//------------------------------// // Big Changes // Story: The Amazing Spider-Blitz: The High School Chronicles // by KingYakko5991 //------------------------------// Lightning slowly opened his eyes as the sound of his alarm went off. He reached an arm how to turn it off, only to hit the side of his bed instead. Huh? How the hell did I end up on the floor? He thought to himself. Slowly, he pulled himself up off of the floor and made his way over to the other side of the bed. He gently pressed the button on top of his alarm, disabling the loud beeping. Lightning then made his way over to the his dresser to grab his glasses and put them on. Much to his surprise, the glasses made everything blurry and he could barely see anything. When he removed them, his vision had turned back to normal and was even improved compared to what he was used to. Confused, he lifted his glasses to his eyes again only for everything to be blurred again. "Weird," he muttered to himself, placing them back down on the dresser. Realizing he had to get ready for the day, Lightning began to go through his drawers to pick something to wear. But as he went to open the first drawer, he accidentally pulled the entire thing right out of the dresser, catching it right before it hit the floor. What the hell was that? Lighting looked at the thing in his hands in total disbelief. Realizing that time was short and not on his side, he placed the drawer on his bed then quickly grabbed all of the clothes off the floor and shove them back into the drawer. I'll fix that when I get back home today. Hopefully Aunt Hay and Uncle Growen don't come into my room today... Very gently and cautiously, Lightning opened other drawers to get the remaining of his clothes for the day before heading into the bathroom. Nearly done with his morning routine, Lighting was about to put on his shirt for the day when he noticed his reflection in the mirror. Instead of the scrawny figure he was used to seeing, he saw that we was super muscular and toned. He looked in the mirror in disbelief, raising his hand to his chest as though everything would revert back to normal. "Is this real?" He asked himself. Suddenly, there was a knock at the bathroom door that caught his attention. "Lightning, dear," he heard Aunt Hay call to him. "Are you feeling any better? Is there any change?" "Change?" Lighting repeated, looking back to his reflection. "Yup! Big change!" "Well that's good to hear but you must hurry dear. You don't want to miss the bus!" Aunt Hay replied as she left the door, most likely to head downstairs to prepare breakfast. "Right," Lightning said to himself, putting his shirt on. He took one last look at the mirror before heading out. He wasn't quite sure what brought on this change, or how it was even logically possible, but it was a welcome one for sure. Just maybe this would be enough to boost his confidence around others. "Okay..." he said before heading out the bathroom. An extra pep in his step, he hastily made his way down the stairs to grab a quick breakfast, eager to head out the door. "Well hey there Lighting!" Uncle Growen said, turning to face Lighting. "I thought you were supposed to be sick!" He said with a smile. "I got better!" Lighting replied. "I take it you slept well last night?" "More or less," Lighting replied with a shrug. Just then, Aunt Hay had also walked into the dining room. "Oh, Lighting! Just in time!" she said, seeing Lightning next to her husband. "I just finished making some sausage for breakfast. Would you also like some pancakes?" "Oh, that's okay," Lightning replied. "I'll just grab some toast and head out." He put some bread in the toaster as he went to grab his bag. "Don't forget Lightning," his uncle started, "You're supposed to help me clean out the basement after school!" "You got it Uncle Growen," Lighting replied, grabbing the now cooked toast out of the toaster. "I'll see you two after school!" With that, Lighting took his toast and headed out the door. As he closed the door, he could see Sunset heading his way down the sidewalk. "Hey Lightning," she called out. "I take it you're feeling better today?" She asked, remember how unwell he said he felt the day before as the school day ended. "Yeah, much better," Lightning said, taking a bite out of his toast. "Wait," Sunset frowned, noticing something about her friend. "What happened to your glasses?" "Oh, yeah. About that," he started. "You see, the craziest thing happened to me this morning..." Meanwhile... The sun rose up over the horizon, casting light through the window into the master bedroom of a house. In bed lie a couple, the man waking up with the sun. He got out of bed and stretched his arms and then proceeded to grab a few personal items off of the night stand next to the bed. He was a middle aged man, closing in on his older years, made apparent by his hair thinning on top of his head. He was happy with his life, and enjoyed his job as an engineer. He invented on the side as well, often times using said inventions to benefit his workplace. He also adored his wife and daughter, who all lived happily in their suburban home right outside of Manehattan. After a run through of his daily morning routine, the man heads