given by how she was playing with her fingers. They stood there for a brief instant, and Betty then said

Betty: "Hey, Pete."

And he, not knowing what else to say, replied

Peter: "Hi."

After a second he shook a bit his head and opened the door some more to let her in. She sent him a small smile and walked inside the house. He closed the front door and then turned around to look at her. She was still playing with her fingers and he, equally nervous, said

Peter: "I-I'm sorry I didn't call you, I-I was-"

Betty couldn't help but notice that he was stuttering with her. Since they became friends that never happened in all those years, and that made her realise how much she screwed up with him. She stopped him from continuing and said

Betty: "No no, Pete, you don't have to explain anything. It's me who needs to explain things."

She took a few steps forward and continued

Betty: "I ignored you for all this time. I left you alone not giving you an explanation, and I'm really sorry for it."

She then took gently his hands and held them as she said

Betty: "Peter, first of all, you've done nothing wrong. Nothing, okay?"

After he nodded, she continued

Betty: "If I'm keeping something from you, it's not because I want to. I want to be honest with you, but I can't be for the moment. This is a very complicated situation, and as soon as I can, I'll be completely honest, I swear. You do trust me, right?"

Peter was still worried, but he was also relieved. He was really glad that his girlfriend wasn't ignoring him for something he did. But what situation was so complicated that she couldn't tell him what was going on? Regardless of his doubts, there was one thing he was sure about, and he told her with a smile on his face

Peter: "I do, Betty. I always have, and I always will."

She smiled at him and then, after glancing briefly at his lips, she leaned forward and kissed him tenderly. He brought his right hand up to gently hold the side of her face and reciprocated the kiss, all the while she brought the hand that he had just left around his torso, to keep him there. The two lovers were lost in their tender moment, and they didn't notice the key twisting, nor the door opening, but they did notice the new voice in the room

Gwen: "Hey, Pete, are you-"

As soon as he heard the voice, Peter detached from the kiss and looked towards the direction the sound was coming from. Just then he saw the confused expression of Gwen Stacy, who was standing at the front door with a pen drive in one hand and a key in the other. He had the expression of a deer caught by the lights, while Gwen's was slowly turning from confused to pissed. He said in a high pitched voice

Peter: "Hey!..."

Then he cleared his voice and continued

Peter: "Gwen, how did you come in?"

Gwen walked a few steps forward and let the door close while saying

Gwen: "May always leaves a spare key under the mat."

She raised the key in her hand as she then, after looking briefly at it, told him

Gwen: "I thought of using it because I thought you were probably sick, and that's why you didn't answer any of my texts or calls, but apparently you are very fine."

She ended the sentence with a nod towards the two lovers, who then looked at each other and, blushing, detached from one another. Peter was rubbing the back of his head as he said

Peter: "Ehm, you see, Betty here just wanted to-"

But Gwen interrupted him, saying

Gwen: "Peter, she's your girlfriend, you don't need to explain what you two do. What you need to explain is why the hell you've been absent today and why you didn't call back me or either one of us today."

Betty, feeling embarrassed and having already done everything she was supposed to, said to the two

Betty: "Ehm, now I should really go."

She said to her

Betty: "We'll see each other tomorrow."

Gwen gave her a friendly nod, not really in the mood for hugs. Then Betty looked at Peter and said with a little smile

Betty: "Bye, Pete."

And he, with an equal small smile, said

Peter: "Bye."

Gwen briefly rolled her eyes at the interaction. She was pissed at him, and she wanted to explode. After Betty shyly left the house, Gwen closed the door and moved her hard gaze back at the young Peter, who gulped in nervousness when he met the scorching gaze of his blonde friend. She then raised her eyebrow and asked

Gwen: "I'm still waiting for an answer, Peter."

No plausible excuse came to his mind when he met again her stare. What could he do in that moment? What lie could he conjure to make her stop digging?

But Peter knew the truth. And the truth was that Gwen was the last person he could lie to for a long time. And, in that moment, only the truth could satisfy her. He briefly turned to the side before looking at her and saying

Peter: "I have to show you something."

After that, he turned around and walked towards the stairs leading to his room. She was momentarily confused, but decided to go along what Peter was up to, and followed him. Was he really about to tell her? Was he really about to drop such a responsibility on her shoulders? It wasn't fair to expose her at such danger, but what else could he do?

The two of them reached the top of the stairs, and Gwen couldn't help but wonder what was it that Peter wanted to show her that would've explained everything she needed to know. Just as she was asking herself this question, Peter opened the door leading to his room. His bedroom was, as always, messy. Gwen noticed how there were, on his desk, scattered pieces of paper, but she couldn't tell what was written on them. Peter walked towards the chalkboard with the blinds lowered to hide what was underneath, then he turned his head to look at her and said

Peter: "Alright, so, ehm...don't panic, okay?"

He then lifted the blinds and revealed to her oldest friend what he was hiding from foreign eyes. Gwen walked a few steps towards the chalkboard while eyeing it curiously and shockingly. The white chalkboard was littered with papers on which there were written key words like "Oscorp", "Robberies" and, at the very top, connected to every single word with a red coloured duck tape, there was an ominous name... "The Vulture".

Peter stood beside her, watching the chalkboard, and explained

Peter: "There have been reports all over the news of thefts against the vans of Oscorp. The police still hasn't identified the responsible, so I've made some investigating on my own, and there was one name that kept being dropped..."

He then walked to the chalkboard and touched decisively with his finger the name at the top, then finished

Peter: "... 'The Vulture'."

He then lowered his arm and looked back at her, saying

Peter: "There have also been reports of people seeing Spider-Man fight against a mysterious figure. I suspect that he is the one he was fighting against."

Gwen listened closely to what Peter was telling her, realizing that he and her father were investigating on the same person. Peter looked at her and, after sighing, said apologetic

Peter: "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I wasn't even sure until last night, which I spent making this sort of...Theft Board or something. Are you mad at me?"

Gwen looked at him, and Peter hoped with all his being that he was convincing enough to let her drop the interrogation. He was expecting some form of rage coming from her, something along the lines of 'How could you keep this from me?' or something like that, but he was surprised when she told him with a serious voice

Gwen: "I need to show you something too."

Then he noticed the small object she held in her now raised hand, a pen drive.

The boy and the girl were looking at the screen of the computer, with Peter sitting by his desk and typing on the electric machine. Gwen explained to him that she convinced her father to let her friend help him with clearing a certain picture. It was all mysterious, but Peter went along with it. After all, she went along with him, so it was only fair. Peter clicked on the file of the image he had to clear and, when it fully loaded, Peter's face paled in shock. In a second, all of his nightmares flashed in his mind, images of his uncle, of the broken neck of his aunt, and the sinister voice of the Vulture in his ears

"I already told you..."

But then the voice changed to his uncle's

"...You will kill everyone close to you"

Then he suddenly felt someone shaking him decisively, along with a voice calling him. He blinked a few times and distinguished the origin of the voice he was hearing, the outline of Gwen Stacy in front of him, with her hands by each side of his face, holding him tenderly now that she saw he came back to his senses. Peter took a few calming deep breaths and, finally, he started to hear and see everything clearly

Gwen: "Peter, hey. You hear me? You're here, you're safe, everything's okay."

Peter breathed deeply as he looked in her eyes, finding in them a comforting feeling, like a lullaby being sang to him by the sweetest of angels. He looked at her and merely asked with a trembling voice

Peter: "G-Gwen...?"

She wasted no time to envelop him in a warm hug, which he hesitantly reciprocated. As she cradled him in her arms, he couldn't manage to hold back any more and just let his emotions come out, he let his tears fall from his eyes, and he let his hiccups reverb in the room.

His aunt May, hearing the commotion, slightly opened the door of her nephew's room and saw Peter crying, but she also saw Gwen cradling him tenderly, while giving him soft kisses on his head to give him comfort. Seeing that, May smiled a bit and, after silently closing the door, left them be.

𝙄𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙈𝙀𝘼𝙉𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀, in the mayor's office, a daughter was having a conversation with her mother

Josie: "Mom, Valerie quit the Pussycats."

The mayor, Sierra McCoy, was inspecting the fliers on her desk for the celebration of 75 years of the Riverdale jubilee and, lifting the gaze from the pile of papers, she looked at her daughter and, shrugging, said

Sierra: "Replace her."

Then she went back to her fliers, while Josie, after hearing the answer her mother gave her, replied with a hopeless tone

Josie: "Val writes our songs. She's irreplaceable."

Upon hearing that, Sierra put the fliers down and, pointing at her daughter, she walked around her desk while saying

Sierra: "No, Josie, you're irreplaceable. Everyone else is...disposable."

Then, standing right in front of her, she continued

Sierra: "You know, maybe it's not such a bad thing to try a new voice. A different sound. You know how your father feels about pop music."

And there it came, the topic they discussed the most every time Josie was preparing for an event with the Pussycats...her father. The famous musician. Every daughter would be excited about showing her musician father what she was capable of. And, in a certain way, Josie was too. She knew what her mother wanted to say, and she answered without missing a beat

Josie: "But it's not pop music this time."

Then her mother, as if she didn't hear a thing her daughter had just told her, turned around and walked back behind her desk while saying

Sierra: "Okay, well, he's catching a red-eye and missing two concerts to see you in this variety show."

Once behind her desk, she looked at Josie in the eyes and said what Josie couldn't stand to hear anymore

Sierra: "I would hate for you to let him down."

