Abandoned Warehouse — Day
Little by little, Spider-Man regained consciousness and struggled to open his eyes.
His vision, still deeply blurred by the effects of the poison, only allowed him to make out vague shapes around him, while the darkness surrounding the room made it even harder for him to regain his bearings.
For a few moments, Peter remained completely disoriented, unable to understand where he was or how long he had been unconscious.
When he finally tried to move to regain his senses, a sudden resistance immediately stopped him.
His arms refused to move, just like his legs, and he quickly realized that strong metal restraints were holding him firmly tied to a chair, preventing him from making any significant movement.
As he was still trying to fully regain his senses, a movement caught his attention in the darkness.
A figure that had until then been hidden in the shadows slowly began to walk toward him.
— “I see you’re finally awake. Have a nice nap? A little rough with the poison, I imagine?”
Spider-Man struggled to raise his head.
His mind was still foggy and his body remained weakened by the venom circulating through his system.
— “I… where am I…? And who are you?”
The man continued walking calmly toward him, as if he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
— “You don’t recognize my voice? You already forgot me? Weren’t you supposed to send me to prison to stop me from doing whatever I want in this city?”
Upon hearing that voice, the memories of their phone conversation gradually resurfaced in Peter’s mind.
His eyes widened slightly when he finally understood the identity of the man standing in front of him.
— “The… Big Boss…?”
A satisfied smile appeared on the man’s face.
— “Exactly. But you should know I’ve been given many names over the years. And the one I prefer above all the others… is Tombstone.”
Even tied to a chair, still weakened by the poison and now a prisoner of the man who had tried to have him killed, Peter somehow found the strength to hold on to the humor that so often helped him face the most dangerous situations.
— “Tombstone, huh…? Seriously…? Couldn’t you… come up with something better? Like… ‘The Grey’?”
He stared at Tombstone for a few seconds before slightly raising an eyebrow.
Faced with the complete lack of reaction from the man in front of him, Peter began to wonder whether he had even understood the joke.
— “Did you… did you get it? Because your skin is grey.”
A particularly heavy silence settled over the room.
Tombstone simply continued staring at him without showing the slightest emotion, and Peter quickly realized that his attempt at humor had completely fallen flat.
Then Peter painfully sighed:
— “Yeah, okay, I’ll admit it… that wasn’t great.”
Without the slightest warning, Tombstone landed a violent right hook directly across his face.
Before Peter could even recover from the first impact, a left struck him in turn, quickly followed by another right.
The blows came one after another with relentless brutality, violently snapping his head from side to side while the metal restraints prevented him from protecting himself or pulling away.
Already considerably weakened by Scorpion’s poison, Peter felt his thoughts becoming increasingly confused as the impacts piled up, but he still forced himself to remain conscious.
Tombstone eventually stopped the beating and stepped back slightly.
For a few seconds, he silently observed his prisoner, almost curiously studying this masked boy who, despite his desperate position, still refused to give him the reaction he expected.
— “It’s a shame, you know?
You would’ve made a good mercenary.
Money, power…
all of that could’ve been within your reach.
But you’d rather stand against me.
I have dozens of men, two fighters capable of going toe-to-toe with you…
and you’re alone.
Yet you won’t give in.
I expected to see you begging, or at least trembling in fear…
but no.
You’re suffering, I can see that, but you’re not afraid.
You’re…
different.
Does stopping me really motivate you that much?
Why?
Why risk so much just to get in my way?”
Spider-Man remained silent for a few moments before slowly raising his head.
His voice remained weak because of his condition, but beneath that exhaustion was a confidence that had not disappeared.
— “You really want to… know why…?”
Against all expectations, a muffled laugh escaped his mouth, despite the pain running across his face and the blood beginning to accumulate inside his mask.
This unexpected reaction immediately made Tombstone frown, completely unable to understand what Spider-Man could possibly find amusing in a situation like this.
— “What’s so funny?”
When Peter spoke again, something had changed in his voice.
Every trace of joking had disappeared, replaced by a much more serious and sincere tone.
— “I’ve been doing this for a few months now. Helping. Fighting. Stopping criminals… And yeah, logically speaking… you’re right. I get nothing out of it. No one will remember what I do. I put my life in danger for strangers and I lose more than I gain.”
Despite the pain running through his body, Peter raised his head further so he could look Tombstone directly in the eyes.
The words he was speaking no longer sounded like a simple answer meant for his enemy.
They expressed everything that had driven him to keep going ever since he had decided to truly take on the responsibility that came with his powers.
— “But I don’t need thanks.
