Tony Stark
An unnamed individual stands on the street across the previously known Stark-no Avengers tower. Hands in his jacket’s pockets, feeling very much like the small child he had been when he first met the man who used to own this piece of architectural landmark.
“Hey Mr. Stark.” He stood on the balls of his feet, not even being able to look up.
“I screwed the pooch. Really really hard.” The man sighs. “I lost May because of it.”
Finally being able to look up at the remnant of his previous mentor, he resolved himself.
“I still really miss you.” His voice breaks in the silent confession.
“I always wondered what you would have done, had you been where I was. Would you have tried to help them too? Would you have made the same mistake that I did? I always wonder what would have happened.”
He tries not to wince remembering the proud smile May gave him as she told him that he did the right thing. May had always been too good for the world. And when she told him- He sighs in regret.
“Mister Stark, May told me 'With great power comes great responsibility'. Did you feel like that too? I guess you did because of what you said to Stephe- Dr. Strange. You knew the world had been relying on you to help save them. They cursed at you, belittled you, made you feel worthless when all you tried to do was try to help. I tried doing that too and- Mr. Stark it’s so difficult. It’s difficult seeing the world curse at me.”
He takes a deep breath and kept his gaze up at the skyline, often tuning out his own voice to hear the bustle of the busy crowd.
“Mr. Stark I am scared.”
He finally admits because he is. He is terrified of having to continue on all on his own. No MJ, no Ned, no May. No one else.
“I know it’s not good to say this but do you ever get the feeling that the world hates you? That God hates you?”
He sits down on the dirty floor and leans his head on the concrete wall behind him.
“Because I feel like he hates me. Hates us. All Peter Parkers.” He pauses. “You know I met two of them some time ago when it had happened. I don’t think they remember me anymore. Dr. Strange’’s spell was very good.”
“I have so much to say but I don’t know how to say it. I don’t even know if you would have been proud of my actions. My decisions.”
“I’m really trying to do better. The world needs Spider-man more than they will ever need Peter Parker. In the other worlds, I met the Peters, I feel like we lost so much to be Spider-man.”
He looks back at the building with exhaustion coursing through his veins.
“Had the other Peter not stopped me, I would have killed someone because of my anger.”
A small wince at the remembrance of what happened. A brief flash and acknowledgment that when the moment had presented itself, he wasn’t able to hold his punches anymore.
“I just saw red. I was so angry and hurt. Desperate to hurt the man who had taken the only family I had left. I knew it was dumb. I knew that killing him wouldn’t do anything to bring back May. She would have still been gone.”
“Yet I had to try. I had to try it. It did not make me feel any better.”
“Mr. Stark I- I don’t know if I am enough to shoulder the great power. I wonder if I am the right person to hold this kind of responsibility. I didn’t ask for it. I didn’t-”
He curls in on himself. He knows how pathetic he must have looked to everyone who passed by. He soon found that he had not cared about what they thought. People will always look at him by how they want to see him. What he does will not matter.
“I’m really sorry. I tried. I really did.” He quietly mutters under his breath after a long while.
He finally stands up and dusts himself. He smiles at the tower and all it had once stood for. At the tower who was owned by someone who meant the world to him. Someone who he had relied on.
“But now, I will try to do better. I hope you watch me from now on. Please take care of May for me.”
He walks away from the reminder he had of Tony Stark. The unfortunate truth is that he could not visit the lake where people saw him off, he could not visit the apartment he grew up in, nor the second home with Ned and his lola. He was nothing more than a nameless person, and maybe, maybe that’s enough to keep the rest of his loved ones safe.
With great sadness and determination, he walks back to the sea of people that didn’t spare him a single glance.
He walks back alone.