New York — Stacy Apartment — Living Room — Late Afternoon
In the living room of the Stacy apartment, Spider-Man and Yuri Watanabe stared intently at the tracking device’s screen.
Sitting on a chair, Yuri rapidly tapped away on her device, completely focused on the data scrolling before her eyes, while Spider-Man stood beside her, curiously watching each of her actions.
— “The police have a tracking system on George’s phone…?” he asked, surprised.
Without taking her eyes off the screen, Yuri replied:
— “No… it’s not the police’s, it’s mine.”
Spider-Man raised his eyebrows slightly, visibly impressed.
— “You made it yourself? Impressive…”
A few seconds later, Yuri’s fingers suddenly froze over her device.
— “Ah, found him!”
Spider-Man immediately moved closer to look at the screen.
— “Seriously?! So, where is he?”
Yuri took a few moments to analyze the coordinates that had just appeared.
— “According to the coordinates… he’s almost right in the center of New York.”
Spider-Man frowned, already trying to understand what George could possibly be doing there.
— “In the center of New York? And do you know anything else?”
— “I don’t know!” Yuri snapped in annoyance.
“My system doesn’t let me see what’s happening on his end!”
A frustrated growl escaped Spider-Man.
Unable to stay still, he began pacing back and forth across the living room, his concern for Gwen gradually taking over.
— “Okay, okay… and what about Gwen? What do we do? Do you think she’s with him? Imagine we go there and she’s not with him! What do we do?!”
— “Hey, will you calm down?!” Yuri shouted, raising her voice to bring him back to his senses.
“If we start panicking and doing stupid shit, we’re gonna screw everything up!”
Spider-Man stopped and took a deep breath, trying to regain control of his emotions.
Yuri watched him for a few seconds, then continued in a calmer voice.
— “I want to find Gwen too. I want to find both of them. But something really strange is going on and I think the two cases are connected. Which means that if we find George, we’ll probably find Gwen too.”
Spider-Man lowered his head slightly.
Despite his concern, he knew she was right.
— “You’re… you’re right. Sorry.”
Yuri sighed.
After a brief hesitation, she finally swallowed her distrust and held out her hand to him with determination.
— “It pisses me off, but… let’s team up. One more time.”
Spider-Man shook her hand without the slightest hesitation.
At the same time, at the top of an enormous skyscraper towering over New York, Tombstone stood in his luxurious office, whose cold and oppressive atmosphere contrasted with the spectacular view of the city.
Around him stood Hammerhead, several henchmen, as well as George and Gwen Stacy.
Gwen was tied to a chair.
Despite the worry twisting her stomach, she kept a stern expression and tried not to let anything show.
George, meanwhile, never took his eyes off Tombstone, unable to contain his anger at the situation.
— “All right! I’m standing right here in front of you and I don’t have any weapons. I can’t do anything, so let my daughter go!”
Hammerhead immediately stepped forward.
— “Hey! You don’t talk to the boss like that!”
He raised his hand, ready to hit George, but Tombstone stopped him with a simple gesture before he could do anything.
Unlike his right-hand man, the colossus remained perfectly calm.
— “Listen, Mr. Stacy. I’ll be honest: I have nothing against you. But I understand why you might think otherwise. I did have your daughter kidnapped, after all. But I’ll say it again: you’re not the one I’m interested in. Spider-Man is the one I want.”
Tombstone began to slowly walk around the room, circling his prisoners with the unsettling calm of a predator observing its prey.
— “Why would I go after a cop? You’re just doing your job. Something I respect, by the way. Sincerely. And besides, I’ve never been caught by the police, so really… don’t worry. But… when it comes to that human spider… that’s different.”
As he spoke, his voice grew heavier and darker.
Behind his apparent calm, a barely contained anger began to show through in every word.
— “In just a few months, he fucked everything up. I had a thriving business, henchmen everywhere… everything was working perfectly. And then that little fucker showed up, disrespected me, and ever since, he’s done nothing but try to destroy what I’ve built.”