Those who thought that having an important father must've been great, did not know what they were talking about. Pressure, expectations, all on Josie's shoulders as she, briefly glancing to her right to get rid of that itchy sensation in the back of her head at the annoying reminder by her mother, looked at her and calmly replied

Josie: "I understand, and I won't."

And, right away, not noticing what her daughter must've been feeling, she said back while pointing at herself

Sierra: "Good, because if you do, he will somehow blame me."

And this lets us see another layer of this unfortunate situation. Pressure and expectation put on Sierra's shoulders too by her husband, thus making Josie's burden twice as heavy. Sierra didn't stop there and continued

Sierra: "Find yourself a new cat. Someone skinny and beautiful..."

Josie exhaled with a frustrated and helpless expression on her face. So many expectations, so much pressure for a school event. Her mother just wouldn't listen, or understand her. The woman walked around her desk once again and continued

Sierra: "...but not more skinny and beautiful than you."

Then, standing in front of her, she continued

Sierra: "And a woman of color, please, Josie, don't forget our branding."

Josie nodded while saying a simple

Josie: "Okay."

Then her mother continued

Sierra: "And Josie?"

After a brief pause, she put her hands on each side of her daughter's face and finished by slowly saying

Sierra: "Don't disappoint."

There she was, Josie McCoy, a beautiful and talented young girl, trying to survive under the crashing weight of the pressure of the expectations put on her shoulders by her mother and her father. One can only imagine what kind of childhood the young woman must've had. And, just when Sierra was about to walk back behind her desk, there was a knock on the door. Both the mayor and her daughter turned to look at the door, as Sierra removed her hands from Josie's face, and noticed that, standing in front of the door, was the mayor's assistant. The nameplate on her jacket read 'Lily'. The latter, after knocking on the wooden door, said

Lily: "I'm sorry to disturb you, Mrs. McCoy."

Sierra turned her body to face the woman completely and asked

Sierra: "Don't worry, Lily, what's the matter?"

The woman took a few tentative steps inside and said

Lily: "There's a call for you."

Sierra was confused and asked

Sierra: "A call? By whom?"

And Lily replied

Lily: "It's...it's from your brother."

Sierra's face, after showing a brief moment of surprise, became rigid. Her expression became hard in a matter of seconds, as she said

Sierra: "I understand. You may go, Lily."

Josie was pretty confused, and asked with uncertainty

Josie: "Your brother? Wait, is it uncle-"

But, before she could say his name, her mother said sharply, while still looking ahead

Sierra: "Don't speak his name."

She sighed and, after a few seconds, she walked behind her desk and said to her daughter

Sierra: "I have things to do now, Josie, we'll see each other at home."

Josie was left speechless. She didn't know much about her uncle, just that her mother evidently despised him for some reason. Not being able to do much else, she left her mother's office with more questions than before.

The young girl walked out of the city hall feeling stressed beyond words at the prospect of disappointing her father. He was an important man in the music industry, and she wanted him to be proud of her, but the bar was raised so high that she had no idea how to do that. Dejected and overwhelmed, she sat down on a nearby bench with a sigh, her head held low, her eyes closed. Like a labyrinth with no exit, Josie felt like she had no escape from the situation she was in. Expectations, expectations, expectations...a soporific forest drowned in darkness, and Josie had no breadcrumbs trail to help her find the way out.

Just when she thought she was all alone, a sound caught her attention, a horn to be precise. She raised her head and, in front of her, an expensive black limousine. Initially she thought it was Veronica Lodge headed back to her Crystal Palace at Pembrooke, but then the door window slid down, revealing someone she never thought she would've met...Harry Osborn. All of a sudden, her mother and her father left her thoughts, and all the attention she had left was focused on the beautiful long haired boy from New York who held her heart in his hand without even knowing it. As one would expect, Josie's expression clearly showed shock, but she quickly wiped that out, standing up straight, and she mustered the most realistic confident expression she had. Harry had spotted the girl with chocolate skin by mistake, and he noticed right away that her mood wasn't the best. So, just like Peter would've done, he wanted to help her. If he did notice the way her expression morphed from shock to fake confidence, he didn't say that. Instead, he looked at her with a smile and asked

Harry: "Josie, what are you doing here all alone?"

And she, trying to keep her voice calm as much as she could, along with a joking tone, replied

Josie: "What? Can't a girl sit on a bench without some guy in a limo disturbing her?"

Harry picked up on the joke and the two exchanged a few chuckles, then he asked her in a more serious tone

Harry: "A girl doesn't usually sit alone on a bench with her mood down just for fun. Is everything okay?"

Josie was surprised he picked up on her mood since they did never really talk, and then said dismissively

Josie: "Oh, yeah. You know, just...family things."

Harry noticed how she emphasised on the term and, imagining that there was indeed a problem, said

Harry: "Hmm, yeah, I can imagine. Hey, look, dad lets me bring friends today, but I haven't really found anyone to invite. Would you like to have dinner with us?"

Josie could not believe her ears. The Harry Osborn was inviting her to dinner at his home. Yeah, there was his dad too, but that wasn't the point. When would such a chance present itself again? Without thinking, she said

Josie: "Really? I-I mean, yeah, sure, I would love to."

Harry chuckled briefly at her embarrassment, which he found cute, while she cursed herself for her stutter, thinking that Peter Parker was starting to rub off on her in a bad way. Once she accepted, Harry opened the car door for her and scooted a bit towards the bottom of the seat and then, after nodding in his direction, said to her

Harry: "Great. Hop on, then."

Josie didn't wait another second as she, with a wide smile on her face that she desperately tried to hide for the most part, hopped inside the car - right beside him - and got comfortable. After she closed the door, Harry said to the driver

Harry: "Home, Bernie, please."

To which the butler replied with

Bernard: "Of course, master Osborn."

He then exchanged a look with Josie, to which he sent a friendly smirk, and to which she replied with an embarrassing wide smile as she turned her head to the other side.

𝙋𝙀𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙃𝘼𝘿 𝙁𝙄𝙉𝘼𝙇𝙇𝙔 𝙈𝘼𝙉𝘼𝙂𝙀𝘿 to calm himself down after Gwen cradled him in her arms. She was shocked at what had happened, as she had never seen Peter in such a state before. Panic attacks just weren't him, or so she thought. After helping him sit on the bed, she kneeled down in front of him and, while stroking tenderly his hands, she asked with concern on her face and calmness in her voice

Gwen: "How are you now?"

He looked at her and, nodding, replied

Peter: "Better, thanks."

She sent him a small smile that he reciprocated, but the exchange didn't last long, as the gravity of the situation surfaced in both their minds: Gwen realised that maybe she wasn't so far from the truth that morning, and Peter instead realised that he had just had a panic attack for the first time in front of someone else. A panic attack about his adversary, one that he underestimated for too long, and that now had become so much dangerous that his mind was practically haunted by him. And he was not even counting the other ghosts haunting him in his sleep. But now they weren't only in his nightmares anymore. Vulture brought them to the real world, and now they tormented him even when he was awake. She rubbed the side of his hands with her thumbs, catching his attention. When he looked at her, she asked him with the same calm and soothing tone

Gwen: "Do you want to talk about it?"

He looked at her, then lowered his gaze towards the ground to think. Did he want to talk about what happened? He should've had, Gwen was his best and oldest friend, he could trust her. Yet, something in him was blocking him from doing it. He didn't know why, but he couldn't bring himself to tell her how he was feeling. Without looking at her, he simply shook his head. Gwen couldn't help but feel terrible and frustrated. Not with Peter, of course, but with herself. Harry was her boyfriend, and Peter was her dearest and oldest friend, and yet neither of them could bring himself to open up with her. Was there something wrong with her? Did she do something that made them feel unsafe with her? She didn't know, and even if tears were threatening to escape her, she knew that it was not about her in that moment: Peter for some reason was feeling the worst she'd ever seen him, and she needed to make him focus on something else other than his panic attack. She silently took a deep breath to get rid of the tears that threatened to fall, then she got up and walked in front of the chalkboard. Peter watched her curiously as she then looked at him and, nodding towards the white surface, asked him

Gwen: "So, what do you think of this guy? Who might he be?"

Peter looked from her to the chalkboard, then he got up and, while walking to stand beside her, replied

Peter: "I have no idea. This guy seems like a ghost. He knows when and where to strike, and he makes sure not to leave evidences of his passage."

Gwen hummed as she, after taking a few seconds to reflect, commented

Gwen: "So what we know about him is that he's resourceful, precise and fast, and he somehow knows when and where to attack. But he also knows which vans he has to hit. It's almost as if..."

Peter caught on what she was thinking and, turning to look at her, he said

Peter: "Right? I thought that too."

Then she asked him

Gwen: "But who could have the informations of the expeditions? Like, who could be the informer?"

Peter exhaled in thought as he turned to look back at the chalkboard. Gwen glanced from the chalkboard to her friend beside her. He just had a panic attack, was it even fair to ask him to help her investigate on something like this? She shook her head and, turning to face him, she said

Gwen: "Peter, look, you were very helpful. My father will appreciate this very much, I know it. But I think you should stop investigating on this, and leave it to him."

But Peter, facing her, asked

Peter: "What? What are you talking about, Gwen?"

And she, taking his hands, said

Gwen: "It's too dangerous. If we're right, and this man discovers what you're doing...I don't even wanna think about it."

But Peter, squeezing her hands, said

Peter: "Gwen, the fact that your dad needed help is the reason why he can't do this on his own. And neither can you. You never abandoned me when I needed you, and now I won't abandon you or your father. Wether you like it or not, we're in this together."

