New Home
A few weeks had passed since the Statue of Liberty incident. Peter had found himself in a new life. Not only did no one know he was Spider-Man, but no one recognized him at all. As if Peter Parker never existed. He was no longer famous and still broke. He had managed to find an apartment and planned to find a job to pay his rent. He had not sought to contact Alex, J'onn, Kara or anyone else in his former friends. He thought a lot about his aunt. He missed her. And MJ and Ned. Without them, life was sad. He promised to find them.
He walked the streets of New York, not getting used to the fact that no one recognized him anymore. Everyone had forgotten it. He arrived at the cafe where MJ worked. He prepared himself mentally to see her again.
"Hi. My name is Peter Parker." he says to himself, imagining talking to her. "You don't know me, but I… My name is Peter Parker and you don't know me, but… Okay…"
He stopped when he arrived at the cafe where his former girlfriend worked. Tense, he finally enters.
Peter found MJ talking and laughing with an older man. She turned, looked up at him and waved her hand. He was surprised. Did she remember him? But then he realized that she was waving to Ned, who had just come in behind him.
The latter passed by Peter, without paying attention to him, and sat down at the counter. MJ waved at him, then came to Peter.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
It was the first time she had been in front of him since the Statue of Liberty. Peter stared at her in a daze and tried to talk to her.
"Hi. Um... My name is Peter Parker. And…"
A moment passed. MJ waited for him to continue talking. Then, finally, Peter couldn't find the words he was trying to get her to say.
"And I... would like a coffee. Please."
"Okay, no problem, Peter Parker." she replied as she returned to the counter.
As she went to get the coffee machine, she chatted with Ned. She gave him a free donut.
"Donuts for my fellow Engineer."
Ned, stunned, babbled:
"Wait, what?"
"MIT, they have the Engineers." replied MJ.
"Oh, right, right, right. I should probably know that." said Ned reassured and embarrassed. "Look at you with the school spirit."
"Tell anybody, I will deny it." she replied before going to the coffee machine.
Ned looked at his phone again and scrolled the pages.
Peter looked at his old friends with joy. They were both admitted to MIT. He was glad for them. He was glad to see them happy like that. And he didn't know how to react in front of them. Should he tell them that he was Spider-Man and that he had been their friend forgotten by a spell?
MJ returned to him. She brought his coffee.
"Peter Parker?"
Seeing that he was not responding, she asked:
"Peter Parker? Your coffee."
Peter regained his senses and watched his former girlfriend.
"Right. Thank you. Um… Are you excited for MIT?"
At first, MJ was confused about knowing about the MIT admission. But she later realized that he must have heard her and Ned.
"Right. Yeah." she stammered. "Yeah, actually I am excited, which is weird because I don't really get excited about things. I kind of expect disappointment."
"…'Cause then you'd never actually be disappointed. Right?" Peter said, remembering what she told him about MIT admissions.
A flicker of déjà vu appeared on MJ's face, then she recovered:
"Yeah. Right. It's just… I don't know… It just kinda feels different this time for some reason."
This statement made Peter think. She was apprehensive about the outcome of admissions, but this time she was confident. Could he let her be happy like that?
After a short time, he ends up paying for his coffee.
"That was…"
MJ pushed her hair back. He noticed a bandage over her eye following her injury caused by the Statue of Liberty incident.
"You okay?" he asked her pointing at her bandage.
"Doesn't really hurt anymore." she replied. "Is there anything else?"
Peter paused for a moment, but he just shook his head and smiled. She was happy with it, and didn't want to upset her by telling her he was a superhero. And if he told her about Spider-Man, she would put herself in danger for him. He had to put her out of his life as a superhero for her sake.
"No." he replied. "Thank you."
"No problem." MJ replied.
Peter took his coffee, looked at Ned, then again MJ.
"See you around." replied Peter as he left the cafe.
MJ watched Peter leave with a persistent feeling. Had she ever seen this young man anywhere? She didn't know how to explain it, but she was sure she had met him before. Where was that? Why couldn't she remember?
Peter left the coffee shop with his coffee. He walked down the street, somewhat disturbed. He was both happy for MJ and Ned with their new lives, but sad that they could not be part of it.
He had walked a few feet from the cafe, when someone came to land.
"Hello Peter."
The latter raised his head and seemed stunned to recognize the person who had just joined him.
"Alex?"
Supergirl's sister smiled at him. She seemed to recognize him. But how could she remember him?
"I knew that I would eventually find you here." she said. "Since I haven't heard from you, I thought you'd come see MJ and Ned. I'm really glad to see you. I was worried about you."
"Do you remember me?" said Peter. "You haven't forgotten me?"
"After Strange's spell on the Statue of Liberty, I had no memory of you." she said. "Until J'onn jogs my memory with his telepathy about you. And he did the same with Nia, Kelly and Brainy."
