It was just before the start of the school semester, the year: 2012. Everyone was going crazy because today the Wishing Star would be making its appearance. It was a meteor that only showed up once every 500 years. A piece would break off the meteor and fall to Earth. It was called the Wishing Star because it granted wishes. The first three people to touch it would receive three wishes. One wish per person. The star was scheduled to land in New York City this time. NASA had calculated its trajectory using a advanced telescope to track its movement. While they couldn't pinpoint exactly where it would land in the city, they had narrowed it down enough that people could evacuate the area.
Of course not everyone would be leaving. Most wanted to claim the star for themselves. So quite a few people were left in New York City when the evacuation was over. As night fell, people gathered outside their homes to look up at the sky and wait. Soon the star was visible, a bright blue streak against the darkness of space. People stood in the streets, on top of buildings, wherever there was space, waiting impatiently for their chance at a wish. Peter Parker was one of those people.
Not many people knew that Peter was Spider-Man, but he didn't care. He didn't do it for the attention, he did it because it was the right thing to do. There was only one person he wanted the approval of. His uncle, Ben. Unfortunately, uncle Ben was no longer with us. Those reading this story probably already know what happened. A criminal, that Peter himself let escape, shot and killed his uncle. Since then Peter had taken his uncle's last words to him to heart. "With great power, there must also come great responsibility."
Now, Peter was Spider-Man, saving lives and stopping crime whenever he could. Unfortunately, there were some people who did not take kindly to his being a vigilante. While some called him a hero, even a super-hero, others called him a menace. Namely, one Jay Jonah Jameson. JJJ hated him so much, Peter was actually afraid of what he might wish for. So when the Wishing Star finally landed, and Peter web-swung to its location, only to find JJJ had beaten him to it, he was mortified. What exactly did JJJ have planned for him?
Fortunately, JJJ was on camera, and since he had to maintain his positive public image, he chose not to kill Spider-Man. Instead he chose to end his super-hero career. By erasing his powers. Somehow that was even worse. Peter stared down at the scene in horror as JJJ held up the star fragment and made his wish. "I wish Spider-Man was no longer a super-human, but just a regular human, without powers."
As the star fragment began to glow with an unearthly blue light, Peter felt his last hope, that maybe the legends about the star weren't true, disappearing quickly. Just as quickly, he felt his hands begin to slip. Then he was falling. Off the side of the building, into a dumpster. Then the dumpster's lid slammed shut on top of him. Well, that was undignified. And embarrassing. Hopefully no one saw. He slowly lifted the lid to peer out. He saw... Nothing. Well, he could sort of see, but everything was all fuzzy. He groaned. He used to wear glasses before he became Spider-Man. The star must have counted his improved vision as a power. Great.
He pulled himself out of the dumpster and sat down on the ground. How was he going to make it home now? He couldn't web-swing because he couldn't see straight, or even feel things with his spider-sense. He sat there stewing in his thoughts for what seemed like ages. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder. He tried to look up. His blurry vision showed him what looked like a person.
"Hey, Spidey." an unfamiliar voice said. It was distinctly female.
"Hi." he said back.
"Um... Here, take this." she said, pressing something into his hands. Then all of a sudden he could see. He blinked owlishly up at the girl, before glancing down at the object in his hands. It was a gemstone, about two and a half inches wide at in diameter. It was a perfect sphere, and a beautiful shade of scarlet. Peter stared at it in wonder.
"What is it?" he wondered.
"I don't know. Somebody else wished for it. A bunch of people got real mad at Jameson and yelled at him, then the next person who touched the star wished for this. They said it would give you new super-powers." she explained. "I volunteered to find you and give it to you."
"Wow. That's like... Wow. This is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me." Peter said. He held the gemstone close to him. Then a thought occurred to him.
"What kind of powers does it give me?" he wondered.
"The girl who wished for it said it was the soul-stone of a dragon. She said dragons keep their conscious minds inside organic jewels like humans keep theirs in our brains. As long as you have the soul-stone, the dragon inside can lend you its powers. Like super-strength or whatever." she said, uncertainly. "I'm not sure if all that is true or not, that's just what she said."
"...Well, whatever it is, it's definitely working. My eyesight has improved." Peter said, slowly. "I needed glasses before I became Spider-Man, and when I lost my powers my vision got all fuzzy."
"You used to wear glasses?" she asked, surprised. "Why not contacts? You would look like less of a dork. No offense."
"Not everyone can afford contacts. Plus there can be other reasons for not wearing them. Like your eyes might be easily irritated." Peter pointed out.
"Huh. I never thought of that." she said, looking uncomfortable. She was probably one of those people who picked on others for wearing glasses.
"Well, thanks for the stone." Peter said, standing up. "I better get going before someone else does something stupid to me."
"Oh, the last wish was already made. Some other girl wished for her grandma to be cured of cancer." she said. "No one else got to make any wishes after that. The star just sort of crumbled into ash."
"Oh. OK." Peter said. He stood there uncomfortably for a moment until the girl pulled out a ringing cell phone.
"It's my mom." she said, embarrassed. "I gotta get home. See you later, maybe?"
"Sure." Peter answered, relieved that someone had broken the awkward moment. "Can you tell the girl who wished for the stone, that I said thanks?"
"Absolutely. Bye, Spidey." she said, then looked thoughtful. "Well, I guess you're not Spider-Man anymore. You better come up with a new name, or the media will come up with something for you. Knowing them it'll be something stupid."
"Yeah. I'll be needing a new costume too." Peter said, looking down at his costume. "You know any decent thrift shops? My budget is kind of limited."
"There's a Goodwill store on West 25th street, I think." she said. "It's got all kinds of stuff."
Suddenly she looked embarrassed.
"Um... My budget is kind of limited too." she muttered.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of." Peter said, sincerely. "Not everyone can be Tony Stark."
The girl smiled. Well, it was more of a grimace, really.
"Thanks. Tell me when you come up with a new name." she said. "Bye."
"Bye." Peter replied. Then they parted ways. Peter headed home to Queens.
"Aunt May?" Peter called, as he slipped through the front door. He was back in his normal attire.
"Yes, Peter. I'm in the living room." she called back. He entered the living room to see her watching a news report on the Wishing Star and the people who claimed their wishes. JJJ and the girl who replaced Peter's powers were going at it. JJJ was in the middle of one of his rants on vigilantes, but the girl, Aurora Drake, was having none of it. They were exchanging bouts of shouted words at each other and generally just being jerks. Both of them seemed to have quite the temper. Neither was willing to budge on their opinions of Spider-Man. It made Peter feel a little better to know that there were people out there who actually appreciated what he did for the city.
"Are you all right, Peter?" May asked. She looked sad.
"Yeah. I'm just a little disappointed that I couldn't get one of the wishes." Peter said. He had already told his aunt he was going to wish for uncle Ben to come back. Both of them had gotten their hopes up a little too high. He could see his aunt was crushed that he hadn't succeeded.
"I'm sorry, aunt May." he whispered. "There were so many people there. I wasn't even on the same street. By the time I got there, there was already a huge crowd."
"You did your best, dear. Besides, it's probably for the best. Messing around with life and death is for God, Peter." May said, gently. Peter nodded glumly.
"I'm going to bed, now." he said. "I've got some last minute back-to-school shopping to do tomorrow."
"OK. I'll be down here for a while if you need me." May said. Peter went upstairs to his room. He pulled his costume out of his back pack and started pulling the seams apart gently. Maybe he could reuse some of the fabric...