Hammerhead
Looking around the room as he awoke from the usual memory/nightmare that plagued his nights Peter realised he was in fact in his dimly lit room and he tried to shift from his position and sat down on the side of his bed but even that took more effort of him than a fight with the Rhino but he pushed himself while breathing heavily, his eyes adapted themselves to the small ray of light that filtered through the closed curtain and he stayed seated looking at the ceiling as if it held the readon behind his shitty life but beside the fact that it needed a paint he saw nothing.
He rose up and brushed the strand of hair away from his eyes as he wobbly walked toward the door after grabbing a shirt from the ground but he paused as he saw his reflection in the mirror, his brown hair were now long enough to touch his shoulder and despite his lack of eating and activity beside sleeping, his body was still way too fit, eight pack and defined muscles that moved each time he did were clearly visible, two years ago he dreamed about looking like anything else that the scrawny nerd with bad eyesight and now that he had the body of an underwear model he hated it with every fiber of himself but it wasn't just his body that he hated wasn't it, he shook his head to clear his mind and simply walked out of the room.
He walked down the stair and saw the woman who took care of him since he was the little boy that was left on her doorstep by his parents and she smiled at the mere sight of him like she always did, even the shadow of himself he actually was.
"Good morning aunt May" Peter said his voice devoid of any type of energy as if all life had been drained away from his body wich was close enough to the truth, he barely ate and spent all of his time just going through the motion of the day when he wasn't sleeping, he saw the look of worry in his aunt eyes and it broke him a little that he was making her worry about him when she already had so much problems but there was no way he could act happy when she was dead, he quickly shook off the thoughts before he started spiralling down a real shit hole.
"I made some pancake for breakfast Peter and you still have time before school, you could eat with me" asked his aunt hopefully and he didn't had the heart to refuse so he nodded and sat in front of her on their small kitchen table and the beaming smile on her face made the fact that he'll throw up his breakfast worth it, his aunt took care of him through his worst while getting through the same but right now it was different, his parents death weren't his fault, uncle Ben death was his responsibility and Carradine fault but Gwen death was solely on Spider-Man, if he hadn't been arrogant to the point that thinking that a simple mask would be enough to protect the people he cared about, if he hadn't been so arrogant that he thought that his power and drive were enough, if he hadn't been so arrogant than to think he was anywhere near enough to help everyone alone.
And the world showed him how arrogant he had been by robbing him of one of the two light in his life...
"I'm worried about you too" May said interupting his thoughts and hoping that it would push him to talk about it but deep down knowing he wouldn't.
"I promise I'm fine, Aunt May," Peter stated but the pain and anguish behind his eyes told her the opposite, he was everything but fine but he wasn't ready to talk about it.
The conversation ended soon after that because there was nothing else to say until the TV old country music that May like switched to new flash "A day ago a woman was killed by the dock by three people who appeared to be related to the Maggia, be wary that those images can be unsuited for younger people and quite violent" said the woman as the CCTV showed the aggression and the woman getting shot twice in the chest before one of the men turned toward the car and ripped a 5 year old girl off of it but the girl managed to escape and ran away "The girl is now searched by yhe police if you saw her or have any revelant information about her please contact the police" said the news woman as she took the gruesome video's place.
"Dear lord" muttered May and Peter could see what she was thinking, Peter was the same age when his parents died and he knew that this kind of thing left trace on kids.
"...On another point those type of crime has been increasing in number in the last three months or since the disappearance of the vigilante known as Spider-Man wich point that despite his many detractors was in fact doing great work against criminality, the Magia and other mafia related buisness were at an all time low until he disapeared and the way he dealt with enhanced criminality was yes causing some property damage but it was dealt with unlike those so called expert of the Sentinel Services who are not doing anything beside arresting kids for being different..." said one of the politicians invited to discuss today news but Peter tuned them all out as soon as he heard May voice uttered the words he dreaded.
"I sure do hope that he comes back soon, wouldn't you say so Peter" Aunt May said in a way that made Peter skin crawl as if she knew but he was certain that she didn't or she would have stopped him from doing something so incredibly dangerous and stupid and told him that there was other way to help and she would have been right.
"Wha...what" he choked out and saw his aunt raise an eyebrow as if it was obvious why she thought that Spider-Man had to come back in the game "He's a hero, despite all they said, everyone at FEAST see him as the only person who care about them, he even escorted some of them himself but more than that he's not like the X-men who only tread with massive or mutants events, he help a girl who lose her cat, stop a lynch mob or stop a madman who throw lightning bolt with the same energy, he doesn't discriminate that's what make him a hero" and Peter felt like Shocker had punched him with his gloves set at full power.
"But he let Gwen die" I let Gwen die was what he heard in his head.