"Strange's spell didn't affect J'onn?"
"He said that only the Paragons were unaffected by the spell of forgetting." Alex continued. "So Kara, Barry, Sara, Thor, J'onn, Kate and Ryan Choi remember you."
Peter had been alone for weeks, thinking everyone had forgotten him. Seeing Alex who remembered him filled him with joy. Relieved, he pressed her against him. Surprised by this embrace, Alex gently patted him on the back.
"It's good to see you."
"Me too, kid." says to him warmly the sister of Supergirl.
"How sentimental." said a horribly familiar voice.
Peter retired from Alex and saw Lex Luthor, dressed in a fancy suit, rejoining him with ecstasy.
"Peter! It's been a while!" he gushed. "So you managed to make everyone forget that you were a masked and sticky vigilante. I'm impressed, young man. I underestimated you, Parker!"
He turned to Alex, who stared at him with hostile eyes.
"And if Alex Danvers remembers you, I guess it's because of the Martian." he said with a Machiavellian smile. "So only the Paragons remember you. There's Superman's cousin, the Central City' speedster, the Martian, the blonde bimbo of the League of Assassins, the female Bat of Gotham, the ridiculous God with a hammer and the little idiot scientist of Ivy Town. Oh and not forgetting me, of course. I am the Paragon of Truth."
Peter grumbled at his statements. Of course, Lex had proclaimed himself a paragon during the Multiverse Crisis. He always remembered his secret.
"How did you find me?" he asked.
Lex shrugged with amusement.
"I just had to follow Alex Danvers. I knew she would lead me to you eventually. And nothing has changed for me. I still want you on my team. You're all alone, Parker, without a penny and no college to take you. I can get you anything you want."
"All I want is for you to leave me alone, Lex!" Peter shouted with rage. "Your offer never interested me! And I won't change my mind! You can tell everyone who I am. It doesn't matter to me. I have nothing left to lose now. And if you do that, there's no reason to follow me around."
"I have many hobbies, boy." Lex simply replied.
"I don't want to see you anymore." grumbled Peter. "Leave me alone!"
And he pushed away, shoving Lex by the shoulder. Alex grabbed the bald billionaire by the arm.
"You heard him, Lex?" she said to him with hostility. "Let him go! You've done enough. I know you met Norman Osborn."
Lex stared at her in amazement, then acted as if nothing had happened.
"Where'd you hear that?"
"You're not the only one who follows someone without attracting attention." Alex replied firmly.
"What are you going to do, Danvers?" asked Lex still in ecstasy. "Are you going to hit me in the middle of the street in front of all these people who pass around us? You have no proofs against me. Neither you nor your sister. I am and will always remain untouchable. And none of your superhero friends will stop me from doing anything. I will always be able to outperform your Kryptonian sister. You won't stop me. Get out off me or I'm screaming like crazy!"
With great reluctance, Alex eventually releases her enemy. Lex marries his coat and then eventually leaves.
In National City, Alex went to her sister's apartment. Kara and J'onn were waiting for her.
"Did you find Peter?" asked her worried sister.
"Yes, Peter's fine." said Alex. "He has an apartment in Queens. He's okay."
"At least he's not on the street." J'onn said relieved.
Since the Statue of Liberty, neither Supergirl nor any member of her team had heard from the young man from the Queens. And without news, they were worried, wondering if he was all right.
"I'm relieved he's okay." Kara sighed.
"For now, he's fine." says Alex nervously. "Lex found him, too. He accosted him in the street."
"Lex?" said Kara.
"Lex is a Paragon too." J'onn reluctantly remarked. "He remembers Peter. Just like us."
"He will not let go." continued Alex worried. "He will harass Peter until he forces him to work for him. He will continue to circle around him or send his minions to spy on him."
"We must neutralize him." admitted Kara with determination.
"I agree." approved J'onn. "But without proof, we can't do anything. We can't charge him without there being something incriminate him."
"He's a threat to Peter." says Kara anxiously. "The world has forgotten who Peter Parker was, but Lex Luthor doesn't. And as long as he knows about Spider-Man, Peter will never be safe from a new Mysterio. We need to protect him from Lex."
"We could do something to make Lex leave him alone." Alex suggested.
"What do you suggest?" asked Kara intrigued.
As it was dark, Lex sat at his desk sipping wine in his suite in National City, heard the balcony door open before feeling a breeze.
A dark figure emerges from nowhere and came to land just behind Lex who rested his glass of wine on his desk.
"You know I have a security against nocturnal rodents that sneak into my home." he replied with a funny grin on his lips.
"I'm perfectly capable of avoiding them." Batwoman declared as she pulled out a Batarang that she held on to Lex's neck.
