Flaws
By SerenityWinter
Prologue
My life was normal once. I had a mom, dad, and a brother named Sam. My childhood best friend Allison and classmates Thomas, Leo, Maia, and Kamala had my back. Those nerds gave me a place that I fit in.
Things were fine, at least until the accident. I remember the day clearly. I was just doing homework when Mom got a phone call. The call that would ruin my life. We were going to the hospital.
I saw the police reports detailing the accident. While Spider-Man was fighting The Lizard, building rubble fell and hit my dad's leg. His leg was severely damaged and he had to use a cane. He was the lucky one. So many died that day that the remaining officers were lucky to escape with their physical therapy was helping, but it wouldn't be the same. Things were different. Somebody could have helped. Especially the city's so-called hero. Spider-Man could've done something to stop it. I was mad. spider-Man was to blame. My father could have died that night, or he and his fellow officers could have survived with nothing more than a few injuries.
It seemed that Spider-man was too preoccupied with fighting villains that he was forgetting to save the people of New York. The city that he supposedly loved. Things wouldn't be so bad if only these vigilantes weren't so corrupt. Spider-Man took almost everything from me. My life changed. The people I thought were my friends drifted away. People were distant, my mind was dark. Nothing was the same.
Chapter One: Stories
I shivered in the cold December weather. My feet shifted impatiently as I waited on the roof.
Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me. "What are you doing here?"
I turned to see the masked vigilante that called himself Spider-Man.
He spoke again. "I heard you've been asking around about me."
I turned around, "I needed to talk to you."
"Why?"
I stepped forward and looked into the giant white eyes on his mask. "I want answers."
"What are you talking about?"
"Who are you?"
"I'm Spider-Man."
"Behind the mask."
"You know I can't tell you that." he said.
"There's something not right about you."
"What are you talking about?"
"I've heard this story all too many times. A hero decides that it's their responsibility to save the city and then after awhile, they get bored with everything and abandon the city just when the people need them most. The city is betrayed, and its inhabitants left to fend for themselves."
"That's not going to happen."
"That isn't true. There have been numerous deaths in the city because you are so obsessed with protecting the greater good. If you cared about anything more than the 'villain of the week' than these people would still be alive."
He began to walk away, but I kept going. "You wouldn't be angry if what I said wasn't true. You're hiding something and I intend to find out what it is and expose you for who you really are."
He jumped off the edge of the roof. I ran to the edge just in time to see him swing from a web and disappear into the clutter of buildings. I banged my fist on the wall. "Shit!"
I walked back home and checked the time. It was about 10pm and she still wasn't home.
Mommy dearest must be at work pulling an all nighter. Again.
I walked to the dining room. "Dad, what are you doing up?"
He turned around to to face me, still not answering my question. "Where have you been, Emma?"
"I was writing at the cafe and lost track of time."
"Your brother waited for you for over two hours. He was supposed to drive you home, remember? He was worried about you when you didn't show up."
"I'm sorry Dad, I forgot. I'll apologize to Sam later."
He chose to believe me this time. "I should go to bed." I said.
He sighed. "Goodnight, sweetheart."
I kissed him on the cheek. "'Night, Dad"
I walked up the stairs to past Sam's room to mine and closed the door behind me. I went over and peered out the window before shutting the blinds and reaching under my bed. I grabbed my binders and boxes of research and discoveries. I even had a small chalkboard listing the death toll from incidents- no, massacres. 76. Hidden around my room were pages and pages full of photos and sightings and theories. All about this "hero" Spider-Man. Stopped a motor vehicle theft, multiple muggings, and numerous attempted assaults. Not helpful information.
He always seemed to be fighting the "villain of the week".
I began to read a different file. All it contained was a list of names. George Stacy among them. I learned that he is- or was- a police captain. Died on the same night that a villain known as The Lizard launched a biological attack on the city. At the time, there was an arrest warrant out for Spider-Man. He could've turned himself in, but instead he ran.
On the other page, there were more names. Most were Oscorp employees who died that night. A report detailed damages to buildings caused by Spider-Man while he was in pursuit of some villain. Then there was more lists of the dead. Names and names. Tears clouded my eyes. So many names. I slid down the walls and sat in the boxes of papers and files and reports. He did this. I gathered the papers and shoved them in boxes, putting them under the bed.
Did Spider-Man even care? At the time, he didn't think that they were worthy enough to be saved.
I lay in bed thinking about what I was going to do until the moment where sleep consumed me.
Many ideas entered my mind. Finding out his real identity may be my best and only chance. The police reports had valuable information. From the sightings, it seemed he was about 5 '10 and slim. Extremely agile, so he was probably under 27 too. Most sightings were in the Brooklyn area, so he was likely from near there. Not rocket science.
After a few minutes of searching on my computer, I found something. Someone managed to get a picture of him without his mask on. It was a little blurry, but very useful. Messy brown hair and hazel eyes. He looked even younger in this photo and he almost never showed up within 7am to 3pm from Monday Thursday. High school.
This was extremely useful information. I backed up my computer hard drive and hid my findings. That night I had a dreamless sleep. Nothing but silence and darkness. Better than nightmares.
That day, I got ready and went to school like everything was normal. I wasn't paying attention through most of my classes. Finally, lunch came and I went out in the courtyard to eat. I began drawing up diagrams for a few prototypes I was working on. I put the drawings away when I heard someone sit down.
Thomas brought his lunch, so he always arrived first. Except for me. My friends arrived one by one. Thomas, Maia, Kamala, and then Leo. I looked over and saw Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy sitting together. I had never really met either of them, but I knew who they were. They started dating a while ago, and broke up for a little bit. Now they were together again.
Everyone described their days, but I was a bit distracted. I heard "Emma, Earth to Emma!"
I blinked and turned towards Kamala. "Sorry, what was the question?"
"Anything new going on?"
"Nothing. Everything's fine, I guess."
We all talked for a little bit longer and made plans to play D&D. Class was going to start soon, though. Science was next. I grabbed my supplies and went to class.
Christmas break was soon, so our teacher was giving us our new lab partners today.
I sat down at my new desk. "Miss. Stillman," the teacher said, "It appears that your lab partner is late."
I sighed softly.
Then someone stumbled through the door. "I'm here, sorry I'm late."
"Please sit down, Mr. Parker."
Sadly, the only empty seat was next to me. Maia and Thomas were already lab partners, so that left me all alone.
He set his things down and then sat in the seat. He extended his hand. "Hi, I'm Peter."
I shook his hand, "Emma."
"Nice to meet you, Emma."
Peter ran his hands through his dark brown hair before opening his notebook. The teacher began to talk and everyone was taking notes. I was barely following along, instead writing potential formulas and dimensions in the corner of my papers.
Several times, I saw Peter glance at what I was doing and covered my work.
I was deeply invested in my current task, that I barely noticed when the teacher said. "Miss. Stillman? Answer the question, please."
"The chemical composition of nitromethane is one carbon atom, three hydrogen atoms, one nitrogen atom, and two oxygen atoms," I responded smoothly.
He seemed slightly surprised that I was able to correctly answer and quickly moved on. The time quickly passed by, and soon the class had ended. The bell rang, and I grabbed my things. I could tell Peter wanted to speak with me, so I left the room as quickly as possible.
Author's Note: I was initially hesitant to post this story, but I've been working on it for a while and I think it's time for the world to see it. Let me know what you thought, please leave a review and like!
