Cold Blooded Perspective (Ghost Spider SI) by Aspecialkindofidiot

Words: 59k+

Link: https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/cold-blooded-perspective-ghost-spider-si.1185340/

(In one world, Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider, becomes Spider-Man and goes on to become one of the greatest heroes the world has ever seen.

This is not that world. In this one, Gwen Stacy takes up the mantle, fights crime and kills her Peter in an act that would forever haunt her and give her the motivation to become a better Ghost Spider.

This is not that world either. And this is definitely not that Peter Parker.)

Prologue: A New Peter Parker​

Gwen Stacy​

Peter hadn't come to school.

Gwen frowned when Harry had told her that at recess. It explained why she hadn't seen him in English Class or in Biology. Some part of her mind instantly rationalized the absence as a possible sick day or family emergency and wondered out loud if they should stop by his house to check on him.

Harry didn't seem worried. He said things happened and it was impossible to stick to a set routine forever.

"There's no need to worry or think it's anything serious in my opinion. Maybe Pete finally got tired of the slog race and chose to skip a day. Take a load off for once."

It took more restraint than she thought she had for Gwen not to snort. Peter Parker did not skip school; it simply wasn't something that happened. Sure, he found most of his classes and assignments mind numbingly boring. More than once had Peter poked fun under his breath at the teachers and their sheer inability to think beyond the mandated curriculum they shoveled in class.

Gwen wasn't dumb. Being a straight A student with an active social life and nighttime activities didn't leave room to be stupid, but sometimes she felt her best friend was a bit biased in his opinions. Even she felt unintelligent next to Peter and that was with him trying to dumb down most of the topics he was interested in around her. Either way, Peter had an academic pride of being the smartest person in the room and the idea of him skipping school felt…alien to Gwen.

A loud, obnoxious laugh echoed from over her shoulder and Gwen scowled when she saw its source. Now more than ever was Gwen glad that her father always instilled a sharp sense of duty and self-control in all facets of her life. It helped her when she sometimes got too heated in class, sometimes when she got too passionate in band practice, it's helped her overall walk away from problems that couldn't be solved by yelling or fighting.

And it most certainly came in handy when it prevented Gwen from knocking Flash Thompson's head clean off his shoulders. Even before she got her powers, the impulse was there. Anything to get the overhyped blowhard to leave her friend alone. Seeing him there, laughing amongst his cliche, possibly to a joke that was demeaning to someone, Gwen wished she didn't have such a good control over her actions. Then maybe she would finally put Flash in his place and Peter would go about his school life in peace.

'Though knowing Peter, he wouldn't appreciate someone else fighting his battles for him.' The lovable dork was oddly prideful in that regard.

The bell rung, signifying the end of lunch. Quickly shuffling the last of her tuna sandwich down her throat Gwen caught up with a leaving Harry and asked him if he wanted to go with her to see Peter later.

"Wish I could but my pops wants me to go with him to some corporate dinner of his. If I miss it I'll never hear the end of it."

Gwen winced and wished her other best friend luck. Knowing his father, Harry was going to need it.

'Oh well. I'll just stop by and see how he's doing. Maybe I should stop by that Mexican place he likes for good measure.'

Because if there was one thing Gwen learned about him over the years, is that Peter Parker was a glutton.

Peter Parker…was a genius.

It really did put things into perspective. Going from an average level of intelligence, scrapping by in life never knowing the greater intrinsic potential of the human mind, and then waking up to…this.

Biology, physics, chemistry, basic math was so second nature now that it boggled the mind. I had the bare bones understanding of Biomedical Engineering and Quantum Mechanics and the only reason I didn't know more was because of time spend on other projects that I also now understood.

It helped offset the worst effects of the transfer. Of the memories of who I once was and the fading echo that was once Peter Parker. Helped to distract, to marvel at my newfound intelligence and not the current situation.