Tombstone closed his eyes for a few seconds and took a deep breath, as if trying to suppress the anger threatening to take over.
When he opened them again, his usual calm had returned.
He then walked up to George Stacy and locked his icy gaze with his.
— “If I brought you here, it’s to lure Spider-Man in. So I can eliminate him myself.”
At those words, Gwen flinched.
Until now, she had tried to keep her composure, but this revelation immediately awakened a new fear within her.
— “He… he wants to kill Peter?!”
Her heart tightened instantly at the thought of Peter falling into Tombstone’s hands.
George, meanwhile, did not look away and continued to face the criminal despite his helplessness.
— “And what makes you think he’ll come?”
A slight smile appeared on Tombstone’s face.
— “I have a feeling you know each other and that he’ll come. It might take him some time, but he’ll come to save you. He’s a superhero, right? And from what I know… a superhero always does his best to save people in need.”
The sadistic smile accompanying his words left no doubt about his intentions.
George gritted his teeth, unable to do anything.
His daughter was being held prisoner right before his eyes and, somewhere in the city, Peter Parker was probably heading straight into a deadly trap.
On the rooftops of Manhattan, the wind blew between the buildings as Spider-Man and Yuri Watanabe stared at the enormous skyscraper standing before them.
Towering over part of the city, the building looked like a true fortress.
Spider-Man kept his eyes fixed on the structure.
— “So… this is it?”
Yuri checked the data displayed on her phone once again before answering:
— “According to my tracker… yes. George is inside. Now we just need to figure out exactly where.”
— “I’m betting on the top floor.”
Yuri immediately turned toward him, perplexed.
— “The top floor? What are you basing that on? The building is huge. Why up there instead of down below?”
Spider-Man took a few seconds to think before explaining his reasoning.
— “If you kidnap someone, your goal is to make sure they aren’t found right away, right? So you don’t hide them in some creepy basement, some remote place or any of those clichés. No. You choose somewhere unlikely. Somewhere no one would think to look. And honestly… there’s only one guy twisted enough for that.”
— “And who are you talking about?”
— “Tombstone.”
Yuri sighed in annoyance, unconvinced by his sudden certainty.
— “Tombstone? Seriously? And you couldn’t have told me about this earlier? And how can you be so sure? From what I know, after George saved you, that guy disappeared off the radar.”
Spider-Man briefly turned his gaze toward the city, thinking back on everything that had happened over the past few days.
— “I thought about it on the way here. I considered everything, and he’s the only one who fits. I’m convinced. The captain and I were tracking him… and he probably knew it. So maybe all of this is just a plan to lure me in and trap me. But it doesn’t matter. If Gwen and her father are in danger, I’m going in there and tearing everything apart.”
— “You really think you’re the center of the world, don’t you?” Yuri said sarcastically.
Spider-Man remained silent for a few seconds.
When he spoke again, his tone had changed, giving way to a much more serious voice.
— “No… I just think all of this is my fault.”
Yuri frowned, not immediately understanding what he meant.
— “Lately, I can’t stop thinking about it. If I hadn’t stuck my nose into his business… maybe he never would’ve targeted Gwen and her father. All those super-criminals… they exist to destroy me.”
Spider-Man slowly walked to the edge of the rooftop and gazed out at the city stretching beneath him.
New York still bore the scars of the chaos that had just struck it: destroyed cars littered some streets, buildings had been damaged by the fighting, and several fires were still burning in the distance.
— “The prison breaks… the chaos in the city… the injured… Gwen and George getting kidnapped… Maybe all of this is because of me. And I’m starting to wonder if, by trying to help… I didn’t just make things worse…”
The thought painfully tightened his chest.
Behind him, Yuri watched him for a long moment, but said nothing.
Eventually, she simply turned her attention back toward the enormous building standing before them.
— “Either way, judging by how things look… I get the feeling George is in deep trouble.”
She crossed her arms and thought for a few moments about the best way to proceed.
— “I’m not sure going straight to the top is the best way to do this…”
— “Trust me,” Spider-Man replied calmly.
