Chapter 1: New Beginnings

"Breaking news tonight here in New York City. Adrian Toomes, a.k.a., the Vulture, is once again in custody after being defeated by Spider-Man a few nights ago. He has been imprisoned in the Ravencroft Institute of the Criminally Insane. Unfortunately, Adrian's accomplice and notorious crime boss Wilson Fisk is on the loose, and he is believed to be armed. As of the ongoing investigation into the death of Valeria Toomes, Adrian Toomes' daughter, Spider-Man is the prime suspect since the other suspect MacDonald Gargan, a.k.a., the Scorpion, was killed by Adrian Toomes."

Angry, Peter changed the channel to a different news station, where he saw some other breaking news.

"Norman Osborn, founder of Oscorp, has been hospitalized after suffering from an alleged seizure. It's unknown what caused the seizure, and it's unclear if he's going to make it."

Shocked, Peter immediately thought about Harry, wondering if he knew.

"Harry…"

Harry ran into the hospital after finding out the news about his father. He ran to the front desk and asked for his father's room information. A nurse escorted him to the room where he saw his unconscious father in his bed.

"Is he gonna be okay?"

"We don't know. It's too soon to tell," the nurse responded. "He's in a coma."

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"We'll let you know of anything."

"Thank you," Harry said before the nurse walked out.

A few hours later, Harry was sitting next to his father, holding his hand and praying that he wouldn't lose him, especially after their argument. As he prayed, he saw Peter walk in.

"Pete."

"Harry, I heard about what happened. I'm so sorry," Peter sighed as he hugged his best friend.

"Thanks, Pete," Harry responded.

"How is he?" Peter asked.

"The nurse said it's hard to tell whether he's gonna live or die, but he's in a coma."

"Did you hear more about what happened?"

"Remember that enhancer drug stuff that my dad wanted to accomplish?"

Peter nodded.

"Well, he finally tested it, and something went wrong. Apparently, the effects of the serum were too much for him to handle, and it didn't mix well with his respiratory system. As a result, he's completely out for the count." Harry sadly continued while he stared at his father.

Peter could see the pain in Harry's eyes. He wasn't completely sure, and he didn't want to tell Harry, but he had the biggest hunch that Norman wasn't gonna make it. That only made him feel more terrible. He knew what it was like to lose a father figure. Twice.

"Don't worry, Harry. It's gonna be fine. I promise," Peter assured him.

"I hope you're right."

7 Months Later

It was late August, and the first day of school had arrived. Over the summer, Peter had really done nothing but fight crime, hang out with Harry a little (mostly in the hospital), and study for the ACT, although not much studying was required. He'd talked with Liz a little bit over text, but things still felt kind of awkward after he rejected her.

Walking into school, Peter felt good being a junior. He hadn't faced any big or powerful threat since his fight with the Vulture, so it was a huge breath of relief to just be dealing with small-time criminals and start a new year.

"Harry!" Peter called once he saw his best friend walking through the hallway.

Harry stopped and waited for Peter to catch up to him.

"How's everything been lately?" Peter asked.

"Just okay. Norman hasn't woken up yet," Harry sadly admitted.

"I'm sorry, Harry."

"I just have to try not to think about it. It was a mistake bringing it up," Harry said. "Have you talked to Liz at all?"

"We texted a little, but that was it. Not really interested in her anymore."

"Yo, Pete!"

Peter and Harry turned to see Flash walking towards them. He then threw his arms around Peter and Harry.

"What's going on, guys?" Flash chuckled. "How was your summer?"

"Not too exciting," Peter responded.

"Hey, Harry, how's your dad doing? Has he woken up yet?"

Peter gave Flash a glare, and the jock quickly regretted what he said.

"Honestly, I don't want to talk about it," Harry reaffirmed, walking away.

Peter and Flash could only stare at the rich kid walk to his first class, not knowing how to help him.

"How was your summer, Flash?"

"Great. Spent a lot of time at football camp. Still the quarterback."

In his AP Calculus class, Peter just sat back in his chair, not paying attention to the teacher since he already knew the material. He had been contemplating everything that had happened since he had first gotten his powers on that fateful field trip last year.