It took both more and less effort to open the door to Aunt May when she came to check in on me and lie to her face. That everything was fine and that I was just feeling under the weather. She didn't even give me a chance to ask before Aunt May told me I was staying home to rest.

I had to hold in my breakfast when the door closed and stew in that fact at how natural it was to consider her Aunt May, not "random woman whose nephew I body jacked."

It became too much, eventually. Planting myself face down on the ground, I just…laid there, thinking, breathing, trying not to scream bloody murder. And I prayed. Prayed this was just some odd dream (or nightmare) and I would wake up back home.

I didn't know how long I laid there. Maybe it was minutes. Maybe it was hours. Time had a way of warping when your life upended itself. All I knew was that it didn't work. I was still here.

It was only in my stupor, that I felt the last echo of Peter leave my body…and his last memory slipped into my psyche like the final piece of a grand puzzle.

Cruel laughter and biting barbs.

Helpless rage and desperate envy.

Crackling flames and green liquid.

The syringe's steel was cold and piercin-

'Fuck.' Fuckfuckfuck! It was too late. I stood up and marched over to a dresser. Pulling out the third cabinet, I pushed aside the errant clothes and found my prize.

An empty syringe lying harmlessly at the bottom, flecks of greenish liquid at the edges of the canister.

'You dumb, dumb fucking moron.' Peter had already injected himself with the Lizard Serum the night before. I could feel it at the back of my mind now, in my blood, like white noise, my own internal anguish no longer overshadowing it. An animalistic pulse that was ready to be released.

I stood straight in front of the tall vanity mirror in the room. I-Peter-had always been a skinny guy. Now he wasn't anorexic, Aunt May had always made sure to give him the recommended 3 meals a day and he had a thing for Mexican and Italian food, both fatter cultural choices so he had some meat on him. Best way to describe him, he was mostly flab and some bones.

That wasn't what stared back at me. Broad shoulders that seemed to take up the upper mirror. Muscular pecs that you bounce a dime off of. They all lead down to a flat, toned core and a v shaped torso that looked like it could cut granite. My biceps (because I had biceps now) looked impressive even without flexing and they swelled in untapped strength when I did. My legs looked like I was gym rat that never skipped a single day in years.

I looked like a Greek God.

'I'm very glad now I always wear baggy clothes.' I was definitely far bulkier than the mainstream Spider-man's swimmers build. 'I feel stronger now than both of my lives put together.'

It was insane. It was impossible. It was…

What the fuck do I do now? The highs and lows of the days battered my mind, bringing me to mental exhaustion, but my body was full to bursting with energy. Small mercies where I could have them, the last of Peter's memories did bring me a measure of peace in this otherwise fucked up situation.

You see, I wasn't kidding when I said Peter Park was genius. And I did mean a fucking Genius, with a capital G. When Peter had stolen Kurt Connors lab notes, it didn't come with clear instructions on how to create the Lizard Serum like a cookbook or Ikea assembly guide. Quite the opposite as a matter of fact. For you see, the Lizard did not exist in this world. Instead, Doctor Connors filled entire pages of complicated facts on Gene Coding, Gene Splicing, molecular biology, and the human genome and how it can be altered successfully without defect. Revolutionary stuff that would have stumped the greatest minds on a world that wasn't a Marvel one.

Peter understood it all. More to that, he understood the greater complexities that Connor didn't or otherwise missed, and improved upon what would have been the original formula and even negated some flaws. One such flaw was of the innate predatory instincts of the common Lacertilla, and the suppressed primal urges of the modern Homosapien clashing and causing a mental split in the psyche.

That's right, Peter was able to keep enough sense through his miasma of hatred and self-loathing to properly check the final product and not transform himself in a raging lizard monster without control.

That knowledge was nearly enough to drop me to my knees in sheer relief. It explained why the alien presence I felt inside me was so calm. There was no subtle dark urge to hulk out and start going on rampage as a humanoid lizard. Just the readiness to come out at the slightest nudge. Of course, the greatest of science had ways of being comically wrong and everything going to shit at the worst moments so I didn't fully let down my guard.