Or recognition.
I do it because it’s the right thing to do.
And because I have to honor someone.
I have the power to help.
So why not?
Just because I get nothing out of it?
Bullshit!
If I can stop someone from suffering the way I suffered…
then it’s worth it.”
Tombstone continued staring at him without answering.
He had wanted to understand what could drive this masked man to risk his life without money, without reward and without getting anything in return, but the motivations he was hearing seemed almost incomprehensible to him.
— “What… what the hell is he talking about?!”
Peter felt his hands clench despite the metal restraints still holding his wrists.
His body was weakened, his face bruised and he was entirely at Tombstone’s mercy, but none of it seemed to have shaken the conviction driving him.
— “I’ll keep going! I’ll send you to prison, you and all the others. Because with great power… comes great responsibility!”
Something in Spider-Man’s words seemed to deeply irritate Tombstone.
His expression changed almost immediately and every trace of curiosity disappeared from his face, replaced by growing irritation toward this man who, despite the poison still present in his system, the blows he had just endured and the desperate situation he was in, continued to stand up to him with the same determination.
— “You still have Scorpion’s poison in your system, I beat the shit out of you, and you keep spouting bullshit?! Fine… we’ll see if you’re still saying that six feet underground! But first… I want to see your face.”
Tombstone approached his prisoner and slowly reached toward his mask, ready to tear it off and finally discover the identity of the one who had been sabotaging his operations for several months.
His fingers were only a few centimeters away from the fabric when a violent explosion suddenly echoed throughout the warehouse.
The massive door of the building was blown apart by the force of the impact, sending several pieces of metal flying inside while a group of heavily equipped police officers immediately stormed the place.
Completely caught off guard by the intervention, the criminals turned toward the entrance as the officers quickly spread throughout the warehouse with their weapons aimed in their direction.
At their head was a man Peter immediately recognized despite his condition.
— “Huh…? Gwen’s dad…?!”
Even Tombstone remained frozen for a brief moment, visibly unable to understand how the police had managed to find their hideout.
— “Huh?! What the-?!”
George Stacy raised his weapon in his direction before speaking in a voice loud enough to be heard throughout the entire warehouse.
— “This is the police captain! You’re all under arrest! Put your hands up and come with us without causing any trouble!”
— “The police captain? Well… respect.”
Tombstone, however, had no intention of surrendering.
He immediately turned toward his men, trying to understand how law enforcement had managed to locate a place that was supposed to remain secret.
— “Shocker! How did they find us?!”
— “I don’t know! We weren’t followed!”
A few meters away, George gave a slight smile, having heard their exchange perfectly.
— “No need to follow you… when you’ve got a tracker on you.”
Tombstone’s expression immediately fell apart.
He abruptly turned toward his two men.
— “A tracker?! Shocker, Scorpion, check yourselves!”
Shocker and Scorpion immediately began searching for the device, checking their clothes and equipment while looking over one another.
After a few seconds, Scorpion’s gaze stopped on a tiny object attached to Shocker’s back.
— “You’ve got one on your back, man.”
Shocker immediately tried to look behind himself, unable to see the device.
— “Seriously?! Take it off!”
Scorpion immediately tore off the small tracker before throwing it to the ground, then violently crushed it under his foot until it was reduced to pieces.
Tombstone watched the scene with disgust, realizing that they had probably led the police straight to their hideout themselves without ever noticing.
— “I hate these cops… Shocker, Scorpion! Deal with them, and get yourselves back to where you know.”
Still tied to his chair, Spider-Man immediately felt his stomach tighten as he watched the two men prepare to face the police officers.
He knew perfectly well what they were capable of and, after having suffered their attacks himself, he had no doubt about what could happen if George and his men tried to fight them alone.
— “This is dangerous for Gwen’s dad. If I don’t do something, this is going to end badly. Come on, Peter… I know you’re hurting, but there’s no time to breathe. Break… these chains!”
Peter tensed every muscle in his body and violently pulled against the metal restraints trapping his arms and legs.
The chair shook under the effort and the chains suddenly tightened, but despite all the strength he managed to gather in his condition, they held.
— “Fuck!”
Meanwhile, Shocker and Scorpion were already advancing toward the police officers, clearly ready to carry out their boss’s orders.
— “All right!” Shocker said.
— “Perfect… let’s see what my new strength can do.” Scorpion said to himself.
Peter clenched his teeth as he watched the scene.
Pain was still coursing through his body and the poison continued to weaken him, but something far stronger was beginning to take over.
