With Great Power: Prologue-- Devils, Deals, and Destiny

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9:00am

Mary Jane groaned and shifted as she awoke from her slumber. Her eyes were still red from the massive tears she shed the night before. With the life of May Parker crashing, she and her husband were given a choice to erase their marriage and saving her or letting the old woman die unknown in some cold hospital. It was an impossible choice.

She rose up to see her Peter standing sitting on the edge of the bed. Bare-chested and still in the bottom half his Spider-Man tights, he sat hunched over and faced away from his wife. "Peter…" MJ asked, "…have you been up all night?" Peter only let of a low mumble that could be vaguely interpreted as a yes. MJ got up and walked over to her husband's side of the bed, seeing he was sitting with both hands cupped in my lap with his ring shimmering in the palms of his hand.

"You know…" Peter began to say, "… there's a lot of things I've regretted in my life. Getting these powers… stopping the robber that later killed my uncle… not being able to save Gwen or her dad… revealing my identity to the world… but never ever have I ever regretted getting married." Peter then rose his head to his beautiful bride in the eyes to tell her what he said next. "MJ… you are the greatest thing that has ever entered my life. Even when the world is crashing down around me, you always make the world a little less dark. You always make me feel like I could take on anything. Whatever we decide, whatever happens, just know that I love you, and even if I can't remember, deep down in the core of my soul, I forever will."

"I know, Peter…" MJ could only squeak out with tears in her eyes, "I know…"

10:00am

A chill brushed against Peter's shoulder as he leaned against the window looking outside and eating the doughnut that his wife just bought him from the nearby gas station. They were down to their last couple dollars. Eating the slightly dried-up doughnut only reminded of the great breakfasts of pancake mounds, golden eggs, and glistening bacon his aunt would make for him.

His thought train was derailed by MJ who injected to Peter, "So… what are we going to do?" Peter took a couple seconds to pause before he said anything. "Honestly? I don't know. I've been thinking about every second of every minute since that freaking devil made that offer and I can't truthfully say I'm any closer to figuring out. I might as well be debating whether I want to save the Bronx and nuke Brooklyn or the other way around."

"Well May has been a mother to you." MJ responded. "She raised you, cared for you after your parents passed. She's been your everything for so long."

"Well, now, you're my everything, too." Peter retorted. "I'm being forced to decide here what piece of my heart I want to rip out and smash on the floor. As much as Aunt May means to me, you mean just as much, MJ."

MJ returned with a "I don't know, Peter. I mean, she's basically your mom and, let's face it, I'm always going to be your second 'the one.'"

Peter bristled slightly at her statement. "Mary Jane… stop. This thing you do just needs to stop here and now. Did I love Gwen? Yes, I did. Was I going to marry her? Yes. But it was you I married, MJ. I've been your husband for almost five years now. That's over twice as long as when I was with Gwen. You are the love of the life. I love you with every fiber of my being. Gwen Stacy was a wonder girl and I'll never forget what she meant to both me and you, but she's not my wife. You are my wife and that is that.

MJ felt the need to apologize. "I'm sorry, Peter. I know just how much you love me but it's just that I feel kind of guilty discussing this, whether or not we're going to let your aunt die. You know I love just as much as you love me, but it seems almost selfish to weigh our happiness against May's life. Who's to say we won't just find each other again? We're soulmates no matter what this demon does to the timeline. Maybe we'll find each other again."

"Do you really want to take that chance, hon?" Peter said. "I mean, who's to say how long Aunt May's going to live after this? She is rather up in the years. And who's to say what Mephisto may have injected into this deal?"

"What do you mean, Pete?" MJ asked.

"Think about it. We're basically dealing with the Devil here. When is he ever truthful? You heard what happened to Ghost Rider, right? He sold his soul to save his dad from cancer and then his dad just died the next day. Whose to say Mephisto won't just have her hit by a bus or struck by lightning the next day?"

Peter then let out a confused and frustrated groan. With his hands cupping his head, he said "You see? I don't know to do or say or even believe! What can I do here? What can I do here?" MJ only responded in silence. He then walked over to his mask laid over a chair and swiped before returning to the window. He opened up his shirt to reveal his iconic Spider-logo before removing his pants and opening the window. He leapt onto the sink with the motions of the arachnid whose blood flowed in his veins and put on the red and blue mask that had been his trademark since he was a sophomore high school. "I just got to leave… do some web-slinging. I see you at the hospital later, honey." With that, Spider-Man jumped into the cold air and swung away, leaving the saddened redhead to her own devices.