down towards the kitchen to make breakfast for his family. Today was especially exciting, as he had just finished the plans for a big project. He wasn't sure just how it would be useful, but it was a cool invention he came up with and could not wait to share it with his employer. He was sure his old pal Gregory Bestman would be excited about what he's managed to conjure up this time. The two of them had been in business together for the longest time. He took care of all the engineering aspects while Bestman managed all the finances. It's why he never minded the company being named Bestman Inc, in fact he preferred to keep his name out of the company title. As he was finishing up breakfast, his wife walked into the kitchen. "Good morning Adrian," she said to her husband. "Breakfast smells delicious!" "Thanks dear," Adrian replied. "I hope you and Liz enjoy it." Adrian then sat down with his family to enjoy the breakfast he prepared. All the while, his mind had lingered on his latest invention. It was truly a work of art, to say the least and he was positive that Bestmen would share the enthusiasm. As breakfast was wrapped up, Adrian prepared for work while his daughter, Liz, prepared for school. As the two headed towards the door, Adrian's wife gave each a hug and Adrian a kiss on the cheek. "Have a good day you two!" she said as they went out the door. "Thanks honey, you too," Adrian replied. With that said and done, he and Liz headed toward the car. The ride to Liz's school, Manehattan High, was mostly silent apart from the music playing from the car radio. After a few minutes, they had arrived at the front entrance of the school. "Have a nice day at school today, Gumdrop," Adrian said as Liz exited the car. "Thanks Dad, see you after school," she replied. She then closed the door then went to meet up with her friends. Adrian looked on with a smile as his daughter walked up the stairs to the entrance of the school. Today is going to be a good day, he thought to himself as he drove off. After another thirty minutes, Adrian had made it to the main building of Bestman Inc. As he got out of the car, Adrian took a deep breath of the slightly chilly fresh air outside. With a confident smile, he headed towards the main entrance of the building. His smile quickly turned to confusion as he noticed some of the workers seemed nervous, and even surprised that he was present. Must be some of the new guys, he thought to himself. He had intended to meet some of the new employees, but had been so busy recently that he never really got the chance. Either way, he wasn't going to let others' nerves bring him down. Today was going to be a good day. However, he didn't get far before he was stopped by one of the managers. "Toomes," the manager said slowly. "Bestman wants to see you in his office." Already? Adrian thought to himself. Must be eager to see what I've been working on! "Alright," Adrian replied. "I'll be there right away." With that. he headed towards Bestman's office. As he approached the room he started to get this strange feeling. It wasn't just the new guys that seemed nervous around him. Some of the older workers were seemingly avoiding eye contact with him, almost as if they knew something that he didn't. Slowly, Adrian started to feel a little nervous himself as he came up to the door to Bestman's office. He and Bestman were friends though. The two of them went way back, and they started this company together, as partners. There was no reason to be afraid, or even nervous. Adrian reassured himself as he opened the door and entered. "Hey Greg," he called out. "You wanted to see me, bud?" Gregory Bestman was standing tall in front of a window, looking out at the view of the city. The light from the still rising sun reflected from his slick black hair. He turned around as he heard Adrian enter and call out his name. "Morning, Adrian," he replied. "No need to take a seat, this shouldn't take long." "Okay..." was the only reply Adrian could manage. Where could he be going with this. "Listen," Bestman started, "I really do appreciate all that you've done for this company. You've helped me start this company, and you've provided countless brilliant ideas that I couldn't even begin to fathom on my own. But, I've ben going over the finances, you know, looking for ways to better the company and make things more efficient around here, and I'm afraid that I'm going to have to let you go." Those last few words hung in the air, like a pendulum blade, dreadful to the man who had to hear them. "What... what are you saying?" Adrian asked, in a state of complete shock. "I'm saying that I'm going to have to let you go. It's what's best for the company, Adrian." Toomes stood in disbelief. This couldn't be happening. Not to him. Not today. Not now. "I don't understand. You can't do this to me," he started. "I helped you start this company! I have a family to take care of!" Slowly, his disbelief began to transform into anger. "Do you know how much I've had to sacrifice for this job?!" Unfazed by the outburst, Bestman let out a sigh. "I'm sorry Adrian. There's nothing more I can do." He then walked over to his colleague, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's