He had only just explained to Tombstone why he refused to look away when innocent people were in danger, and now he found himself unable to move while several lives were at risk only a few meters away from him.
— “What… is this really how it ends? Beaten and chained up, after all that talk about responsibility?! If I don’t break these chains, I’m going to die… and so are they. Tombstone will be able to keep doing whatever he wants… and that…”
Tombstone then came back toward him, clearly determined to leave before the situation escalated any further.
He approached the chair and reached toward Peter, ready to lift him up and take him away.
— “And you, I’m not finished with you yet. You’re coming with me.”
At that moment, something changed in Peter’s eyes.
All the pain, exhaustion and effects of the poison suddenly seemed pushed into the background by absolute determination.
He refused to let Tombstone win, refused to abandon the police officers to their fate and, above all, refused to remain powerless while possessing the strength necessary to stop what was about to happen.
— “And that… is OUT OF THE QUESTION!”
Peter suddenly gathered every ounce of strength he had left and pulled against his restraints once again.
This time, the chains didn’t hold.
With a deafening metallic crack, they snapped under Spider-Man’s power, freeing his arms and legs all at once while several pieces of metal flew around the chair.
Tombstone instinctively took a step back, his eyes wide at what he had just seen.
— “What?! How did you-”
He didn’t even have time to finish his sentence.
The moment he was free, Spider-Man leaped out of the chair and, carried by his momentum, delivered a monumental kick straight into Tombstone’s chest.
The force of the impact literally lifted the criminal off the ground and sent him flying across the entire room before he crashed heavily at the other end of the warehouse.
For a few seconds, a stunned silence fell over the place.
The criminals had frozen, the police officers themselves remained motionless behind their weapons and every pair of eyes was now fixed on Spider-Man.
Only moments earlier, he had still been poisoned, beaten and securely chained to a chair, apparently unable to do anything.
And yet, before their eyes, he had just broken his chains and sent Tombstone flying across the room with a single blow.
— “This spider is seriously impossible to kill! I’ll handle the cops. You deal with him!” Shocker shouted.
— “Yeah, got it!” Scorpion replied.
Scorpion immediately turned his attention away from the police officers and back toward Spider-Man.
Despite the poison still circulating through his system and the blows he had just taken, the wall-crawler had not only managed to break his chains, but had also sent Tombstone flying across the entire room.
That resistance was seriously starting to piss him off.
— “This is starting to really piss me off… I’m giving him another dose of poison, but this time for good.”
Without wasting any more time, Scorpion rushed straight toward him.
His gigantic tail immediately rose behind his back before shooting forward, its stinger aimed directly at Spider-Man’s neck.
The attack could have been fatal, but moments before it reached him, Peter’s Spider-Sense activated and warned him of the danger.
Despite his condition, he managed to react quickly enough to move aside at the last second and let the stinger pass only a few centimeters away from him.
In the same motion, both of his hands closed firmly around Scorpion’s tail.
Before Scorpion could even understand what had just happened, Spider-Man planted his feet and violently spun around, using all of his opponent’s momentum against him.
Scorpion was ripped off the ground and hurled across the room with phenomenal force.
His body slammed into the wall with such force that the surface cracked under the impact.
Several chunks of concrete broke loose around him as he fell heavily to the ground, completely unconscious.
Shocker stared at the scene with his mouth wide open.
A few hours earlier, Scorpion’s poison had been enough to take Spider-Man out of the fight, and since waking up, he had been struck repeatedly by Tombstone.
Yet he had just neutralized Scorpion again in a matter of seconds.
— “WHAT?! How is he still standing?!”
His surprise quickly turned into panic.
Shocker immediately raised both gauntlets toward Spider-Man as a growing amount of energy began gathering inside them.
This time, he clearly had no intention of holding back the power of his attack.
— “Okay… let’s see if you can take THIS!”
He never got the chance to fire.
A web suddenly shot from Spider-Man’s web-shooter and wrapped around both of his wrists, violently sticking them together.
Shocker looked down at his immobilized hands and immediately understood what was about to happen.
— “What?! NOOOOOOOO!”
The energy already built up inside his gauntlets was released anyway, but with his hands now bound together, the shockwave struck his own equipment directly.
A violent explosion immediately erupted and destroyed part of his gauntlets, sending several pieces of metal flying around him before Shocker collapsed as well, completely dazed.
George Stacy, who had witnessed the confrontation from a few meters away, remained stunned for a moment by what he had just seen.
Despite his obvious weakened condition, Spider-Man had just neutralized two opponents in succession who, only moments earlier, still represented a deadly threat to every police officer present.
