Racing the Sun
Peter Parker didn't come home that night.
It was a cold evening on December 5th, with the snow softly falling onto the brightly lit buildings of New York City. The icy streets were bustling with excitement for the upcoming holiday season, and the stores were so busy that it would take you at least an hour to reach the cashier.
Peter left his home in Queens in the afternoon, with the intention of finding the perfect gift for his Aunt May and the love of his life, Gwen Stacy.
As usual, he took the subway to the city, squeezing through the masses of people that were blocking his way.
He shuffled through the streets, unnoticed by the busy New Yorkers, until he reached a small coffee shop around the corner from his destination.
He waited patiently in the line, this coffee place wasn't very well known, and so it was the least busy during that time of year.
Once he received his on-the-go latte, he took small sips from his hot drink until the store was almost in view.
That was until he heard the police sirens on the street beside him.
With his eyes widening, Peter Parker dashed to a nearby alleyway.
But he never came out.
A curious New Yorker followed him to the passageway, dumbfounded as to why a young boy would be running through the streets of New York just to go into an abandoned alleyway.
He was hot on his heels, but as soon as he turned the corner – the boy was gone.
And left, at the end of the alley, was a spilled cup of coffee.
Peter Parker was declared a missing person twenty-four hours after his disappearance.
December 6th was a hard day for May Parker. After being questioned by police on Peter and what his intentions were on that day, she openly wept in the living room, anxiously waiting for the call that would tell her that Peter was safe.
But the call never came.
Naturally, Peter's picture was on the front page of the newspaper the following day, and it caused an unrest among the student body at Midtown High School.
Although Peter wasn't necessarily the most popular of students, possibly even ranking at the bottom of the social foodchain, his disappearance still caused an uneasiness to rattle through his peers.
Surely, if he was kidnapped, someone must have heard that young boy scream.
The only question floating through the air was simple.
'Where was Spider-Man?'
Since December 5th, there have been no reported sightings of the masked hero anywhere in the city, and the crime rates have increased dramatically in his absence.
But surely Spider-Man disappearing on the same day as Peter Parker was just a coincidence?
Wasn't it?
The answer came a month later, on a warm day in January.
A fisherman had wandered under the bridge, and sighted something peculiar suspended from underneath it.
A quick flash of red and blue.
Now, the man alerted the police immediately, worried about the man that was clearly unconscious and up in the air.
When the police arrived on the scene, they instructed the help of the men down below the hoist the figure up. And when they managed to bring the figure up, the men of the New York Police Department recoiled in horror.
There, lying on the tarmac of the bridge, lay Spider-Man with a web around his neck and chains around his body.
But, something was off, surely Spider-Man had been missing for a month, as well as that Parker boy who's case still remained unsolved.
So shouldn't someone have seen him dangling under the bridge already?
The police could only come up with one answer.
Somebody put him there.
The knock on May Parker's door was frantic and sudden, interrupting another day of uneasiness in the Parker residence.
Slowly, May Parker pried her front door open and came face to face with the cop that she had contacted merely a month ago.
Her heart leapt from her chest, and was pumping at rapid paces.
"Yes officer?" she croaked.
The man cleared his throat and looked at her straight in the eye, "We have news about Mr. Parker."
Her eyes widened, "Really?"
"I'm sorry Mrs. Parker," the officer said with his head hanging down.
She put her heart on her chest and started sobbing uncontrollably. No, this couldn't happen, she couldn't have lost her husband and beloved nephew in the span of half a year. She couldn't.
"Where is he?" she asked.
"He's been taken for scientific testing."
May furrowed her eyebrows, "Scientific testing?"
The man nodded his head and handed her something that he was hiding behind him.
"I think that his belongs to him."
And then he was gone.
However, what was left in May Parker's hands was the worn and torn suit of Spider-Man.
It would explain all the bruises and all of the nights that he would disappear.
It would explain his weird behaviour over the past couple of months.
It would explain everything.
When Aunt May visited the morgue where Peter's body lay, they informed her that he died of suffocation and internal bleeding. His face was covered in red welts and his arms were decorated with bruises that led up to his neck.
She told him to be careful.
But somehow, she knew that he was that masked hero. She watched him every night on the television in the living room, and whenever the news would stop airing, Peter would burst through the door with new bruises on his face.
She knew. But she didn't want to believe it.
The paper that declared that Peter Parker was found came a week after the officer had visited her home. And on the front page of the paper was a picture of Peter Parker lifeless in the morgue, with a picture of Spider-Man beside it announcing that the missing boy was indeed the masked hero.
'Spider-Man Unmasked:
Missing person Peter Parker found to be the masked hero.'