Gwen was stunned. She never expected Peter to react this way, most of all after suffering from his attack. In his place, she probably would've left everything, the whole thing to her dad, but once again Peter proved her he was different than anyone she had ever met. Moved from Peter's determination, the tears that before were about to fall due to sadness and frustration, started now to fall due to happiness and gratitude as she hugged him tightly and, after a few seconds, she whispered in the hug they were sharing

Gwen: "Thank you."

The deal was sealed, and so Peter and Gwen started working together to solve the mystery of The Vulture.

𝙄𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙊𝙎𝘽𝙊𝙍𝙉 𝙈𝘼𝙉𝙎𝙄𝙊𝙉 Harry, Josie and Norman were sitting together, having a family dinner. To say that the situation was embarrassing would be an understatement. Josie brought the glass of water to her mouth to drink, while Norman was silently cutting a piece of his steak, this while glancing from time to time once at his son, once at her, and Harry was desperately trying to avoid his stare. The table was long, with Norman sitting at the head of it and the two teens sitting at the sides, one in front of the other, with some distance from the man. There was an overall deep silence that filled the air, cut only by the light clinking of glasses and the forks on the plates. After some minutes of this, Josie cleared her throat and said to the landlord with a polite tone and a small smile

Josie: "Thanks for inviting me, Mr. Osborn, the food is delicious."

Norman nodded to her, his way to silently say "you're welcome". He then directed his gaze back at Harry and said

Norman: "So, Harry, you didn't tell me you were friends with Miles McCoy's daughter."

Josie perked up at that and asked him

Josie: "You know my father?"

And Norman answered with a polite smile

Norman: "Of course. I'm a fan of jazz music. Plus, I like to keep myself informed on the people in town."

Josie didn't know how to feel about that statement, and Harry was sensing way too much embarrassment in the air for a simple dinner, so he then said with a smile

Harry: "You know, dad, Josie is a musician too."

Norman's eyebrow raised as he made a surprised face and asked intrigued

Norman: "Is she?"

And Josie, a little flustered, replied

Josie: "Yeah, um...I have a band, the Pussycats."

Norman hummed as he, getting back to cutting another piece of his steak, commented

Norman: "Must be exciting, going on stage, being acclaimed by all those people..."

Then she said with a tad of sadness in her voice

Josie: "Actually, um...the best thing of being a Pussycat for me is to perform with my friends. Mel, Val...they're like family to me."

Both Harry and Norman picked up on that sadness, and the latter asked after humming in thought

Norman: "I can't help but sense a bit of sadness in your voice. Are you having problems?"

Josie then mulled the question in her head for a bit and then answered with that same sadness

Josie: "It's..."

She sighed and continued

Josie: "Val left the Pussycats."

Harry had a sorry expression on his face as he said

Harry: "Oh, Josie, I didn't know. I'm sorry."

She shook her head and said with a fake smile

Josie: "Don't worry, it's okay."

Then Norman chimed in and asked

Norman: "Do you know why she left?"

She looked at him and said

Josie: "Archie Andrews."

Both Harry and Norman had puzzled expressions on their faces, for different reasons. The latter's was that he had no idea who the boy was, and Josie, picking up on his perplexed state, explained

Josie: "He's a boy in our school. I swear, he must've used some sort of...love spell or something, because Val can't seem to think about anything else since the last few days."

Norman hummed in thought and then asked her

Norman: "And is he performing too at the variety show?"

She said

Josie: "Yeah, he is. And he managed to steal one of my voices."

Hearing that, Harry tried to intervene

Harry: "Now wait a second, Archie didn't try to-"

But his father interrupted him, saying to her

Norman: "You know, in the business world I have to deal with many adversaries that want to take away things that are mine. Sometimes they fail, sometimes they succeed."

Intrigued, she asked

Josie: "And what do you do when that happens?"

Norman then put down the cutlery and looked at her in the eyes and said with a faint smirk on his face and an ominous voice

Norman: "I take away something from them, something valuable, so that they never dare to try again."

She reflected on his words as he continued

Norman: "Archie has taken something valuable from you. It's time you reciprocate in kind."

She thought about those words, and the idea he proposed her was very appealing. She just had to think on how to make it concrete, all the while Harry watched powerless as his father planted the seeds of something he didn't quite yet know what to call. But there was one thing he was sure of: it wouldn't have been nice.

🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸

🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟯 - 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲

🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸

𝙂𝙒𝙀𝙉 𝙏𝙍𝙄𝙀𝘿 𝙏𝙊 calm herself down as she walked through the doors of Riverdale High, her mind wondering to the night prior, as well as to their plan. She felt unsure, and couldn't help herself from wondering if she did the right thing bringing Peter into that dangerous situation. She walked in the long corridor of the school, squeezing tightly in her hands the shoulder straps of her backpack, trying to even her breathing pattern. The key to make their plan work was to act as much normal as possible, not drawing any attention. Pointless to say it was very much easier to say. Right then she spotted someone in the crowd. The young girl took just a second to recognise the sweet smile and the dark hair belonging to her boyfriend, Harry Osborn. The boy made his way through the crowd of people swarming in the corridor as if that was the hunting grounds of savage animals. Harry finally reached her and she, on pure instinct, latched on him in a tight hug. She needed affection, someone to tell her everything was okay, but the boy who after a brief pause of surprise was now reciprocating the gesture could not know that. So, to shake away any possible suspect, she said in a hushed tone

Gwen: "I missed you."

The naive Harry smiled sweetly, finding the fact that his girlfriend missed him very cute. For a long time he could not shake off the feeling that she was still in love with his best friend, but maybe, just maybe, things were changing, and he couldn't be more happy to know that she was starting to love him just as much as he loved her. Of course, he could not tell her that yet, but for the moment he just basked in the feeling of warm body pressed against him, along with the candid arms wrapped around his slender body. And, after tenderly kissing the top of her head, he said in a sweet tone

Harry: "Me too."

Gwen did in fact miss him. She missed his presence, his reassuring words, the tone of his voice reaching her ears. Those moments made her think back to when their story started: the warm feeling in her chest, the butterflies in her stomach...Harry wasn't just a meaningless rebound, he was more than that. Gwen had made up her mind on the fact that Peter simply wouldn't have ever felt the same way she felt for him. She couldn't shake those feelings away, and they would've probably stayed forever, but she couldn't deny the effect Harry had on her every time he spoke to her like that, or when he hugged her tenderly, or when he kissed her. She was still in love with Peter, but she cared about Harry just as much, and the latter deserved her love more than anyone else. He fought to conquer her heart, and she didn't ignore that.

After staying in that position for a couple more seconds, the pair detached from one another and, as they locked eyes, Harry could have sworn he saw something in them. Anxiety, fear even. He got worried and asked her

Harry: "Is everything okay? You seem preoccupied with something."

She gave him a smile as she shook briefly her head with her eyes closed, she looked at him with that same smile and said

Gwen: "No, it's nothing. It's just..."

Although that fake smile faltered when she looked back at him in the eyes. Harry sensed her uneasiness and, after caressing her shoulder, he said

Harry: "You can tell me about it."

She mulled the proposition in her head for a bit and, just when she opened her mouth, ready to answer him, the two teens heard the huge doors open from down the corridor, along with several whistles reverberating in the hallway. Harry and Gwen turned their heads to the side from which the sounds were coming from, and what they saw - or rather who they saw - made their mouths open in shock and surprise. It was the all well known groups of girls called The Pussycats, formed by Josie, Val and Mel. Nothing really shocking about them. What was really surprising the two teens was the fact that, instead of Val, there was another well known girl replacing her... Veronica Lodge. The Latina girl walked alongside Josie and Mel with confidence, noticing how all of the students' eyes were on her now, on them. She gave a particularly long look at Archie Andrews, who was leaning on the lockers with Val beside him. It was clear that they interrupted their conversation, and this made it even funnier for Veronica. But she wasn't the only one throwing looks, as Josie met the eyes of the rich boy that was standing beside Gwen. Harry then thought about the advice his father gave her about her situation with Val, and suddenly everything was clear. Josie enjoyed the expression full of shock on both Val's and the young Osborn's faces as she and her band confidently walked away, leaving an admiring crowd behind them. Harry and Gwen looked in the direction where the band was heading and the blonde commented with a surprised tone

Gwen: "Leave it to Veronica to make great entrances. Since when is she a Pussycat?"

Harry didn't reply as he merely stared ahead sighing, thinking that he definitely needed to exchange a few words with the young musician.

𝘽𝙀𝙏𝙏𝙔'𝙎 𝙃𝙀𝘼𝙍𝙏 𝙒𝘼𝙎 𝙏𝙃𝙐𝙈𝙋𝙄𝙉𝙂 in her chest as she and Jughead walked down the bus that led them to their destination: The Sisters of Quiet Mercy. There it was, the building was right in front of them. And inside there, her sister Polly, who she hadn't seen in months. In that moment, her mind was filled with her parents' words, all the things they told her about Polly. They told her that her sister was ill, that she couldn't reason with her head, that she was dangerous for herself and other people. With all of that in mind, what could she expect to find there? Was Polly really ill, or was that another lie conceived by her parents to make her see her sister like some sort of desperate case, like a vase too fragile to touch even with the lightest pressure? For months they told her that she couldn't visit her sister, because she would've suffered one of her crises. And now she was there, in front of the building where her sister had been kept against her will for months by her own parents. What had they done to her? Was she suffering? How long had she wondered when her sister would come to save her? Was it already too late? Jughead sensed Betty's uneasiness, her anxiety, her worry for her sister, and that brought him back a few months, when her sister had just been sent to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy...

