However, Peter quickly tossed the 'size' issue out of his mind. He couldn't wait any longer. He eagerly pulled the red and blue tactical suit from its display case.
Who cared if the proportions were a little snug? No one else would see what was underneath anyway, but a badass superhero suit was a lifelong commitment!
Without an ounce of shame, Peter put on a live show of peeling off his clothes until he was down to his boxers, then began pulling the tactical suit over his body.
He and Tobey had grown up taking baths together since they were toddlers. There was absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about.
Once Peter finally zipped up the tactical suit, a brand-new, factory-fresh Spider-Man proudly stood before Tobey!
Peter planted his hands on his hips, unable to contain his excitement as he struck a heroic pose.
"Well? How do I look? Badass, right?"
Tobey stood to the side, rubbing his chin as he looked Peter up and down. He couldn't help but nod in genuine appreciation.
"Tsk, tsk. I have to admit, it looks incredibly sharp. This specific design really is meant for you..."
"Of course it is! You couldn't even fit in it if you tried!" Peter agreed immediately, completely missing the deeper meaning behind Tobey's words.
Tobey wasn't just talking about the physical fit or the classic comic book aesthetic. He was talking about the fundamental difference in the aura they projected when wearing their respective suits.
When people looked at Peter, they instinctively felt a sense of safety, warmth, and approachability.
But when Tobey wore his suit, even if he stood completely still and silent, he radiated an invisible, suffocating aura of danger and oppression.
If Peter put on his suit, he looked exactly like the kind of kind-hearted superhero who would help an old lady cross the street.
If Tobey put on his suit, he looked exactly like the kind of super-powered bully who would throw dirt in someone's eyes!
Which, to be fair, was absolutely true...
Oblivious to his cousin's internal comparison, Peter was currently completely immersed in exploring the technological marvels of his new Spider-Suit.
He was right to be amazed. The suit Peter wore utilized the exact same black tech foundation as Tobey's multi-million-dollar Mark III armor, differing only in its visual design and color palette.
It was an eight-figure masterpiece of ballistic, sensory, and environmental technology that Tobey had personally commissioned just for him.
Given Peter's genius intellect, Tobey didn't even need to explain the manual. Peter figured out the majority of the suit's built-in functions within minutes.
While Peter was busy familiarizing himself with his new gear, Tobey opened the third display case and began suiting up in his own black and crimson armor.
However, the moment Tobey pulled his black mask over his face, completely concealing his identity, Peter suddenly froze.
Like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on, all the hair on Peter's body instantly stood on end!
Driven entirely by subconscious instinct, Peter violently backpedaled several steps. He dropped into a low, feral crouch, adopting an aggressive defensive posture!
This reaction completely bypassed Peter's conscious mind. It was a purely physiological defense mechanism triggering on its own!
When his conscious brain finally caught up to his body, Peter realized his brand-new Spider-Sense was screaming at him, directing his attention toward the source of an overwhelming, lethal threat.
He locked his eyes onto the source—and realized it was Tobey, standing right there in his crimson and black suit!
And whether it was a hallucination or not, in Peter's eyes, Tobey's already towering frame seemed to distort and grow even more massive. Looming ominously behind his cousin, Peter swore he saw the faint, ghostly projection of a gigantic, terrifying red, black, and blue spider!
"Hmm? Peter? What's wrong?"
Noticing Peter's extreme, feral reaction, Tobey quickly reached up and pulled his mask off.
Seeing his cousin's familiar face, the overwhelming, skin-crawling sense of lethal danger slowly receded from Peter's mind.
Tobey immediately knew what had just happened.
He possessed the exact same danger-precognition ability. It was the Spider-Sense.
What he didn't understand was why it had triggered. He had simply put his mask on. He hadn't projected any killing intent or aggressive thoughts toward Peter whatsoever.
So why did Peter's Spider-Sense practically short-circuit the moment he looked at him?
Don't give him that crap about Spider-Men having a special telepathic connection with other Spider-Men across the multiverse. This clearly wasn't some friendly "Spider-Sense tingle" of recognition.
This was the pure, unfiltered terror of a prey animal locking eyes with an apex predator!
It took Peter a long time to calm down. He yanked his own mask off, gasping for air as he stared at Tobey in lingering horror.
"I... I don't know what just happened. Suddenly, I felt this overwhelming, suffocating sense of extreme danger. My body just reacted on its own, looking for the threat. And the threat was you! It felt like I was being completely crushed by a higher-tier predator!"
"And... and I swear, for a second, I saw something behind you... a massive, terrifying three-colored spider!"
Hearing this, Tobey's eyes narrowed. His mind raced with possibilities.
A three-colored spider?
Wasn't that the exact same spider that had bitten and killed him in his past life, triggering his reincarnation and granting him his powers?
He had always assumed his abilities perfectly mirrored the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man, and that the strange spider was just a one-off transmigration catalyst.
But judging by Peter's reaction, it seemed that specific spider was far more significant—and perhaps far more ancient or powerful—than he had originally thought.
More importantly, Peter explicitly stated he felt the overwhelming oppression of a higher-tier predator facing lower-tier prey.
Now that Peter mentioned it, as Tobey looked at his cousin right now, he suddenly felt that Peter looked a little... "appetizing."
Not in a literal, cannibalistic sense, and definitely not in a sexual sense. It was a dark, primal urge to violently crush Peter beneath his boot!
Simultaneously, a strange sensation—similar to his own Spider-Sense—began humming in the back of his mind. It subtly whispered that if he defeated and dominated Peter right now, he could extract something fundamentally powerful from him!
Tobey was never the type to sit around guessing. If his instincts told him something, he tested it immediately.
He cracked his neck, flashing Peter a dark, predatory grin.
"Peter. You may have just acquired superhuman strength that far exceeds a normal person's. But if your mentality is still as fragile as it was yesterday, you will never survive."
"You need to build up an extreme tolerance for pressure. It is the only way you'll be able to keep a cool head when facing truly terrifying enemies!"
Looking at Tobey's increasingly savage smile, Peter's Spider-Sense began violently humming at the base of his skull once again. A profound sense of dread washed over him. He swallowed hard.
"Build up a tolerance for pressure? How am I supposed to do that?"
Tobey cracked his knuckles, slowly taking a heavy step toward Peter.
"Isn't it obvious? Live combat. There is absolutely nothing that forces a man to grow faster than experiencing the suffocating pressure of a vastly superior enemy firsthand!"
As Tobey finished his sentence, Peter's heart began hammering against his ribs like a machine gun. The familiar, terrifying scream of his Spider-Sense reached a deafening crescendo!
He instantly realized Tobey wasn't joking. He was dead serious!
Are you fucking kidding me?!
He absolutely refused to fight his freak-of-nature cousin!
He was just a level-one hero who had literally spawned into the beginner village three minutes ago. Why the hell was he suddenly being forced into a boss fight against the Demon King?!
Without a single second of hesitation, Peter spun around and bolted. Moving with a speed and explosive agility that surprised even himself, he shot out of the sub-basement laboratory and scrambled frantically up the stairs toward the gym.