"Why are you here, Kane? I guess it's for Spider-Boy? You can't stop me. You've nothing against me. In this world, I helped the Avengers save the day, remember? I'm a very popular person."
"Everyone can hide an angel face! Even the worst criminals!" grumbled Batwoman by getting Lex out of his chair and plowed him on her desk.
"If you're going to threaten me, it won't work! I know you won't kill me and you can't send me back to prison!" Lex declared, being held against his desk by the Gotham vigilante.
"We just came to deliver a message!" shouted Batwoman in a hostile voice.
"We? " said Lex, frowning.
Then Batwoman threw Lex like a package on the floor. While a few silhouettes appeared out of nowhere in his office.
Flash, Sara Lance aka White Canary, J'onn J'onzz, and Dreamer stood right in front of Lex on the ground.
"Are you kidding me? You come for a meeting between superheroes?" mocked the sarcastic bald billionaire.
"We don't want to be here!" Sara said in a firm voice. "We're just here to make you understand that you're not going after one of our own without consequences."
"Leave Spider-Man alone!" added Dreamer in a threatening tone.
Lex wanted to get up, when three large claws appeared from nowhere. Wolverine, dressed in a yellow suit, stood just above him, threatening him with his six adamantium claws.
"Stay where you are, Luthor!"
He scratched the slit of his jacket, leaving three claw marks.
Lex was ruminating with rage.
"You just ruined a $10,000 suit!"
At this point, Supergirl joined the troop of heroes and cast a hostile look at Lex.
"You have bigger problems!"
But to the surprise of everyone, Lex only made a laugh, despite the fact that he was outnumbered.
"You all came here to scare me? Ludicrous! I know you won't kill me! None of you will! And even killing me for Parker would be like Parker killing me himself and he wouldn't want that, or any of you."
Wolverine growled and pulled out the other claws from his other hand.
"I don't mind killing you at all, Chrome Dome!"
"Wolvy!" said Batwoman. "We didn't come here for that!"
She waved a Batarang in front of Lex and continued to speak:
"Who said we'd kill you for Spider-Man? Maybe we want to kill you because we don't like you."
"For everyone, you may be a hero, but we all know here that you are a psychopath." Flash added in a hostile voice.
"And we also know that you have already murdered." declared Sara in a threatening tone.
"You killed multiple Supermen during the Crisis and even the one who was supposed to help us defeat the Anti-Monitor!" Supergirl answered with furious eyes.
"You would all be dead if I hadn't been there!" replied Lex always amused. "You think you would have had your… Earth-Prime with that Super-Palmer? I saved us all and it upsets you, guys! That's why you can't kill me!"
"Right, we won't kill you." the female Kryptonian said with a menacing look. "But that won't stop us from torturing you!"
And she grabbed him by the body and sent him against the wall.
"Norman Osborn killed May Parker!" she cried. "And we know you supplied him with weapons against us! May Parker was an innocent woman who never hurt anyone! Don't you even have the slightest remorse?"
"I have more power than any of you, folks." said Lex not caring to be threatened by Supergirl. "Unlike you, I don't need help from others to get what I want!"
"You're helpless, Lex!" Sara roars. "You have no powers!"
Supergirl flew him into the office, took him to the balcony and brought him closer to the edge.
"I would just let you down." she said firmly. "It would be so easy! But I won't! I was confronted with an evil version of my cousin who wanted to rule the entire universe because he killed a psychopath who had his family murdered! I'll not go the same way as him! And even if I wanted to kill you, it will make you a martyr! And I can't accept that!"
And Supergirl took him back to her office and threw him on the floor.
Dreamer leaned down to speak to him coldly.
"Stay away from Peter!"
"We'll keep an eye on you from now on, Lex!" added J'onn in a neutral tone.
Flash came to him.
"And if you were to reveal the identity of Spider-Man to everyone, my friends at Star Labs will have everything they need to discredit you!"
"Really? What do you mean, scarlet speedster?" laughed Lex.
"We'll make people believe that you're announcing different names associated with Spider-Man and nobody will take it seriously! You will have no credibility! You will only succeed in making a fool of yourself!"
"No chance of Peter being confronted by a new Mysterio!" added Supergirl triumphantly.
She bent down to look her enemy straight in the eye.
"You stay away from Peter! Otherwise, we will come back again and again until you go crazy! Keep that in mind!"
"And we'll watch you to make sure you don't do any more damage!" Wolverine added coldly.
Soon after, all the heroes left the office, leaving Lex alone and angry. With the slit of his torn suit.
A cold winter day at the cemetery. Peter stood at his aunt's grave and laid a flower. Reveal that the grave was covered with flowers, placed in front of a tombstone on which it could be read: When you help someone, you help everyone.
