Prologue - Instant
Your life can change in an instant.
Today is a good example.
So was three days ago.
And one year ago. And six months before that.
And the day it all started two years ago.
Two years ago, I was three months into my super powers. I had thought that was a life changing instant.
I was wrong.
My powers hadn't changed anything. I was an ignorant little teenager who wanted fame and glory, just like everyone else.
Other people weren't my problem.
They should have been.
My Uncle Ben being shot by that same crook that I had failed to stop from robbing the wrestling ring I worked in was the life-changing event. It changed Spider-Man from a costumed wrestler, into a costumed crime fighter.
Six months later, I was dating Gwen Stacy, daughter of Police Captain George Stacy. Captain Stacy died in the line of duty, sacrificing his life for that of a young child's to some random debris knocked loose in a fight with Doctor Otto Octavius, better known to the world as Doctor Octopus.
Who I was fighting at the time.
I should have been able to prevent George Stacy's death. I should have.
But I didn't.
I'm almost certain that Captain Stacy knew my identity. His dying wish was for me to take care of his daughter. He had been friend to both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, and I took his wish to heart.
Six months later, I failed.
The Green Goblin had discovered my identity, and had kidnapped Gwen because of it. This death was directly my fault.
The Goblin and I fought on the Brooklyn Bridge, up on the support tower on the Brooklyn side. A close pass by the Goblin knocked her over the side. I shot down some webbing. I caught her, and held. The fight ended, Goblin, Norman Osborne, impaled by his own glider. It was only then that I was able to check on Gwen. The webbing had caught her sure enough. But she was dead. The angle was too steep and she stopped moving too fast. The webbing had broken her neck.
But I had moved on, eventually. My Aunt had finally convinced me to go on a blind date with the Watson girl whose Aunt lived next door, and I was berating myself for not giving in earlier. Mary Jane was the most perfect girlfriend a guy could ask for. Unfortunately, other relationships were going downhill fast.
Harry Osborne, my long time friend and Norman's son, had sworn revenge on Spider-Man for his father's death, and it led him to taking the same formula Norman had, and donning his father's mask in an effort to hunt me down. He, too, learned my identity.
Three days ago, I was battling furiously with Harry, attempting to calm him down, and bring some of his humanity back, to no avail. Our fight led us inland, and away from the skyscrapers.
It led into the heart of Queens.
We battled up and down the streets. I threw my webbing at the Goblin glider mercilessly in order to keep him from firing into houses and cars to distract me.
When we reached the modest two-story home where I lived, I knew my time was up. I had to stop him now. Thankful that Aunt May was next door at the Watson's, I engaged Harry from my own roof. Harry was not quite the Goblin that Norman was, but he was close enough. The real problem was the glider. It pitched and rolled through the skies effortlessly, and I was stuck on whatever I could leap to. With the thought of disabling the glider in mind, I shot some more webbing into one of the thrusters. The force of the other, unobstructed, thruster caused the glider to crash through the wall of the Watson home. I gaped in shock at what I had inadvertently done.
Then the house exploded.
Four bodies were confirmed dead.
Harry Osborne.
Aunt May.
Anna Watson.
Mary Jane.
Three days later, as I stood and watched the graves in the cemetery, the faces of every person I had failed side by side in my mind, I had to wonder.
Is it worth it?
I looked down at the mask in my hand. The mask of a hero. The mask of a man who did what he did as penance for the greatest of mistakes. The mask of Spider-Man. In the two years since I had donned the mask, everything that I had touched had turned to ash. Everyone I had ever dared to love had paid the ultimate price.
And they had been blind to the reasons why they were targeted.
Well, most of them.
And in the end, the good I do is tainted by the deaths of those I care for.
But still, the question remained. Was it worth it?
No.
Simply put, that was the answer. No. If being Spider-Man prompted even more deaths, then Spider-Man would cease to exist.
From this day forth, there is only Peter Parker. Spider-Man is no more.