“If they’re up there, we save time. And if they’re not, we’ll search the rest. But it’s better to face the boss directly than give him time to prepare.”
Yuri still hesitated.
— “I…”
— “Trust me. Please.”
Spider-Man held out his hand to her.
After a few seconds of hesitation and a resigned sigh, Yuri finally took it.
— “Fine… from the top, right?”
— “Yeah.”
Without giving her time to add anything, Spider-Man suddenly grabbed her in his arms and leapt with her into the void.
A web immediately shot through the air and, the next instant, the two of them were already swinging between the buildings toward the top of the skyscraper.
At the same time, on the top floor of Tombstone’s headquarters, the tension was still just as palpable.
George and Gwen Stacy remained tied up, held prisoner inside the office, while Hammerhead and the henchmen had left the area, leaving them alone with Tombstone.
The criminal stood before the enormous glass window, calmly gazing out over New York.
His eyes slowly swept across the city stretching beneath him.
— “I’m going to miss this city… But this is only goodbye for now.”
After a few moments, he turned away from the view and focused his attention back on George.
— “By the way, tell me… do you know Spider-Man’s identity?”
George immediately frowned, surprised by the question.
— “What?”
A slight smile appeared on Tombstone’s face.
— “You work together… so maybe you know who’s behind that mask. Like I told you, Spider-Man has really pissed me off. So finding out who he is would be really… amusing.”
— “I don’t know.”
— “Really? You’re sure about that?”
George held his gaze without the slightest hesitation.
— “I’m a cop and he arrests criminals. We have something in common, so we work together from time to time. But that’s it. He never told me who he was.”
Tombstone remained silent for a few seconds, as though trying to determine whether George was actually telling the truth.
Then, without answering, he slowly walked toward Gwen.
Without the slightest warning, he slapped her violently across the face.
— “HEY!”
George suddenly straightened in his chair, but before he could do anything, a second slap struck Gwen, drawing a groan of pain from her.
— “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!”
Tombstone raised his hand again, ready to do it again.
— “STOP! STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!”
Despite George’s shouting, Tombstone remained perfectly calm, as though the situation didn’t affect him in the slightest.
— “I’ll stop when you tell me who Spider-Man is. It’s simple: you give me his first and last name, and I’ll stop messing up your daughter’s pretty face.”
Despite the pain, Gwen raised her head and turned her gaze toward her father.
— “It’s okay, Dad. I’ll be fine.”
George stared at her in astonishment.
Despite the situation and the blows she had just taken, she wasn’t trembling and didn’t even seem afraid.
Her calm was so striking that even Tombstone eventually noticed it.
— “That’s strange… How come you’re so calm? You’re not afraid of the situation… or of me…?”
Gwen held his gaze without letting herself be intimidated.
— “Me, afraid of you? I’ve already been through far more terrifying things. Enjoy it while you can.”
A glimmer of curiosity crossed Tombstone’s eyes.
— “And why is that?”
Gwen’s expression hardened.
— “Because I know he’s going to be here soon to beat the shit out of you and send you to prison.”
A small amused smile appeared on Tombstone’s face.
— “Oh… you’re confident because you think your hero is going to come save you?”
He calmly returned to his desk and sat down in his chair, visibly amused by the young woman’s confidence.
After watching her for a few seconds, he continued:
— “Believe whatever you want. But in my opinion, he won’t be here anytime soon. Which means we still have time to talk, your father… you… and me.”
He had barely finished his sentence when a deafening crash echoed through the office.
The glass window suddenly shattered under the impact of a foot launched at full speed, sending shards of glass flying across the room as Spider-Man burst inside.
At the same moment, Yuri was set down on the floor.
She immediately drew her weapon, ready to react and open fire at the slightest sign of danger.
Tombstone flinched, completely caught off guard.
— “What the fuck…!”
George’s eyes widened as he recognized the two newcomers.
— “Spider-Man?! Yuri?!”
Still tied to her chair, Gwen felt her heart leap in her chest at the sight of the masked hero.