It was late at night, and he had seen everything that morning. The white van, the two men in uniform carrying the poor Polly Cooper away from home, directed to God knew where. The other Cooper had her window open, like every other night, and he needed to see her, he needed to know if she was okay, and if he could help her somehow. Jughead walked closer to the household and, after looking left to right to ensure no one was nearby, he got closer to the bushes right below the girl's room and retrieved the trusted wooden ladder. He raised it and leaned it on the house wall, so that he could climb up. As he started climbing the ladder, he called his friend over in a bit hushed voice in order to not startle her too much

Jughead: "Betty! Hey, Betty! I'm coming in!"

No answer could be heard, but the more he climbed up, the more he could hear a faint sound. As he could finally look inside the room, he knew what that sound was. Betty Cooper was there, sat down on her bed, holding her face in her hands as her shoulders raised and lowered in hiccups. She was crying, and he couldn't blame her. He didn't know what happened with her sister, but he knew for sure that he wasn't gonna stay there and watch. He climbed inside the room, not saying anything, and walked closer to the bed. When he got close enough, he sat down beside her and tentatively put a hand on her shoulder. Betty slightly jumped in fright, evidently not having heard him coming in. Jughead retreated his hand, sorry for startling her. After realising it was just Jughead beside her, she threw herself at him, hugging him tightly, crying desperately. He didn't know what to do, so he merely reciprocated the embrace. They stayed like that, her crying and him hugging her and, after some minutes, the only other thing he could do was to simply say in a comforting tone

Jughead: "Don't worry. I'm here with you. Everything will be okay."

Those words didn't solve the problem, they didn't bring her sister back home, but for Betty they were more than enough for the moment, and she felt comforted.

Jughead held that memory close, because from then on he sweared that he wouldn't have ever left the blonde dealing with such difficult situations all by herself. He would've stayed by her side 'till the very end. And, to try to bring her to a less anxious state, he said to her half sarcastically

Jughead: "Hey, don't judge a home for troubled youths by its facade, right?"

Betty just looked ahead at the 'Home for troubled youths' and took a deep breath. Then, after tightening her ponytail, she walked ahead decisively, ready to find out the truth. And Jughead, like the loyal friend he was, followed her promptly, ready to give her all the support she needed, and ready to uncover the mystery revolving around Polly Cooper and Jason Blossom.

𝘽𝙐𝙏 𝘽𝙀𝙏𝙏𝙔 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙅𝙐𝙂𝙃𝙀𝘼𝘿 𝙒𝙀𝙍𝙀𝙉'𝙏 the only ones investigating on something bigger than them, because Peter Parker, the shy boy of Riverdale, was on a secret mission that day as well. While Gwen had to make sure his aunt didn't know where he actually was instead of being at school, he had to go to the Oscorp tower at New York to find out more about the stolen vans and the possible  informer. The teens reasoned about it, and all the informations were sent to the many Oscorp centres from the main tower in New York. The young boy had never visited the Big Apple before. As Peter looked outside the bus window, he was astonished by how tall the skyscrapers actually were. He swallowed, thinking that it would've been utterly terrifying to swing from one to another. He shook his head, not wanting to think about that, and he focused again on his objective. He swiftly pressed the button to call the next stop and, when the bus stopped, Peter walked down and he looked around. He was in New York, he was actually there, in the Avengers' territory. As he looked around, he easily spotted his objective: Oscorp tower. The building was extraordinary tall, even more than the others.

As he made his way towards the tower, he was still trying to figure out how to get in. If he walked in as Peter Parker, people would've asked him to show identification, and if he showed as Spider-Man and someone saw him...well, for all he knew, they could even call the Avengers on him. He tried to even his breathing as he approached the tower in front of him. He was standing on the sidewalk, looking up at the impressive building, as many cars passed by it. As risky as it was, Spider-Man was his only chance. He was just about to head to a nearby alley to change into his costume when, all of a sudden, a voice called him

???: "Peter!"

He turned around and saw none other than Norman Osborn, who was just now getting down from his expensive car. He had a genuine smile on his face, just like every other time he met the young boy. The man gave the keys of his car to the parking attendant, who swiftly climbed inside the car and drove towards the parking lots under the building. Norman walked a few steps forward and, as he stood in front of the boy, he commented

Norman: "I didn't expect you here today. Don't you have school?"

Peter gave a small smile to the man and, keeping his stutter at bay, said

Peter: "Yeah, I do, but I'm working on an article for the Blue and Gold, and I was hoping to ask you a few questions. That is, if you're not too busy for it, Mr. Osborn."

Norman nodded, impressed by the boy's entrepreneurship. He had a clear goal in mind, so he took the bus and travelled from Riverdale to New York to get it done. The man smiled at the boy and, patting him on his shoulder and starting to walk with him towards the entrance, said to him

Norman: "Nonsense, I'm always ready to receive someone so determined as you are."

They arrived in front of the security and, before they could check Peter, Norman stopped them and said

Norman: "The boy is with me."

The security let the two pass and the two continued in their path, the man leading the boy through the huge hall that was the entrance. Peter was amazed by the inside of the tower. Everything felt both professional and technologically advanced. As they proceeded on the escalators, Norman noticed his wandering eyes, that special sparkle in them, and said

Norman: "You know, a brilliant young mind like yours could benefit greatly in a place like this."

For a moment Peter forgot what he was there for and, as they continued walking now being in the upper floor, he looked at him surprised and asked incredulously

Peter: "A-Are you offering me a job?!"

The man chuckled at his excitement and, while opening the huge door to his office for the young lad, he said to him

Norman: "Don't get ahead of yourself, boy, I'm not offering you a job..."

Peter for a moment felt dejected as he stopped in the middle of the room, but then the man continued

Norman: "...you're still a minor after all. What I'm offering you is an opportunity to grow and make a name of yourself."

Peter looked at him intriguingly as the man, after sitting on his armchair behind his desk, continued

Norman: "Since the company organises regular internships throughout the year, and since I happen to own this company, I could make you live this experience with a simple phone call. That is, if you're interested."

Peter felt almost overwhelmed as he looked at the man and, after getting closer to the desk, asked him

Peter: "Wow, uhm...thanks, Mr. Osborn, but isn't there a sort of, I don't know, contest to win the internship?"

The man smiled at him and replied

Norman: "Tell me, Peter, do you think that a multi-millionaire company bases their internships program on some simple high school contest?"

Peter remained quiet, not knowing what to say, then Norman signed him to sit down on the chair in front of him and, after the boy did that, he continued

Norman: "Each year we receive from schools the curriculums of every single student, and we make our decisions basing on that data months before the high school contest."

Peter was very perplexed by that and asked

Peter: "But, isn't this a bit illegal?"

Norman smiled again at him and, after leaning forward with joined hands, he said

Peter: "Quite frankly, Peter, yes, it's a bit illegal. We shouldn't have access to the students' curriculums."

And then Peter, confused, asked

Peter: "But if it's illegal, then why-"

But Norman finished the question for him

Norman: "Why telling you?"

The boy nodded and the man, leaning on his chair with his hands always joined

Norman: "If I'm telling you, is because I've known you for years, and I've always noticed how wise beyond your years you are. And I know you'll understand perfectly why this is our policy."

Peter waited patiently as the man got up from his chair and walked towards the large windows with his arms behind his back. After a second of silence, he said

Norman: "There are 4759 employees in this building. That number is nothing, if compared to all the workers we have in the hundreds of Oscorp centres in the country. This company is known to be the most prestigious and efficient in all the territory. You can certainly see the huge responsibility laying on my shoulders."

The man slightly turned so that he could side-face the teen, then said

Norman: "I have to make sure my company works, and that it keeps both the prestige and efficiency that characterised it until now." he shook slightly his head while saying "I cannot afford to leave anything to chance."

Then, as he slowly walked back towards his desk, he said

Norman: "And I also have to take into consideration Harry's future."

He sat down on his chair and said

Norman: "What would it be of him if I didn't do my very best to ensure this company's survival?"

Peter listened carefully to the man's words, and he understood his reasonings. Like him, Norman had to take care of many people, including most importantly his son, his only family member left after the death of his wife. Peter could certainly empathise with him on that matter. Still, Peter was still confused about something, and asked

Peter: "But then, why organising a contest?"

Norman leaned back in his chair and, with a confident smirk, replied

Norman: "Ambition. We're not only looking for brilliant minds, but also for ambitious ones that are ready to risk."

He then pointed his finger at the young boy and said

Norman: "And you, young Peter, you are one ambitious boy. You proved that by coming here on your own, by taking a risk and not being afraid of failure. Minds like yours are the future of this company."

He then got up and, after buttoning his jacket's first button, he started

Norman: "So, Mr. Parker..."

He walked around his desk and stood beside a now as well standing Peter, then asked

Norman: "...are you interested?"

Peter looked at him, seeing for the first time not just the father of his best friend, but a man caring deeply for his people and willing to protect them the best he could, as well as a benefactor who saw his potential and wanted to help him. Peter imagined how much this opportunity would've helped both him and his aunt in the future. So, after making up his mind, he looked at Norman in the eyes and nodded decisively. The man had a proud smile on his face and, lending a hand to a reciprocating Peter, they shook them and the man said to the boy

Norman: "Now we're officially in business, Mr. Parker."

Peter had a wide smile on his face, thinking that maybe things were finally starting to go in the right direction for him. After shaking hands, the man went again behind his desk and, as he was sitting down, he asked

Norman: "So, I recall you had something to ask me for your article. Go on, ask away."