I buried the nylon costume at the bottom of my suitcase to remind me of my failure, and packed all of my other clothes on top. I carefully laid my disassembled microscope on top, wrapped in bubble wrap.
According to social services, I would not be coming back.
The man coming to pick me up was a stranger to both social services and me. So much of a stranger in fact, that they didn't even have his last name on file. The only name they had was Logan.
This had already been one hell of a bad two years, and it didn't look to be getting any better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Chuck, we need to talk."
Logan looked somewhat embarrassed as he approached.
"Oh? What's troubling you Logan?"
"I've got a problem. There's a kid I need to take care of."
I arched an eyebrow. He got what I was getting at immediately.
"No way. Not mine… but I'm now officially his guardian, being his god-father."
"I wasn't aware that you had friends you were that well acquainted with."
He sighed wistfully.
An emotional response, coming from him.
"They're dead. Back when I was still working with the Canadian government, I was partnered with two American agents who worked for the organization that would later become SHIELD. After we saved each other's lives a few times, they kind of grew on me. I was Richard's best man at his wedding, and the first man to congratulate him when he discovered Mary was pregnant with the kid."
"And…?"
"And when they died in the plane crash, I left the kid for his Aunt and Uncle to take care of. They've certainly taken better care of him than I could have."
"And now they're dead as well?"
He nodded.
"The Uncle died about two years ago, his Aunt within the last few days. Fallout of the Spider/Goblin battle."
"With an open mind, he could come here…"
"I'm not sure how 'open' his mind will be, Chuck. In the last two years he's lost His Aunt, two girlfriends, and his best friend to battles between Spider-Man and various other crazies. And he's only sixteen for god's sake."
"Well, you can't just ignore this. Pick him up and move to a hotel for a few days and try to figure out where he stands on the mutant issue. I'll talk to the students here. They have the right to be consulted about someone who isn't a mutant coming to live here, even if it's only a possibility."
Logan looked thoughtful for a moment.
"See you in a few days, Chuck."
Your life can change in an instant.
Today is a good example.
So was three days ago.
And one year ago. And six months before that.
And the day it all started two years ago.
Two years ago, I was three months into my super powers. I had thought that was a life changing instant.
I was wrong.
My powers hadn't changed anything. I was an ignorant little teenager who wanted fame and glory, just like everyone else.
Other people weren't my problem.
They should have been.
My Uncle Ben being shot by that same crook that I had failed to stop from robbing the wrestling ring I worked in was the life-changing event. It changed Spider-Man from a costumed wrestler, into a costumed crime fighter.
Six months later, I was dating Gwen Stacy, daughter of Police Captain George Stacy. Captain Stacy died in the line of duty, sacrificing his life for that of a young child's to some random debris knocked loose in a fight with Doctor Otto Octavius, better known to the world as Doctor Octopus.
Who I was fighting at the time.
I should have been able to prevent George Stacy's death. I should have.
But I didn't.
I'm almost certain that Captain Stacy knew my identity. His dying wish was for me to take care of his daughter. He had been friend to both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, and I took his wish to heart.
Six months later, I failed.
The Green Goblin had discovered my identity, and had kidnapped Gwen because of it. This death was directly my fault.
The Goblin and I fought on the Brooklyn Bridge, up on the support tower on the Brooklyn side. A close pass by the Goblin knocked her over the side. I shot down some webbing. I caught her, and held. The fight ended, Goblin, Norman Osborne, impaled by his own glider. It was only then that I was able to check on Gwen. The webbing had caught her sure enough. But she was dead. The angle was too steep and she stopped moving too fast. The webbing had broken her neck.
But I had moved on, eventually. My Aunt had finally convinced me to go on a blind date with the Watson girl whose Aunt lived next door, and I was berating myself for not giving in earlier. Mary Jane was the most perfect girlfriend a guy could ask for. Unfortunately, other relationships were going downhill fast.