— “Wow… that was… incredible! Nice work, Spider-Man.”
Peter didn’t answer.
His body was seriously beginning to reach its limits and, now that the adrenaline was gradually wearing off, the effects of the poison were making themselves felt again with increasing violence.
His legs were trembling slightly and his vision blurred intermittently, but he continued moving forward anyway, still refusing to stop until he was certain the danger had been completely eliminated.
Then, without warning, he suddenly raised his arm and pointed his web-shooter directly at George Stacy.
The police officer jumped at the gesture and his expression immediately changed.
— “Hey! What are you doing?!”
For a fraction of a second, George genuinely believed Spider-Man had just turned against him.
He didn’t have time to react any further, however, because a web immediately shot from Peter’s launcher, attached itself to him and violently pulled him to the side.
Gunshots erupted almost at the same moment.
Several bullets tore through the exact space where George had been standing a second earlier.
Guided by his Spider-Sense, Spider-Man dodged the following shots despite his condition before turning toward their source.
Two police officers positioned behind George had opened fire, not on the criminals, but directly on their own captain.
Peter reacted immediately.
A few movements were enough for him to neutralize the two men and put them out of action before they could fire again.
George Stacy remained frozen at the scene, still in shock.
His gaze moved from Spider-Man to the two police officers who had now been neutralized, and he gradually understood what had just happened.
These men wore the same uniform as him, were part of law enforcement, and yet had been preparing to shoot him in the back.
They weren’t simply corrupt police officers: they worked for Tombstone.
— “What…?! They were going to kill me?! And he… he saved my life again!”
Spider-Man, meanwhile, could no longer keep fighting for much longer.
His breathing was becoming difficult, his vision was so blurred that he could barely make out the figures around him and his legs threatened to give way at any second.
Yet, before his body completely abandoned him, he turned his head one last time toward George Stacy, relieved to have saved him.
— “I was… right…”
The moment those words left his lips, his legs gave way beneath his own weight.
After managing to break free from his chains despite the poison, neutralizing Scorpion and Shocker, protecting the police officers and once again saving George Stacy’s life, Peter simply no longer had the strength to remain standing.
His body collapsed heavily onto the warehouse floor and, this time, he didn’t get back up.
Spider-Man had lost consciousness.
New York Hospital — Peter’s Room — Evening
Peter slowly opened his eyes, still too disoriented to immediately understand where he was.
His vision was blurry and the white light filling the room forced him to blink several times before he was finally able to properly make out the ceiling above him.
For a few seconds, he remained perfectly still, simply trying to put his memories back in order, until the environment around him finally began to feel familiar.
The distinctive smell of medical products, the bed he was lying in and the various machines installed around him left no doubt: he was in a hospital.
His gaze immediately swept across the room, but something instantly caught his attention and made his heart rate suddenly accelerate.
He was no longer wearing his suit.
Worse still, his mask was gone as well, leaving his face completely exposed.
— “If I’m here… and without my mask… that means they saw my face! I have to get out of here!”
Panic immediately took over.
Peter suddenly sat up in bed despite the pain still running through his body and frantically searched around him, until his eyes landed on a chair placed nearby.
His suit had been carefully folded and placed on it, as though someone had deliberately made sure to keep all his belongings together in the same place.
Without wasting a second, Peter jumped out of bed, grabbed his suit and put it on as quickly as his condition allowed.
A few moments later, he had already regained his Spider-Man appearance and was heading toward the window, fully determined to leave before anyone could discover who was really hiding beneath his mask.
He had barely reached toward the window when the bedroom door suddenly opened behind him.
Peter immediately turned around and froze when he saw George Stacy calmly enter the room and close the door behind him.
Contrary to what he might have feared, the police captain seemed neither surprised nor particularly worried to see him already standing and ready to leave.
He simply raised one hand in a reassuring gesture before speaking to him.
— “Long time no see, Peter.”
Those few words were enough to confirm all of the young man’s fears.
For several seconds, Peter remained completely paralyzed, unable to determine what he should do or even how to react to someone who had clearly just discovered the secret he had been protecting for several months.
— “M-Mr. Stacy… are you… are you going to arrest me…? Or tell everyone…?”
George blinked, visibly surprised by the question, before a slight amused smile appeared on his face.
— “Arrest you? Reveal your secret? Come on, Peter… you saved my life! I owe you that much, after all. Would you sit down? I’d like us to talk. And don’t worry: I asked that no one enter the room without my permission.”
Peter remained hesitant for a few seconds, carefully observing George as though still trying to determine whether he could really trust him.
