Chapter 7
Trembling, Tony took another deep breath. He closed his hand around the narrow chain around his neck, from which hung a small spider pendant. It had been Peter's chain
Tony wanted nothing more than to be able to hold his son in his arms one more time, to see him laughing happily one more time, or leaning over his suit in concentration. He just wanted his son back, whom death had cruelly ripped from his arms all too soon.
He wiped away the tears that once again streamed down his face and put on his dark sunglasses that would hide his puffy red eyes from the world.
"Are you sure you want to do this? I'm sure Peter would have understood if you just sent out a press statement." Happy looked at him with a worried expression. You could tell he had been crying, too.
Even though he hadn't shown it often, Peter had been very close to his heart.At first, he had been just a boy he had taken from school to Tower once a week. But then he had slowly made his way into his heart with his good humor and his cheerful rambels, and when his last relative had died and Tony had taken him in, there was nothing Happy wouldn't have done for the teenager.
When Tony had called him in the middle of the night in despair, and had hardly been able to get a word out because of loud sobs, he had already had a terrible premonition. A premonition that had been confirmed when Tony had finally managed to force out a name. Peter.
He knew Tony was devastated. His son, whom he should have watched grow up, had died, leaving behind a broken man.
He could see it in his friend's eyes. The pain and sadness that he himself also felt, only a thousand times stronger. The pain of a father who had lost his son, the most important person in his life. But there was also something else in his eyes. Determination.
A determination to make his son proud, even if he was no longer here to see it. A determination to keep fighting, no matter how much it hurt.
Tony nodded. "I know. But I owe it to him to show the world who he was. he wanted his story to show the world that anyone can be a hero. i have to do this." Happy nodded in understanding. "Okay, whenever you're ready." Tony looked at him with a pained expression.
"I will never be ready to tell the world that my sixteen-year-old son is dead because he was a hero and gave his life to protect them," he whispered. Then, without waiting for a response, he stepped through the curtain onto the stage.
This was the first time he stepped in front of the horde of reporters and New York residents without his typical press smile. He had the feeling that he would never be able to smile again, not even if it was fake. How could he smile when his son was no longer there to smile with him?
The crowd gathered around the tower was almost completely silent. The news that Spiderman had died had already spread like wildfire, and so the crowd in front of him was a sea of blue and red. Many even had Spiderman masks and costumes on. It certainly would have pleased Peter. Tony remembered how excited he had been when he found out that there was Spiderman
merch was available.
Tony closed his eyes briefly to collect himself and push back the tears that were once again trying to make their way to the surface. Then he stepped up to the microphone and began to speak in a slightly raspy voice.
speak.
"We are here today to honor a fallen hero. Someone who always put the welfare of others before his own safety. Someone who, without hesitation, would have taken a bullet for someone he didn't know at all.
for someone he didn't know at all. Spiderman. Our friendly neighborhood spider, passed on."
The lump in his throat made it hard for him to talk, but he wouldn't stop. He had to do this. For Peter.
"Spider-Man was the best person I ever had the honor of meeting. He was arguably the most important member of the Avengers, even though he wasn't even officially one. Not just because of his physical strength and incredible intelligence, but mostly because he made the Avengers
more than just a group of superheroes forced to fight together.
He was the one who made us a family, made us always give our best because we had something worth fighting for. I guess it's kind of the curse of superheroes to lose their families.
to lose their families, and we were all the happier to have found a family in each other. And we owe that to him.
Spider-Man died as he lived to save people, and to the end more concerned about the well-being of the people he left behind than the fact that he was dying. He didn't deserve to die. He should have had a long, happy life ahead of him.
But fate is cruel. It doesn't care how good people are. And Spider-Man was good.
He deserved the world. But maybe the world just didn't deserve him. He was probably just too good for this world.
I hope he's happy wherever he is now. maybe he can even see his family again."
By now he could no longer hold back the tears. They streamed down his face unabated and flowed out from under his sunglasses, but he didn't care. Let the world see that he was grieving. After all, he had every right to do so.