Without wasting a single second, Yuri rushed toward the two prisoners and immediately began cutting George’s restraints.
— “But how did you manage to find us?!” he asked, stunned.
— “Too long to explain!” she replied, continuing to work.
The moment he was freed, George rushed toward Gwen and quickly began undoing her restraints.
— “Are you okay, sweetheart? I’m so sorry about all this…”
— “It’s okay, Dad! It’s okay!”
Once free, Gwen threw herself into her father’s arms.
The two briefly embraced, relieved to find each other safe and sound despite the danger still surrounding them.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man faced Tombstone.
Every trace of humor had disappeared from his demeanor, and his gaze, hidden behind his mask, seemed colder than ever.
— “No more bullshit, Tombstone.”
The criminal gave him a sadistic smile.
— “Oh no… this is only the beginning!”
Keeping his eyes fixed on Spider-Man, Tombstone discreetly slipped one hand beneath his desk and pressed a hidden red button underneath it.
A simple click sounded and, almost immediately, the doors to the top floor were blown apart as a veritable army of heavily armed mercenaries stormed the area.
Tombstone pointed at George and Yuri.
— “Neutralize the two cops.”
Then he turned his full attention back to Spider-Man.
— “I’ll… take care of the spider.”
Chaos instantly erupted inside the office.
Yuri opened fire first and almost immediately neutralized two mercenaries.
A third tried to take advantage of the fight to attack her in close combat, but she neutralized him with a perfectly placed kick.
Despite the violence of the confrontation, she stayed close to Gwen, refusing to leave her exposed to the slightest danger.
— “Hey, George!” she shouted.
“Just like in training! Beat the shit out of all of them! And don’t worry about Gwen, I’ve got her!”
George nodded without wasting a second.
Gwen, meanwhile, stared anxiously at the impressive number of men still facing them.
— “But Yuri, my dad! There are too many of them!”
— “Don’t worry about him,” she replied.
“Your dad is an absolute machine in close combat. I’ll protect you and cover him!”
At the center of the office, far from the battle raging around them, Tombstone and Spider-Man faced each other like two predators ready to tear each other apart.
Tombstone smiled.
— “Here we finally are… Mr. Vigilante. This is our real confrontation!”
Spider-Man gritted his teeth.
— “Shut up.”
Tombstone burst into amused laughter.
— “What? Not in the mood for jokes?”
Without answering, Spider-Man charged straight at him.
Tombstone immediately grabbed a chair and tried to violently smash it down on the hero, but Spider-Man blocked the blow with one arm, shattering the piece of furniture under the force of the impact.
In the same motion, a web shot from his wrist and stuck to the giant’s face.
Spider-Man immediately followed up with a kick, but Tombstone dodged it with a surprisingly quick movement before ripping the web from his face with a laugh.
Around them, the battle between the cops and the mercenaries raged on.
George fought with impressive ferocity: he disarmed one opponent, broke a second one’s nose before grabbing a knife and driving it into a third man’s shoulder.
Yuri, meanwhile, covered every angle with deadly precision, making sure not to waste a single bullet while staying close enough to Gwen to protect her.
From where she stood, Gwen watched her father take down his opponents one after another, stunned by what she was seeing.
— “I had no idea Dad was this strong… he’s incredible!”
— “George!” Yuri shouted.
“They just keep coming! I’m gonna run out of ammo soon!”
In the middle of his fight, Spider-Man heard her warning and briefly looked in their direction.
A mistake Tombstone immediately tried to exploit.
The giant attacked, but Peter’s Spider-Sense allowed him to react just in time.
He dodged the blow, then immediately retaliated with a right hook, followed by a left hook and a powerful uppercut.
The final impact sent Tombstone staggering before crashing heavily to the floor.
Spider-Man stood facing him and pointed a finger in his direction.
— “Don’t move. I’ll be back in two seconds.”
He immediately leapt into the heart of the fight to help George and Yuri.
With his arrival in the battle, the balance of power shifted completely.
The three of them fought with almost perfect coordination, as if they had been fighting together for years.