Then there were the senses. Between his aunt coming in to clean and Peter's own OCD, the room was quite clean and practically bereft of dust.

It didn't mean much when I could smell the old wood revealed to the air by peeling paint. The spider on the upper right corner of the room was clear as day to me and I could count each individual hair on its eight legs when I focused.

Aunt May was preparing to cook dinner. I unconsciously licked my lips and my tastebuds picked up on the eggs, lettuce, potatoes, and even the defrosting chicken in the sink. I could taste them with this strange new sense as if they were right in front of me and not in a totally different part of the house.

'…This is what I'm doing now isn't it?' Huffing, I took a seat on my desk chair, the old wooden groaning under my weight and I leaned back. 'Alright, doesn't seem like I'm going to wake up and I'm not going to sleep anytime soon so…'

I closed my eyes, already getting a headache from the high-definition detail I was seeing the world in and focused on picking up sounds.

We lived in a quiet place. A real picket fence white suburban, there was very little activity at this time in the day, especially during school and work hours.

I picked up something all the same. I heard the steady heartbeat to my left and with my nose, I could pick up it was our next-door neighbor Mrs. Anon by her perfume. I focused, and I could roughly count the number of beats of her heart as well as the soft creaking of the couch cushions when she shifted into a comfortable position. She was watching family feud and was enjoying it if her elevated heartbeat between answers was any indicator.

'Okay, this is pretty awesome.' I smiled lightly and turned my attention deeper into the street and probed harder. The smell of freshly cut grass. The pattering of squirrels moving up and down the trees. The rustling of leaves in a bush. Gwen's natural scent and her sneakers hitting the back porch of the hou-

"Fuck." I cursed, my heart beating faster in slight panic when I heard my aunt open the door and greet Gwen happily. There was also an ache of longing that I was in no position to handle since I heard Gwen being invited into the house. "Shit fuck."

I jumped to my feet and quickly grabbed my baggiest pair of sweatpants and a jacket that was gifted to me by a cousin who thought I was 2 sizes bigger than I actually was. Funny, I had that same problem in my past life as well.

Gwen made small talk with my aunt, asking how her day was, if my uncle was still at work. How I was. Her smell changed ever so slightly when my aunt told her I was feeling sick, and I figured that was worry coming off of her.

That aching grew louder.

'Not the time!'

Gwen started beeling for my room. My heart was like a jackhammer as I looked in the mirror to see if I was fully covered and I grabbed my glasses for the finishing touch. Surprise surprise, my newly enhanced senses made it so I was no longer near sighted and using my glasses actually hurt my eyes.

Gwen was steps away from my door.

'Bear with it.' I thought, taking a deep breath. 'Everything is fine. I am Peter Parker. I was just feeling a little sick and wanted to take the day off. Everything. Is. Fine.'

"Pete?" Gwen's voice echoed from beyond the door. "You in there? What am I saying, of course you are." she muttered under her breath. "Your aunt told me you weren't feeling good so I brought you some food. Those empanadas from Jardin's that you like."

Ah. So that's what smelled so heavenly. I nearly missed it in my rush. Bracing myself with one last inhale, I swung the door open.

She blinked. I blinked.

For the first time since knowing her, I looked down at Gwen Stacey.

'Oh.' I realized. 'So that's why my clothes felt tighter.'

We stared at each other in silence for a long, long minute.

Then she broke it with a statement.

"Huh. Looks like you figured out that growth serum after all."

At that, my laughter was hundred percent genuine.

A/N: Well, Hamster Wheel is still under review and I'll let anyone whose interested know what my account name will be if I plan to make an QQ or AO3 account to post it if the worst happens. In the mean time, this little plot bunny popped into my head.

I hope you enjoyed.