12:30pm

The air felt chilled and strong against Spider-Man's body as he swung about town. As he flipped and swung from building to building, he was getting more and more frustrated about what to do. Two hours plus of flying through the city and he was still no closer on what to do. He couldn't make this decision in a day. He couldn't make this decision in twelve years. His wife or his aunt? It was impossible.

The endless train of thought was shattered the blazing sirens of police cars just a block to the left of him. Twisting his body and contorting to the direction of the noise, Spider-Man could see a familiar green ribbed cloth with adjoining white fur. It was the Vulture making off with bags of cash as the cops shot wildly at him. Aiming his wrist towards his old foe, Spider-Man let a stream of white web towards Vulture's chest. Upon impact, Spider-Man then shot a web into the now gaping bank and tugged on the line before doing likewise to the line connecting to the elderly supervillain. The effect made it to where both headed towards the inside of the bank. Tightening his body to fit the broken pane glass door, Spider-Man hit the bank first, connecting to the floor through his hands and flipping over to sit perched for his victim to come sailing in.

As the winged old bird came flying in, the web-slinger swung the line around his head, sending his adversary flying into the granite wall. A crunch and spurt of blood shot from Vulture's mouth before he crashed onto the floor below. Most days, this would tell Peter he was being too harsh and to take it easy. This wasn't one of those days.

Jumping onto the ceiling and then flipping onto the black marble table next to his enemy, Spider-Man gazed behind the white motionless eyes of his mask onto his prey. "What you doing. Adrian?" Spider-Man asked, 'Still putting on that ridiculous costume and taking what you can't earn?"

Vulture laid on the ground, spitting a drip of blood from his mouth in the direction of the man who had foiled his schemes over and over again. He gave a hazy glare to his foe before answering. "Screw you, Parker. You don't know anything about me." The wall-crawler bristled before setting his feet on the floor and walking towards the downed criminal. "I know you're a man capable of creating personal flight for an individual. You could have revolutionized the world and made a fortune. You could have made man fly and instead you strap yourself into green pajamas and silly looking feathers and run around taking the money you were too stupid to earn on your own. You're an idiot, Toomes."

Vulture tried to rise before Spider-Man kicked him in the shoulder, sending eight feet away before he skidded along the wall and hit the floor again with a large crash. As Spider-Man continued to walk towards him, he could hear Vulture spit a tooth out before he rose to his feet and swung around to give him a left hook before Spider-Man ducked and gave him an uppercut. As Vulture rocked his head back he flailed his left arm, his wing hitting Spider-Man's chest and scraping the razor-sharp tip of his feathers across the hero's abdomen.

Unfazed, Spider-Man continued his tirade. "You know that grandson of yours? The one that was terminally ill until some mysterious benefactor gave his mother the cash needed to treat him? That was me. I, your so-called "worst enemy" ended up doing the only decent thing you ever even tried at and failed to do. I gave you a freaking second chance to clean up your act and be the kind of grandpa that kid needs. And here you are, in the same old rut, doing the same old thing. You're a joke."

Even though he was beaten and bloodied, Vulture flashed a crooked smile of red and white at his foe. "Oh, I'm the loser here? Who here paraded himself to the world and then got the entire American freaking Government on his tookus? Who here got his old lady shot up and dying? Yeah, I heard. I heard you acted like a schmuck and made some paper threats. You're the loser here. For all your big talk and bad jokes and strong-arming, you're just some stupid kid who couldn't even his save his old aunt from some gunman. What kind of hero are you, punk?"

If the old crook's words weren't enraging enough, Toomes let out a chuckle that gurgles of blood and dry air to punctuate his statement. The anger reached a boiling point as Spider-Man let a stinger shoot from his wrist as he jammed it into the Vulture's shoulder. He let out a sharp scream before grabbing Spider-Man by the neck with his hand. Squeezing as hard as possible, the Vulture managed to break the hold. Using the power of the harness, the Vulture lifted both slightly up before crashing back down on top of the hero's chest. Feeling the oxygen leave his neck and the rush of blood to his face, Peter looked through his mask to see the ugly, bruised face of the Vulture grin slightly at him.

"Well, it looks like you'll still get to see that shriveled waste of skin, after all, Parker. And when you see her… tell her she can take all her holier than thou attitude about my forgiveness between me and God and shove it. If she thinks I killed Nathan, she can burn like a rat in Hell."

Words could not express the rage that flooded the web-slinger's veins. Exposing the stinger in his other hand, Spider-Man slammed both into the chest of his foe. Vulture once again let out a scream as Spider-Man silenced it with a back-hand that set the Vulture skidding to the middle of the bank's floor. The old buzzard rose just in time to see his old foe grab him by the leg and fling him to the entrance.