"Because despite all of his power and strength he's just a man, he can't save everyone" interupted his aunt "And that us why it's a beautiful thing that he try to, it made all of us want to try to be better, to be more, to take the responsibility that goes along our power" and Peter felt like he'd been slapped "that is why you need to forgive him because whoever he is behind that mask he is the living proof that Ben was right"
And from the first time since Gwen death Peter took a second to think about her despite the pain it would cause him, despite the guilt and earthache, he thought about what Gwen would want him to do, what her legacy would be and it struck him like a thousands of Electro lightning bolts, Gwen would have helped search for that girl, would have helped him think on how to stop those criminal, cleaned and bandaged his wound before wishing him luck on his patrol while looking at him with that mix of concern and pride she always had in her eyes when he was in his suit.
He knew what he had to do, he had to choose the hardest path, forgive himself and be greater than he ever was but it was easier said than done because he had no clue on what to do.
When his eyes found May's own the blue in his eyes wasn't dull and lifless like ususl but a bit more vibrant and alight than before, whatever had happened had helped, at least a bit and for May it was enough.
Peter for the first time in two months finished his breakfast before getting ready for the day and leaving the house, it was his first day back to the school since Gwen's death so he decided to take the long way to get to the school, he had no wish to see or hear other living being talk about their latest breakup or how it was tragic that their favourite band was disbanded, he didn't cared and honnestly never did but he was usually good at faking interest in Harry and MJ love life as they were Gwen's friend but now his mind had labelled them as Gwen's killer's son and his girlfriend.
He reach the school to soon for his taste but he was still cutting close to tardiness and grabbed a bunch of books from his locker without bothering with the classes he was supposed to have today as he wasn't even certain on wich day was today and got ready to try and find his class when he suddenly heard a rustle of clothe behind him just as a hand landed on his shoulder and he reacted to the potential threat before seeing what it was as he grabbed the hand and flipped whoever that was over his shoulder and onto the ground while aiming a fist at his aggressor face before he paused as he saw Harry Osborn face.
"Whoa, Pete calm down that's me" said Harry hurriedly not wanting to get punched and for a second none of the two moved before Peter rose and pulled Harry up "Sorry, I'm a bit on edge since.." started Peter before stopping as he had no real wish to discuss anything "Well sorry, just don't sneak up on me" said Peter before closing his locker and leaving the hallway not letting Harry started any sentence as he knew what he wanted to say but had no wish to hear it.
Instead of chemistry class Peter steps led him to the roof and he sighed as he looked at the open sky before taking out his phone and seeing the earlier news pop up about the missing girl and something churned in him before he jumped from the roof and ran back to his house, luckily for him May was at FEAST so the house was empty and he climbed the stair three by three to his room before taking out the box under his bed and slowly opened it, the lens of the Spider-Man mask stared at him and he let himself fall on the floor while his mind argued with itself about what he was about to do.
And when he looked up the ghosts of Ben and Gwen where staring at him, unreadable but silently asking the same question, what now, a question he had no answer to "I know" he stated to the two but there was no answer, no movement there was nothing and despite knowing they were a fragment of his imagination simply manifesting his guilty counciousness he continued to talk "I know, I need to be Spider-Man again but I can't, I can't be what you want me to be" with each words the volume of his voice grew until he was full out screaming "I'm no hero" but the ghost still looked at him, waiting for his descision.
And a descision he took as he grabbed the mask and the rest of his suit while getting to his feet and turning toward the two ghost "That's a one off" and without saying more he slipped into his Spider-Man suit just not the red and blue one, that one was the one he had when he fought against the Goblin, during their fight in Oscorp Norman had thrown him against a tank containing what Peter thought was some experimental liquid battle clothe wich had bonded with him and he had never worn it after that as he had locked it in the trunk under his bed when he had buried Spider-Man.
He looked at himself in the mirror and he had yo admit that the suit looked damn fine and even produced it's own webbing, the midnight black enhanced the line of his muscles and would make him blend way better than the red and blue one, the giant pristine white spider on his chest and back coupled with white the lens made him look intimidating as hell and that would sure help those Maggia scum talk.
He jumped through the windows and swinged out of Queens, if he wanted info he would need to get the one who killed the mother to talk and for that he would need to find them, he knew of a few Maggia hideout that he never had the time to check, it was time to hunt.
"So what y'a gon'a do Joe follow or fold" joked one of the three men playing poker in their crappy hideout in Hell's kitchen, the floor was littered with beer bottles and empty pizza box, the only furnitures were the five chairs and a stained and splintered table were they played poker but Joe never got the chance to answer as the planked widows exploded as a black form swung through it "Who're y'a bast..." but he was interupted as his face was webbed and with a slight pull on the line slammed against the table so hard that the guy head bounced 40cm high before he laid on the floor knocked out.