nothing personal," he said, then walking to the door behind Adrian. "Just business. I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors." And with that, Bestman walked out the door to his office, to attend to other matters presumably. Adrian stood still, processing everything that had just happened. How could this happen to him? How was he going to explain this to his family? But then, he had got an idea. He turned and walked out of the door. Not bothering to talk to anyone on the way out, he went back to his car. Adrian sat in his car looking at the building in front of him. He was still in complete shock and disbelief of the events that just took place. "So that's how it's gonna be, is it?" he muttered to himself as he took his phone out of his pocket and went through his contacts. He selected on a name and put the phone up to his ear, waiting for the person on the other end to pick up. "Yo," a sleepy voice from the other end said. "Davis," Toomes replied. "Listen, I'm gonna need to take you up on a solid you owe me. You still got that hideout for us to work with?" ... The last class before senior lunch had just finished and Lightning was slowly making his way towards the cafeteria. It had been another mediocre day at Canterlot High. Classes weren't too difficult, but then again, when were they ever? Just as he had approached the back of the lunch line, he heard a sing songy voice call out his name from behind. "Lightniiiinnnng!" He let out a sigh, knowing exactly how things were going to play out. It was the same routine everyday. He turned around to face a cheerful Sunset Shimmer giving him a warm smile. Even if having the same conversation everyday with the exact same outcome every time got tiresome, it was hard to stay upset with someone like Sunset. The new Sunset, anyway. "Hey Sunset," he replied with a small wave of the hand. "You wanna sit with me and my friends at lunch today?" And there it was. Admittedly, he had to admire her persistence with this. "I don't know, Sunset," he started. "They won't bite! Promise! Not even Pinkie!" Sunset joked. "It's just... what if I don't fit in? Or what if they don't like me? I don't even know what I'd even talk to them about..." Lightning had a hard time explaining why he really didn't want to sit with Sunset's friends: they were all girls. How could he possibly be comfortable in that type of environment? Besides, the things he said to her were genuine concerns as well. He didn't fit in with any other group in the school, so why would this one be any different? "Don't be silly. They'd enjoy your company, I'm sure!" Sunset tried to reassure him, but to no avail. "It's alright Sunset. I'm fine sitting alone. Besides, it gives me more space to get some work done!" "Fine," Sunset sighed in defeat. "But the offer always remain. You don't even have to ask. You could just plop your stuff down in an open seat with us at anytime." She then pulled Lightning into a quick hug, catching him completely off guard. That's new, he thought to himself as he watched Sunset walk off to her table. With a sigh, he then grabbed his food tray and walked over to his normal table where he sat alone everyday. Despite the rather odd changes he noticed earlier in the morning, he still couldn't muster up the confidence to talk to Sunset's friends. Letting out another sigh of disappointment, he picked up some fries and started eating. Unexpectedly, Rarity had come into the cafeteria and was headed past Lighting's table. He threw a few glances her way, but didn't want to get caught looking at her. Gosh is she pretty he thought to himself. But as she passed his table, she slipped on a spill on the floor, and yelped as she lost her balanced and threw her food tray into the air. Intuitively, he turned around and caught her as well as her tray and every food item that was falling from above, preventing everything from making contact with the floor. Lightning stared at the tray with a confused look, trying to process what just happened. "Wow, great reflexes," Rarity complimented. "Thanks, darling!" Lightning then turned to face her, only just realizing she was speaking to him. "Oh my, what gorgeous eyes you have!" She said, starting to blush a little. "I-I suppose I never noticed with the glasses and all. Did you recently get contacts?" She asked, tilting her head to the side slightly. Not knowing what to say, Lighting simply smiled in response. The strange response caused Rarity to giggle a little. "Well, see you darling." She then continued over to her lunch table, making sure to not slip on anymore spills. Lightning turned around and looked back at his lunch, disappointed in his complete incompetency and not even being able to speak a single word to Rarity. He let out yet another sigh as he went to open his milk carton. But he noticed the strangest thing, the carton had somehow stuck itself to his fingertips. He quickly glanced around to see if anyone else had noticed. Nobody did. But then again, why would they? Lightning tried flick his wrist, to try and shake the carton from his hand but instead it remained completely motionless. He started shaking his wrist, then his entire arm more vigorously, trying everything in his power to