Each covered the others, took advantage of every opening and neutralized the mercenaries one after another.
Only a few minutes were needed for calm to finally return to the office.
Dozens of unconscious mercenaries now littered the floor, and the silence that settled over the room contrasted sharply with the chaos that had filled it only moments earlier.
Still trembling, Gwen looked around.
— “Is… is it over?”
Yuri, out of breath from the fight, tried to catch her breath.
— “Looks like it…”
Relieved, Gwen immediately threw herself into her father’s arms.
Spider-Man, however, did not yet share their relief.
He remained still for a few moments, his gaze fixed on Tombstone.
— “No… not yet.”
His voice was cold.
— “There’s still the biggest fish left.”
He slowly walked toward the criminal, now lying on the floor.
— “Now, it’s really over. Isn’t that right, my dear Tombst—”
BOOM.
A violent explosion suddenly shook the building, immediately followed by a second, then a third.
The entire building began to tremble beneath their feet, causing everyone still standing to lose their balance.
— “What the hell is going on?!” Yuri shouted.
“Why is everything shaking?!”
Spider-Man’s blood ran cold when he realized what was probably happening.
— “No… no way…!”
He rushed toward Tombstone, but the criminal reacted before he could reach him.
With a brutal movement, he overturned his desk in Spider-Man’s path to block him, then rushed toward the shattered window.
— “We’ll meet again… Spider-Man!”
— “NO! WAIT!”
Without the slightest hesitation, Tombstone leapt into the void.
A few seconds later, a parachute deployed behind him, allowing him to escape from the collapsing building.
George immediately understood what Tombstone had done, and his face went pale.
— “He planned all of this! He wants to bury us alive!”
— “Oh my God…” Gwen whispered.
— “We need to get out of here!” Yuri shouted.
— “But how?!”
Before they could find a way out, another explosion blew apart the office door.
The force of the shockwave swept through the room, sending furniture, debris and shards of glass flying in every direction as part of the floor began to collapse.
Spider-Man was violently thrown across the room.
Amid the chaos, George was hurled in the opposite direction, separated from the others by a section of the floor that suddenly collapsed between them.
Everything seemed to slow down around Peter.
Gwen and Yuri were still within his reach.
His instincts immediately took over: he grabbed Gwen, then Yuri, before pinning them against one of the few walls still standing and securing them firmly to it with several layers of webbing, protecting them from the collapse.
Gwen had lost consciousness from the force of the impact, but Yuri was still awake.
Panicked, she frantically scanned the room for her captain.
— “W-Where’s George?!”
Spider-Man suddenly turned his head.
And he saw him.
On the other side of the devastated floor, George Stacy had just lost all footing beneath him.
A section of the floor gave way under his feet and his body plunged into the void.
Without thinking for even a second, Spider-Man dove after him.
— “No! No! Come on, Peter, you can do this! You HAVE to do this! Catch him! COME ON!”
Spider-Man accelerated his fall as much as he could, desperately reaching his arms toward George as the ground approached at a terrifying speed.
He fired a first web toward him, then a second, a third, a fourth… but none of them managed to reach him.
It was too late.
Their eyes met one last time during the fall.
Unlike Peter, George seemed strangely calm, as if he had already understood that he couldn’t be saved and had accepted what was about to happen to him.
— “Peter… take good care of Gwen.”
Then the ground came.
With a monstrous crash, George Stacy’s body slammed into the ground at the foot of the building.
Using his webs, Spider-Man managed to slow his fall as best he could before landing a few moments later.
But when he looked up at George, he froze.
The violence of the impact had horribly deformed his body, leaving him unrecognizable.
Peter stood paralyzed at the sight, his breath caught in his throat, unable to look away.
He abruptly tore off his mask, dropped to his knees and vomited.
The shock was too much.
At the foot of the building where Tombstone resided, Spider-Man was still on his knees, completely motionless.
Breathing heavily and staring blankly, he fixed his eyes on George’s body, unable to accept what he had just witnessed.
