Spider-Man Mayhem

[Third Person Pov]

"Honestly, the list of supernatural abilities you possess is pretty extraordinary," Gwen said, scrolling through the holographic display floating between them. The soft blue light of the interface cast faint glows across her focused expression. "What we just covered was mainly the polar bear aspect of your powers and abilities. If we shift focus to your bat DNA, you’ll see that all five of your senses have been significantly boosted... and you’ve even gained a sixth."

Madeline leaned forward slightly, eyes tracking the scrolling data. Gwen’s tone remained clinical and precise, the same measured cadence she used when presenting lab findings.

"Let’s begin with your eyes. Your ocular prowess has been enhanced to the point where total darkness is no longer an obstacle. Certain wavelengths of UV light that are completely invisible to the human eye pose no difficulty for you either." Gwen gestured, and a new set of diagrams expanded in the air—detailed overlays of retinal structure and spectral sensitivity curves.

"Wait—hold on," Madeline interrupted, surprise clear in her voice. "I get that night vision and all that is cool, but a sixth sense?"

Gwen didn’t miss a beat. "It’s similar to our spidey-senses in the broadest sense, but it functions on an entirely different premise."

Madeline’s brow furrowed. "So... is it like your spidey-sense, or is it not?"

"It is a sixth sense," Gwen clarified, projecting a new hologram that rotated slowly in the space between them. Complex neural pathways lit up across a translucent model of a human brain. "But what you’ve developed is completely different. From my analysis, you’ve developed something I like to call a radar sense."

She pointed to a brightly highlighted region of activity. "You see this area here? Your brain’s activity levels are operating on a much higher scale than what should be normal for a baseline human."

Madeline’s expression shifted from curiosity to mild concern. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"That’s a good thing," Gwen said firmly. "It’s what’s allowing you to process the constant flood of sensory information without becoming overwhelmed. It’s also the primary source of your radar sense. Your brain continuously takes in every piece of sensory feedback—sound reflections, air pressure shifts, temperature gradients, residual light—and reconstructs a near-perfect, three-dimensional image of your surroundings in real time."

Madeline’s lips curved into a small, proud smile. "I suppose that’s pretty cool."

"Your elevated brain activity is also a clear indicator of increased intelligence," Gwen continued, adjusting the holograms so that comparative data from cuttlefish neural structures appeared beside Madeline’s own scans. "As I mentioned earlier, your brain is now capable of digesting and organizing incoming information far more rapidly than before. That particular boost may actually stem from the cuttlefish DNA—cuttlefish have an exceptionally high brain-to-body ratio. In short, nearly every cognitive process has been enhanced."

Madeline blinked, processing the information. She had already suspected something similar from her own earlier research into cuttlefish biology, but seeing the data laid out so clearly still caught her off guard.

Gwen stepped back from the display and began circling Madeline slowly. "Now, returning to the bat aspect of your new genetic sequence... there’s one additional gift we still need to discuss."

Madeline turned her head, following Gwen’s movement with growing confusion as the blond girl stopped directly behind her.

Without warning, Gwen’s fingers pressed firmly into the space between Madeline’s shoulder blades.

"Ahh!" Madeline cried out in shock as a pair of large, leathery wings erupted from her back in a sudden, powerful surge. The wings unfurled with a heavy snap of membrane and bone, spanning nearly twice her height and casting long shadows across the lab. "Wha—oh my!"

"May the power of Christ compel you!!"

Peter’s sudden shout cut through the room like a gunshot. Every head snapped toward him. A thick, awkward silence settled over the four of them.

Peter rubbed the back of his neck, looking mildly sheepish. "Sorry. I just realized I’d been uncharacteristically quiet and felt like I had to say something."

MJ was the only one who reacted with open amusement, laughing quietly behind her hand. Gwen and Madeline simply ignored him and returned their attention to the newly manifested wings, already moving on to the next phase of examination.

"Ugh, this feels so weird and uncomfortable," Madeline muttered, rolling her shoulders experimentally while staring at the large, leathery wings still arched behind her. The membranes twitched with every small movement, the new weight and sensation completely foreign.

