New York — Financial District — Main Street — Evening
As for George Stacy, the situation remained relatively under control.
Accompanied by several of his colleagues, the captain managed to apprehend the criminals they encountered along the way while taking the time to reassure and guide civilians caught in the panic.
Despite the chaos reigning throughout the entire city, the police officers continued moving forward methodically, trying to gradually regain control of the streets.
As George and his men got back into their patrol car to continue their intervention elsewhere, an urgent call suddenly came through the radio.
— “Captain Stacy! Captain Stacy, do you hear me?!”
George immediately grabbed the radio.
— “Yes, I hear you. What’s going on?”
The officer’s voice sounded tense.
— “We’re in the financial district and we’ve got a super-criminal in front of us!”
George’s expression changed immediately.
The ordinary criminals who had flooded the streets already represented a considerable threat, but the presence of an individual with extraordinary abilities could quickly cause the situation to spiral out of control.
— “What?! Who is it? What does he look like?!”
— “He has several arms on his back… Other than that, no idea. He’s holding a woman hostage… and threatening Spider-Man with her!”
At the mention of the hero, George immediately frowned.
— “Who is that woman?”
— “I don’t know, Captain!”
George remained silent for a brief moment, quickly considering what to do.
Between the countless criminals scattered throughout New York and this new opponent capable of standing up to Spider-Man, he knew perfectly well which threat had to be dealt with first.
— “Alright. I’m coming!”
He cut off the communication before turning toward the officers accompanying him.
— “Listen carefully. I have to go somewhere else, there’s no need for all of us to go. Keep arresting the criminals you come across and help everyone who needs it. And if some of them refuse to surrender and put your life or the civilians’ lives in danger… you can shoot.”
— “Understood!”
Without wasting any more time, George got into his vehicle and sped off, immediately heading toward the location where Spider-Man and Dr.
Octopus were.
— “Even if criminals have flooded the city, we have to deal with the most dangerous ones first, otherwise nothing is going to get better!”
Meanwhile, near May Parker’s workplace, Spider-Man was facing Doctor Octopus.
He was trying to remain calm.
Yet his gaze remained fixed on Aunt May, still trapped in one of his opponent’s mechanical arms.
The slightest mistake could cost him dearly, and Peter knew that perfectly well.
— “Alright, listen carefully. If you nicely let this charming lady go, I promise I’ll only break one of your teeth… or two. Your choice.”
A fake, almost polite smile appeared on Octopus’s face.
— “Alright, no problem. I’ll set her down.”
The answer was far too easy.
Spider-Man slowly approached, wary, without taking his eyes off Octopus.
Each of his movements was watched with the utmost attention, Peter ready to react at the slightest suspicious gesture.
A sadistic smile then appeared on the scientist’s face.
— “Oops.”
Without the slightest warning, the mechanical arm holding May made a brutal movement and hurled her several meters into the air.
She screamed in terror, while the young hero’s heart stopped.
— “NO!”
Peter immediately leaped to catch her, but he didn’t even have time to reach her.
Octopus’s mechanical arms lunged at him and intercepted him mid-movement, preventing him from reaching May.
Then a dull impact tore through the street.
Aunt May’s body had just crashed violently onto a car.
For a second, everything seemed to stop around Spider-Man.
May wasn’t screaming anymore.
She wasn’t moving anymore.
Peter remained frozen at the sight, breathless, unable to look away from her motionless body.
For an instant, there was no Octopus, no police officers, no chaos around him.
Only her.
He called out to her, desperately hoping for the slightest reaction.
— “MA’AM?! PLEASE, ANSWER ME! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!”
Even Octopus seemed surprised.
— “She’s dead? Seriously…?”
A heavy silence settled over the area.
The civilians present remained at a distance, in shock, while even the police officers still hesitated to intervene.
Finally, several officers aimed their weapons at Octopus, ready to open fire at the slightest movement.
— “PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR AND SURRENDER…!”
But Spider-Man acted before them.
A web suddenly shot from his web-shooter and slammed directly into Dr.
Octopus’s face, completely blocking his vision.
Peter immediately took advantage of the opening to break free and followed up with a powerful spinning kick that struck his opponent head-on and sent him flying several meters away.
Octopus, still dazed by the impact, gradually regained his senses.
But when he managed to focus his attention on Spider-Man again, he immediately understood that something had changed.
The hero now standing before him was no longer joking.
— “I can’t see your face, but I can feel it… You’re furious. Oh no, wait… don’t tell me that… you knew her…?”
Spider-Man didn’t answer.
He remained perfectly silent, his gaze fixed on Octopus behind the white lenses of his mask.