Harry Osborne, my long time friend and Norman's son, had sworn revenge on Spider-Man for his father's death, and it led him to taking the same formula Norman had, and donning his father's mask in an effort to hunt me down. He, too, learned my identity.
Three days ago, I was battling furiously with Harry, attempting to calm him down, and bring some of his humanity back, to no avail. Our fight led us inland, and away from the skyscrapers.
It led into the heart of Queens.
We battled up and down the streets. I threw my webbing at the Goblin glider mercilessly in order to keep him from firing into houses and cars to distract me.
When we reached the modest two-story home where I lived, I knew my time was up. I had to stop him now. Thankful that Aunt May was next door at the Watson's, I engaged Harry from my own roof. Harry was not quite the Goblin that Norman was, but he was close enough. The real problem was the glider. It pitched and rolled through the skies effortlessly, and I was stuck on whatever I could leap to. With the thought of disabling the glider in mind, I shot some more webbing into one of the thrusters. The force of the other, unobstructed, thruster caused the glider to crash through the wall of the Watson home. I gaped in shock at what I had inadvertently done.
Then the house exploded.
Four bodies were confirmed dead.
Harry Osborne.
Aunt May.
Anna Watson.
Mary Jane.
Three days later, as I stood and watched the graves in the cemetery, the faces of every person I had failed side by side in my mind, I had to wonder.
Is it worth it?
I looked down at the mask in my hand. The mask of a hero. The mask of a man who did what he did as penance for the greatest of mistakes. The mask of Spider-Man. In the two years since I had donned the mask, everything that I had touched had turned to ash. Everyone I had ever dared to love had paid the ultimate price.
And they had been blind to the reasons why they were targeted.
Well, most of them.
And in the end, the good I do is tainted by the deaths of those I care for.
But still, the question remained. Was it worth it?
No.
Simply put, that was the answer. No. If being Spider-Man prompted even more deaths, then Spider-Man would cease to exist.
From this day forth, there is only Peter Parker. Spider-Man is no more.
I buried the nylon costume at the bottom of my suitcase to remind me of my failure, and packed all of my other clothes on top. I carefully laid my disassembled microscope on top, wrapped in bubble wrap.
According to social services, I would not be coming back.
The man coming to pick me up was a stranger to both social services and me. So much of a stranger in fact, that they didn't even have his last name on file. The only name they had was Logan.
This had already been one hell of a bad two years, and it didn't look to be getting any better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Chuck, we need to talk."
Logan looked somewhat embarrassed as he approached.
"Oh? What's troubling you Logan?"
"I've got a problem. There's a kid I need to take care of."
I arched an eyebrow. He got what I was getting at immediately.
"No way. Not mine… but I'm now officially his guardian, being his god-father."
"I wasn't aware that you had friends you were that well acquainted with."
He sighed wistfully.
An emotional response, coming from him.
"They're dead. Back when I was still working with the Canadian government, I was partnered with two American agents who worked for the organization that would later become SHIELD. After we saved each other's lives a few times, they kind of grew on me. I was Richard's best man at his wedding, and the first man to congratulate him when he discovered Mary was pregnant with the kid."
"And…?"
"And when they died in the plane crash, I left the kid for his Aunt and Uncle to take care of. They've certainly taken better care of him than I could have."
"And now they're dead as well?"
He nodded.
"The Uncle died about two years ago, his Aunt within the last few days. Fallout of the Spider/Goblin battle."
"With an open mind, he could come here…"
"I'm not sure how 'open' his mind will be, Chuck. In the last two years he's lost His Aunt, two girlfriends, and his best friend to battles between Spider-Man and various other crazies. And he's only sixteen for god's sake."
"Well, you can't just ignore this. Pick him up and move to a hotel for a few days and try to figure out where he stands on the mutant issue. I'll talk to the students here. They have the right to be consulted about someone who isn't a mutant coming to live here, even if it's only a possibility."
Logan looked thoughtful for a moment.
"See you in a few days, Chuck."