The Vulture slammed into the steel frames and rolled outside into the cordoned-off street, bleeding profusely among the broken glass and scattered money. It was barely a moment before Spider-Man jumped on the already-beaten Vulture and continued to hurl punches at the old man. "Take it back, you old piece of crap", Peter snarled, "you take it back!"

Spider-Man simply lost track of time pounding into the flesh and meat that was once Adrian Toomes's face. The trace came to a screeching half as Spider-Man raised his head to see the guns of half a dozen Cape-Killer units training on him. Before they could react, Peter jumped to the bank wall and made a run for the roof. All he could hear was a "Stop right there!" before he saw the laser blasts fragment the masonry around him. Making to the roof, Spider-Man ran to the next and the next after that, knowing the law wouldn't take long to send everything they had after him.

2:30pm

Panting and gasping for air, Peter stopped and hit the ground exhausted and tired. Bobbing and heaving every Cape-Killer and chopper in the area for nearly two hours, he had made it from downtown to near the industrial district. Thinking he had finally shaken the law, Peter was startled by a familiar voice.

"Peter, what in the name of God do you think you're doing?"

Spider-Man turned his head sharply to see Iron Man floating above him. He didn't appear to be on the offensive, but Peter Parker wasn't exactly in the mood to take chances. The red and blue clad hero rose to his defense, not sure what to think. "What do you want, Stark?" Parker snapped.

The emotionless mask of the Golden Avenger pulled back to reveal Tony Stark. 'I just want to know what's going that you feel the need to beat up an old man in front of downtown New York. You have any idea how much the Commission is going to be in my rectum over this, demanding I bring you in? This isn't you."

"My aunt is dying like a dog in a dingy little hospital… do you really think I have a single care in the world whether the Great Tony Stark has to for a workload?"

"Peter… I just want to talk. I know how much your aunt means to you. I'm sure we can work something out."

Peter then ripped his own mask off and just emptied his frustrations onto his former boss. "You don't even understand, Tony. You know what kind of sick joke my life is now? I have the means to save her. I have it right in my hands! I have it but I have to lose the absolute most important thing to me in my life! I can save her but it means I have to do the heinous thing I could ever think of. I have destroy himself to save her! I don't know what to do! I just don't know!"

With that, Peter dropped to his knees. With tears in his eyes, he told Iron Man, "I can't do this. I can't make this choice. It's just too hard. I'm not built for this… making these kind of decisions. I… I... I'm just not strong enough to do it."

Iron Man stood there in the air as his former friend laid on the dusty roof of a broken-down warehouse, bawling his eyes. He didn't see him as the man who turned his back on him or as a wanted fugitive

Lowering to the ground, Stark began to bend his knee to look Peter in the eye. "Peter… I honestly have no clue what you're talking about. I don't know that but I know this. I have faith in you, Peter, that you'll do what needs to be done. Despite all the crap with the war and everything, I still believe in you. I know you did what you did back then because you thought it was the right thing to do. That's why I invested in your future in the first place. It's why I had Jarvis send all that cash to pay for your aunt's bills. That's why I know, whatever it is this choice you have to make, I know you'll make the right one. Just know that it's the hard choices we make that makes us heroes."

Picking Peter up, he finished by saying, 'You're a good man, Peter. No law and no circumstance will ever make me feel different. You have that heart of gold I haven't seen in anyone since I met—"

Before Tony could finish, his Extremis abilities picked up a chopper approaching. He turned to peter and said, 'You have to leave. They'll be here soon." A puzzled Spider-Man stood there as Iron Man closed his mask once again and said "Go and hide. I'll cover for you." Nodding, Spider-Man said "Thanks" before jumping down and entering the dingy warehouse before the two.

2:45pm

Minutes after he entered, Spider-Man finally peeked his head out of the broken warehouse window to see the chopper and Iron Man departing north away from the district. Before he could let out a sigh of relief, he suddenly noticed he had been here before. The strongest sense of déjà vu washed over him like a waterfall before it suddenly hit. The outside view, the smell of the place, the rusted metal and splintering wood finally revealed itself in the eye of the wall-crawler's mind.

"Oh my God… this is the place I found the man… who killed Uncle Ben…"

The flood of memories was intense. The acrid smell of gunpowder from the thug's gun, the sound of creaking wood underneath his feet, the dark and damp air; it all hit Peter like a sledgehammer.

All he could remember was how he had the power to stop his uncle's murder but was too self-absorbed to do anything. He failed his uncle because he was too selfish.