Finally, realizing that he didn’t seem to pose any threat, he slowly moved away from the window and returned to sit on the edge of his bed while removing his mask.
He remained slightly wary, but the panic that had overwhelmed him moments earlier was already beginning to fade.
George then sat down across from him and observed him carefully.
— “So, feeling better? You were in pretty bad shape.”
— “The poison isn’t affecting me anymore and… thanks to you, I feel a lot better. But how did no one see my face? At the hospital, they should’ve… you know?”
George let out a slight laugh, perfectly understanding what was worrying Peter.
— “Let’s just say… I have my contacts. And being the police captain helps a little. If I hadn’t been there, you’d already be on the front page of every newspaper and on every screen.”
— “Yeah… I don’t doubt it.”
Even though that answer reassured him, Peter’s smile gradually disappeared.
A much more important concern had just crossed his mind.
Now that George knew his identity, all it would take was one malicious person learning that secret to put everyone he cared about in danger.
George immediately noticed the change in his expression.
— “Listen, Mr. Stacy… this really has to stay between us, please. You can’t tell anyone. And I mean anyone! It’s crucial, you have no idea how much-”
George slightly raised his hand to interrupt him before his worry could take over any further.
— “Peter. I don’t know how you do what you do, and honestly I think it’s completely insane. But I’m sure of one thing: if you hide your face, it isn’t only for yourself. It’s to protect the people you love. Today, I saw you fight and save me. Twice. So believe me: you can trust me.”
Peter remained silent for a few moments as he looked at George.
Little by little, the tension that had stiffened his shoulders since waking up finally disappeared.
For the first time since he had opened his eyes in that room, he genuinely felt like he could breathe normally.
A sincere smile then appeared on his face.
— “Thank you, sir. But don’t say you didn’t do anything: without you and the tracker idea, I might not be here. You saved my life too.”
George naturally returned his smile.
Despite the particularly strange circumstances in which the two of them found themselves, each now knew that he owed something to the other.
Another question then crossed Peter’s mind.
— “And Shocker? Scorpion? They were arrested, right?”
— “Yes. I called in colleagues I trust. When they arrived, your webs were still holding them. Scorpion was unconscious. The only one who escaped was the one standing near you. We don’t know who he was, but-”
— “Tombstone…”
Peter’s expression changed immediately.
His gaze darkened as the events that had taken place in the warehouse came flooding back to him.
George, meanwhile, slightly frowned.
— “Excuse me?”
— “The one who was standing near me… he’s the one behind all of this. He calls himself ‘Tombstone’… or the ‘Big Boss’.”
George remained silent for a few seconds, visibly searching his memory for something that might match that name.
— “Tombstone… that vaguely rings a bell. I’ll look into it later. And the other two?”
— “Shocker and Scorpion? They’re his men. Shocker had already ambushed me with an army of mercenaries. As for Scorpion… I met him at the same time you did. I don’t have any more information, sorry.”
George gently shook his head.
Considering everything Peter had already been through, it was almost absurd to hear him apologize for not knowing more.
— “You don’t have to apologize. You’ve already done more than enough.”
A slight smile appeared on Peter’s face, clearly touched by those words.
Ever since he had started acting as Spider-Man, he had mostly learned to intervene alone, without expecting recognition or even thanks in return.
Hearing someone sincerely acknowledge what he had just accomplished therefore felt better than he really wanted to admit.
George, however, quickly became serious again.
He took a few seconds to think about what he was about to suggest, perfectly aware that the person sitting in front of him was still, behind his mask and extraordinary abilities, an underage teenager.
— “Alright… I know you’re a minor, and this shouldn’t be your role. But let’s be honest: without you, the police will never manage to stop these guys. So I’m going to be direct. I’d like us to work together. You and me. If we share our information, we can lock up Tombstone and his entire gang. And even if I asked you to stop… I know you wouldn’t listen to me, right?”
Peter remained silent for a second before letting out a small laugh.
He could hardly pretend otherwise.
— “…Yeah.”
— “I really feel like an open book around him…”
George gave a slight smile, satisfied to have received the answer he expected.
He then stood up, realizing there was no point in keeping Peter in the room any longer.
— “Perfect. Then I’ll leave you to it. I assume you’re going to leave… through the window?”
Peter simply answered with an embarrassed smile, which was enough to make George laugh.
After everything he had learned about him over the past few hours, seeing the young man naturally consider leaving a hospital through the window was no longer all that surprising.
— “Go ahead, then. I’ll say you’ve recovered. And don’t worry: I’ll take care of the medical bills.”
