Spectacular Spider-Man Season 3
Chapter 1: Loss of Significance
"How I spent my Spring Break by Peter Benjamin Parker. I can sum it up in one glorious hyphenated word: Spider-Man" Peter Parker said to himself in a depressed tone of voice as he swung over and between the towering buildings of his neighbourhood, New York City. He was dressed in his red and blue outfit that had made him so famous; known throughout the city as The Spectacular Spider-Man.
"Wow. That could have been more spectacular. I can't even give one of my yehas!" he said as he landed on a wall, sticking to it with his hands and feet. He sat leaning his back against the wall, his sticky feet keeping him attached to it as he sat next to a gargoyle on the side of a building.
"All because of what happened 3 months ago. I mean, I killed someone. I, Peter Parker, Spider-Man, killed someone. And not just someone; I killed Norman Osborn. I killed my best friend's dad and someone who tried to help me look after Aunt May" he said, a deep sound of regret in his voice which then changed to anger as Peter frowned under his mask.
"But then again, Osborn was also the Green Goblin, a super criminal. If I hadn't of stopped him, he would have become in control of the entire city. I know he was evil, framing his own son and even hurting him to trick me, but I never meant to kill him. It was an accident. It's not like I purposefully made his glider malfunction and send him flying into one of his own Pumpkin Bomb turrets; that he himself placed on a rooftop to try and kill me! And now all the bad guys I capture call me one of them because they think I am some kind of murderer!" Peter's voice grew louder as he grew angrier, trying to clear his name to the gargoyle below him, looking to the stone figure. His hand and thumb pointed to himself as he said 'kill me', but he lowered it, resting it on his bent leg as he sighed heavily, calming himself down.
"And things aren't particularly great for Peter Parker either. Jolly Jameson kept me busy all Spring Break trying to get photos of the 'Masked Menace in Action', which although is helping me sort out the Parker money problems, it doesn't help my social life. I didn't see Gwen or Harry over Spring Break, but then again, who could blame them. Harry hates Spider-Man for killing his father and also hates Peter Parker for taking the pictures of his father's murderer. And better yet, I even lost the love of my life. I lost Gwen" he said, another sigh escaping his mask covered lips as he remembered that funeral, seeing the girl he loved in the arms of his best friend.
"Sure, I would do anything to be with her, but she is with Harry. He needs her more than I do and she'll be safer with him. Maybe I should try and get back with Liz? What do you think George? What do you think I should do?" he paused, looking to the gargoyle beside him, using his humour by giving the stone gargoyle the name of George to cover the mixed up feelings he was feeling inside.
"Yeah, you're right. I can't stop dwelling on the past. The city is safe and that's what counts right? It's what I want" he said before slowly starting to slide down the wall.
"Huh? That's weird, I'm not sticking. WOAH!" he cried as he suddenly fell off the wall, his arms and legs spread out as he fell towards the busy streets below. Thinking quickly, he somersaulted in the air, reached his hand up and made a hand gesture with his fingers that released the webbing from his web shooters, hitting a wall and stopping him from falling as he held onto the rope like webbing. Hanging on to the thread for a while in front of a wall, he slowly placed his hand on the wall, sticking to it once more. He let go of the webbing and stuck to the wall on all fours.
"What was that about? Maybe I'm tired. I should just head home and get some rest before school starts tomorrow" and with that, Peter leapt away from the building, shooting out another web line and swinging through the busy city that never sleeps streets of New York.
And the city was busy that night, and it wasn't safe either.
A man knocks on the door to the office of J. Jonah Jameson at the Daily Bugle. It is after hours, with the light in Jameson's office being the only one on. The man slowly opens the door, revealing himself to be a small man, wearing a light blue shirt with green jacket and dark green trousers.
"H-hello? I'm M-M-Mac Gargan, the private investigator. You-you wanted to meet me sir?" the small man asked the one sitting in the chair behind the desk in the office, sitting in the shadow.
"Yes Gargan, I require your services for a little experiment of mine" he said.
"Experiment? Like what?" Gargan replied and asked back to the man.
"Call it, the Revenge of J. Jonah Jameson" the man said, sitting forward and moving into the light to reveal a smirking J. Jonah Jameson.
The bell sounds as students come out of mathematics class at Midtown Manhattan Magnet High School, walking down the hallway and chatting with their friends. Peter Parker walks out after everyone else, sliding his books into his schoolbag, making sure not to hit and damage his web shooters hiding in there. The last thing he wanted was one going off and sending webbing out, a huge sign that Pete was the wall crawler; but thankfully that situation did not happen. Peter looked up to see Liz at her locker, putting her books into it. He slowly walked over to her, wondering what the best thing to say to her was.
'Hey Liz, I'm sorry I dumped you, I was trying to get with Gwen, but then I killed Harry's father and so she stayed with him. So, would you like to get back together? Nah, that would never work' Peter thought to himself, sighing before taking a huge breath of air in before saying in a nervous tone "H-hey Liz. How was Spring Break?"
"Oh, hi Peter. Well, it was alright. I got to see Mark at Riker's. He says that his powers are under control and he'll be soon up for parole" she said, turning away from her locker and looking to Peter, giving a light smile. Definitely not the reaction Peter was expecting as he gave a wide eyed expression before a slight laugh and smile back to her.
"That's great Liz. I'm happy for you".
"Thanks Petey-I mean, Peter. So, how was your Spring Break?" she asked back, her smile growing a little.
"It was great, but it would have been greater if I was able to talk to you. Listen, Liz, I'm sorry for breaking up with you. I thought it was what I wanted, but lately, I've not been sure what I want. I think it's best that we start anew, just go back to being friends. I could help you study again" he said, smiling nervously. The bellowing laugh of Flash Thompson caught both of their attention. Liz looked round to see the familiar crowd heading towards them, in ear shot of the words Peter just said. She turned back to Peter and frowned at him as the group stood near them.
"Study? With Puny Parker again? What makes you think I even want to see or talk to you after what you did to make me break up with you! Goodbye!" Liz shouted loudly before storming off, closely followed by Sally Avril who uttered a "You go girl" as she and the others passed by Peter, laughing at him. Peter sighed and slowly made his way outside to find somewhere to sit and eat his lunch.
When he arrived outside, he found Gwen Stacy sitting alone at a table eating her lunch. Pete took his lunch bag that Aunt May had made out of his bag and sat down beside, placing his bag down on the table.
"Hey Gwen" he uttered, immediately being hugged by the blonde and beautiful girl he so wanted to hug back; but he felt eyes watching him.
"Peter!" she exclaimed, before realising she was hugging him and awkwardly let go of him "What happened to you? You just up and disappeared over Spring Break" she asked him.
"I'm sorry Gwen, I was busy".
"Yeah, busy taking pictures of his friend the murderer" a familiar voice interrupted Peter as Harry Osborn appeared, standing behind and between the two, throwing down onto the table a copy of the Daily Bugle.
"Harry, how was Spring Break? I heard you were made head of Oscorp, that's great right?" Peter asked quickly, trying to change the subject as he stood up to face his best friend.
"What's great about taking over the job once owned by your father? I've been busy myself, being in board room meetings after board room meetings. Then again, at least I haven't been taking photos of my father's killer, right Pete?" Harry said to Peter, a frown on his face.
"Harry, it's not like I want to take pictures of Spider-Man. I have to earn money to help pay off Aunt May's hospital bills and help her pay the taxes" Peter replied back.
"If you want money, instead of taking his pictures, why don't you capture him and claim the Bugle reward money?" Harry replied back, pointing down to the cover of the Daily Bugle he threw on the table, with the front page of the paper being a picture of Spider-Man by Peter, with the headline 'Spider-Man: Wanted. $1 Million Dollar Reward'. Peter looked at the cover, his eyes wide in surprise that his head was worth that much, before looking back to Harry. Gwen sat quietly, with a slight frown on his face as she watched the two yell at one another.
"Why should I help capture someone that is doing good for this city?"
"Oh, so doing good means killing the only father I have?" Harry yelled back at Peter, making Gwen stand up in protest.
"Harry! Peter! Stop! Look at you two, you used to be best friends!" she shouted at them both, giving them both her most powerful 'The Look' as they looked to her.
"Yeah, we used to be" Harry said before turning and walking off. Peter reached his hand out towards Harry.
"Harry, wait!" he said, but Harry ignored him, continuing to walk away from them. Gwen took a few steps to go after Harry, then stopped and looked back to Peter.
"I'll talk to him okay. We'll all be friends again in no time"
"We all? You mean you're not friends with me too?" Peter asked with a slight sound of hurt in his voice.
"As long as we have these feelings for each other, I don't think we can be just friends Peter. I know you are strong and can handle being on your own, but Harry needs me more than you at the moment, to help him sort out his problems" she replied.
"But what about my problems?" Peter asked back as Gwen slowly walked backwards, still looking towards him though she wanted to hurry after Harry and make sure he was alright.
"Like I said, you're strong Peter. You can handle it" and then turned around and started to lightly run after Harry, her expression changing to that of sad, as she didn't want to leave Peter like this. Peter just stood there, watching his two best friends leave him alone at the table.
Mac Gargan was also alone at a table, as across the city at Empire State University's lab, once owned by Curt Connors and now owned by Miles Warren, Gargan is strapped to the table with high tech machinery all around him. Gargan is wearing a baggy, green suit with a long, tail like part at the back of it.
"M-M-Mister Jameson, this isn't what I signed on for?" he said as Jameson and Miles Warren stood behind protective walls and glass, with Warren at the controls of the machinery in the room with Gargan.
"Relax Macky, can I call you Macky? This will be all over in 12.4 seconds, and then I'll have...I mean, we'll have what we want. Don't you wanna be something more than a pathetic private inspector and instead help put an end to New York's greatest threat, Spider-Man!" Jameson bellowed into a microphone that went into the room Gargan was in.
"Spider-Man? I would love to get revenge on him for what he did to Osborn. Thanks to the wall crawler, I never got the check Osborn was going to send me. Thanks to Spider-Man, I never got paid!" Gargan shouted back.
"Well, sit there and do what I say and you'll get what you are owed. Now doc, what are you going to do to make my test subject as powerful as Spider-Man?" Jameson asked Warren.
"Well, to start, we'll be infecting his body with scorpion DNA. After deconstructing Conner's research on super spiders, thanks to the money you paid me to continue my research, I was able to combine certain traits from certain scorpions to help make our spider slayer" Warren replied.
"Why a scorpion? Why not make him release a powerful bug spray or something?" Jameson asked, laughing at his own joke.
"The scorpion is the natural predator of the spider, and is larger and far more powerful. It was the same traits as the spider, being able to stick to walls, but has greater speed, agility and strength. The tail of the scorpion, the stinger, is capable of releasing a deadly poison, but our scorpion will produce an acid that will rip through Spider-Man's webbing. The suit he is poorly wearing will fit his new and powerful body and will protect him as well. Spider-Man will be no match".
"Great, now let's get this thing started!" Jameson shouted with joy as Warren began to press buttons on the controls, making a robotic arm with a needle containing the scorpion DNA go towards Gargan.
"Wait, wait! I'm not ready! I'm not ready!" he shouted, but it was no use as the needle injected the DNA into Gargan. Slowly, his body began to grow and the sound of bones braking and growing could be heard as Gargan's body began to glow, filling out his suit, making it fit tighter to the muscles that grew out from his scrawny body. Gargan cried out in pain as he could feel his tail bone begin to grow and start to fill out the tail section of the costume behind him. The straps holding down Gargan snapped, releasing Gargan. His now long tail swung violently, breaking the equipment and making fires in the room, which were put out as foam from fire extinguishers in the walls came out and dowsed the flame. Smoke filled the room as Gargan stopped screaming.
"Gargan?" Jameson said into the microphone and waited for a reply. Suddenly, a green sludge hit the protective wall and glass and started to eat away at it. It dissolved the wall entirely, making a large hole. At the top of the hole, Gargan, now taller, bigger and stronger, climbed around the ceiling and then dropped down in front of Warren and Jameson.
"Not Gargan, Scorpion. And I am ready!"
Gwen's words stuck inside Peter's mind until it was night, and he was out on patrol as Spider-Man. The once sunny weather had now made way to black clouds and rain.
'What if I can't handle it? What if I am not strong enough like you said Gwen? I mean, I don't know what I want anymore. I thought I could be there for people as both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, but it seems like I can't' Peter thought as he swung between buildings, swinging his arms out and releasing web lines. But suddenly, Peter's vision became blurry. As he looked down at the busy streets below, everything became a blurry mess of colours.
"Oh no! Not again!" Peter exclaimed, looking up and reaching his arm out and releasing a web line to slow his decent. But because of his blurred vision, the webbing missed the target, missing the roof of a building. Peter shot out another web and another and another, but they all kept missing his target.
"No no no no nooo!" he cried out as he kept falling down towards the streets below. Then finally, a web line hit a wall and stuck.
"Yes!" Peter cried out and started to swing, only to find himself heading towards a wall. Normally, his Spider-Sense would kick in, but it didn't. Peter went splat against the side of the wall. He tried to stick to the wall with his hands and feet, normally not a problem even in rain, but Peter couldn't stick. He just slipped and fell off the wall, landing on his back on the lid of a large trash bin, then rolling off and landing face down onto the wet and puddle filled floor. Peter moaned and groaned before slowly getting to his feet. Peter removed his mask, thinking that he had trouble seeing because of it, but no, his blurred vision remained.
"What's happening to me? I can't see straight, I can't stick to walls, I feel so weak and I can't even web swing properly. Am I losing my spider powers? But how, it's infused with my DNA, it can't be gotten rid of unless I take some gene cleanser, and I haven't taken any. M-Maybe my powers...were never permanent. Maybe it's a sign that I no longer need to be Spider-Man. But I want to be Spider-Man...right? If Peter Parker can't have the things he wants, then maybe Spider-Man doesn't need the things he wants either. Am I not supposed to have what I want? What I need? What am I supposed to do?" he shouted loudly to himself, looking up towards the rain that fell down upon him.
He then lowered his head, his eyes shut as he looked inside himself to find the answer. To help look for the answer he needs, Peter spoke to Uncle Ben in his mind, sitting with him inside the car outside the library, the scene where Uncle Ben told him the famous words 'With great power comes great responsibility'.
"All the things that you've been thinking about, Peter...make me sad" Uncle Ben said.
"You don't understand, everyone hates me, both Peter Parker and Spider-Man" Peter replied.
"I do understand, but I thought you had learned the meaning of responsibility"
"You don't know how it feels Uncle Ben, to have everyone you cared about taken away from you"
"After all those times we've talked about honesty, fairness, justice, out of those times, I counted on you to have the courage to continue those dreams"
"I can't live in your dreams anymore. I want a life of my own"
"You have a spectacular life Peter. You have been given a gift. With great power, comes great responsibility" Uncle Ben said, holding out his hand towards Peter. A light frown on his face and tears in his eyes, Peter shakes his head towards his uncle, pushing his hand away.
"No Uncle Ben. I just want to be Peter Parker. I will be Spider-Man...no more. No more..."
"No more" Peter said out loud, opening his eyes and finding himself back in the soaking wet alleyway, with rain continuing to fall down.
As he opened his eyes, tears escaped and ran down his cheeks, though his eyes frowned, determination in his eyes. This was it, no turning back. In a little while, Peter was out of his Spider-Man costume, web shooters and all and standing in his normal clothes as Peter Parker. He placed the web shooters, shoes and shirt into the large trash bin, then held his mask in his hands, looking down into those white and black eyes that stared up back at him. Peter placed the mask on top of the rest of the costume and then slowly shut the lid. He took once last glance at the trash bin he had put half of his life away in and then turned away, walking down the alleyway, heading towards the busy streets of New York.
'It's over. It's finally over. I'm free. No more powers, no more responsibility. No more curse. I am Spider-Man, no more'.