The day after splitting up with Peter, I try to look fym to go to. I have no idea how to. I guess I'll just have to find ohe old-fashioned way si's like 2011 and Google Maps isn't even w.

  I walk dowreets of Queens, sing every gym I pass with the most critical eye possible. If I'm gonna survive in this world with superhumans popping up left and right, I'll need a pce to train. A prym. Somewhere with good equipment, a solid training program, and, preferably, a membership price that won't make me want to sell a kidney.

  The first gym I found is one of those influencer-heavy pces, the kind where half the people are filming thirst traps on TikTok, and the other half are flexing in the mirror. Some guy is literally rec himself taking a sip of his pre-workout while nodding intensely at the camera. Wait is that daddy Noel Deyzel???

  Yeah. No. I step back outside. Okay, .

  The gym I went to was... Oh damn. P Fitness. I hear the lunk arm going off in the background. At the entrahey're giving out free donuts. At a gym??? Yoink! Free is free. (a/n for those who don't know P Fitness is just horrible. Go watch the sunnyV2 video about it on YouTube or something)

  Mung on my jelly-filled donut, I move on to my location.

  Finally, I found a smaller, more low-key gym a few blocks away. It's got a det weight se, a boxing ring, and most importantly, no one filming thirst traps in the squat rack. The guy at the front desk looks normal, the equipment isn't rusted over, and the membership price doesn't make me want to cry.

  I pulled out my phone and was about to text Peter about the gym wheexted me first. Hmm? What is this?

  _________________________________________________________________________________________________

  "Park3r": Sooo… please don't freak out.

  Me: Great way to start a vo...??

  Park3r: Okay, okay! So… I may have, um, told my friend about your whole system thing.

  Me: You WHAT.

  Park3r: Look, Ned's my best friend! He was asking why I suddenly cared about training and why I was mumbling about stats, and I panicked!

  Me: SO YOU JUST DROPPED MY BIGGEST SECRET LIKE IT WAS NOTHING??

  Park3r: I'M SORRY, OKAY??

  Me: Oh my god, I'm gonna die. Shield is gonna kidnap me and dissect me like a frog. This is it. My vilin in story. What if they're like, hacked into this vht now????

  Park3r: What even is "Shield"? Some kind of FBI unit? It's fine! Ned's cool, he won't tell anyone. Right, Ned?

  ???: Hello mysterious system guy. I am Ned. I e in peace.

  Me: …Pete. WHY IS HE IN THIS CHAT.

  Park3r: I panicked again.

  Hackerman69: Dude, you have VIDEO GAME POWERS. Peter told me about the blue ss and the stat boosts and the party system—THIS IS INSANE. Are you a mutant? An alien? A chosen one?

  Me: I'm a guy who is now sidering going off the grid. And mutants??? are they even real? (a/n no Xmen in the MCU but mutants could be real knowing Quicksilver exists)

  Hackerman69: NOOO don't do that, you have a responsibility to use your powers food! Also, you don't know??? It's like a myth that there are some people with superpowers and mutations called mutants, but nobody actually knows...

  Me: I have a responsibility to NOT be abducted by the gover.

  Park3r: Ned, you're not helping.

  Hackerman69: I'm just saying. You could be like… a secret RPG superhero. That's awesome.

  Me: It would be if certain people didn't have loose lips.

  Park3r: I SAID I'M SORRY.

  Hackerman69: So I join the party too?

  Me: You wanna fight giant alien monsters?

  Hackerman69: Nevermind.

  Me: ht, Pete, I got a gym to start training at. Here's the address. 179-24 Union Tpke, Fresh Meadows, NY 11366, Uates. (a/n real gym in Queens it's called YE Training. Prob teaches how to be aic or something)

  Pak3r: Alr, what time?

  Hackerman69: I e too???

  Me: Sure.

  Me: e every day starting tomorrow at 4 pm.

  _________________________________________________________________________________________________

  The day...

  I arrive at the gym a little early, mostly because I have no idea how this pce operates. I che at the front desk, where the guy barely gnces up from his phone before waving me in. Okay, cool, low supervision. I like that. Less ce of being yelled at for improper form.

  I look around. The gym has that gritty, no-nonsense vibe—scuffed rubber fl, the faint smell of sweat aal, and a stant low hum of weights g against racks. Overhead fluorest lights cast a slightly harsh glow, making every drop of effort-induced perspiration glisten like a badge of honour. The weight se is packed with old but well-maintained equipment, free weights stacked against the walls, and a few serious-looking guys lifting like their lives depend on it. A boxing ring sits in the er, ropes worn but sturdy, while a row of pung bags hangs nearby, some already bearing the battle scars of past training sessions. There's no fancy branding, no influeraps—just hard work, discipline, and maybe a little bit of suffering. Perfect.

  Peter and Ned show up not long after, both looking wildly out of pce. Peter's dressed like he's about to go for a casual jog, and Ned… well, Ned looks like he's about to attend yoga csses with a bunch of 40-year-old moms.

  "Dude," Ned says as soon as he steps inside, eyes darting around like he just entered a warzohis pce smells like sweat a."

  "Yeah, that's called hard work, Ned." I cp him on the back before turning to Peter. "You ready?"

  "no idea..." Peter whimpered.

  Suddenly, from behind us, we could hear obnoxious ughter eg through the gym. "Look who's here! Penis Parker and his personal cheerleading squad?" the voice mocked.

  "oh my fug god..." I sigh, knowing who that ughter beloo. "my heads starting to hurt already..."

  Through the entrance, we saw goddamn Fsh Thompsoer the gym. "What are y'all nerds doing here? Try ripped for your league tour?" He mocks.

  Peter and Ned are suddenly looking all down and depressed as if they lost all motivation. I guess this is what happens when they're bullied by that guy for their whole high school careers...

  "nie fsh." I deadpan. "you wanna be reminded of what happe time you tried to bully Peter? And I didn't expect you of all people to go to the gym. I mean, look at you."

  His face got all red again. But before saying something back, he calmed down, probably remembering how I knocked him out yesterday. "fuck off. You're not the one I have problems with, Alex. Parker! Your puny ass has been ign me ever since your lil bodyguard over there" he gres at me "Defended your ass! I know without him you ain't nothing but a puny lil nerd! Now you're trying to start training? Ha. No o matter how hard you train, you won't be able to fill the shoes of your dead parents." Fsh scoffed.

  It felt like something s the st insult. Peter flinched and gritted his teeth, his eyes betraying a flurry of emotions, fear, anger, and something else, something stronger. Uedly, Peter looked up with a determined look and stated to him in a low voice. "Listen here, Eugene. I'm tired of being so weak. When I saw Alex fight, it hit me. This is what I want. I want to be like him. I'm done being weak. I'm sure as hell serious about this, and I'm going to get stronger so that I kick your ass straight into the pavement."

  Fsh looked as red as a tomato, but I could also sense a little sho his face. "Who do you think you are to fug talk to me like that, Penis Parker!?! I'm gonna fug kill you. ! If you're serious about getting stronger, fight me! Get in the ring! Right now! pussy!"

  "Fine." Peter snapped. "Let's see if your fatass take me."

  Ned looked at me worriedly. I was going to intervene, but something told me I shouldn't. This is like Peter's o, where this is the event that raises his fidence, or at least bees his motivation if he loses.

  The two walk over to the ring in the er of the gym, put on some gloves, a in.