But, just when Peter opened his mouth to ask the first question regarding the thefts of the vans, someone knocked on the door. Norman moved his gaze towards the source of the noise, just as Peter turned around to check who knocked, and in front of the door there was a man now walking inside there. It was a robust man with a hat and a pair of protective goggles on his head. He walked towards the desk with a sheet of paper in his hands and said with a cautious yet excited tone

???: "I'm sorry, Mr. Osborn, there are some important developments you should really-"

But Norman interrupted him with a stern voice

Norman: "Can't you see I have a guest here?"

Peter watched the exchange as the man, then, said back with the same excited tone

???: "I know, Mr. Osborn, but these are really-"

Then Norman stood up and said in the same stern voice

Norman: "As I already said, Mr. Mason, I have a guest."

The man looked dejected, while Peter on the other hand had a shocked expression on his face as his eyes widened slightly. That name was the same one belonging to the man the Vulture was speaking to the first night he met him. As Peter was still contemplating the situation he was in, Mason said with a dejected and now more formal voice

Mason: "Very good, Mr. Osborn, I apologise for the disturb."

𝖯𝗅𝖺𝗒𝖾𝖽 𝖻𝗒 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐮𝐬

After that, the man turned around and walked out of the office, with Peter following his movements closely. Norman cleared his throat and, while sitting back down on his chair, said to the boy

Norman: "I'm sorry you had to see that."

Peter asked the man

Peter: "If I'm not inappropriate, who was that man?"

Norman shrugged and said

Norman: "Oh, no one important, just a crazy genius that sometimes needs to be kept in check."

Then he asked the boy

Norman: "So, what did you want to ask me?"

🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸

🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟰 - 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙋𝙐𝙎𝙎𝙔𝘾𝘼𝙏𝙎 𝙒𝙀𝙍𝙀 in the music hall to rehearse their song for the Variety show. Veronica started to really get in tune with the girls in the band, especially Josie. She seemed very stuck up and rude when she got mad at her for using the phone, but she backtracked when the raven haired girl explained her the situation she was in. Josie, on the other hand, started to see Veronica in a new light, and not just as the privileged rich girl she thought her to be. In a way, they were similar: they both were talented young girls who always stood their ground, they both had a sort of legacy to carry on, and they both had "daddy issues". Their families were not the most normal type one could find in the town of Riverdale, nor the healthiest ones, but they still managed to push through the darkness they were forced to cross in that particular time. Veronica was really hoping that, somehow, the situation with her father and her mother would be solved as soon as possible, while Josie was really hoping to make her dad proud of her.

As they just finished singing the last verse of their song, they heard someone knocking at the door. Upon looking towards it, they saw it was none other than Gwen Stacy. The blonde took a few tentative steps forward and asked

Gwen: "Hi, girls. Ehm, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but may I speak to Veronica for a moment?"

The girls glanced at Veronica, who nodded swiftly at her friend and followed her outside. The rich girl had a guess at what her friend wanted to talk about, and she was proved right when Gwen asked her with a surprised smile

Gwen: "So, since when are you a Pussycat?"

Veronica smiled at her and replied

Veronica: "It was a last minute decision."

Gwen though was confused and asked

Gwen: "But what about Archie? I thought 'Veronica-Ex-Machina' had that covered?"

Veronica chuckled briefly at the name, before her expression turned grim and said

Veronica: "She had, but Archie felt different."

Gwen's expression now showed clear confusion, as she asked

Gwen: "What happened?"

And Veronica, after sighing, said

Veronica: "Val quit the Pussycats, and Archie didn't waste any second to replace me."

Gwen's confusion morphed into sadness and a right amount of anger at what she told her, as she said

Gwen: "Oh, V, that's awful..."

Then Veronica added with frustration evident in her voice

Veronica: "And not only that: he also had the audacity to ask me if I wanted my spot back! Yeah, as if he was doing me a favour. Well, now he has his precious Val, that...that ginger Judas..."

Gwen listened to what the city girl said, and also payed close attention to her tone and the emotions that were now being freed from within her. Suddenly, a realisation hit her, and she said with a sure voice

Gwen: "You like him."

Veronica, who by now had her head held down in frustration, raised it and looked at her blonde friend in shock, then asked

Veronica: "What?"

And Gwen, even more sure than before, repeated

Gwen: "You like Archie, Veronica."

The raven haired girl exhaled a clearly fake laugh from Gwen's perspective, then said in a defensive demeanour

Veronica: "Yeah, sure, as if!"

At that, Gwen crossed her arms with an unamused expression and merely looked at her with a raised eyebrow. After a few moments of silence, Veronica understood that no lie she could've conjured could have convinced her otherwise, so she dropped the act and, after sighing dejected, she asked

Veronica: "What made you realise it?"

Gwen's lip twitched slightly up from one side as she said

Gwen: "Every time Peter made me furious, I had your same reaction."

After a moment of brief silence, both Veronica and Gwen chuckled at their situation and the young Lodge said jokingly

Veronica: "I swear, boys can be so stupid sometimes."

Gwen then, with a helpless smile on her face, commented

Gwen: "And yet we can't help but love them."

Veronica nodded, agreeing completely with Gwen. After a few moments of silence, she said with a now more serious and dejected tone

Veronica: "I really like him. I don't know why, but I do. But he just..."

She then paused, frustrated, and then continued

Veronica: "And now there's that Val chick that he clearly has the hots for, and..."

She then sighed and said

Veronica: "I'm such a fool, Gwenny."

The blonde girl listened carefully to her friend and, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder and a reassuring smile on her face, said

Gwen: "You're not a fool for liking someone, Veronica, even if he can't reciprocate those feelings at the moment. I happen to know some of it."

Veronica briefly smiled at that, then she asked helpless

Veronica: "But then what can I do?"

And Gwen, with the same smile on her face and the hand on her friend's shoulder, said

Gwen: "You stay by their side. You let them know you're there for them, even if not in the way you'd want to. At the end of the day, Archie cares about you. He's an idiot..."

Veronica laughed at that last statement, then Gwen continued

Gwen: "...but he cares about you. And, wether it happens or not, don't leave him. Because, if you do, you're going to regret it."

Veronica nodded with a small smile on her face and, as Gwen removed her hand from her friend's shoulder, the Lodge girl commented

Veronica: "You're seriously the coolest girl I've ever met, Gwen."

And Gwen, in reply, commented with a shrug

Gwen: "I'm not cool, just another fool."

The two friends shared a laugh as they walked side by side in the corridor.

𝙋𝙀𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝘾𝙊𝙐𝙇𝘿𝙉'𝙏 𝘽𝙀𝙇𝙄𝙀𝙑𝙀 𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝙀𝘼𝙍𝙎. As he exited from the office belonging to Norman Osborn, he couldn't stop thinking about the name of the man that had walked inside a few minutes prior...

" Mason... "

That name echoed in the young Parker's mind. He already heard that name being pronounced. But could that be possible? Could he really have found the man working with his nemesis? He had no description of him, no full name, no confirmed information on where he worked. He only had his theories, and his instincts. And both of them were telling him to go back inside the building and snuck a confession out of the man. Peter stopped in his tracks and turned around to look at the building. He knew what he had to do, but Peter Parker could never break a confession out of a criminal. To make that man talk was a job for Spider-Man.

𝘽𝙀𝙏𝙏𝙔 𝙒𝘼𝙎 𝙎𝙄𝙏𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 in her room, in front of her mirror, holding her pendant in between her thumb and forefinger. She exhaled, looking down at her lap, thinking about the time her sister Polly gifted her that pendant. It was before the Jason Blossom mess, before she was sent away by her own parents, before the world turned crazy. She gave it to her as an insurance: as long as she had it hanging from her neck, she would've always stayed with her, no matter how far they were. And now the blonde girl was holding onto it for dear life. She just couldn't believe it. Not only did her parents lie to her about Polly, but they also lied to her sister about Jason. How could they keep it from her that the father of her child was now dead? She couldn't even recognise her parents. Were they always like that?

While her mind was haunted by those questions, she heard a knock on her glass door. She turned to look towards it and saw none other that Jughead Jones looking back at her. Her expression went from sad to surprised as she, with a confused smile, checked back at the door before getting up from her chair and walking towards the window. Then, as she was biting her lip with that same smile, she opened the window. Jughead was there, perched on top of the same wooden ladder, he looked at her and asked sarcastically

Jughead: "Hey, there, Juliet. Nurse off duty?"

She just smiled wide as she walked to the side to let him get inside. As he climbed in the room, he asked her

Jughead: "You haven't gone full 'Yellow Wallpaper' on me yet, have you?"

She turned to slowly walk to the center of her room as she, sighing and shrugging, exclaimed helpless

Betty: "They're crazy."

She then turned to look at him briefly, before moving her gaze to the side and finishing

Betty: "My parents are crazy."

She took a few more steps as he then said something that made her turn towards him again

Jughead: "They're parents, they're all crazy."

Once she had turned around, she started ask

Betty: "No, but what if...? What if Polly is too? The way she was talking to me, the way she looked at me..."

As she walked slowly towards her bed, Jughead walked around and followed her with his gaze as he kept listening

Betty: "And now all I can think is...maybe I'm crazy like they are."

Jughead did not like one bit the fact that now his best friend was doubting herself like that. He walked forward and stood in front of her, then he put a comforting hand on her shoulder and said in a warm and comforting tone

Jughead: "Hey."

She sighed as she listened to him

Jughead: "We're all crazy."

And, just like that, she chuckled. Jug always managed to make her laugh. He continued

Jughead: "We're not our parents, Betty. We're not our families."

