The World Meets Peter Parker

Peter had trouble sleeping that night, but it was to be expected. When he eventually fell asleep, he was only down for a few hours. He had trouble finding anyone after he woke up but was finally informed that the team was in the gym, so he went to the floor where he found Ben Grimm working some serious weights while the other were on various machines. Reed was the only one not working out as he was speaking with his wife while watching Ben doing a serious bench press. Johnny was on a tread mill and just to startle Peter, his body burst into flames as he was jogging.

"Sorry kid," he said with a fiery grin, "Couldn't resist."

"I get it," Peter said, returning the smile, "I'm the new guy, it's all good."

It was this point when Ben stopped benching his weight, but Peter's head was tingling a bit as the big man was at the end of his set and was struggling to get his press up to the bars above him.

"Reed," Ben called out.

"You okay, Ben?" Reed asked.

"Need a little help," Ben replied.

"I'm coming," Reed said as he started to reach over with his arms.

"I got it," Peter said as he walked over. He was less than a few feet away from Ben when he called out and thought he would save Reed the trouble. Instead the look on Reeds face was one of shock and freight.

"Peter!" he called out, "Don't touch that!"

Before Reed could finish his warning, Peter had already grabbed the bar as he took the weight from Ben. He lifted it himself, and with no difficulty Peter placed it safely back where it was supposed to go. It was at this moment that all four members of the Fantastic Four stopped working out and all looked over at Peter with stunned looks on their faces. Peter looked around at everyone; finally noticing how freaked out they all were after what they had just witnessed.

"What?" Peter asked, "Did I do something wrong?"

"Did that just happen?" Johnny called out.

"It happened," Ben said as he stood up.

"Peter," Reed said as he slowly walked over, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Peter replied, "Why are you acting so concerned?"

"This metal," Reed said as he patted the weights on the really big bar, "This is a substance from a different galaxy. This entire weight system is engineered just for Ben. Each side weighs close to five metric tons. You just picked ten tons and it looks like you didn't even pull a single muscle doing it."

"Oh," Peter said as he realized what he'd just done.

"This is an interesting development," Reed said, thinking about it more. "Your strength, an obvious after effect of the bite, is remarkable. Just how strong are you?"

Peter stood there for a moment and took a deep breath. He then grabbed Ben's bench press with one hand, and lifted it off the bar with little or no effort. He held it five inches off the bar for ten seconds and then softly put it back down.

"Damn," Johnny said in disbelief, "Remind me never to challenge you to an arm wrestling contest."

"This isn't something you advertise to the public very much," Reed observed, "I assumed you were more of an agile hero that focused on speed, but your strength is something that was unanticipated. We're going to have to do more tests to see just how strong you really are."

"That sounds interesting," Sue said as she finally stepped in, "But all that can wait. We only have an hour to prepare for our big announcement.

"Of course," Reed said, as he appreciated the reminder. He placed a hand on the young man's shoulder, "Peter, Are you ready to face the world and become a part of the team?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Peter replied, "Let's do this."

"Alright," Reed said as he gestured to the hallway, "Sue will help you get ready. I'll go out first and get the conference started.

As Sue and Peter walked away, Ben looked over at Reed with a face that showed his shock as well. "This kid is just full of surprises."

"Indeed," Reed concurred, "We'll have to be more vigilant to unlocking all the secrets that his powers haven't revealed to us yet."

"He's a good kid," Ben then observed, "I like him."

"Good to hear." Reed said as he started to walk away. "I'm going to get changed, I suggest you two do the same and join me in the lobby in twenty minutes.

Reed didn't even wait for a response and went back to his room to change into what was going to be his new uniform. It was a black outfit that had blue shoulders and in the middle of his chest was a white circle with a number in the middle of it. Reed's was the number one. His wife's uniform was number Two, with Johnny third and Ben being number four. When Peter made his entrance, he would be carrying the number five on his new uniform. It came with a mask, but Peter would only be using it once. Once Reed had changed and gone over his notes one more time, he left his personal Den and started to make his way to the lobby. There were hundreds of reporters and cameras, all waiting for Reed to arrive and make his big announcement. The entire world was waiting to see what would happen next. Yet when Reed's elevator opened, he was met by a face that he had been anticipating for quite some time. The director of Shield, Nicky Fury, was standing at the door of the elevator, waiting for Reed to arrive.

"Director Fury," Reed said, not surprised at all to see him, "Thank you for accepting my invitation."

"Do you think I'm going to let you take him?" Fury asked, "What makes you think that we can't use his Aunt to retain custody of the young man? He is after all still a minor."

"You don't think I anticipated that?" Reed said, slightly insulted. "Peter's paperwork was filed with the courts two weeks ago. He's emancipated from his aunt and is now in control of his own life. Whatever path Peter chooses to make, it will be his decision to make, not ours."

Fury didn't seem to believe him, "How in the world did you get a judge to agree to your terms?"

"That was the Easy part Director," Reed said, smiling, "We told him the truth. That Peter had been fighting super powered villains since he was thirteen. That he's in control of his life more than people ten years older than him are. For my lawyers it was a virtual slam dunk."

"So the judge knows who Peter is?" Fury asked, stunned at the revelation.

"He does," Reed said, "And an hour from now it won't matter because the world will know too."

Fury's one eye widened at the revelation. "You're not!"

"We are," Reed confirmed, "This is a decision that was not taken lightly by the young man, but he's agreed to come out of the shadows and stand with us in the light of truth and transparency. You might want to try it some time."

"I hope you know what you're doing," Fury said, a hard tone when making the warning to Richards.

"I'm not just a few moves ahead of you Fury," Reed said, his tone more stern as Fury's, "I'm ten moves ahead of everyone on Earth. There wasn't a person alive on this planet that had the ability to challenge my intellect, until now. That young man is the future and with him on my side, the future of the foundation will be in good hands."