At that point, he realized if he had even a sliver of a chance to save his aunt, he had to take it. He couldn't just let his aunt die because of him, not after Uncle Ben. If he could stop it at all, he'd had to do it. He now knew what he was going to do.

He was going to take the deal.

3:50pm

The glass doors of the hospital clicked and sprang to life as Peter and MJ walked through the hall to the elevator that'd take them to Aunt May.

MJ cried all the way to the top. She already knew what Peter decided and she agreed with him, but that didn't make the knife in her chest feel any less there. She might as well rip her own heart out to save May. Nevertheless, she understood what Peter was saying and being his wife, if only for one more day, she was going to stand by her man.

Entering the room, Peter and MJ could feel smell of bed pans and chemicals. May laid on the bed, quiet and weak, the sound of the wind outside and the slow beep of the heart monitor being all that could be heard.

Peter grabbed a chair and slid it next to his dying aunt, sitting down and looking her in her closed eyes. Cupping the cold, motionless hand of the woman who had been his mother for almost all his life into his own, Peter began to speak but he felt a small jerk inside his hand. He shot his head up to see his aunt slowly squirm back to reality, the crust in her eye flaking off and her eyelids receded.

"P-p-peter?"

"Aunt May!' Peter yelped. "You're awake!"

"Hey, Peter. You doing okay?" Aunt May asked.

Peter gave a light chuckle. "I'm doing fine, Aunt May. You?"

"What's to say?" May chuckled, "I'm dying."

Peter brushed back a tear. "Aunt May, please stop."

"There's no need to deny it, Peter. The doctor tells me I probably won't survive the night."

"That doesn't matter… I can fix this. I can fix everything. Something's come up. You're going to live."

"Then why do you still look sad?"

"I had to make a deal. A deal with somebody powerful… and sadistic. He wants something from me. Something very close but I just have no choice here. I have to save you."

Looking at MJ and the red haze that filled her teary eyes, May knew it all. He was going to give up his wife.

"Peter," May said with a sternness not seen before." " NO. You are NOT choosing me over your own wife. As your aunt, I forbid you to."

"But Aunt May," Peter interjected, "it's like that. It'll be a shifting of a timeline. We'll never know what happened. We'll never even realize MJ and I were ever—"

"Peter… stop right there. You will not undo the best decision you ever made with your life just to save an old crow whose time is up. I can't believe you're even contemplating this. I raised you better than this. You will not do such a horrid thing. Not for me. Not for anybody."

Peter tried to talk back. "But, I can't lose you. I—I—I just can't. I can't let you die for something I did."

"Oh, Peter…' May responded, "you'll always be my son and I love you, but you need to stop blaming yourself for things out of your control. Stop using your uncle's words of encouragement to beat yourself up. Not even you had the power to stop this. You can't feel responsible for this. I always told you, 'The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away." What happened was not your fault. If it wasn't a bullet, it would have cancer or a plane accident or slipping in the bathtub or just plain old age. I'm in my seventies, dear. I've outlived most of my friends. I want to go home. I want to see my daring Ben now. I've no reason to be on this earth anymore. I raised you to be good and strong and ready to heal the world that so desperately needs it. Look at you. You're such a good man. I'm proud of the live I've encouraged and grown within you. My work is done and I'm tired. Don't take that from me and certainly don't rob you and your love of happiness to do it. Let me go. It's what I want."

May then turned to MJ and motioned her to get close as well before continuing. "I want you two to support each other like a husband and wife should. You'll good times and you'll have bad times, but trust me when I say your love is stronger that the greatest tragedy. Together, you can overcome anything. Be all that you can possibly be. Wake up everyday asking yourself what you can do to make this world better. You have the strength to change this planet for the good… to turn back the tide of darkness and evil… I suggest you use it, my son. Your parents and your uncle would be swelling with pride if they could see the man you are now And no matter what happens, know I live on in both of your hearts as they do. And most importantly, know I love, Peter Parker, with every fiber of my being.

Before May could continue, a rumble ran throughout the hospital. Peter's Spider-Sense ran like wildfire through his brain. He turned just in time to see his old Electro whiz past the window like a bolt of lightning with police helicopters following close behind.

Peter turned back to the two women in his life. His unspoken question was answered by the wily old lady. "Well… you waiting for a letter? Go, go be the hero."

Smirking, Peter ripped off his civilian clothes to reveal the crime fighter within. Leaping to the window, Spider-Man turned to tell his aunt. "I love you, Aunt May."

"I love you, too, Peter." May responded back before punctuating with another "Go."

With his aunt's blessing, Spider-Man dived in the battle, ready to do what he was born to do.

