Chapter 1
Peter Parker happily ran down the steps of the graduation stage to wrap his Aunt May in a hug. The other students, even Flash, cheered him on as the next student prepared to get onstage. Peter stared across the seats, smiling at his girlfriend, the one and only Gwen Stacy. He felt a twinge of sadness as he saw only MJ hugging her, but it faded as he rushed over to embrace her himself. George Stacy wouldn’t have wanted them to be so depressed on one of the most pivotal days of their lives.
The past two years had been a mess for Peter and his closest friends. Just a few weeks after the death of Norman Osborn, he ran into Flint Marko while stopping crimes on patrol. Flint had asked for help to go straight, having taken to heart his words that winter. Peter had been more than happy to, enlisting the help of Captain Stacy to send glowing letters of recommendation to the parole board. Flint was released a few months later on good behavior, writing a tell-all book about his short-lived career as a supervillain. That was when things began to fall apart.
Flint’s old friends, Dr. Octopus, Rhino, Vulture, Mysterio, and Kraven had crashed his book signing, violently attacking any who dared show their face at the mall that day. They wanted to send the message that no one could just quit their group without any repercussions. They even brought in a replacement for Sandman to make it a proper Sinister Six: Venom. Eddie had been more than happy to join the Six, knowing that an attack of such magnitude would be more than enough to draw out his former “bro”. And draw him out it did. If Sandman and Captain Stacy hadn’t been there, Peter could have gotten off with way more broken bones than he did, or maybe not at all. But it wasn’t enough to save everyone. Mysterio, Kraven and Vulture went down relatively easily, but it was the last three that truly made the difference. While Sandman held off Rhino and Venom, Dr Octopus had fought Peter on the roof of the mall. Their fighting had jarred a piece of the wall loose and sent it hurtling towards some poor child who hadn’t realized he was in harm’s way. All the fighting had stopped in shock when Captain Stacy dove forward to push the boy out of the way, If only he had been able to push himself away. Peter had tried to swing him to a hospital as the villains retreated to fight another day. They made it about one block before the bleeding was too much and they had to stop. Peter would never forget Stacy’s final words.
"Be good to her, son...even if she doesn't show it...she loves you very much! Look after her, Peter... for me!"
He’d called him Peter. He’d known this whole time. But he’d never said anything. Just like Uncle Ben, he’d been too good for this world. Having no relatives except an uncle overseas, Gwen accepted Aunt May’s offer to live with her and Peter. It was this that finally caused her to end her relationship with Harry, as she had been planning to do for a while when the time was right. Harry had taken it surprisingly well…at first. He’d even started a relationship with Peter’s ex, Liz Allen, and Peter had joked that they were plotting revenge on them together. Unbeknownst to him, he was half right.
A year after that, a new supervillain known as the Hobgoblin had emerged in New York, beating and bullying his way through the underworld like the previous goblin had. Peter had immediately suspected Harry, but his focus shifted instead to Oscorp’s latest competitor, Roderick Kingsley. Both suspicions were right. Kingsely and Harry were sharing the mantle of Hobgoblin, using an improved version of Norman Osborn’s globulin green that gave them the strength and speed without any of the mental drawbacks. Harry had verbally torn Peter apart in their fight, having apparently figured out his identity and having gone mad anyway from the revelation that his best friend was the one who he blamed for the death of his father. All of the guilt-tripping had distracted Peter in their fight, allowing Harry and Roderick to defeat him, and he’d woken up tied up next to Gwen and Liz as a bomb slowly counted down to blow them all to pieces. Across from them sat Harry, gleefully counting down the minutes until the bomb would put him out of his misery alongside them. Nothing they said could snap him out of his Goblin personality…until Liz revealed she was pregnant. Just like that, Harry was back to his old self again, cutting them loose and carrying the wounded Peter down the stairs fast enough to escape the blaze. It seemed like there was going to be a happy ending after all, until Harry collapsed. The new serum was still experimental, and the strain from both the fight and saving his friends had caused his heart to finally give out. He died in Peter’s arms, his final words an apology for hurting his best friend. Peter had tracked down Kingsley and threw him in jail not long after, for all the consolation it was to Liz. She moved to live with relatives in another state, away from the madness that had taken over the city. Once in a while, she’d send baby pictures to Peter or Gwen, but that was about all they heard from her anymore.
And that wasn’t even mentioning all the new villains that had emerged over time to challenge Peter. Scorpion, Hydro-Man, and Venom’s even more psychotic child Carnage had all been added to the list of people who wanted his head. All of these factors had led Peter to come to one conclusion about what he had to do.
Peter held Gwen in his arms as his recollection came to an end.
“What are you thinking about, Pete?” she asked.
“About us,” he replied. “About our future. Together. Without Spider-Man.”
Gwen raised an eyebrow. If one good thing had come out of this, it was that she had finally learned his secret identity.
“What about “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility?” she whispered.
“I have a responsibility to you. And Aunt May. That’s a greater responsibility than playing superhero.”
“You do more than play superhero,” she whispered. “You give people hope. People like my dad.”
“They have other heroes for that now. The Fantastic Four. The Avengers. The X-men. All of those guys bring what I bring, except on a bigger scale. Maybe one day I’ll get the spandex back out. But for now? It’s time for me to put away my toys…and grow up.”
“Okay, Mr. Parker ,” Gwen teased. “Let’s go congratulate our friends like grown ups. ”
At that same moment, at JFK National Airport, a man in a blonde wig and fake mustache stepped off his plane.
“Welcome back, Mr Roman, business or pleasure?” the security asked.
“I’d hardly call it pleasure. My son died,” the man said solemnly.
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” the security guard said, not expecting such an answer.
“Don’t be,” the man replied. “I’ll get to catch up with the people who were his friends in life. And that will certainly be a pleasure.”