They were standing in front of each other now, looking into each other's eyes, as he then said with his same warm and comforting tone

Jughead: "And, even if you were absolutely nuts, do you remember what I promised you?"

She looked at him curiously as he, then, said

Jughead: "I'm here with you. I will always be here with you."

They were standing one in front of the other, looking into each other's eyes, and slowly the world around them started to fade more and more into nothingness. Betty didn't know how or why, but Jughead's tone was always soothing for her. She kept her gaze on him, a strange sparkle in both hers and his eyes, and murmured

Betty: "You're always here for me when I need you."

Jughead looked at her in the eyes and, with a slight nod, said

Jughead: "I am."

She glanced briefly at his lips before looking back at his eyes, and murmured

Betty: "You are always ready to go above and beyond to make me happy."

He glanced at her lips before looking back at her eyes, and murmured in reply

Jughead: "I am."

Without them knowing, they got closer each passing second. As they were merely millimetres apart, she said in a whisper

Betty: "You're here right now..."

And he, with the same whispered tone, replied

Jughead: "I am..."

𝙋𝙀𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙃𝘼𝘿 𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝙎𝙐𝙄𝙏 𝙊𝙉, and he was already regretting his choice by now. He was crawling on the ceiling, searching for the man named Mason, all the while trying not to be noticed by anyone. But he had to admit that, all things considered, his Parker luck was being generous with him that day. After all, he was able to easily find the accomplice of the man with the wings. And now this was his chance to find out who he really was. Just as that thought crossed his mind, he spotted the man himself, Mason, walking in the corridor he was in. He was holding a few papers in his hand and walked with haste, as if he had something important to do. Maybe he was about to warn Vulture about another van? Peter couldn't let that happen. He swiftly crawled, following him until he entered inside of a room. Peter was fast to crawl inside before the door closed. The man walked towards his messy desk and moved the papers on it in a haste, looking for something that was probably important. The door was closed, there were no windows, and no one else in sight, that was his chance. Peter dropped suddenly on the man's desk, scaring him and making him fall back on his butt with a yelp. Peter tilted his head as he looked at the man and said

Spider-Man: "Hello there."

The man was slightly panting, not knowing what to say in a situation like that. And, to be totally honest, Peter didn't know what to say either. Sure, he had already interrogated FP, but this was a man that he had never met, and he had no idea how to approach the subject. But, since he had already showed himself, he decided to go with the flow and said

Spider-Man: "Hmm, not a Star Wars fan, huh? Alright, I can work with that. I'll make it simple for you, Mason: you tell me who the Vulture is and why he's robbing all the Oscorp vans, and I don't hang you on the wall by your underwear. Seems like a fair deal to me, don't you agree?"

The man had a confused look on his face and asked

Mason: "W-What? T-The Vulture? I-I don't understand. What are you talking about?"

Peter scratched the back of his head and said sarcastically

Spider-Man: "Weird, to me it seemed like a very simple concept. The Vulture, the man with the wings that's robbing Oscorp. He always hits the vans in motion. There is someone that's giving him the informations he needs, and that's you. Give me his name and his motive. I wanna know what's his plan. Tell me, and I won't hang you on the wall."

The man seemed genuinely confused as he said

Mason: "Mr. Spider-Man, sir, I-I don't know what you're talking about. I-I've never heard of a Vulture. I-I mean, I know our vans' cargo have been stolen, but I don't know anything about the man you're talking about."

Peter was torn. What cards did he have in his hands? A man he accused basing only on a suspicion, that now was probably terrified, and no lead to Vulture's next move. It was a good thing Mason couldn't see his helpless expression, as now the hero had legitimately no idea of what to do. After a few moment, suddenly Mason spoke

Mason: "Look, I-I can help. I'm quite good with computers. Maybe b-by checking the list of delivery, you can c-come up with a plan."

Once again, Peter was surprised by his Parker luck, as Mason's wasn't actually a bad idea. He looked at the man now on his feet and said with a nod

Spider-Man: "Show me."

The man had a small smile on his face as he walked rapidly towards his desk, getting behind it and turning his computer on. Peter followed him with his gaze and, as the man started typing, he jumped on the wall, perching on it to look at the screen. After a few moments, Mason opened a file that contained dates and details of all the shipments. Mason pointed at one in particular with his finger and said

Mason: "See, t-tonight there's gonna be a new shipment to be delivered to us from the Riverdale site. B-But it's in a few hours, so you have to hurry."

Peter was about to just go and swing as fast as he could, but he stopped himself. He already knew how that would've ended, and if the outcome of this fight would've been not the one he was hoping for, he could've put himself and the ones he loved to mortal danger. He needed to even the odds, he needed find an advantage over his enemy, and the only way he could think of was a certain abandoned warehouse he found. In his mind he conjured a plan and, as he held his chin in thought, said

Spider-Man: "Hmm, that's exactly what he'd want me to do: go there and try to stop him, but I'm tired of this routine."

And Mason asked him

Mason: "D-Do you have a plan?"

Peter looked at him and said

Spider-Man: "I think so. I have another place to go to."

He then jumped up and attached to the ceiling, he crawled until he was in front of the door, then he turned to look at Mason and, as he pointed his web-shooter at him, he fired a spider-tracer and said

Spider-Man: "I'll keep in touch."

Peter then opened the door and crawled towards the nearest window. He opened it and jumped out, while also webbing his backpack to him from the side of the building. He needed to hurry and take the first train for Riverdale in order to arrive in time. He was again lucky enough to find a fast train that had Riverdale as the first stop. He quickly went to a secluded room and changed into his civilian clothes. Once on the train, it was only a matter of time before he would've arrived. Right then, he received a message from Gwen

🎶Music4Life🎤🎸🥁

Pete, where the hell are you?! Did you find anything out? Are you okay?

Peter totally forgot to update Gwen on what happened, but now he couldn't explain, so he simply texted her

Peter❤️❤️❤️

I can't talk right now, but I'll explain everything once I get back.

He didn't have to wait long before another text from her arrived

🎶Music4Life🎤🎸🥁

We have saved you a spot beside us. Hurry up or you're gonna be late!

Peter now was confused, so he asked

Peter❤️❤️❤️

Of course. Late for...

After a pair of minutes, the reply arrived

🎶Music4Life🎤🎸🥁

...

Please, tell me you're joking...

A text Peter responded with

Peter❤️❤️❤️

Ehm...

To which Gwen answered

🎶Music4Life🎤🎸🥁

Here's a hint: annual show, people performing, Archie singing. Rings any bells?

At that, Peter sighed dejected. How could he have forgotten about the Variety Show? More so since Archie was participating for the first time. After a few moments of thinking, he replied

Peter❤️❤️❤️

I'm on the train right now. If it all goes well, I should be there in time for Archie.

And then Gwen's reply arrived

🎶Music4Life🎤🎸🥁

Alright, good. Please, text me if something comes up. My father can come and get you in no time.

Peter smiled at that and answered

Peter❤️❤️❤️

Thanks, Gwen. I'll see you there.

The train suddenly stopped at Riverdale. As soon as the doors opened, Peter ran out towards the nearest alley to change to his costume.

Gwen was just about to reply, but right then, Kevin tapped the mic and made an announcement...

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟱 - 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗱𝗱𝘀

🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘾𝙍𝙊𝙒𝘿 𝙒𝘼𝙎 𝙀𝙐𝙋𝙃𝙊𝙍𝙄𝘾. Josie had reached her goal, or she almost did. Yes because, even if everybody was happy for her, even if the cheering was incessant, even if her mother was there smiling at her...her father wasn't. All that struggle, and the person she wanted to be proud of her the most got up and left, just like that, in front of her. And no amount of cheers could lift her up, as she was desperately crying in the bathroom. Harry sensed something strange in her expression, so he got up and started walking towards the backstage to check on her. Gwen deduced where he was going just by looking at Josie's expression, and she smiled at how much thoughtful he was. Kevin was just announcing Archie's turn as she sent a quick worried text to her best friend

🎶Music4Life🎤🎸🥁

Peter, where r u?!

𝙋𝙀𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙁𝙀𝙇𝙏 𝘿𝙄𝙕𝙕𝙔, his head was hurting, and all he could hear were muffled sounds. He was on the ground, stones and bricks covering him. He used what remained of his strength to slowly pull himself up

He looked around and saw only rubble of what was just seconds ago an intact warehouse. Then he started to remember: the Vulture, his hideout, the documents he found, the bomb that took him by surprise. If it wasn't for his powers, he would surely have died in the explosion. Fortunately the building wasn't beside any other structure, so no civilians had been harmed. He leaned on his knee and finally got up, stumbling a bit as he did so. He looked around, disoriented, and then he heard a noise coming closer and closer. As he looked up, he was tackled to the ground by two giant claws. The boy released a pained cry and, in a matter of instants, the sounds got back to normal. He opened his eyes and looked up at his attacker and saw none other than the Vulture himself. The man in the robotic suit looked at the boy and said with his always ominous and mechanical voice

Vulture: "Look who's here..."

Peter widened his eyes under his mask, suddenly afraid again. He was there, the man that haunted his dreams, the man that put him and his loved ones in danger, the only one who managed to beat him, to crush him. And, right then, Peter's breathing started to pick up. It was like he couldn't breathe, as he hastily tried to take as much air as he could through his spandex covered mouth. But he couldn't do much, as both Vulture's clawed metal feet were pressing on his chest, while his wings' turbines kept thrusting upwards to keep him balanced. The heat surging from those turbines was cooking the young boy's sides, and further preventing him to get fresh air in his lungs. The man lowered a bit, crushing the boy's body even more, until he got in front of his face, then said

Vulture: "You had your chance to walk away free..."