Gwen placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. "That’s normal. It’s your first time with them. As you learn to use them you’ll become more accustomed to the feeling. It’s all a matter of practice and patience."

Madeline’s eyes widened with sudden panic. "How do I put them back? Please don’t tell me I’m stuck with them out like this."

"No, don’t worry," Gwen said calmly, already shifting into coaching mode. "It’s all about will and intent. Just like retracting your claws and fangs. Same principle. Focus on drawing them inward."

Madeline closed her eyes, brow furrowed in concentration. After a few clumsy attempts the wings finally folded and sank back beneath her skin with a soft rustle of displaced air. She exhaled in pure relief.

Gwen had already turned back to the floating display, eyes scanning the next section of data. "Now the cuttlefish DNA is a bit interesting..."

Peter and MJ drifted closer, peering over Gwen’s shoulders at the same scrolling readouts.

MJ suddenly snickered.

Madeline’s stomach dropped. "Oh no. What is it?"

"Hehehe... you can glow in the dark," MJ giggled, clearly delighted.

Madeline stared at her, worried. "Huh... what’s that supposed to mean?"

"It says here you’ve gained the ability of bioluminescence," MJ pointed out, still chuckling.

Peter and Gwen exchanged a quick glance.

"Aria, can you turn off all of the lights?" Peter requested.

The lab plunged into absolute darkness.

Madeline stood frozen, heart racing, and cautiously looked down at herself. When she saw nothing but black she let out a quiet sigh of relief—she wasn’t glowing on her own.

MJ clicked her tongue in disappointment and pouted.

Gwen’s voice floated calmly through the dark. "It seems like it’s an ability you can actively control. Go on, try it. It should feel instinctive—just ’will’ your body to light up."

"Easier said than done..." Madeline muttered. "But here goes nothing, I suppose."

She flicked her wrist once as if priming herself, then clenched her fists and concentrated.

A soft neon-red glow bloomed first through her hair, then spread smoothly up her hands, forearms, feet and legs like liquid light beneath the skin.

"Woah..." MJ breathed in genuine awe. Peter and Gwen shared the same quiet astonishment.

Madeline let out a soft, disbelieving laugh and began slowly weaving her arms through the air. Crimson light trails lingered behind every motion, painting fleeting arcs and spirals that hung for a few seconds before fading. A bright, almost childlike smile broke across her face as she spun and rotated, tracing more intricate patterns that briefly illuminated the dark laboratory in soft red.

"How beautiful," Gwen murmured, unable to stop herself.

Peter watched her with growing fascination. "Do you think you can increase the intensity?"

"Maybe... I think so," Madeline answered, already focusing harder.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! No—stop!!"

All three of them shouted at once as their spidey-senses flared in sharp, simultaneous warning.

The warning came a fraction of a second too late.

Madeline ignited.

A blinding red-white flare erupted from her entire body, so intense it lit the entire lab like a magnesium flash. Everyone else cried out and recoiled.

"Ahhhhh!!" MJ hissed, collapsing to the floor and clutching her face.

The emergency lights snapped back on a moment later, revealing Peter and Gwen also on the ground, both rolling onto their backs with tears streaming down their faces as they blinked frantically against the afterimage.

"Peter... I can’t see!" Gwen exclaimed, hands groping blindly through the air.

"Holy shit! What the actual fuck!! I can’t see shit either!" Peter groaned, palms pressed hard against his eyes. Fresh tears kept welling up. "I heard of weaponizing beauty but this is taking it to a whole other level!"

Madeline’s glow vanished instantly. She dropped to her knees beside them, voice cracking with panic. "Oh my goodness, I’m so, so, so sorry! I never meant for any of this to happen. It was an accident!"

Peter kept blinking rapidly, still wincing. "Don’t worry... we’ll recover. I think. But for Christ’s sake!" He rubbed his streaming eyes with the heels of his hands. "You can literally cause someone to have a seizure if you aren’t careful with that."

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