No joke, no provocation left his lips.
This time, his silence was enough to express all the rage burning inside him.
A few minutes later, when George Stacy finally arrived at the scene, what he found was striking.
The fight was already over.
Dr.
Octopus lay unconscious, securely bound by Spider-Man’s webs.
His face was unrecognizable, swollen and covered in blood after the blows he had just endured.
Several police officers surrounded him, but none of them seemed particularly eager to get any closer.
Even now that the confrontation was over, a heavy tension still lingered in the street.
George got out of his vehicle and stepped forward in turn.
That’s when he noticed Spider-Man a little farther away, an unconscious woman in his arms.
It only took him a moment to recognize her face.
— “May?! Oh no…!”
His concern immediately grew and he quickened his pace toward the hero.
— “Pete… Spider-Man! Is she… is she alright?”
Spider-Man briefly lowered his eyes toward May, still motionless in his arms.
— “She’s breathing… but she won’t wake up. The impact must’ve been terrible.”
Peter gently lifted her against him, taking every possible precaution not to worsen her condition, then began moving with obvious determination.
— “Hey… what are you doing?”
— “Where’s your car?”
George immediately pointed toward his vehicle.
— “Over there…”
Without saying another word, Spider-Man headed toward the police car with May in his arms.
He opened the rear door and gently placed her inside, carefully laying her down before making sure once again that she was still breathing.
George joined him.
— “Listen… I know how you feel. But don’t worry, I’ll take her to the hospital, and I’ll do everything I can to make sure she gets the best care possible.”
He slightly clenched his fists.
— “I know. I’d like to stay with her, but I can’t. The city is still in complete chaos and… they have to pay. They’re going to understand that they would’ve been better off staying in prison.”
George immediately sensed the anger contained behind the young hero’s words.
After what Octopus had just done to May, he could perfectly understand his state of mind.
But he also knew how dangerous that anger could become if Peter allowed it to take over.
— “Then forget the small-time criminals and focus on the biggest threats. Rhino was spotted near 175th Avenue.”
Spider-Man nodded and turned away, ready to leave immediately.
But before he could leap away, George’s voice rang out one last time behind him.
— “Spider-Man!”
Peter stopped and glanced over his shoulder.
George stared at him intently.
— “Keep your cool.”
The message was perfectly clear.
Peter remained still for a few seconds before answering in a much calmer voice.
— “I know. On your end, take care of my aunt.”
— “You can count on me.”
Without another word, he leaped into the air and fired a web toward one of the neighboring buildings.
A few seconds later, he was already disappearing between the buildings of New York, leaving behind a heavy silence and a thoughtful Captain Stacy.
New York — Daily Bugle — Evening
At the Daily Bugle, the situation was hardly any more reassuring.
J.
Jonah Jameson and his entire team had been trapped inside the offices since the chaos began, unable to leave the building without risking running into the criminals who had flooded the streets. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Inside Jameson’s office were Betty Brant and Joseph “Robbie” Robertson, among others.
Several other employees were gathered outside the room, anxiously waiting for the situation to calm down enough for them to go home.
After several hours spent trapped inside the offices, the tension and exhaustion were seriously beginning to wear on everyone’s nerves.
And as usual, Jameson was far from making things any better.
— “AAAAAH! I can’t take this anymore! We’ve been trapped in here like rats for hours! And to think I was looking forward to going home today… AND ALL OF THIS… IS BECAUSE OF SPIDER-MAN!”
Robbie abruptly turned his head toward him, clearly running out of patience with an accusation he had already heard far too many times.
— “How many times am I going to have to tell you? THIS ISN’T BECAUSE OF HIM! He’s probably out there trying to stop all those criminals!”
Betty let out a long sigh.
— “Forget it, Robbie, there’s no point. You know how stubborn he is.”
Jonah immediately turned toward her.
— “I’m not STUBBORN, Brant! I’m just telling the truth!”
Betty rolled her eyes, already exhausted by their latest argument.
— “Children…”
While the two men continued bickering, Betty preferred to turn her attention away and looked toward the window.
But her bored expression disappeared almost immediately.
Her eyes widened when she spotted, several floors below, a massive silhouette positioned in front of the building:
Rhino.
And judging by his stance, he was preparing to charge toward the building with all his strength.
— “What truth are you talking about?! Ever since you found out he existed, you’ve treated him like a criminal, even though he’s never done anything wrong! Quite the opposite!”
— “Uh… guys?” Betty said softly, with growing concern.
— “It’s obvious you don’t understand anything about journalism,” Jonah said, crossing his arms.
— “What a joke!”
Betty looked out the window once again.