Then he extended his right hand and grasped the boy's mask. Peter was mentally telling himself to try to move the claws away, but he was completely paralysed. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. He could only watch as his enemy pulled off his mask once again. When air hit his face, Peter was still trying to breathe through his mouth, he still had his eyes wide open, and Vulture noticed it all. Smirking behind his helmet, he continued

Vulture: "...but you wasted it. Now you're here, afraid, frozen in fear of what's gonna happen, of what I will do to you."

Peter was still looking at him, still breathing hard, as the man continued

Vulture: "You really think I didn't consider the possibility of you walking inside that building?"

The man chuckled and asked with an ominous voice

Vulture: "What did you see?"

Peter tried again to speak, but he couldn't, his voice just wouldn't come out. The man though had thin patience, so he tightened his grip on his chest with his long claws, effectively making the young boy snap out of his panic attack. He cried again in pain and quickly grabbed the metallic boots he was wearing. Peter tried to pry them off of him, but they just wouldn't move. As blood started pouring out of the young boy's chest, Peter thought about all the papers and documents he found inside the warehouse. Newspapers showing Norman's rising in the business world, the accusations moved against Oscorp, as well as all the legal battles won by the latter. He saw his map of Riverdale and his map of New York, and noticed how it was all about something he had against Norman Osborn. Struggling to pry the claws off of him, he asked

Spider-Man: "What do you want with Osborn?"

The man straightened his posture, distancing himself from Peter's face, and said

Vulture: "He took something from me."

The boy asked with struggle

Spider-Man: "What did he take from you?"

And the man, with a now sorrowful voice, said

Vulture: "My future."

Then the thrusters propelled him forwards, as he had still in his clutch the young boy. Peter, not having the ground pressing against his back, finally managed to pry the claws off of him. After he did that, he hit the ground and rolled for a couple of meters before getting swiftly on his one knee and shooting a web to his mask - still in the hands of the Vulture - and pull it to him. As he grabbed his mask, the Vulture turned around mid flight and, looking at the boy, said

Vulture: "I will have my revenge, and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

Peter looked at him with determination and started saying

Spider-Man: "We'll see about that..."

He then put on his mask and, as he got in his battle stance, finished

Spider-Man: "...bring it!"

𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙍𝙔 𝙃𝙀𝙎𝙄𝙏𝘼𝙉𝙏𝙇𝙔 𝙒𝘼𝙇𝙆𝙀𝘿 𝙄𝙉𝙎𝙄𝘿𝙀 the large bathroom and heard the sobs of who was probably Josie, along with another and more mature voice that said

???: "It's okay, Honey, I got you."

Then he heard Josie's broken voice that, between the sobs, said

Josie: "I tried mom, I d- did!"

And the voice belonging to Sierra McCoy said back

Sierra: "I know, Sweetheart, I know."

Harry empathised a lot with Josie. He knew a thing or two about how hard it was to please a very busy father. He was just happy that the girl still had her mother with her, a luxury Harry could not afford anymore. He was about to leave, when he heard the mayor say

Sierra: "I'll wait for you outside, Sweety, take all the time you need."

Harry heard a few steps before the door was opened and he found himself face to face with a surprised mayor, to which the boy was quick to apologise

Harry: "I-I'm sorry, Mrs. McCoy, I just wanted to check up on Josie. She seemed kind of down. I didn't know you were together."

Sierra smiled at the boy and said

Sierra: "Don't worry, Harry. She's inside, you can go to her. I'm sure she'll appreciate the gesture."

Harry nodded with a smile, as Sierra walked away towards the exit. Harry looked at the door and steadily pushed it open. The cricking noise of the door alerted Josie - who was leaning on the sink - and made her turn to look at the entrance of the bathroom. Harry noticed how her eyes were puffy, her mascara slightly smudged down her eyes, and her cheeks still a bit wet from the tears she cried. She was very surprised to see Harry there, and also kind of embarrassed that he was seeing her in that state. She was quick to turn to the mirror and wipe the smudged mascara and the tears away from her face, as she said

Josie: "Harry! I thought it was my mom."

He slowly walked inside the room, while letting the door slide closed, and said

Harry: "Sorry if I scared you."

She said dismissively

Josie: "Don't worry, I'm fine."

Then, after her face was somewhat presentable once again, she asked while looking at him

Josie: "What do you need?"

He took a couple more steps forward and said

Harry: "Well, first of all, I need to say to you how cool you girls were, and how amazing your voice is."

She couldn't help but smile as she hid her face down, not able to look at him in the eyes as he praised her, then he continued

Harry: "Also, I have to admit it, adding Veronica to the ranks was an unexpected move, but it seriously payed off."

She chuckled a bit and, after composing herself and having reduced her wide smile with the most relaxed smile she could muster, she turned to look at him and said

Josie: "Yeah, I didn't plan it from the start, but I'm glad it worked."

Harry then, now standing beside her, said

Harry: "Yeah, my father tends to give good advices."

She was a bit surprised, but just for a second. Of course he knew what the true reason behind Veronica's addition to the Pussycats was. Thinking about it, she now regretted doing that for some sort of revenge, and said to the boy

Josie: "It was such a low move of me."

He leaned on the sink as well and, looking at her, said

Harry: "C'mon, don't be too harsh on yourself, Valerie left you when you needed her."

Then she turned to face him properly and said

Josie: "Yeah, but I was too hard on her. I wanted to make my dad proud of me, and because of that I put too much pressure on my friends' shoulders."

Harry was facing her too as she, after sighing, said while looking down

Josie: "I tried so hard to make him happy, and he didn't even stay 'till the end. I'm such an idiot..."

But Harry, hearing that, gently put his hand on her shoulder, making her look at him in the eyes, and said

Harry: "Don't say that, Josie. You're not an idiot for wanting to make your father proud of you."

He chuckled with a sigh and continued

Harry: "I know how it is when you want him so much to be proud of you being his son. But look at it this way: you have your mother with you. So keep her close, and cherish the time you two spend together."

She smiled at him and, with a sweet voice, said

Josie: "Thank you, Harry."

And he, smiling at her, said

Harry: "Anytime."

She then hugged him. He was a bit surprised at first, but he returned the sweet gesture.

It had been quite some time that Harry went to check up on Josie, so Gwen decided to go and check herself if everything was okay. She walked through the swarm that was the crowd of people walking there and she finally reached the bathrooms. She started to open the door and, before it could make any noise that would announce her presence, she saw Harry and Josie inside. She had her eyes closed and a smile on her face as she was hugging him. Her expression was relaxed, and her left hand was caressing his hair tenderly.

Normally, Gwen wouldn't have thought badly about a situation like that: her boyfriend was more than authorised to hug whoever he wanted. But, somehow, the sight of another girl getting way too comfortable in that hug, caressing his hair, made her feel some kind of way. A way that she didn't like at all. Gwen knew that Harry was a catch. A gorgeous boy that happened to be funny, charming and rich. How could any girl resist to all of that. But that was the first time that she saw with her own eyes the effect her boyfriend had on other girls, and she didn't like how Josie was being all touchy-feely with him. She gritted her teeth and, trusting her boyfriend to be able to handle a situation like that, she walked away, letting the door close by itself.

Both Harry and Josie turned to look towards the door when they heard it closing. They thought it was weird, as no one came in. They turned to look at each other and she, embarrassed, clumsily detached from the very good hug and, with rosy cheeks, she briefly touched her hair on the back, suddenly feeling the need to adjust them. After that, they both walked out of the bathroom and went on their separate ways.

As she walked, Gwen took her phone and checked her messages...nothing. She started to really get worried as she sent another text, saying

🎶Music4Life🎤🎸🥁

Peter Benjamin Parker, don't you dare make me worry!
I'm coming to your home right now!
and if you're not somewhat ill on the bed
you're seriously gonna get a smack on that head of yours!

𝙋𝙀𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙒𝘼𝙎 𝙎𝙀𝙍𝙄𝙊𝙐𝙎𝙇𝙔 𝙎𝙏𝘼𝙍𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙏𝙊 𝘽𝙀 𝘼𝙁𝙍𝘼𝙄𝘿 that was gonna be it. As the Vulture had him in his hands, the boy was repeatedly punching his helmet, while the man was flying them somewhere Peter couldn't see. In the end, they crushed against a brick wall that somehow had remained partially intact in the explosion. Both of them rolled on the ground, hurt. The man's suit had a few short-circuits in some joints' points, as well as the wings, while Peter's suit was also partially damaged, with his mask partially broken and his right lens shattered. Blood was pouring from his nose and his lip and chin had a cut. Peter got on his knee and looked at the man, also on his knee.

As a lightnings and thunders could be heard around them, the two kept looking at each other. Vulture looked at him and, as he got up, he yelled

Vulture: "You can't stop this, kid, you might as well give up, before things get really messy!"

But Peter, holding his side in pain, got up with struggle as he replied

Spider-Man: "Sorry, Darling, I'm not the quitting type!"

Vulture sighed as he, tired, said

Vulture: "Then we might as well finish it..."