— “Thank you, sir!”
Peter walked toward the window and opened it before quickly glancing outside.
A few seconds later, he launched himself into the darkness and gradually disappeared between the buildings of New York, leaving George alone in the room.
George remained near the window for a few moments, looking out over the city, still thoughtful after that rather unusual conversation.
He had not only discovered Spider-Man’s identity, but had also formed a kind of alliance with him.
After one last look at the buildings, he eventually left the room as well and, just as he had promised, informed the medical staff that the young patient was doing perfectly fine.
He then took care of the costs related to his hospitalization before leaving the hospital.
However, the moment he walked through the hospital doors, a thought suddenly crossed his mind and forced him to stop.
— “Damn… I forgot to ask him for his number.”
George slightly shook his head at his own forgetfulness, before a small smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
— “Well… it’s not like we’re never going to see each other again. And Gwen and him are friends. I’ll just ask her.”
Parker House — Night
When he finally arrived in front of his house, Peter slowed down slightly.
After everything he had just been through, he wanted only one thing: to get inside discreetly, eat something and reach his room without having to give the slightest explanation about his condition.
— “I hope Aunt May isn’t here…”
He cautiously opened the front door, but the moment he stepped inside, a light coming from the living room immediately gave him the answer he had feared.
The television was on and, comfortably seated on the couch, Aunt May turned her head in his direction the moment she heard the door open.
Her face immediately lit up when she recognized her nephew and, without the slightest hesitation, she almost jumped off the couch to come greet him.
— “Hey, Peter! So, how was your day?”
— “Well, I guess I have my answer…”
Peter didn’t even have time to answer before May wrapped him in a hug with impressive energy, squeezing her nephew so tightly against her that, after everything his body had already endured that day, he could almost feel his ribs protesting.
— “I’m okay, Aunt May, but… you’re crushing me a little. It’s only been one day since we last saw each other…!”
— “One day without you is already too much!”
May continued hugging him for a few moments before finally loosening her embrace.
Her smile was still there when she stepped back slightly, but it disappeared almost immediately when her gaze settled more carefully on Peter’s face.
The marks left by the day’s events were still visible enough to immediately catch her attention, and her warm expression quickly gave way to genuine concern.
— “Peter! What happened to you? Did you get into a fight?!”
— “W-What?! No! Of course not! I just… got scratched by a cat!”
The moment the words left his mouth, he deeply regretted his choice.
Even under pressure, he could hardly have come up with a more ridiculous excuse.
May narrowed her eyes slightly as she observed him, clearly unconvinced by the improvised explanation.
— “Hmm… you’re not lying to me, are you?”
Peter forced as natural a smile as possible, trying desperately not to let his discomfort show.
— “No, promise.”
May continued staring at him for several seconds that seemed endless to Peter.
She was clearly trying to determine whether he was hiding something from her, but eventually let out a sigh anyway, choosing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
— “Alright… I believe you. Do you want something to eat?”
Relieved to have escaped a more thorough interrogation, Peter slightly shook his head.
— “No, don’t bother. I’ll finish yesterday’s leftovers. You go get some rest, you must be exhausted.”
The concern on May’s face gradually faded and her expression returned to its usual softness.
— “You’re right… good night, sweetheart.”
— “Good night, Aunt May.”
A few minutes later, Aunt May finally went upstairs to bed.
Once alone in the living room, Peter grabbed the leftovers from the previous day’s meal, quickly reheated them and ate without really taking his time.
The fatigue accumulated over the course of this endless day was seriously beginning to catch up with him and, once he had finished, he put away what was left before heading upstairs to his room as well.
Once in his room, Peter let himself fall onto his bed with relief.
For the first time in several hours, he could finally lie down without having to fight, run away or come up with an excuse to explain his condition.
He absentmindedly pulled out his phone, but the moment the screen lit up, his expression changed completely.
Several missed calls appeared in his notifications, and they were all from the same person: Gwen.
— “Oh no… she’s going to kill me!”
Peter immediately sat up and called her without wasting a second.
He was already expecting to have to explain why he had disappeared so abruptly after asking her to cover for him, but he didn’t even have time to prepare what he was going to say.
The first ring had barely started when Gwen answered.
— “Gwen, I’m sorry! You covered for me, I took off like a thief and on top of that I didn’t even answer you and I-”
A slight laugh from the other end of the phone interrupted him before he could continue his stream of apologies.
— “Wow, slow down! Am I really that scary?”
Peter blinked, momentarily thrown off by her reaction.