"We will never forget what Spider-Man did for this city, the world, and the people he loved. But even outside of his activity as Spider-Man, he was always eager to help people, and that even though he never got a word of thanks for it.
Rather the opposite.
Some of you will also know Spider-Man by another name. A name that would never be associated with the masked hero. The world knew him by the name Peter Parker, and he was only seventeen years old when he died."
The crowd gasped in shock. None of them would have guessed that Spider-Man was still a teenager.
"Peter was smart, probably even smarter than me, though he himself probably never knew how extraordinary he really was. He probably would have described himself as slightly above average, but in truth he was a genius. He built his web shooters out of scrap metal and
from scrap metal and secretly mixed his web fluid during chemistry class.
And though you might think so, Peter was never the most popular student. He could have been, all he had to do was reveal his identity. But he hadn't. For him, Spider-Man was not a
Party trick, but a responsibility. He was Spider-Man not for the
attention, but because he had those very powers.
I once asked him what made him swing through the city at night. He said: When you can do the things that I can, but you don’t, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you.
So he preferred to remain the nerd of the school. He didn't necessarily have many friends, but he knew he could trust those he had with his life. He even had a bully. Sure,he could have fought back without a problem,but he preferred it to be him than someone else.
Simply because that was the kind of person Peter was.
Peter had lost an incredible amount in his far too short life. His parents died when he was only five years old, his uncle and aunt took him in. When he was fourteen, his uncle was shot and died in his arms, only shortly after he got his powers.
A few years ago his aunt, his last living relative, died.
By that time, I knew him pretty well. Officially I was his mentor, but secretly it was more. I loved him like my own son. And when his aunt died, he became just that, too. My son.
I took Peter in and adopted him, and I can safely say that was the best decision I ever made. I couldn't have asked for a better son than him, and I am incredibly proud of him, of everything he had accomplished, of the incredibly great person he was.
And even though I want nothing more than to have him back and watch him grow up, I know Peter deserves to finally get some peace and quiet."
He sobbed quietly as he closed his hand around the small pendant on the necklace again. "Peter wouldn't want us to cry over him and sink into sadness. He would want us to go on living, to learn something from it all, and to grow from it instead of breaking. And we can learn a lot from Peter.
That anyone can be a hero, even without a mask. You don't have to save the world to be a hero. Sometimes it is enough to help an old woman to cross the street, to help someone to carry shopping bags to the car or to prevent someone from being bullied. It's the small gestures that count.
We can learn that you should never judge a book by its cover because you never know what a person's story is.
How important it is to always pick yourself up and keep fighting,
no matter how hard it may be.
And most importantly, how much of a difference you can make just by being kind.
And even though Spider-Man saved many lives and protected people, my greatest hero will always be Peter Parker, because even after everything he went through, he always went through life with a smile on his face, and never stopped fighting for what is right.
I couldn't be more proud of him. My son is my biggest role model, and I hope that one day I will see the world as he did. And just as the world will always remember Spider-Man, his family will never forget Peter Parker, the boy who made us better people and, more importantly, a family.
Peter Parker was a nerd, a genius, a friend, a son, a hero. Peter Parker was Spider-Man, and we will be forever grateful for everything he did.
Thank you Pete. We will never forget you. i hope you are happy wherever you are now. You've earned it. I love you 3000."
Sobs shook his body as he stepped back from the microphone and looked one last time into the crowd mourning the loss of their hero. He smiled sadly. Peter would have completely lost it if he had seen how many fans he had.
He wished he was here to see it. Tony had done it. He had faced the press instead of sinking into drugs and alcohol. It almost felt like he could feel Peter's proud gaze on him when he finally turned away and stepped off the stage. Happy welcomed him with a tear-stained face.
"He'd be very proud of you on the one hand and embarrassed by all the compliments on the other." Tony groaned out a sort of mixture of a laugh and a sob. "Yeah, that sounds just like him."
he croaked.
Happy stepped toward him and allowed his best friend to pull him into a tight hug. Tears streamed down both of their faces as they silently embraced. "I miss him," Tony whispered in a broken voice. "I know, Tones. Me too."