The man had had enough of the webslinger, so he charged his thrusters and used them to propel himself forward in a dash. Peter had little time to prepare. He didn't want to use it, as he didn't know what effect that would've produced, but he had no other choice. He loaded his right webshooter and, as time seemed to flow in slow motion, he saw Vulture charging at him with his gauntlet claws pointed forward. He brought his left arm up to protect himself as much as he could and pointed his right arm forward as he bent his right hand down. As soon as his middle and ring finger pressed the black button on his palm, his Spider-Sense blared in his head, and the webshooter activated. From it came shooting out a very different web. The more of it came out, the more sparks of electricity started to emit from the streamline. The Vulture had just an instant to notice the attack thanks to his helmet's sensors, and he started to rotate the thrusters so that they could propel him backwards. But it was too late. Just as the best rockets were pointed in the desired direction, Spider-Man's web made contact with one of them, and the electricity flowed through it until it reached the electrical device. Vulture started being electrocuted, and his suit malfunctioning. Peter thought that he actually did it, but what he didn't consider was what his Spider-Sense was trying to warn him about. Having made contact with the rocket, a malfunction was caused and the thruster overloaded, exploding right in front of him. Completely caught by the explosion, Peter was sent back violently a couple of meters and he stopped ungraciously, after rolling on the debris of the building. Vulture too was sent away a couple of meters, with his suit heavily damaged.

Peter rolled on his side as he slowly and painfully started to get up from the ground. Once he got on his knee, he looked at Vulture's direction and saw that the man was stumbling on his feet while holding his right arm, correspondent to the thruster Peter had damaged. The boy pulled himself up and faced the villain. Vulture looked at the boy and noticed how damaged his suit was

He then looked down at himself and saw how damaged his suit was. His right thruster was practically destroyed, as well as his right glove that now was reduced to scraps, leaving his hand free, his exoskeleton was way too heavily malfunctioning, and his helmet broken. He couldn't fight anymore. If he charged at the hero, he would've certainly beaten him. Unbeknownst to him, Peter was thinking the same thing: his body was hurting, he could barely stop his arms from shaking for the pain, his head was dizzy, and the explosion had destroyed his webshooters as well. He was really hoping that the man would've surrendered.

To his disappointment, Vulture used his still functioning thruster to lift himself up in the air and, before flying away, he took off his helmet and let it fall on the ground, then said to the hero

Vulture: "You won this round, kid, so I'll give you an advice: stop going down this path, or you'll get yourself killed."

Peter did not answer as he watched the Vulture fly away. Once he was distant enough, the boy let himself fall on his knees, and let out a tired pant. He won. He faced the Vulture, and he won. A part Peter was truly hoping that the mysterious man with wings would have stopped his crusade against Norman Osborn.

Peter painfully crawled inside his room's window. Seeing the lights shut down, he deduced that May was still at the Variety Show. He crawled inside his room, falling on the ground with a thud. He held his side in pain when he touched the pavement. He probably had a broken rib. He placed the Vulture's helmet he recovered on the ground and, with the same hand, he took off his broken mask, letting it fall down. He leaned his head down as well as he panted, grateful to finally be home. He used his elbows to stay up as he looked at the broken helmet. He didn't know why he took it: it was broken. But maybe he could repair it to see if there was something interesting he could come to know. Right now, though, Peter only wanted to relax and not think about anything until the morning after. But, suddenly, he heard the bell ring. He looked towards his door, panicking, then he looked down at his costume. Judging by the bell, it wasn't aunt May. He couldn't go open the door like that. When the second ring chimed, he was quick to discard his suit, painfully so, and shove it under his bed. He quickly grabbed a t-shirt and some pants and walked as fast as he could towards the stairs. It wasn't easy, with his muscles aching, but he managed to walk down the stairs and, just as the third ring chimed, he quickly opened the door, surprisingly facing none other than Gwen Stacy. He was shocked to see her, just like she was shocked when she saw the state he was in: bleeding nose and lip, with smoke stains around his mouth and on his chin, with a couple more drops of blood, his eyes red and puffy and his hair damp with sweat and unkept. She went from mad to worried to death as she immediately asked out of instinct

Gwen: "Oh my God, Peter, what happened to you?!"

Peter shook himself out of his daze and pulled her inside the house. Once inside, he turned to look at her and asked, confused

Peter: "Gwen, w-what are you doing here?"

She replied with her still panicked tone

Gwen: "I left you dozens of messages! You weren't responding, so I got worried and I ran here as fast as I could!"

She walked closer to him and lightly touched his bleeding lip and asked

Gwen: "My gosh, what happened to you?"

She then placed her other hand right on his side and he jerked in pain out of instinct, while wincing from the touch. She horrendously looked at his side and, with fear, asked

Gwen: "What the hell happened?!"

She then grabbed his arm and walked him in the kitchen. She made him sit down and, while gently lifting his face to inspect the injuries, she asked him

Gwen: "Where does May keep the first aid kit?"

He pointed towards a closet while saying

Peter: "U-Up there, but-"

She didn't even listen to his "but" and immediately went looking for it. As she opened the closet, she found the first aid kit. She took it and then walked back to Peter. She took a chair and sat down in front of him. She wasted no second in opening it and grabbing a tissue and the hydrogen peroxide. She wet a part of the tissue and then placed the bottle down on the table. She then grabbed Peter's chin and quickly started to tap the injuries with it. As soon as contact was made, Peter winced from the pain, and she realised that she was still panicking. She quickly said

Gwen: "Sorry!"

She then took a deep calming breath and started to blow a delicate stream of air on the injury, then she lightly tapped it again with the wet tissue. She started delicately cleaning the wound, as Peter was still processing what was happening. Gwen cleaned every injury and stain on his best friend's face, then she asked him without thinking too much about it

Gwen: "Take off your shirt."

Peter blushed at that and asked confused

Peter: "W-What?!"

She then explained

Gwen: "When I touched your side before, you winced. I need to check that too. Please, take off your shirt."

Peter hesitantly grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and, wincing from time to time due to the movement, took it off. The blonde girl, in any other circumstance, would've fainted at the prospect of seeing a shirtless Peter Parker. But Gwen gasped in horror when she saw the injuries: there were blood stains on multiple points on his chest and a bruise on his left side. She shook her head and wet the tissue a bit more as she started to gently clean all the wounds. Then she asked the one million dollars question

Gwen: "Peter, what the hell happened?!"

The boy had to think of something and, luckily, an idea came quickly

Peter: "You know how I was on the train headed to Riverdale? Well, I got down and I saw in the distance Spider-Man fighting against our wingman."

In any other occasion, Gwen would've probably laughed at the pun, but now she wasn't so keen to do that. Noticing this, Peter continued

Peter: "It took me completely by surprise, and I thought that, maybe, just maybe I could find out something."

She stopped cleaning his wounds as she looked at him in the eyes with a questioning look, and asked

Gwen: "So you just went there?"

And Peter, shrugging, said

Peter: "Pretty much, yeah."

She stood there, looking at him in silence. Uncomfortable with the situation, Peter said the worst possible thing

Peter: "Seems like my luck left me, huh?"

He made a joke, and he chuckled a bit as he did so. Gwen stood there another few seconds, not really knowing what to say. Peter looked back at her, not knowing what she could've been thinking. Then, all of a sudden, he felt a stinging pain on his left cheek. She slapped him. Hard. She slapped him so hard that his lip started bleeding again a bit. He licked it with his tongue, noticing the metal taste of blood, then he looked at her with a shocked expression. Gwen had scolded her a lot of times, but she had never slapped him on the face. As he turned to look at her, he expected to see her mad, angry at him. What he saw was once again not what he was expecting. He saw her eyes red and puffy, filled with tears, and her mouth frowning. She sobbed and, with a broken, whispery voice, said

Gwen: "You asshole..."

After that, she quickly got up from her chair and, as she wiped her tears away, she walked fast towards the front door, opened it, walked outside, and closed the door behind her loudly.

Peter stood there, paralysed, frozen in time, not knowing what to do.

𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧.

𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚.

𝙁𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙣,
𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚.

𝙁𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪
𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨.

Mason was on his phone, talking to someone as he sat down on his chair. He said to the other person

Mason: "Yes sir, the situation is still under control."

After a couple of seconds, he asked

Mason: "And what if complications come up?"

After another couple of seconds, he said

Mason: "Alright, it'll be done, sir."

After that, he closed the call, then he turned his chair to his computer and opened a file titled

𝚃𝙾𝙿 𝚂𝙴𝙲𝚁𝙴𝚃:
𝚂𝙷𝙸𝙿𝙼𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚂 𝙳𝙴𝚃𝙰𝙸𝙻𝚂

He then dialed another number on his phone and, after a few rings, the person on the other side answered. Mason then said

Mason: "It's me. I have something else for you."

𝙁𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙤𝙣𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨
𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚.

Captain Stacy and Sheriff Keller got out of their car, in the middle of the rainy night. They walked on the wet road ahead of them, having followed Betty Cooper's and Jughead Jones' sighting. But in front of them they didn't find a car full of proofs for the Jason Blossom's murder case: they found a burning car. Someone lit it on fire...

𝙁𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙮𝙢𝙖𝙣
𝙬𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡.

Betty and Jughead were at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, running in the long hallway, headed to Polly's room. They had to warn her. They had to tell her that her once fiancé's car had been found. Once arrived in front of the room, Betty wasted no time opening the door, but what the two teens found was not what they were expecting. The room was empty, the window broken, with blood stains on the glass shards. They looked at the scene in front of them, powerless, not knowing what to do. And the poor Betty could only utter

Betty: "Polly?"

𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚,
𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙩, 𝙪𝙣𝙢𝙤𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙙.

𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜?
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙤 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩?

𝐀/𝐍: 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝. 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐰𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐢𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬? 𝐖𝐞'𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐰𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞'𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲'𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫. 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐒𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬...

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲'𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦?

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠?

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐆𝐰𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝?

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐭?

𝐓𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟...

𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐑-𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐗 𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐋𝐄 | 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

🕷️