He had prepared himself to face an angry Gwen, but his friend’s amused tone immediately gave him a little hope.
— “Wait… you’re not mad? Oh great! Thanks Gw-”
— “Hold on! I’m still a little offended. You disappear without explanation and I had to distract the supervisor for you.”
Peter’s enthusiasm immediately faded.
He slightly lowered his eyes toward his sheets, aware that she was completely right.
Even if he had had an excellent reason to leave, Gwen knew nothing about it and had still agreed to take a risk to keep him out of trouble.
— “You… you’re right. I’m sorry. Really…”
Hearing the sincerity in his voice, Gwen quickly dropped her falsely stern tone and her voice softened.
— “But well… I know that if you do something like that, there’s a good reason. So don’t worry, I forgive you. And besides, I’m used to it by now.”
A smile naturally appeared on Peter’s face.
Despite his lateness, his sudden disappearances and all the strange situations he somehow kept ending up in, Gwen always continued to trust him without even knowing the real reason behind most of his behavior.
— “I’m really lucky to have you as a friend… you’re way too nice to me.”
— “Exactly! And actually, to thank me, maybe you could ask me out?”
Peter’s heart immediately skipped a beat.
He remained silent for a second, the phone still pressed against his ear, almost wondering whether he had heard her correctly.
After all the hesitation that had been running through his mind about Gwen, the opportunity had literally just presented itself to him.
He took a deep breath, gathered his courage and finally decided to go for it.
— “Well, actually… that’s exactly what I was about to suggest.”
This time, Gwen was the one who remained silent.
— “H-Huh?!”
Hearing her reaction, all the confidence Peter had just gathered immediately threatened to disappear.
He felt his nervousness return and had to make a real effort to continue before changing his mind.
— “Would… Would you like to go out tomorrow? It’s been forever since we’ve spent time just the two of us. You know…? Like the good old days.”
Another silence settled between them, much longer than the previous one.
Peter nervously waited for an answer while staring at his bedroom ceiling, while his imagination was already beginning to make him consider every possible reason Gwen might refuse.
On the other end of the phone, he could almost imagine her feeling just as awkward as he was.
Finally, Gwen spoke in a soft voice:
— “…Are you serious?”
— “Yes. But if you don’t want to, I’ll understand and-”
— “Tomorrow, 2:00 PM.”
Without even getting to finish his sentence, Peter completely froze.
— “Huh?”
He could almost feel a smile form on her lips without even being able to see her.
— “Meet me downtown, near the sweet drinks stand.”
The answer was clear enough for Peter to immediately feel his cheeks heat up.
All the anxiety that had overwhelmed him a few seconds earlier gave way to a mixture of excitement and nervousness that he now struggled to hide.
— “O-Okay! Got it!”
The conversation ended shortly afterward and Gwen hung up, leaving Peter alone in his room.
Still lying on his bed, he stared at his phone for a few moments with a smile he could no longer really hold back, while his heart continued beating much faster than he would have liked.
After the day he had just been through, he could hardly have imagined it ending this way.
But what he still didn’t know was that, on the other side of the city, Gwen was in an even worse state than he was.
Stacy Apartment — Night
In her bedroom, Gwen remained perfectly still for several seconds after hanging up.
Her phone was still in her hands and she stared at the screen without really looking at it, as though her mind still needed a few moments to understand what had actually just happened.
Then, gradually, her face lit up.
— “He… he asked me out! Just the two of us… him and me…!”
She immediately hugged her phone against herself, unable to contain the smile spreading across her face.
Her cheeks had become completely red and, carried away by her excitement, she even let out a small squeal of joy that she almost immediately tried to suppress.
That was when a familiar voice echoed from the living room.
— “Gwen? Gwen sweetheart, are you there?”
Gwen jumped, abruptly brought back to reality.
For a fraction of a second, she looked around as though she had just been caught doing something she would rather have kept to herself.
— “Uh… yeah Dad, I’m coming!”
She quickly put away her phone, tried to regain a slightly more natural expression despite the smile that refused to leave her face, then left her room to join her father.
When Gwen reached the living room, she found her father sitting comfortably, finally enjoying a little peace after a particularly eventful day.
George looked up at his daughter as soon as he saw her arrive and smiled before naturally inviting her to come sit beside him.
— “So, how was your day?”
Gwen sat down beside him and thought for a few seconds about everything that had happened since that morning.
Between the accident, being late for school and the events that had followed, the day had been far from ordinary.
— “The day was a little eventful, but I’m okay. The one they call Spider-Man saved me while I was on my way to school. Because of all that, I arrived late… but at least I wasn’t hurt.”
