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Hero (Spider-Man)
Peter's Story - Chapter Thirteen

Peter's Story - Chapter Thirteen

I’d finished the web shooter and now I had nothing to do. Well, I probably should be out doing Spider-Man stuff, but I didn’t have it in me right now. I felt tired No that wasn’t right. Drained; like I’d been holding something up for hours, days even. I didn’t know why. Well, I did. Kind of. But I couldn’t fix it, so it didn’t really matter.

I dropped down from the ceiling of the shed and messed up my landing, crashing to the ground on my back rather than my feet. Dammit. I stood up and dusted myself off, before taking off my goggles and stepping out the shed. I strolled into the kitchen, as Aunt May hummed along to something on the radio. As soon as she noticed me, set stopped what she was doing and turned to me.

“Are you feeling better now?” she asked.

“Yeah” I mumbled.

“MJ had to leave quickly, but she’ll be back”

“She doesn’t have to w-“

“Peter” Aunt May said sternly. I let out a sigh. “We’re just worried about you”

“You don’t have to be”

“Pete. Just talk to me” Aunt May said. I didn’t say anything. “Peter, please” she pleaded, taking my hands in a firm grasp. I looked into her eyes and saw the look of anguish and worry I’d been fretting. I looked away in shame. Of course, she’d be this worried.

“I’m sorry Aunt May” I said, my voice cracking with emotion. She held my hand tightly for a few more seconds then let out a sigh, and let go.

“Do you remember when Uncle Ben used to put you to bed?” Aunt May said. Memories floated through my mind of Uncle Ben tucking me into bed and telling me stories. A warmth flooded through my chest. He’d always been good at telling stories. He’d been good at talking in general. And getting other people to talk.

“I… yeah” I mumbled. I pulled Aunt May into a hug, and she hugged me back.

When we finally pulled away, she gave me a quick kiss on the forehead and smiled gently at me.

“You’re special Peter”

“It doesn’t feel like it” I chuckled dryly. May chuckled as well.

“Well, you are to me. Try not to forget that” she said. She gave me another quick kiss on the forehead and left the room.

That last comment had definitely been a sly reminder that I could open up to her. I sighed. I kept telling myself that I was getting better, being proactive, actually finally doing stuff; but I was avoiding all the big things. I still hadn’t really spoken to Aunt May about any of this. I really did need to talk to her, it probably would make me feel better. But maybe that’s what I was afraid of. I didn’t want this to feel good. I wanted to wallow in my sadness and anger at the world, because if I didn’t, if I tried to feel better, wasn’t that disrespectful to Gwen? I should feel sad. I needed to keep feeling sad, to know I cared about her, didn’t I?

But then when did it stop? A year from now? Two years? A decade? Never? If I actually ever started enjoying life again, wouldn’t I still feel guilty? Dammit, I was just making everything feel worse. This is why I needed to talk. Letting my thoughts stew over in my head was just going to make me sick. I needed something to distract myself.

I walked into the living room, grabbed the remote and switched on the TV. May didn’t have Netflix so I was stuck with cable. I flicked through the channels before stopping on a rerun of Law and Order. I’d seen it before. Eh, it was okay. I could just tune out and switch off my brain. I shifted slightly, making myself more comfortable on the couch.

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-

I awoke with a start, pausing as I felt a hand on the side of my face ruffling through my hair. I glanced up to see MJ look down on me. My head was resting in her lap. I sat up wiping the sleep from my eyes as I looked around the living room in confusion.

“You okay?” MJ asked.

“Mm? Yeah I’m…” I trailed off, pausing as my gaze focused on the TV. I stared at the screen in disbelief. MJ said something but I was too engrossed to hear it. Holy shit. I leant forward, listening closely as the report continued.