get the damn thing unstuck. As he swung his arm over his head, the carton had finally freed itself from his hand and went flying across the cafeteria. He heard a few gasps as the sound of the carton exploding on impact resonated from behind him. Almost scared to look, Lightning glanced back to see who the unfortunate victim of the milk bomb, only to see a flustered Flash Sentry drenched in milk. Lightning immediately got up to throw away his food tray and leave the cafeteria as soon as possible. He wasn't that hungry anyway. He just had to get out of there before Flash figured out just exactly what happened. Maybe he won't notice it was me, Lightning thought to himself. Unfortunately for Lightning, Flash had turned around and saw him leaving the cafeteria in a hurry. "Blitz?" he said, disbelief. Lighting hurriedly went to his locker and started putting in his combination, not wanting to know what was most likely coming after him. Before he finished however, he got a sudden sense of danger and stepped to the side, just as Flash's fist made contact with his locker. Before Lightning knew what was happening, a crowd had gathered around the two of them. "I bet you think you're really funny, don't you freak?" Flash said to Lighting. Lightning backed away from him, fear starting to take over all of his senses, "Come on Flash, it was an accident." Sunset said from the crowd, trying to call him down. "Yeah, my fist breaking your face, that's the accident!" Flash retorted. "You're not getting him out of this one." "I don't want to fight you Flash," Lightning tried. "Yeah? I wouldn't want to fight me neither," Flash said back. "I'm gonna kick your wimpy little ass!" Flash threw a quick punch, the sound of his fist whooshing through the air. But somehow, he had completely missed Lightning. Confusion grew on both of their faces. Flash shook his head and threw a second punch, seeing Lightning dodge it entirely this time. Lightning saw the third punch come at him in slow motion. Not wanting to get hit by it, he simply stepped to the side, watching the blow go right past him. What the... With a flustered look, Flash attempted to hit Lighting with a lariat but he just bent underneath it, as if he were playing a game of limbo. "Come on, Flash! Kick his ass already!" Someone from the crowd called out. Hearing this filled Flash with anger who then threw a flurry of punches at Lighting, who dodged every single attack with ease. Eventually he had decided to catch a punch with his hand, turning his wrist to stop him from throwing another blow. As Flash's expression went from one of anger to one of confusion and even fear, Lightning's expression changed from one of confusion to anger. He gave a single blow to Flash's stomach, sending him sliding down the hallway until he collided with a teacher, causing them to drop their lunch on his face. Lightning looked down at his hand, still balled up in a fist, amazed at what he just did. That look of amazement quickly faded when he saw the look of shock on Rarity's face. Sunset then stepped towards him. "Lightning, that was amazing! How did you-" but before she could finish her sentence, Lighting took off, running towards the main entrance of the school, heading out the door. Lightning quickly made his way to the nearest alley, pressing his back against the wall. "What the hell was that?" he said to himself. He then thought back to the events of yesterday. "The spider?" He then looked up at the wall in front of him. He placed his right hand against it, feeling the tips of his fingers grip into the brick surface. "Okay..." He then placed his other hand slightly higher, getting the same sensation. Slowly, he started scaling the wall, just like a spider would. This is insane! he thought to himself. Picking up the speed, he reached the top of the building. He started running towards the opposite end, jumping across the gap to the next building. He started repeating this process, enjoying the rush of jumping from building to building. He reached a gap that was noticeably larger than the rest. "No problem," he whispered to himself. Lightning took a few steps back to give himself some space to get enough speed. Looking at the gap ahead of him, he took a deep breath, then started running towards the gap. When he jumped from the ledge, he nearly felt the sensation of flying, leaping a distance he would have otherwise thought impossible. However, he miscalculated the jump, and nearly missed the edge of the building. Nearly clinging onto the side, he pulled himself up to the roof. I'll have to remember to be more careful next time... he thought, looking back over at the great jump he had just made. Lightning didn't arrive back home till much later, after the sun had long set. He opened the front door to the house, only to find that nobody was home. Guess Aunt Hay and Uncle Growen went out for the night... he thought. He went into the kitchen to find a note left on the counter. "Buster! Went out for the night, help yourself to some leftovers in the microwave! -Uncle Growen." "Guess that solves that mystery," Lightning said, putting the note to the side. He grabbed a quick snack then went upstairs to his room. Now, let's see what else I can do...