Rhino was now preparing to strike.
— “GUYS!”
The two men turned around at the same time.
— “WHAT?!”
At that exact moment, a violent tremor shook the entire building.
The floor trembled beneath their feet, several pieces of furniture toppled over, and some employees lost their balance from the force of the impact.
In the hallways, screams immediately erupted as widespread panic took over the Daily Bugle offices.
— “WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING NOW?!” Jameson shouted.
Outside, Spider-Man had just arrived at the scene.
He immediately spotted Rhino at the foot of the Daily Bugle, busy destroying the pillars supporting the building, clearly determined to make it collapse.
— “HEY!”
Rhino stopped his attack and abruptly turned around.
When he recognized the vigilante, a satisfied expression appeared on his face.
— “Oh… there you are. I was wondering when you’d finally show your face.”
— “You were looking for me? Good news, I’m here now. So bring your big animal ass over here!”
— “You won’t be laughing when I’ve impaled you with my horn!”
Furious, Rhino immediately charged.
His enormous body rushed straight toward Spider-Man, but he waited until the last moment before skillfully leaping to the side and avoiding the impact.
Taking advantage of his opponent’s momentum, Peter jumped directly onto his back and fired two webs to hold himself firmly in place.
A strange rodeo scene then began in the middle of the street.
— “Get off me, you filthy spider!”
— “Then throw me off! Come on, Rhino! Throw me off! COME ON!”
The more Peter provoked him, the angrier Rhino became.
The giant repeatedly charged and made sudden movements in an attempt to get rid of him, violently crashing into walls and everything else in his path.
Spider-Man, meanwhile, continued holding on while deliberately letting his opponent waste his energy.
After thrashing around and charging in every direction, Rhino gradually began to exhaust himself without even realizing it.
His movements became less explosive, his breathing heavier, until he eventually stopped, panting.
Spider-Man then released his webs, jumped off his back, and landed a few meters in front of him.
— “Tired already?”
— “You little…!”
He didn’t have time to finish.
Spider-Man rushed at him and immediately unleashed a series of violent blows directly to his face, the only part of his body that wasn’t protected.
The impacts kept coming until Rhino finally lost consciousness and collapsed heavily to the ground.
Peter took no chances.
He immediately covered the giant in several layers of webbing, securely immobilizing his arms, legs, and torso to make sure he couldn’t resume the fight if he woke up.
Several police cars arrived at the scene a few moments later.
The officers found Rhino defeated and completely immobilized, but Peter quickly realized that the danger was far from over.
The damage caused by the super-criminal had considerably weakened the Daily Bugle.
The building was beginning to give way.
— “No… not this!”
Without even taking the time to think, Peter rushed toward the building.
He positioned himself beneath the structure that threatened to collapse and raised his arms, using all his strength to support it.
The colossal weight of the building came down on him, turning Spider-Man into a true human pillar tasked with preventing the building from collapsing all by himself.
Inside, the employees had no idea what was happening beneath their feet.
They could only feel the building shaking and dangerously tilting as furniture slid and the walls cracked around them.
Convinced that the building could collapse at any moment, some already thought they were living their final seconds.
— “What’s happening?!” Robbie shouted.
— “NOOOO! I DON’T WANT TO DIE!” Betty screamed.
And in the middle of the widespread panic, Jameson still managed to find a way to return to his favorite culprit.
— “ALL OF THIS… IF ONLY SPIDER-MAN WEREN’T HERE…!”
But suddenly, everything stopped.
The violent tremors running through the Daily Bugle ceased just as abruptly as they had begun.
The furniture stopped moving, the walls stopped shaking, and a strange silence gradually settled over the offices.
After all that commotion, no one understood what had just happened.
A helicopter then appeared at the level of the newsroom offices, calling on the employees to evacuate the building as quickly as possible.
Jameson didn’t try to understand the situation any further and immediately took charge again.
— “I don’t understand what’s happening, but everyone get out! Quick! Take the stairs, and no hanging around! Come on, hurry up!”
The employees immediately began evacuating the offices, heading toward the stairs in large numbers.
Meanwhile, down below, police officers and civilians finally discovered the reason why the building had stopped collapsing.
Some remained completely frozen at the sight.
— “Seriously… I can’t believe it…” one of the policewomen murmured.
The helicopter hovering over the area was already broadcasting the scene live.
From the air, the reporter watched in amazement as Spider-Man held up the immense structure all by himself.
— “Hello, it’s me again! We’re on 175th Avenue and we’re witnessing something incredible! The vigilante known as Spider-Man is literally carrying the Daily Bugle building on his shoulders! Yes, you heard me correctly: he’s holding up the building to give people enough time to evacuate!”