His mind seemed stuck on the final seconds of the fall, as if it still refused to understand that he had failed to save him.
In the distance, police sirens rapidly drew closer.
A few seconds later, several vehicles came speeding down the street and stopped near the building.
Police officers hurried out, alerted by the explosions and the collapse.
One of the officers approached Spider-Man, a flashlight in her hand.
— “Spider-Man? What’s going on…?”
She aimed her beam toward the ground, and the light illuminated George’s body.
A scream of horror immediately escaped her.
Her cry echoed throughout the street as she stumbled backward, eventually tripping from the shock.
Her colleagues immediately rushed over to her.
— “Hey, what’s wrong? Why are you screaming like that?”
Then their eyes fell on the body as well, and silence instantly descended.
They all stood frozen at the sight, unable to utter a single word for several seconds.
— “Oh my… Oh my God…!” one of them finally whispered.
The sight was unbearable, and the smell surrounding the body only made the horror of the scene worse.
One of the officers suddenly brought a hand to his mouth before dropping to his knees and vomiting.
Another remained petrified for a few moments, then slowly looked up at Spider-Man.
The horror on his face gradually gave way to doubt, then anger.
— “Did… did you do this?!”
He immediately drew his weapon and pointed it directly at Spider-Man.
— “DID YOU DO THIS?!”
Peter didn’t react.
Still on his knees, he barely seemed to hear what was happening around him.
— “ANSWER ME! DID YOU DO THIS?!”
Spider-Man didn’t answer.
Still in shock, his mind completely clouded by what he had just seen, he seemed incapable of thinking clearly.
When the police officers aimed their weapons at him, his body reacted almost instinctively: a web shot out and stuck to the first officer’s face, causing him to drop his weapon.
A second followed, then a third.
Within seconds, several officers were disarmed before they even had time to react.
Spider-Man didn’t try to explain himself or understand what they were accusing him of.
He simply put his mask back on and immediately took off, still deeply shaken by George’s death.
Without wasting a second, Spider-Man raced back up the side of the skyscraper.
A few moments later, he reached the devastated floor where he had left Yuri and Gwen.
He quickly detached the two women from the wall before moving them away from the building, whose structure continued to tremble dangerously behind them.
Yuri was slowly regaining her senses while Spider-Man held the unconscious Gwen in his arms.
— “We’ve got a problem: Tombstone disappeared.”
— “With all the shit he caused, he must be far away by now… so I guess for now, that’s where it’ll end.”
Spider-Man didn’t answer.
He remained completely silent, holding Gwen tightly against him, his gaze lost in the distance.
— “Hey. Are you listening to me?”
Still nothing.
Yuri frowned slightly, beginning to find his behavior strange.
— “Anyway, give me Gwen. I’ll take her to her father.”
She reached out to take her, but the moment her hands approached Gwen, Spider-Man abruptly stepped back.
He immediately tightened his hold around her, as if refusing to let her go.
His body was trembling slightly and, behind his mask, something seemed to have broken.
— “No.”
His voice was weak, almost broken.
— “It’s… it’s better if she stays with me.”
Yuri blinked, completely confused.
— “No? What do you mean, ‘no’?!”
Her confusion quickly gave way to irritation.
— “After everything that’s happened, I think they deserve to spend some quiet time together as father and daughter.”
Before Spider-Man could answer, several police cars arrived as backup and screeched to a stop near them.
The doors opened almost immediately and several officers stepped out, their weapons instantly aimed at Spider-Man.
— “SPIDER-MAN, YOU’RE UNDER ARREST!”
One of the officers stepped forward, visibly furious.
He kept his weapon pointed straight at him.
— “DON’T FUCKING MOVE OR I SWEAR TO GOD I’LL PUT A FUCKING BULLET IN YOU, YOU HEAR ME?!”
Beside him, a female officer had tears in her eyes.
Her face was ravaged by anger and horror.
— “YOU FUCKING BASTARD!”
Her voice broke with emotion.
— “HOW… HOW COULD YOU…?!”