‘… is at Central Park, apparently calling for the Spider-Man, the infamous masked vigilante who recently garnered media attention after a fight demolished several residences in the west side of Manhattan. Reports state that the villain arrived at central park only a few minutes ago and took two parks residents hostage, whilst angrily calling at park inhabitants to find Spider-man. The villain’s identity has yet to be uncovered but police are currently on route to-‘

I tuned out the noise, my attention changing to what was on the screen. The live feed continued, showing a man standing amidst a circle of yellowish spikes, and two people cowering as they stood in a smaller circle of spikes. There was a supervillain, specifically after me. A supervillain. Holy shit. I jumped up, but stood still, the situation so absurdly surreal that I didn’t know what to do. I mean I had to go, didn’t I? The guy had hostages and he was specifically calling out for Spider-Man. I grabbed the bag out from under my bed and held it tightly. I could feel a panic start to rise up in my chest. I pushed it down and steeled myself, glancing at MJ before making my way upstairs to grab the costume. If I thought about this for too long, I’d chicken out. I grabbed the bag and went back downstairs.

“Peter? What’s wrong, where are you going?” MJ asked, worried.

“I… uh… left my phone at my house. I… I was going to meet Sasha at Central Park. I need to tell her I’m okay” I replied.

“Wait a se-“

”I’ll be back quickly” I added, bursting out the front door before she could say anything. She called out but I sped walked away from the house, ignoring her as guilt slowly consumed my conscience. I shook my head. My personal problems with lying to MJ could wait. If she knew what I was about to do she’d probably try to stop me. I couldn’t let that happen. People actively needed my help and right now, that was all that mattered.

-

Wind whipped past my ears as I cut through the air at ridiculous speeds. I was on top of a train, flying through the neighbourhoods of Queens. It had been an insane, spur of the moment idea, but I’d needed to get to central park quickly and I hadn’t had the guts to swing.

My body thrummed with nervous energy as I tried to think about the villain and the encroaching fight, but my mind was too focused on the situation at hand. Being on the outside of a train was scarier than being on the inside. A lot scarier. Even worse, I had to jump off soon. If I was going to get there as quickly as possible, I’d need to and then swing across the side of the Queensboro bridge and through Manhattan. I couldn’t just hop off the train and onto a taxi and tell them to drive me there. Even if taking the train was faster, the whole thing was really just to stall the inevitable.

I could see it coming up now, as we rocketed towards it. I wasn’t ready for this. I could feel it, the fear, deep in my bones. It kept me glued firmly to the roof of the train as my spider sense shook, warning me of the danger of my surroundings.

The panic from earlier still lingered. It made me feel claustrophobic. I was hyper aware of everything, my brain even warning me of the clothes on my back. I closed my eyes, forcing it down again. It was paralysing. But the train barrelled forward anyway as we drew closer to the jump point. I pried my hands away from the roof of the carriage, then closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It was now or never. My eyes flew open and I leapt upwards with as much force as I could muster, throwing myself through the air.

I flew, soaring upwards as a mixture of excitement and fear flooded through me. My upwards velocity slowed before I began to arc through the air and I started to descend downwards towards the bridge. Panic gripped me momentarily, my body seizing up as I plummeted. I clamped my eyes shut, the wind roaring in my ears now. I needed to move. I needed to stop being so afraid dammit. But I couldn’t change the way I felt. This shit was scary. But even if it was I needed to push through. For my sake and the people that needed me.

With a sudden burst of willpower my eyes flew open and I fired a web. It shot out latching onto the side of the bridge and I flew downwards for a few more fearful seconds before . I leapt off the end of the web as I came to the end of the arc and through shaky hands fired another web, swinging in a large arc, my feet nearly skimming the water as cut through the air. I fired another web, pulling myself up it slightly before launching myself off the end and shooting upwards. I continued swinging, a confident grace gradually forming in my movements as I swung across the bridge and then above the streets of Manhattan. For a moment, everything faded replaced by a euphoria. Despite my fear, and the situation, I felt excited. I was doing it. I think I got part of why Lucas travelled like this. Web swinging could feel amazing.

I stopped on a building overlooking the park, take a moment to breathe as my entire body shook with adrenaline. The sound of sirens echoing in the distance. The helicopter overhead circled around a specific part of the park. There it was. I took a deep breath and slapped myself lightly.

“Brave. Like Uncle Ben” I whispered. I leapt off the building and swung through the trees towards the commotion and landed, spotting the mess instantly. The man stood, in the middle of a clearing, two hostages, trapped by spikes of sand. He locked eyes with me instantly and roared with an incredible hatred.

“SPIDER-MAN!!!”

Oh boy.