At the mention of Spider-Man, George couldn’t stop a subtle smile from appearing on his face.
A few hours earlier, that same hero had saved his life several times and he now knew the identity hidden beneath the mask.
Learning that Peter had also protected Gwen during that same day only strengthened the respect he already had for him.
— “Well, would you look at that… he saved both of us… on the same day. That kid really is incredible. Thanks for looking out for her, Peter.”
Lost in thought, George didn’t immediately notice that Gwen was still talking to him.
She eventually frowned slightly when she realized that her father seemed completely distracted.
— “Hey! Are you listening to me, Dad?!”
His daughter’s voice immediately brought him back to reality and George briefly blinked before turning his full attention back to her.
— “Huh? Yes, sorry. What were you saying?”
— “I was saying that tomorrow, I’m going out.”
— “Oh yeah? With friends or by yourself?”
That simple question was enough to slightly change Gwen’s attitude.
She discreetly looked away, as though saying the name of the person involved suddenly made the situation much more embarrassing than she had imagined a few minutes earlier.
— “No… with Peter.”
The moment Peter’s name left her lips, a very particular smile appeared on George’s face.
Gwen noticed it immediately and recognized it without the slightest difficulty.
It was exactly the kind of smile her father wore when he had just figured something out and fully intended to have fun with it, a smile she would describe without the slightest hesitation as evil.
— “With Peter… really…?”
Gwen narrowed her eyes slightly, already suspicious of her father’s far too interested tone.
— “Yes, with Peter. Why? Is that a problem?”
George gently shook his head, still clearly amused by his daughter’s reaction.
— “Not at all… but admit it, you like him, don’t you? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him, but I remember the way you used to talk about him. You even told me he was the boy you wanted to mar-”
— “DAD! Stop, shut up! I was little, it’s way too embarrassing hearing that now!”
George burst out laughing at how embarrassed his daughter had become.
Gwen, meanwhile, probably would have preferred to disappear on the spot rather than hear her father bring up memories that old, especially now that she had just agreed to spend an entire afternoon alone with Peter.
After having enough fun with her reaction, George’s expression softened considerably and he looked at her with genuine affection.
— “But you still like him, don’t you?”
This time, Gwen didn’t protest.
She remained silent for a few seconds, unable to answer as easily as she would have liked.
Yet she knew perfectly well how she felt about Peter and, after all those years spent by his side, it was becoming difficult to keep pretending otherwise, especially in front of her own father.
She eventually lowered her eyes slightly before answering in a much quieter voice.
— “…Yes.”
The moment she admitted it, her cheeks turned bright red.
Gwen immediately brought her hands up to her face in an attempt to hide her embarrassment, while George watched her affectionately.
He didn’t try to tease her any further and instead, his expression became much warmer.
— “In that case, I’m relieved. Peter’s a good kid. I’ve known him since he was little: he’s brilliant, kind, courageous, and I know he cares about you. Your mother would’ve said the same thing. So tomorrow, enjoy yourself and have fun.”
Hearing those words, Gwen gradually lifted her head.
The embarrassment that had covered her face only seconds earlier slowly gave way to a huge smile, touched both by her father’s approval and by the way he had just spoken about Peter.
— “Really… thanks, Dad.”
George gave her a warm smile in return and silence briefly settled between them.
However, after a few seconds, his expression changed slightly when an important detail suddenly came back to him.
— “By the way… could you give me his number?”
Gwen blinked, surprised by the request that seemed to come completely out of nowhere.
— “Huh? Yeah, but why?”
George maintained a perfectly natural expression, careful not to reveal the real reason why he wanted to be able to contact Peter directly.
— “Oh, nothing special. Just to talk to him a little when I have the time. See how he’s doing… and how his aunt is doing too.”
Gwen saw no particular reason to find the explanation strange and simply nodded.
— “Okay, I’ll text it to you.”
— “Thanks, sweetheart.”
George paused briefly and watched his daughter for a moment.
Then, unable to resist the urge to tease her one last time, that familiar smile slowly returned to his face.
— “And… no funny business tomorrow, okay! You’re both still very young!”
Gwen’s face instantly turned red and she abruptly turned toward him, horrified that he would even say something like that to her.
— “BUT… DAD!”
TO BE CONTINUED.
For the curious…
The cover artwork for Spider-Man: The Story of a Hero was created by my character designer, Pol.
ArtStation: https://www.artstation.com/fpfk ArtStation username: pol lerigoleur Feel free to check out his work and support him!
— YL