Yuri suddenly turned toward them, completely caught off guard by their reaction.
— “WHOA, STOP!”
She immediately stepped between the officers and Spider-Man.
— “LOWER YOUR WEAPONS!”
Her gaze quickly moved from one officer to another before she gestured toward Gwen, still unconscious in the hero’s arms.
— “CAN’T YOU SEE HE’S HOLDING A CHILD?! THAT’S GWEN STACY, GEORGE’S DAUGHTER!”
At the mention of that name, the officer’s expression instantly changed.
All the anger on his face seemed to disappear, replaced by horrified shock.
— “That’s… that’s his daughter…? Oh my God…”
Yuri looked from one officer to another.
Some had tears in their eyes, others seemed consumed by anger, but all of them displayed the same distress.
Faced with their reactions, she immediately understood that something was wrong.
— “Okay… can someone tell me what the fuck is going on?!”
She pointed at the officers, completely lost.
— “Why are you pointing your guns and why are you crying?!”
The female officer suddenly burst into tears.
— “It’s George…”
Her voice trembled so badly that she struggled to continue.
She tried to hold back her tears, but completely broke down.
— “He… HE’S DEAD! SPIDER-MAN KILLED HIM!”
For a moment, the world seemed to stop around her.
Yuri stood frozen, unable to process what she had just heard.
— “What the fuck are you talking about?!”
She immediately turned toward Spider-Man.
— “He didn’t kill him, he—”
She abruptly stopped.
Too late.
Spider-Man had already launched himself into the air, carrying Gwen, still unconscious, in his arms.
The police immediately opened fire.
Several bullets tore through the night in his direction, but none of them hit him.
Within seconds, Spider-Man had already disappeared between the buildings.
Yuri remained motionless for a moment, still in shock, before joining her colleagues.
Without a word, they led her to George’s lifeless body.
When she saw him, her face turned deathly pale.
She stood there for several seconds, unable to look away, as if her mind still refused to accept what was in front of her.
Then her legs gave way under the weight of the shock.
Yuri collapsed, but her colleagues caught her just before she hit the ground.
Even supported by their arms, she continued to stare at the body, completely devastated.
George Stacy was dead.
New York — Parker House — Night
Peter finally returned home.
Still wearing his Spider-Man suit, Gwen unconscious in his arms, he cautiously looked around to make sure none of the neighbors could see him before discreetly entering the house.
Gwen still hadn’t woken up.
She rested peacefully against him, as if her mind still refused to bring her back to reality after everything she had just been through.
Peter went upstairs to his bedroom and gently laid her down on his bed.
She didn’t move.
He stood there watching her in silence for a few seconds, then left the room, leaving the door slightly open behind him.
He slowly walked down the stairs and crossed the hallway with mechanical steps, completely drained of energy.
His mind seemed completely absent, incapable of thinking about anything, while inside, his emotions threatened to overwhelm him with every passing second.
When he reached the living room, he grabbed a glass, filled it with water and emptied it in one gulp.
He stood motionless for a few seconds, the glass still between his fingers, before suddenly throwing it against the floor with all his strength.
The crash of shattered glass echoed throughout the house.
Peter dropped to his knees the very next second, as if all the strength he had left had suddenly abandoned him.
Still wearing his suit, his mask hanging limply from one hand, he lowered his head as tears began to flow freely down his face.
This time, he didn’t even try to hold them back.
He broke down sobbing, finally allowing all the pain he had been holding in since George’s death to overwhelm him.
He cried like he hadn’t cried in a long time.
— “I’m… so sorry, George…”
His voice broke under the weight of his guilt.
— “It’s my fault. It’s all my fault!”
The images from the last few minutes kept replaying over and over in his mind, giving him no respite: George falling through the air, the blood, his body on the ground, the police officers’ screams, their accusations… and above all, all the doubts that had already been eating away at him even before this tragedy occurred.
— “You died because of me. I couldn’t save you and now… What am I supposed to do? How do I tell Gwen? Where is she going to go? Will she be able to handle it? Is she going to hate me? And Tombstone… that son of a… FUCK! SHIT!”