The images quickly spread throughout the city.
Among the thousands of New Yorkers watching the scene through their screens were several people who knew Spider-Man much better than the rest of the public.
Gwen was following the broadcast on her television.
George Stacy, now at the hospital with May, saw the same images.
Flash, meanwhile, was watching the live broadcast on his phone.
All three of them remained stunned by what they were seeing.
— “Oh…” Gwen began.
— “My…” George added.
— “God…” Flash finished.
Gwen and Flash reacted almost immediately.
Without even taking the time to think, they both rushed out of their homes to reach the scene.
Gwen left without telling anyone, while Flash hurried through the living room and went outside despite his entire family being there.
— “Flash! Where are you going?!” his little sister shouted.
— “Let him go. Maybe he’ll be useful for once,” Harrison said coldly.
Meanwhile, beneath the Daily Bugle, every second was becoming more difficult than the last for Spider-Man.
His body trembled under the colossal weight of the building and his arms were under a pressure unlike anything he had ever felt before.
He gritted his teeth, drawing on all his strength to hold the structure long enough for the employees to get out.
— “Fuck… Why did I do this?! A twenty-story building?! My arms are going to explode… It’s too heavy… Get out… please…!”
Above the scene, the news helicopter continued broadcasting the events live.
— “Look! The people inside the building are starting to come out little by little!”
And indeed, the employees continued evacuating.
Groups emerged one after another before being quickly moved away from the area by law enforcement.
Among the last to leave the building were Betty, Robbie, and Jonah.
When they finally got outside and discovered what was actually preventing their workplace from collapsing, all three of them froze.
Betty stood motionless.
— “Oh my God… he’s the reason the building stopped moving?!”
Robbie couldn’t believe it.
For once, Jameson had nothing to say.
He remained silent, his eyes fixed on Spider-Man and the immense structure the hero continued holding up with his arms.
Peter noticed, however, that far too many people were still standing nearby watching him.
Despite the pain now running through his entire body, he found enough breath to shout at them to move away.
— “Hey! Instead of just standing there staring at me… GET BACK!”
The crowd obeyed and moved farther away from the building, even though many remained hypnotized by the scene.
Peter, meanwhile, was now facing a much more serious problem.
All the employees were practically out of danger, but that did nothing to change the weight still resting on his arms.
— “And now? What do I do?! If I let go… everything collapses. But if my arms give out… I’m going to die.”
Each arriving from a different direction, Gwen and Flash eventually managed to get closer to the scene.
They made their way through the many civilians gathered around the perimeter and discovered in turn the incredible scene unfolding before them.
— “Woah…”
Gwen, however, didn’t just see Spider-Man holding up a building.
She saw Peter, her best friend and the one she loved, whose body was trembling beneath an immense weight.
— “Oh my God… Peter!”
Her concern immediately took over.
Determined to reach him, Gwen forced her way through the crowd and rushed toward him despite the danger.
— “No! Young lady, it’s dangerous!”
But Gwen kept moving forward.
At the same time, Peter’s strength was dangerously beginning to fail him.
His arms trembled more and more violently under the pressure and the pain was becoming almost unbearable.
— “I’m going to let go! My arms are tearing apart! I can’t hold on anymore…!”
Then, in the middle of the crowd, his gaze suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure running straight toward him.
His girlfriend.
Even in a situation like this, he had trouble believing that she had actually left her apartment to come all the way here.
— “Gwen?! This can’t be happening, this has to be a joke!”
She eventually managed to get close enough to speak to him without having to reveal his identity to everyone around them.
Her worried gaze settled on him while her voice trembled with the urgency of the situation.
— “Peter! Peter, are you okay?!”
— “What are you doing here?! Leave! It’s dangerous! I’m going to let go!”
— “But…”
— “NO! GET OUT OF HERE NOW!”
Gwen froze, shocked by the sudden harshness of his tone.
Peter didn’t want to speak to her that way, but he no longer had the strength or the time to measure his words.
Every second spent beneath the weight of the Daily Bugle made him feel as though his body was getting a little closer to its limit.
— “Hundreds of people are already injured in this chaos. Aunt May is in the hospital because of all this… and I had to leave her behind to come here and help everyone I could. Gwen… I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you. Please… leave!”
Despite the fear she could see in his demeanor and the obvious pain he was enduring, Gwen didn’t back away.
On the contrary, her gaze grew firmer.
— “No! I’m not leaving!”
— “Don’t you understand?! I’m going to let go! Gwen, for the love of God…!”