As he was lost in his thoughts, a familiar figure joined him. Happy Hogan looked at the grave with sadness.
Peter was shocked and saddened. He had not seen the man since his aunt's death. And unlike Alex, he didn't react to the young man from Queens.
"How do you know her?" he asked with a sad voice.
He obviously had no memory of Peter.
The latter replied with sadness:
"Through Spider-Man. You?"
"Same." Happy nodded with deep sorrow. "I lost a good friend a while back. It felt like this."
"I too lost a good friend before her, some time ago." added Peter, thinking of Oliver who had sacrificed himself during the Crisis. "He was a good man. And I wish he was here."
"I understand." said Happy, suppressing his grief gently. "Hurts cause they're gone, and then it hurts all over again because you remember what they stood for, and you wonder... Is all that gone too?"
"No, it's not gone." Peter insisted with sympathy. "Someone once told me that: The heroes are the ones who have to keep going, no matter what. Everybody she helped... they'll keep it going."
Happy looked at Peter.
"You really think so?"
"I know it." the young man replied enthusiastically. "Take care of yourself, okay?"
"Yeah. Nice to meet you." Happy thank him.
Peter nodded, then walked away, leaving Happy to pay tribute.
At the exit of the cemetery, Peter was surprised to see Kara, Alex, Nia, J'onn, Barry, Sara and Kate join him. All wore dark outfits.
"What are you guys doing here?" he exclaimed in amazement.
And to his surprise, it was Kate the first to take him in her arms.
"We heard what happened." she says in a very soft voice that was not usual for her. "And we came to see how our friend is doing. You're one of us, remember. I'm sorry for your aunt, Spidey."
"Thanks Kate!" says Peter with gratitude.
He separated himself from her and Kara came to join him, looking sad.
"I'm so sorry, Peter. I promised you that everything would be fine for you." she said in a sad voice. "I never wanted it to be like this. I'm proud of you. You made a hard decision to save the universe. Once I was forced to sacrifice the man I loved to save the earth. If only… I would have wanted to do better…"
"It's okay. It's not your fault." the young man from Queens replied. "It was I who caused all this disorder. None of this would have happened if I hadn't…"
"Making you feel guilty won't change anything. Peter." added Sara looking at him with tearful eyes. "I've been there, too. I was in a lot of pain… and this suffering, I made myself a strength. If you need to talk or have a coffee, you know where I am."
"Thank you."
Barry approached him with sympathy.
"When I was ten, I saw my mother die before my eyes. My father was framed for it. I felt lonely and broken. I thought I would never find happiness again. Fortunately, I had good people who supported me and helped me through this. You're not alone, Peter. We'll always be there for you, if you need us."
"Thank you guys." said Peter saddened. "I should move on… I know I have to. But it's hard without May. It's unfair."
Sara gently laid her hand on the young man's shoulder.
"Peter, I know you're looking for meaning in this. But no one can give you that. Because there is none. We fight to protect what is dear to us. And sometimes, we don't always see the consequences for others. But we mustn't let our demons blind us. We need to remember the best moments we shared. And those memories will always be with us. Whether your aunt is here or elsewhere, she will always be with you. And you will always keep her close to you. She had faith in Spider-Man. Just like all of us. So continue to be friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, as she would have wanted."
Peter nodded and came to take Sara in his arms.
Shortly afterwards, he greeted Kara and her family, promising to give them news.
"I need to rebuild myself. I have to. And I promise to always call you. Thank you, guys, for coming."
Peter arrived in a studio apartment with a cardboard box in his arms. He lit the light and looked at the empty apartment. His new home. A new beginning. Deciding to settle down, he put his box on a sink and then went to get the rest. He placed another box on a bed, then opened it to take out a framed picture of it on a physical study book and exhibited his personal effects... including the LEGO figure of Emperor Palpatine, of the Death Star complex that he and Ned had built and rebuilt multiple times together.
Later, Peter looked out the window. Snow fell on New York. He turned to his Spider-Man mask on the bed, then grabbed it. He was tracking an app from the New York Police Station on his phone.
"4-3 Edward, do you need EMS assist?"
"Uh, negative, Central. We're gonna need a car tow."
On a desk was a sewing machine with pieces of red and blue fabric. Nearby is the LEGO figure of the Star Wars Emperor and the cup of coffee that MJ had given to Peter at the donut shop. He had kept it.
Spider-Man, in a brand new homemade costume he had sewn himself, slipped out the window and jumped out of the studio.
He was doing a somersault and rolled over a snow covered roof in a blue and red suit. He leapt into the air and flew over the Rockefeller Christmas tree with a new sense of freedom. Freed from having to juggle two lives. Peter Parker was gone, but Spider-Man lived in New York. Like a protector. A lone vigilante.