"Wow! So many antiques! Is that the robot that saved Tony Stark before?" The Second Generation Spider-Man exclaimed as he looked around the room.
"Yeah! He really is a billionaire—just look at all these priceless collectibles!" Gwen couldn't help but nod in agreement.
Then, hearing the Second Generation Spider-Man mention Dum-E, she turned her attention to it and confirmed, "Yep! That's the one! It's still here! Hahaha! Happy looks so nervous!"
"But does he really not care about the high-tech weapons the Third Generation mentioned? Isn't that a bit too careless?"
The Second Generation Spider-Man frowned, not quite understanding the situation.
"NO! He was busy signing paperwork, and with two people talking in his ear at the same time, Happy must have missed that part!"
Gwen thought about it carefully and countered his statement. Given the noisy environment and the distractions, it was natural for Happy to overlook something.
After considering her explanation, the Second Generation Spider-Man felt it made sense.
[When he came downstairs, Spider-Man couldn't use the stairs properly because he was still in his suit, so he had to crawl in from the outside. Carefully, he opened the window of his room.]
[As Aunt May passed by, he immediately froze in place, holding his breath. Only after she was gone did he continue opening the window and climbed in, closing it with his foot as he entered.]
[He stuck to the ceiling, pulled off his mask, and tossed it aside before creeping toward the door, using his web to close it gently.]
[Once he was sure Aunt May hadn't noticed, he finally let out a sigh of relief. Relaxing slightly, he moved to sit on his bed. But as he turned around, his heart nearly stopped—Ned was sitting there, staring at him in complete shock.]
[Ned's mouth hung open, the Death Star LEGO model in his hands slipping from his grasp. The model crashed to the ground, shattering into pieces.]
[The loud noise startled Aunt May outside. "What was that?" she called out.]
["Uh, nothing! Everything's fine!" The young Spider-Man jolted out of his shock and quickly yelled back in response.]
[Ned suddenly stood up, his eyes wide with disbelief. "You're Spider-Man! The one from YouTube!"]
[Peter instinctively slapped his chest, causing his suit to loosen and drop to the ground as he hastily denied it. "No! I'm not! I'm not!"]
["You were literally on the ceiling!" Ned pointed upward, not buying it.]
["NO! I'm not! Ned! What are you doing in my room?" Peter asked, his frustration mounting.]
["May let me in! You said we were going to finish building the Death Star!" Ned explained immediately.]
["You can't just break into my room like that!" Before Peter could continue, the sound of the doorknob turning made him freeze.]
[Aunt May pushed the door open, holding a towel and smiling. "That turkey meatloaf recipe was a disaster! Let's go out for dinner. How about Thai food? Ned, do you want Thai food?"]
[She casually let her hair down as she spoke. Ned, still flustered, replied, "Uh, yeah!"]
[Peter, still in panic mode, quickly cut in. "NO! He has other things to do!"]
["I'll do it later!" Ned insisted.]
[Aunt May shrugged. "Okay! But maybe put on some clothes?" she added, pointing at Peter before walking away.]
"Hahahaha! That was so embarrassing!" The Second Generation Harry laughed, nudging Felicia, who stood beside him. "I thought he made it home safely, and then boom—turns around, and Ned's right there!"
Felicia smirked and nodded. "I didn't expect this twist. The Spider-Men from our universes did a much better job keeping their identities secret."
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "In the previous two generations, the only ones who knew his identity were enemies, people who ended up dead, or—at worst—his girlfriend. But this Third Generation got exposed so fast!"
Harry was eager to see how the story would develop from here. Would this Spider-Man handle things differently than the Second Generation in their universe?
[Spider-Man hastily grabbed a T-shirt and pulled it over himself as soon as the door closed. Ned, still in shock, couldn't hold back his questions. "Wait... she doesn't know?"]
["No one knows! Mr. Stark does because he made the suit, but that's it!" Peter explained while getting dressed.]
[Ned was even more blown away. His eyes darted to the high-tech suit lying on the ground. "Wait... Tony Stark made that for you? Are you an Avenger?!"]
[Hearing that, Peter shamelessly admitted, "Yeah! Basically!"]
["Oh. My. God." Ned grabbed onto the bed for support, his face filled with disbelief. He never imagined his best friend would turn out to be an Avenger.]
[Peter immediately leaned in and whispered, "You can't tell anyone! You have to keep this a secret!"]
["A secret? Why?" Ned asked, confused about why something this huge had to be kept under wraps.]
["You know how May is! If she finds out that someone tries to kill me every night, she won't let me do this anymore! Please, Ned!"]
[Peter spoke quickly, his voice urgent.]
["Okay! Okay! Okay! I'm on your side! But I don't think I can keep a secret! I've never had to keep something like this before!"]
[Ned started doubting his ability to stay quiet about something this monumental.]
["Ned! May can't know! I can't do that to her right now! Do you understand what she's been through? Please! I'm begging you!"]
[Seeing the desperation in Peter's expression, Ned finally nodded. "Alright!"]
["Swear it! Can you swear?"]
["I swear!"]
["Thank you!"]
["No problem!"]
[After getting Ned's promise, Peter exhaled deeply and ran a hand through his hair. "I can't believe this is happening!"]
[Ned, still excited, eyed the suit on the ground. "So... how does this work? Can I try it on? Is it electromagnetic? How do you shoot webs?"]
["NO! I'll explain everything tomorrow at school!" Peter quickly dismissed him and tried to push him toward the door.]
["Okay, okay! But wait—so how do you manage all of this while doing your Stark Industries internship?"]
[Ned squinted at Peter suspiciously.]
[Peter froze for a second before pointing at the suit and replying, "Uh... this is the Stark Industries internship."]
["Ohhh..." Ned nodded in realization. Before he could ask anything else, Peter shoved him out the door. "Okay, just leave now!"]
[As the door shut, Peter leaned against it, rubbing his temples. His head throbbed. What a mess.]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support me at p@treon.com/goldengaruda and check out more chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~