"That's Spider-Man" shouted one of the thug before spraying bullet at Peter but add danger forwarding sixth sens, enhanced reflexes and flexibility and you get a 15 year old boy who can dodge bullets shot a meter away from him, Peter completed his dodging twirl with a front kick that launched a full grown 75 kg man 3m backward as if he was nothing, he dodged the punch in the back from his last councious opponent before lifting him on the air with just one arm.
"I'm going to talk and you're gonna answer" said Peter in a matter of fact tone.
"Never you cock suck..."
"Wrong answer" said Peter as he punched the thug in the gut hard enough to deprive him of his air supply but not enough to make him pass out.
"The girl that escape where is she"
"I don't.."
"Before you say anything, I can tell if you lie" and that was mostly true as his sixth sens could tell when someone was lying but not what part was the lie but he wasn't about to tell the man that.
"I..I don't know any..." the punch to the face nearly shattered the man jaw "Wrong answer" it was rare for Peter to get really angry like he actually was but add all of the botled up emotion of the last two months to the fact that those fucker had hurted a child and you obtained a really pissed Spider-Man.
"Try again without lying this time" and this time he got the truth, they had managed to get their hand on the girl an hour ago and were now getting her to another hideout in Hell's kitchen wich was luckily for him not far and after webning the three to the wall and calling the police Peter was out in the air swinging at his top speed toward the address he had been given, it was a warehouse that the Maggia used to store their guns.
Peter used an air vent to get inside and once in he quickly assessed the situation, ten guards, one scared little girl and Hammerhead waving a gun in the girl face as he ranted about how he had killed her mother and if Peter was angry earlier he was now downright livid, unrestrained rage boiled through his veins and he moved quick as lightning pulling the girl to him with his web and hidding her behind a shelf and telling her not to move while the Maggia members yelled at him to come out.
"I'll finish this quick" he told the girl before flipping right in the middle of the group of ten armed Maggia members.
"Ah Spider-Man, so you're back" said Hammerhead cruelly but Peter didn't answered so the man continued "You see your little vacation was good for buisness but now that you're back, it's gonna be a mess again" droned Hammerhead but there was no answer, no quip just tense silence "So now I'm gonna have to deal with you before it become to messy, and while my boys deal with you I'm gonna clean the mess they made when they let that girl go" and while Hammerhead was doing his evil monologue Peter was analysing the situation, he couldn't protect the girl, beat the thugs and Hammerhead at the same time.
"Wow, I knew you were a coward but wow, you're gonna let me beat up your underling while you go kill a 5 year old child, I knew you were a coward" said Peter making Hammerhead paused mid turn "Just not that much" and his plan visibly worked because none of the Hammerhead men moved, Hammerhead had to prove himself to his men, if he refused the fight he would lose a good bit of his authority and if he fought Peter just had to beat him up,
checkmate.
Hammerhead walked slowly to him "You got no idea on who's the girl don't you, 'cause you sure wouldn't be doing this otherwise, mutie freak" and at this Peter last shred of calm was washed away, he moved out of Hammerhead sloppy punch way and retaliated fast and hard, Peter had realised in his early days of vigilantism that when you could lift a whole school bus over your head you needed to pull your punch so you wouldn't kill the guy and he always had done so except for two times, when he fought Norman Osborn two months ago and today.
Liver, left lung, jaw, the three punches colided into their intended target with nanoseconds between each of them, they hitted with dead aim accuracy and the strength of a hammer, Peter heard and felt the man bones crack, even the metalic ones upon each impact the Maggia boss landed flat on his knee before landing face first on the floor, three hit and three seconds, that's all it took to lay one of the most feared criminal of the city flat on the ground.
"Now listen to me and listen to me well, you got two choice from here, you get your boss to the hospital before he die due to his internal bleeding and give up on crime" stated Peter as he looked over his shoulder at the ten men quaking in fear.
"Or you fight and join him"
"No..you don't kill..you're one of the good guys..there's..there's rule" stuttered one of them and Peter simply walk up toward him and grabbed the man gun and squeezed, the metal crumpled like cardboard under his grip "Good guys don't need rules, wanna find out why I got so much" growled Peter getting into his face, making the man faint.
"Okay why do you want the kid" he asked another one who's leg were shaking "The Kingpin want her as an hostage so some scientists can crack some special Oscorp project called Legacy" Peter was glad he had a mask because the guy he was interogating wasn't able to see the mix of shock and dread on his face, he knew that name way too well.
"I swear I don't know anything else" pleaded the man a second before a metal card passed cleanly through his head killing him instantly before Peter could ask anything else.
"But you already said too much" sing-songed cruelly the shooter as he jumped from his hiding spot and landed behind Spider-Man.
"And who the fuck you're suposed to be"