All the sadness he felt now seemed to transform into uncontrollable anger.
His gaze fell on his hands, on this superhuman body he had once considered a blessing and now saw as the source of all his misfortunes.
— “All of this…”
His voice rose into a scream.
— “ALL OF THIS BECAUSE OF THESE FUCKING STUPID POWERS!”
In a fit of rage, Peter grabbed the refrigerator, lifted it effortlessly and violently hurled it across the room.
The appliance crashed with a deafening roar that shook the entire house.
Upstairs, Gwen’s eyes suddenly flew open, jolted awake by the crash.
Her heart pounding, she remained lying there for a few seconds, completely disoriented, before looking around the room.
— “Peter…?”
She gradually recognized where she was.
— “I’m in his room? But… weren’t we in the—”
A sharp pain suddenly shot through her skull.
She immediately brought a hand to her head.
— “Ow… my head…”
Still confused, Gwen sat up and then slowly got to her feet.
That was when she heard shouting coming from downstairs.
Worried, she left the bedroom and began walking down the stairs, one step at a time, guided by a growing sense of dread she still couldn’t explain.
— “Peter…?”
When she reached the living room, she stopped just behind the wall, only a few feet away from him.
That was when she heard his voice.
A broken, unrecognizable voice, ravaged by guilt.
— “Gwen’s father…”
A brief silence followed.
— “He… he died because of me.”
Gwen instantly froze.
For a few seconds, her mind seemed to refuse to understand what she had just heard.
Her instincts screamed at her to stay hidden, not to step forward, not to listen to what came next.
But the words “father” and “dead” had just been spoken in the same sentence, and that was enough to send all her thoughts spiraling.
She suddenly stepped out from behind the wall.
— “What?! What are you talking about, Peter?!”
Her heart was pounding wildly as her eyes desperately searched Peter’s face for the slightest sign that she had misunderstood.
— “Are you out of your mind?! My father, dead?!”
Panic was beginning to take over her voice.
Peter abruptly turned around.
When he saw Gwen standing in front of him, his face fell.
— “Gwen… I…”
But no other words managed to leave his lips.
He was incapable of telling her the truth, incapable of saying those few words that were about to turn her life upside down.
— “Tell me I heard you wrong…”
Peter slowly lowered his eyes, and he didn’t even need to answer.
That simple gesture was enough.
Every last trace of hope still lingering in Gwen’s eyes disappeared, immediately replaced by uncontrollable panic.
— “PETER! ANSWER ME!”
Gwen hurried toward him, her voice breaking under the weight of her panic.
— “Where is my father?!”
Peter took a few steps toward her, but no words managed to come out.
Instead, he pulled her against him and wrapped his arms around her, without making excuses or trying to lie to her.
— “I’m sorry, Gwen… I’m so sorry…”
— “No…”
Gwen immediately tried to push him away.
— “Peter…!”
Her hands trembled against him.
— “No…!”
But Peter held her tightly, as if he were afraid she might collapse or disappear too.
As if, by keeping her against him, he could still stop something else from breaking.
— “I managed to save you and Yuri, but… your father… it was too late. I couldn’t save him… I… I’m sorry…”
A heavy silence settled between them.
It lasted only a few seconds, but to Gwen, each one seemed endless.
She remained frozen against Peter, as if her mind were still desperately searching for another explanation, any explanation, that would allow her not to accept what he had just told her.
— “No… that’s… that’s not true. It can’t be true…!”
The first tears rolled down her cheeks.
Peter held her even tighter, completely powerless in the face of her pain.
He didn’t know what to do or what to say, because no words could make the situation any less real.
No words could repair what had just been broken.
Gwen finally burst into tears, and Peter broke down with her.
Their legs gradually gave way until they both ended up on the floor, still clinging to each other.
They remained there, unable to do anything but cry, overwhelmed by a pain neither of them yet knew how to face.
In the silence of the house, they simply tried to accept the unacceptable.
TO BE CONTINUED.