The article exposed the scientific findings of the DNA, suggesting that Peter's DNA was merged with a genetically-enhanced spider's, ultimately giving him a sixth-sense and the ability to climb walls – and evidently becoming a human-spider.
Inside, was also the silent confession that Peter wrote after he managed to put Dr. Curtis Conners in jail. He wrote a small note in an old notebook and hid it in his drawer, confessing that he was indeed the masked man.
The police had searched Peter's room three days after he was found, and they managed to obtained the plans for his web-shooters and his costume design as well as the spider that transformed him into the hero that he was known for.
However, the paper refused to print out the small confession in its entirety because it was specifically addressed to one person: his Aunt May.
The end result that the paper published was:
'This life is not an easy one.
I've made enemies…powerful enemies.
And I've put those I love in danger.'
When May Parker got her hands on the small note, she locked herself in Peter's room with the note clutched tightly in her hand until she fell asleep with tears still running down her tired face.
'This life is not an easy one.
I've made enemies…powerful enemies.
And I've put those I love in danger.
I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you, I'm sorry that I made you worry so much for me.
You've done so much, and I was nothing but a burden.
But I believe that there's a hero in all of us that gives us strength and keeps us going.
You're my hero, Aunt May.'
Midtown High School awoke the following morning with every student holding the New York Times in their hands.
None of them could believe that the shy, nerdy Peter Parker was the man that paroled the streets of New York every night, that would swing through the streets fearlessly and was the guy that everyone looked up too.
To them, Peter Parker was just the insecure and invisible science nerd that wandered the halls with no one paying attention to him.
No one could believe that he was the one who jumped off Oscorp Tower with the Lizard in tow. No one could believe it.
The murmurs and questions of the student body were the same each day.
'Why didn't he tell us?'
'Why didn't he beat up Flash? He could have snapped his neck like a twig.'
It was certainly an untold story.
Gwen Stacy walked into Midtown High School with red rimmed eyes the second week of the announcement. Everyone still looked at her with pity, they knew that the Parker boy and her had something between them.
Gwen would always stop by Peter's locker every morning before she went to her own. She wanted to be as close to him as possible, to feel like he was still there, that he was still somewhere swinging across the streets of New York.
But he wasn't, not anymore.
But today, she found Flash Thompson standing in front of Peter's locker as well.
She raised her eyebrow and walked toward him, curious as to why he was standing there staring.
Before she could open her mouth to ask, Flash cut her off.
"He was my idol, you know."
She looked down, "I know."
Silence.
"Why didn't he tell me? Why didn't he just take his revenge?" he asked morosely.
Gwen let a small smile tug on her lips. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
"The answer's in the paper, he didn't want to put anyone in danger. He didn't want anyone else to get caught up in his life.
"He was a good person, Flash. He used his abilities for the good of mankind, he didn't abuse them."
Flash looked down at the floor, "Why did he do it?"
She smiled softly, "He told me once that when a person is given a chance to do good for others, then they have the moral obligation to do those things. That it wasn't choice – but responsibility."
"But it wasn't his job."
"Maybe it was."
When spring came, the student body and parents of Midtown High School gathered in the courtyard, with the parents quietly anticipating the unknown gathering.
The principal came up on the stage and with the microphone softly grasped in his hand, he welcomed the parents that had gathered.
"Today, I am pleased to introduce two very dedicated students to explain as to why I have gathered you here today. Everyone, please put your hands together for Ms. Gwen Stacy and Mr. Flash Thompson."
With the applause ringing across the courtyard, Gwen and Flashed stepped onto the stage wearing proud smiles on their faces.
Gwen took the microphone from the principal's hand and began to speak.
"There are many secrets that have been kept from all of us. Some were harmless, and some had great expenses.
"But secrets have a cost, and today I am honoured to present this memorial that is dedicated to Mr. Peter Parker, with my fellow classmate Flash Thompson. He was not popular, he was not an attention seeker. But he was the city's beloved Spider-Man."
Flash took the cloth off the stone monument, with the words engraved:
'Dedicated to Peter Parker:
Senior at Midtown High School.
Friend.
Ally.
Brave.
Loyal.
Champion.
The one and only Spider-Man.'
And on the stone memorial, were messages by the entire student body, expressing their gratitude, their thanks and their apologies.
But everyone agreed on one message the most. And it was engraved in gold plating at the bottom of the monument.
'You're our hero, Peter Parker.'
Eh-heh. Um, yeah. This is my first time writing a Spider-Man fic.
I'm diverting from what I write about the most: The Hunger Games. But I wanted to try something different, and I was intrigued by Spider-Man, I've always loved him.
So, anyway, it's my first time and sorry if I got anything wrong, so no flames please?
I liked the beginning of this fic, I wasn't much on my writing towards the end. But yeah.
Anyway, thank you for reading and reviews are appreciated (: