Spider-Man: Fallen Hero.

Chapter 1: A Spider's choice.

Hello to anyone reading. This is my first attempt at a Spider-Man fic, and hopefully I don't do too badly. Just to let everyone know I suppose this is an AU, but it still could fall under the Amazing Spider-Man series, somewhere. Please drop a review and let me know what you think. Additional info can be fond on my profile. Hope you enjoy, thanks for reading.

"Fallen Hero" - Standard communication

'Fallen Hero' - Thinking, telepathy etc.

"Fallen Hero" - Added for effect

Pain. That's all he could feel, was red hot pain. Helplessness seemed to flow through his veins, unable to do anything but sit there and feel the agony that rained down on him. If not for the various needles and wires that Peter Parker felt injected all around his body, he would swear that he was dead. But the beeping of the electronic machines that he was hooked up to told him differently, that he was still alive. Right now though, Peter wished that he wasn't. Since his last memory, Peter didn't know how much time had passed, days, months, maybe even years. None of it mattered though. Only one thing mattered...he failed.

May Parker let out a chuckle as she saw her nephew regain his composure. He had slipped on the carpet and nearly dropped the glass of water in his hand, before he firmly planted one foot on the ground where it seemed to stick there, stopping his momentum. "Oh Peter, you're such a clust, you'll break your neck someday," she shook her head.

Peter sheepishly grinned in reply to his aunt and walked across the living to sit beside his pregnant wife, Mary-Jane Watson. Peter could have sworn the room lit up as she smiled when he handed her the drink. Smiling back, Peter placed his hand on her bump, feeling the kicks of his unborn child which made his own insides leap with joy.

"Thanks tiger," MJ said as she placed he glass back on the table, gulping down the water in seconds. It was only one more month until the baby would be born, the sex unknown to the two of them.

"Now you remember Mary-Jane, keep drinking plenty of fluids," Aunt May said with a nod towards the husband and wife.

Mary-Jane and Peter had stopped by for dinner, as Mary-Jane was too heavily pregnant to do anything and whenever Peter tried to cook, he nearly burnt down their apartment in the process. The apartment in question would be vacated by Peter and Mary-Jane as they moved into a house in Queens quite close to Aunt May. Peter had been given a job a year ago in Empire State University as a physic's teacher, and when the Head of Physics retired Peter was given his post. The job was steady and the money was good, the perfect thing for Peter as he was about to raise a family.

Nearly six months ago, the Sinister Six had made a return to try and defeat Spider-Man. It was one of the hardest battles of the Web Head's career, but he successfully defeated them by using each of their own powers against one another, and they were now all incarcerated in SHIELD headquarters. The only foes that he had to worry about right now were ordinary everyday criminals, so it was easy pickings for Spidey. However, these happy times were not to last...

A cool breeze fluttered in through the small window in the living room, but that wasn't the only thing. In the distance, Peter thought he heard cackling, looking out the window wearily, and it was gone as quick as he had heard it. He continued to listen to Aunt May and Mary-Jane's conversation for a few more moments, before suddenly hearing the cackling again. That laughter...No!

Peter's eyes widened as his Spider sense went through the roof. He could hear the small object in the distance, possibly fifty metres away and heading straight towards him. Knowing that he had less than seconds Peter knew he had to get out of here, and fast. Time seemed to slow down as he burst off his seat and grabbed Mary-Jane, holding her securely with one arm, the redhead not even knowing she had moved yet. Pushing his feet, Peter used this momentum to leap backwards towards the window so that he could absorb the force and act as a crumple zone. As he flew over Aunt May, he reached out to grab her by the back of her cardigan. He knew it would hurt her but it was the only way. Peter sensed that the pumpkin bomb was just outside the window and ready to hit the living room floor and tightened his grip. However, this proved to be a fatal mistake. He grabbed onto Aunt May's too tightly, and it ripped! His momentum carried him on crashing through the window, screaming as he knew he had failed.

Time suddenly sped up again as many things happened at once. The world crumbled around Peter Parker as the living room of his childhood home let out a booming roar as the pumpkin bombs exploded. And his beloved Aunt May, who had raised him from he was a boy, barely had a second to scream before the pumpkin bombs roar cut her off and she was consumed in a fiery death.

Peter landed on the grass harshly, skidding to a halt. Placing his wife down gently, who was sobbing but okay, Peter balled his fists as tears dropped from his eyes.

"AUNT MAY!" he screamed at the burning wreckage of his childhood home as a pillar of smoke rose from it into the sky. Peter heard cackling once again, turning with fury in his eyes to see Norman Osborn, in his Green Goblin alias, his glider hovering. His maniacal laughing continued as he looked from Peter to the house.

"Ah, Peter Parker, sorry to drop in so suddenly. What happened here?" he asked innocently, looking at the house and cackling once again.

Peter let out a feral roar filled with fury as he leaped from the ground and hurtled himself towards the Green Goblin. Nothing mattered to him any more, only that Osborn paid. He made an attempt to spear the Green Goblin off his glider, but with agility surpassing Osborn's already enhanced abilities he frog-leaped over the Wall-Crawler. As Peter's momentum continued to carry him, he turned around and his eyes widened. Four pumpkin bombs were flying straight towards Peter each right beside one another. The pumpkin bomb closest to Peter slammed into his chest and exploded, sending red hot pain coursing around Peter's chest as he screamed in agony. The resulting explosion from the pumpkin bomb caused the others to also ignite and Peter was in such pain he was unable to scream, unable to do anything but feel like he was on fire. His limp body hit the grass with a thud but Peter barely felt it, the feeling of his limbs seemed to have been cut off from his body. The pain kept him awake, his nerves screaming to let the darkness in the corner of his eyes take over.

He barely felt himself being moved as he was pulled up by the scruff of his jacket by the Green Goblin, his demeanour calm but the evil within it could be seen. He could barely make out

the green, monstrous mask as Peter tried to muttered something, but unable to.

"Peter Parker..." Osborn began, before pausing. "No!" he shouted, reaching into his belt and pulling out the mask of the Spider-Man costumed. "I found this in your apartment as I took a little stop by there first. Your little neighbours around there were so helpful to tell me where you were," the Goblin said as he placed the mask roughly on Peter's bruised and bloody face.

"Now Spider-Man, you will sit here and listen to me. I have tried, time and time again, to defeat you and I have finally succeeded. The weak spider has been crushed by the goblin. You aunt is dead, and let this be a lesson to you as a result of your fruitless attempts to be a hero. However, you wife will not die, at least not yet. I have...plans for her," he said with a lick of his lips. Osborn saw Peter weakly raise a fist, to which he harshly slapped him across your face. "You are as weak as your unborn child. Though I do hope you do not die from your injuries Spider-Man. I know at the very least you will never be the same again. In fact, I'll make sure of it," the Green Goblin said, before suddenly plunging his fist into Peter's stomach. He tried to scream in pain as blood splattered on Osborn's mask but could still not get his vocal chords working. Peter faintly heard a crack from within his body, and if anything the numbness worsened. "Even with that remarkable healing factor of yours, you will be unable to heal a broken spine Spider-Man."

"The plans that I have for your child! I will no doubt grow bored of , but your child. I will raise them as my own, letting them live their life as an Osborn. Picture it Spider-Man, your child, the heir of the Goblin. I thought you'd like that!" the Green Goblin exclaimed as he reverted back to insanity, cackling as he slammed Peter into the ground and jumping on his glider. Faintly, Peter could hear Mary-Jane scream in terror as she was taken off into the night by Osborn.

"God speed, Spider-Man!" was the last thing Peter heard. He reached out towards he could see the blurs of the Goblin and his wife in the distance, before darkness finally swallowed him.

That was the last thing that Peter could vividly remember, and he would give anything to forget it all. He, Spider-Man, had failed. His Aunt May was dead. The love of his life, Mary-Jane Watson, was at the very least being held captive by the Green Goblin, and his child, God only knew what state his baby was in. And he knew, he just knew, this would be the state he would be in for the rest of his life. He would be unable to save his family, and unable to avenge Mary-Jane.

The rain poured down as Venom swung from building to building, leaping and shooting out webs so that he could make his way to the hospital. It had been a while since he had last seen the Wall-Crawler, instead making an unsuccessful attempt to try and find the symbiote's spawn, Carnage so that he could grow stronger and absorb it. Something within the symbiote told MacGargan though to pay a visit to Peter when he heard the news. It took less than a minute to make his way to hospital, climbing up the wall silently as it used it's senses to find him. He was on one of the higher floors, no doubt the ICU.

Looking around, he saw there was no one in. He crept in, not wanting to be disturbed. All these tubes and machine were connected up to Peter, and he was perplexed to see his archenemies as weak as he was. The worst thing was though, he had not been the one who had done this! It had been another, one who had punished Spider-Man on a higher level than Venom could hope. However, he knew he would be the one to finish the job and walked over, raising his fist above the Web-Head's face.

Suddenly, a tremor racked through Venom's body as he fell to his knees. No! MacGargan thought as he felt the bond between himself and the symbiote break. How had he not noticed it before. He screamed, feeling his very life-force drain from him. The symbiote wasted no time, slithering up the bed and onto Peter, flying down into his mouth as his eyes shot open.

Peter looked around, suddenly finding himself naked in some small room, the floor charred and the walls around him painted black. Without warning, a face was made on the side of the wall facing Peter, with white eyes and sharp teeth. The face smiled before a piece of the black liquid shot out towards the ground in a puddle, growing and taking on a humanoid figure. It was in the shape of Spider-Man's black costume, but every so often the figure grew unstable and came close to breaking apart, before regaining its composure once again.

"Spider-Man..." the figure hissed as it began to creep towards Peter.

"Get away from me!" he shouted as he took a step back. "I know how to fight you, you won't take control of me again!"

"That may be true...but that would only be if you have a choice. Your injuries are far too severe for you to do anything but lie in this hospital bed for the rest of your days, which incidentally are running short. Your Aunt May is gone, and you couldn't save the woman you love. If you bond with me though, you will become stronger than you could dream, and you will have your revenge!"

"I can't!" Peter shouted back. "I know what's at stake if I lose control!"

"If we do not bond...your wife will die and it is unknown what will become of you children! Is that what you want? You have only one choice...Join me!"

Peter put his arms down to his side, his face ashen with uncertainty as he weighed his options. His life was over now, he knew it. He didn't really care though, all that mattered was Mary-Jane and his baby. Could he really join with this thing, this monster once again?

"Okay, I'll do it," he said barely above a whisper, Aunt May's smiling face in his head. "But this will only be temporary!"

"NO!" The symbiote roared, sending Peter flying backwards before he landed on the ground. "You are too weak to merely take me and discard me as you see fit. We need to merge, completely if you want to recover! Even if you'd like to then reject me from your system you will be unable to!"

"Fine!" Peter shouted once again. "But let me get something straight here. We're going after Norman Osborn, and we're going to save my family!"

"As you wish, Peter Parker..." the symbiote said, a cackled echoing through the area as it suddenly launched itself at Peter and consuming him before he could do anything about it. Peter suddenly regained consciousness and could feel one thing. Power. Real power. And it was time for him to step up to the responsibility, of saving his family, no matter what the cost...

The nurse burst in through the door, hearing the commotion barely seconds ago. Looking around, their was a visible hole where it looked like someone, or something had burst through it with great force. On the floor lay a still, naked man, but the nurse knew for sure it was not her patient. She pressed the button for assistance, completely bewildered at what was going on. She could tell however, that the man on the floor required medical attention. As the nurses came in and lifted him, he muttered only one thing.

"Parker..."