— “You’re the one who doesn’t understand! I’m staying because I know you won’t let this building crush all these people watching you! Can you hear them?! They’re cheering for you!”
As if to give even more weight to her words, a chant began to rise behind her.
At first carried by only a few voices, it was quickly taken up by part of the crowd, until it echoed all around them.
Peter could hear them.
Despite the deafening pounding of his heart, despite his labored breathing and the pain running through every one of his muscles, their voices reached him clearly.
— “They know you’re doing everything you can… and most importantly, that you’re going to make it! Do you remember what you told me? ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ Did you tell me that just to show off, or did you really mean it?!”
But time was working against him.
With every second, Peter grew weaker.
The weight of the Daily Bugle seemed to become more and more unbearable and, after his arms, it was his legs that began to tremble uncontrollably.
His entire body was screaming at him to let go.
— “Damn it, Gwen…”
— “Do you think Uncle Ben would be proud to hear that? Do you think I’m proud to see the man I love talking about giving up?! Peter… I love you! I love you more than anything, and I believe in you in a way you can’t even imagine! If you let go now, people will lose hope and the criminals will think they’ve won. Show them that nothing is lost! Show them who you really are… Show them that you’re Spider-Man!”
Those final words echoed in Peter’s mind.
The pain hadn’t disappeared.
His body hadn’t suddenly become stronger and the building hadn’t become lighter.
Yet something had just changed inside him.
Beneath his mask, Peter gritted his teeth as Gwen’s words continued to run through his mind.
— “I’m in pain… so much pain… but she’s right. I can’t give up. If I break now, when everyone’s counting on me, I’ll dishonor Uncle Ben’s memory. I have to push myself beyond my limits, even if it destroys me. Ever since that day, I swore to protect others… so how could I have forgotten that? Just because of the pain? Bullshit!”
— “Come on, Peter!”
Peter struggled to take a breath.
His legs still threatened to give out and his arms felt like they were tearing apart under the weight they were supporting.
But this time, he refused to listen to the pain.
— “If I let go… it’ll be over.
I can’t be a hero only when it’s easy, and run away as soon as things get hard!
This is exactly when I have to give it everything I’ve got.
For me.
For Ben.
For May.
For Gwen… for everyone!
Come on, Spider-Man!
COME ON!
COME OOOOOOOON!”
In one final effort, Peter drew on the last of his remaining strength.
His entire body tensed under the pressure as he gradually straightened himself, refusing to give up another inch.
At the cost of a colossal effort, he finally managed to put the broken pillar that had weakened the structure back into place.
But he didn’t stop there.
Gathering what little energy he had left, Spider-Man fired web after web around the building, reinforcing the structure as much as he could.
He continued again and again, without allowing himself the slightest break, until he completely exhausted his web reserves.
Then, finally, the building was stabilized and the danger was over.
For a few seconds, no one reacted.
The spectators in the street, as well as those watching the scene from behind their screens, simply remained speechless at what Spider-Man had just accomplished.
Harry Osborn stared at his screen, shocked:
— “Fuck…”
Liz Allan murmured:
— “Holy…”
Sally Avril finished:
— “Shit…”
Flash, meanwhile, didn’t say a word.
Standing among the crowd, he stared at Spider-Man, his mouth slightly open.
The gleam of admiration in his eyes was enough to express all the emotion this scene had just stirred in him.
Even the reporter covering the events seemed momentarily at a loss for words.
— “Everyone, I… I don’t have the words to describe what I just saw. Spider-Man, he… he did it.”
Peter, meanwhile, could barely hear anything anymore.
He had reached his limit.
Now that the building was stabilized and no one needed his strength to hold it up anymore, all the tension that had allowed his body to endure until then suddenly vanished.
His strength left him and he lost consciousness.
But before he could collapse to the ground, Gwen rushed toward him and caught him.
She held him against her, still shaken by what she had just witnessed.
For a few seconds, she silently gazed at the unconscious hero in her arms before a trembling smile filled with pride appeared on her face.
— “You really are… incredible.”
TO BE CONTINUED.
Hello everyone!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Personally, it’s one of my favorites.
It brings Peter’s original motivation for doing good back into the spotlight, but more importantly, it reminds us that he’s still just a human being…
and a young boy.
He may be strong and willing to put his life on the line, but this time…
dying truly felt like a real possibility to him.
I really loved writing the fact that he was scared, panicked, forced to think, and hesitated between running away to save himself or staying to protect innocent civilians.
To me, that’s what makes him feel human and believable.
I’m also really happy I got to adapt this scene from the comics.
I’ve always found it absolutely incredible.
As always, I’d love to hear what you thought in the comments!
— YL