"That's what this is about," Fury said, as he understood, "You're looking for a successor, someone smart enough to fill your shoes."

"Something like that," Reed admitted.

"Are you ill?" Fury then asked.

"No," Reed answered, "but I'm not going apologize for preparing for the day that might eventually happen. Peter has an exceptional intellect, and even you have to admit that under my guidance, humanity will be better off with him here rather than in the shadows with you."

"I get it," Fury conceded, "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"We're on the same side, Director." Reed reminded him, "If Peter wishes to work with Shield again in the future, all you have to do is ask. He's in control of his own destiny and is the only one making the decisions now."

"Well played," Fury replied.

"This isn't a competition," Reed informed him, "But if you'll excuse me, the world is waiting for me and my team to make our announcement.

"Alright," Fury said as he stepped aside and watched as Reed walked past him and down the hallway towards the press conference. "Nice uniform!"

"Thank you," Reed said, not surprised again.

By the time Reed arrived to the conference Sue, Johnny and Ben were already on stage. Sue walked over to Reed as she had seen Fury in the hallway before he had spoken to Reed.

"Was that about Peter?" she asked.

"Of course it was," Reed replied, "They're not pleased one of their most promising young men jumped to our ship. A response was naturally expected."

"How angry is he?" Sue asked.

"He understands," Reed replied, "He may not like it but even he can understand that our new recruit will only flourish working with the foundation."

"Alright," Sue said as she kissed Reed on the check. "It's show time."

"Indeed," Reed concurred. He strolled right up to the podium and places his notes down, pausing for a moment so that photographers could get a clear shot of him with his new uniform on. "Thank you for coming. For the past decade, my team and I have been a solid unit that has defended this nation, this planet from various threats. During that time we've always been on the lookout for new people that might compliment our squad. I believe we've found such an individual. I have no doubt that this hero will be amazing, and dare I say, a spectacular new member to our ranks. Without further adue, I'd like to introduce you to the newest member to our team."

As he said that, Reed pointed up and standing on the ceiling, also in the black uniform that the other members were wearing, was Spider-Man. He was wearing a navy blue mask, very similar to the one he always wore but had silver eyes in them that really stood out with the new colour. As the cameras flashed, there was a hush as Spider-Man used his web shooter to swing across the lobby and then jump onto the podium with little trouble. While Peter had considered making a speech before the big reveal, he thought it was would be best to take a different approach this time out. The audience of reporters and photographers watched in silence as Peter grabbed his mask and tore if off. The young man with the blue eyes, and brown hair stood there unmasked and looked at the people in attendance for a few moments as the flashes that were now going off were ten times more intense than anything Reed's entrance had received. He strolled up to the podium to address the press.

"My name is Peter Parker," he called out, "And I am Spider-Man."

After the words left his mouth, Peter felt a weight lift off his shoulders. He looked into the crowd and to the left of him, wearing sunglasses and a suit that likely cost a fortune was Tony Stark. He didn't have any room to talk about people blowing their identities, as he came out of the superhero closet the first chance he got. So he knew all about not keeping secrets from the public. When he noticed Peter looking over, the young billionaire gave Peter a subtle thumbs up, just to let him know that no matter what happened that Stark would still have his back.

Peter took a deep breath and continued. "Almost two years ago when I was taking a tour of a genetics lab at Oz-Corp., I was bitten by a radioactive spider..."

The press was silent and respectful as Peter told them the whole story of how he became the web slinger that had been defending their city. Even J. Jonah was hanging off of Peter's every word, listening and writing notes down on a pad of paper he had brought with him. Peter was as transparent as Reed and he agreed he had to be, telling them mostly details the media was aware of but from a new perspective. More personal details such as relatives, friends and other things were left out. It was at this point were Peter than informed the media that he had accepted an offer from Reed Richards and his foundation to become a new member of their team and to work with them to better the world and make it a safer place. It wasn't a decision that he took lightly, but to use the baseball metaphor, he felt it was time to make the move to the majors: to be a defender of the entire planet, not just a single city in it. It was at this point when Peter took a step back and took a place beside Ben, as the fifth member of the team.

Reed walked up to the podium to make it official. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the Fantastic Five!"

With that the media became louder as they took more pictures of Peter standing with his new team, standing tall and more notably without his mask. According to the new pressers that were now being handed out to the media once the announcement was official, the new member of the team was being referred to as Peter Parker: the human spider. He would no longer be referred to as Spider-Man, as it was a name that was no longer necessary thanks to the transparency of the team.

Peter looked over J. Jonah Jameson who was standing up to get a good view of the newest member of the Fantastic Five. He didn't look angry as he seemed more intrigued with what he had just witnessed. Peter responded to his interest by tossing the mask he had just removed at Jameson. A gesture that couldn't be clearer to the Chief Editor of the bugle; he wouldn't be hiding behind a mask ever again. Jameson took the mask and put it into his pocket. The old man then and smiled back at Peter before clapping his hands, an act that suddenly became contagious as the entire audience in attendance joined in to cheer loudly for the new team. It was a gesture that was not lost on Peter, the first time that the old man had something civil for Spider-Man. He had won the man's respect, for now.

"It's finally over," Peter said, as he had been worrying about that moment for quite some time.

"Fat chance kid," Ben replied, "We're doing a press junket after this. Four hours of interviews with each and every channel and network that came here."

"Are you serious?" Peter asked.

"As heart attack," Ben answered, "This whole day is going to be dedicated to being fully transparent to the public. We're even going to be on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon later on."

"Oh boy," Peter said as he smiled and waved to the crowd.

"I know," Ben said, as he didn't like it either. "Just a shame there was no galactic invasion that could take us all away from this. We won't get that lucky today."