11:59pm

Exhausted and bruised from a long day, Peter Parker, still dressed in his uniform sans mask, was inching for the bed after a long battle with his electric enemy. Before he could reach his cushy sanctuary, crimson smoke and scarlet ash filled the room as the silhouette of the dark prince Mephisto. His entrance overly dramatic and not entirely welcome, the stink of death and wickedness filled the room like a rotting corpse.

"You plan on dusting afterwards?" Peter quipped. Mephisto snorted with an annoyed "Cute." "Make all the bad jokes you want. I've come to make my deal. Just give me your marriage and I can wipe the whole nasty thing away and leave you the sniveling little mama's boy you've always been. Come on, Parker, I can read you like a book and Peter Parker is nothing if not controlled by his guilt and obsessive crusade for save everybody. So, just be a good little worm and bend over and I can bail you out of you being responsible for another loved one's death… again.

Peter stood there for a few seconds before answering. He gave his guest a good glare in the eye before shaking the fatigue from his bones and standing head held high and chest held proud.

"Well, there's so many ways to give my answer… No. Never. Niet, Nunca, No chance, Lance. No way, Jose, No dice, Brice. No deal, Neal. Nay, nay, a thousand times nay. Not on your life. Not on my life. Not on her life. Not a chance. Absolutely not. Not in a million years. No chance in Hell.. heh… I made a funny… Negative. Negatory. Mmm-hmm. Nuh-uh. Uh-uh. Er-er. A nice Soup Nazi 'No deal for you!' And of course, a big Darth Vader NOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo…!!!!!"

Mephisto bristled by the defiant Parker. He glowed a bright red. Fire began to swirl around the two. Shadows danced and ran past Peter, It was clear he was not happy.

"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. You're GOING to make this deal. I don't extend an offer often and when I do, people take it. I'm not one to insult, boy. Make my words, you little weed. You will make this deal and give me what I want or your pathetic little aunt dying will be the least of your worries."

Mephisto continued to express his power around Spider-Man.

"I am the Prince of Darkness. I am Evil Incarnate and Ancient. I was corrupting saints and ruining virtue since before your ancestors were a tadpole in a primordial ooze. Books are written of my power. Churches against me fall and churches for me rise by the day. I am power beyond everything you have ever seen and beyond everything you ever will see. Do not test me, little one."

The only response Peter could give was "Are you going to keep compensating some more or you going to grow a pair and get out of my face?"

Red smoke snorted from the demon's nose as Mephisto turned and started to depart leaving the hero with the solemn words: 'This isn't over, mortal. By the time I'm done with you, you'll be begging for me to just rip your heart out and eat it whole. Insulting me will be the dumbest thing you will ever EVER do. Sweet dreams, boy. You're in the crosshairs of Hell."

With that, Mephisto departed, leaving Parker with only a quiet room, restored, and a ringing phone with a saddened doctor on the other line…

Days Later…

As the small group of mourners and well-wishers departed from the cemetery, Peter stood alone by the grave of his late aunt. All he could think of was her last word to him: go. Obviously, she was telling him to go save the city from evil that day, but was she saying more? Was she saying to move on? Go and have a family? Go and be more that what is right now? Was she telling him to move past this and go? Could he even do this?

His thoughts were interrupted by the voice of an old friend. The thick, classy accent of a man who has taken care of more than his share of heroes met the ears of Peter Parker.

"It was a nice service, Mr. Parker. May would have approved.", Jarvis said.

Peter could only let out a saddened "Thanks."

Jarvis continued. "Master Stark wanted me to give you his sympathies. He knows, as do I, how much she meant to you. He only hopes his deployment of troops to watch over this service will help. If any villain get within a mile of this place, they'll be spending their golden years in the Negative Zone."

"I appreciate it, Jarvis. I really do. I—I just don't know what to do now. My aunt's always been there to guide me, to inspire me. Without her… where do I go from here?"

"Sir…" Jarvis interjected, "…do you know why Captain America and Master Stark offered you a place in the Avengers? It's because you have a great gift. You have the strongest will I've ever seen in a long time. You have one of the sharpest minds I've known. Most importantly, you have one of the purest hearts I've seen. I've haven't seen a man more worthy to be called hero since Captain America. I see his strength in you, his passion, his virtue, his unwavering sense to do all that can be done to make this world better. We've lost one Captain America and this world is in the darkest of times. And as the song goes: ''Cause we all sure could use us a hero now and we think that you'll do all right."

With that, Jarvis left the young hero with his past to think of his future. He didn't leave for a very, very long time.