Although the spider bite had given Peter these unimaginable powers, it had also caused terrible things as well, mainly revolving around deaths of the people he loved such as Uncle Ben and Valeria.

Peter had always vowed to make sure nobody would ever find out his identity because that only increased the chances of his loved ones getting hurt. He also couldn't stop thinking about how he could've prevented the deaths of Uncle Ben and Valeria. Because of the mistakes he had made, he had inadvertently hurt others as a result. Aunt May, Valeria's mom, Adrian…

Peter quickly raised his hand in the air.

"Can I go to the bathroom?" Peter blurted out.

The teacher nodded, and Peter walked out of the classroom.

Running into the bathroom, which was luckily empty, Peter placed his face in his hands and leaned against the sink, devastated.

"It's about the decisions you make. Whatever you do always affects your future, so you have to handle your decisions well and make sure you do the right thing. With great power, there must also come great responsibility."

"Family isn't just blood. They're your friends, too. And I'm glad you're my family in the end…"

Yelling in despair, Peter slammed his hand on the sink, breaking it and spraying water everywhere. Not even caring, Peter stormed out of the bathroom.

A week after the school year had started, Norman was still in his hospital bed, lying in a coma, as he had been for the past seven months. Everyone at Oscorp, as well as Norman's family, was undeniably worried, particularly Harry. So much time had passed, and it didn't look like things were going to get better. In fact, the more time that went by, the more worries that were formed.

Harry was sitting next to his unconscious father as he had been every day since his father was first hospitalized. Silently praying every day that his dad would wake up, Harry's hope was starting to diminish.

At that exact moment, however, Norman's eyes opened, and he burst out of the bed, surprised.

"What the f-," Harry stuttered. "Doctor!"

A doctor ran into the room and was surprised by what he saw.

"You've got to be kidding me. You're up!" the doctor shouted in shock.

"How long was I out?" Norman asked, puzzled.

"Seven months," the doctor responded.

Norman's eyes widened. "You're kidding."

"It's true, Dad," Harry assured.

The doctor ran out to get more people to help, and Harry hugged his dad.

"I'm glad you're awake, Dad. I'm really sorry about the way I acted before..."

"You're forgiven, Harry. It's just good to see you again."

At the cemetery, Peter was kneeling in front of Valeria's grave, still guilt-ridden over what had happened.

"I'm so sorry, Valeria," Peter apologized with tears in his eyes. "After my Uncle Ben had died, I vowed to never let anyone die because of me. I failed. I failed my uncle, I failed your family, but most of all...I failed you. You weren't that stereotypical popular girl. You were more than that. You were part of my family. I can't promise I won't ever let anyone else die, because with all this power, it's not entirely guaranteed. And I don't want to break a promise."

Peter put his hands on his face and continued crying for the next few minutes. Eventually, police sirens were heard. Peter turned around to see a getaway truck escaping from two cruisers. Sighing, Peter started to unbutton his shirt, revealing the infamous Spider-Man logo.

About a minute later, Spider-Man was swinging towards the truck, ready to do what he does best.

Norman and Harry walked inside the mansion. For Norman, it felt too good to walk inside his home for the first time in months.

"How does it feel to be back home?" Harry excitedly asked.

Norman smiled. "Like I never left."

"Oh, Norman!"

Norman looked up at the stairwell to see his wife Emily running towards him. Kind, caring, and beautiful, Emily had been married to Norman for the past twenty years, but over time, their marriage had started to slightly deteriorate due to Norman's devotion to his work. However, Emily was more than excited to see her husband again, and she felt like this could be a fresh start. She was in a golden dress, her makeup was done, and her brown hair was straightened.

"Well, look who it is!" Norman laughed as he walked towards his wife, hugging her.

"I missed you so much," Emily admitted as she lovingly embraced her husband. "I'm so happy you're okay."

"I am, too. Being here with my family couldn't feel better," Norman happily stated.

"Anyways, I have a fancy meal prepared to celebrate this day," Emily revealed. "Let's go eat."

Norman, Emily, and Harry walked into the dining room, where a beautiful feast was waiting.

"Harry, will you help me with something in the kitchen?" Emily requested.

"Sure, Mom," Harry said, following his mom into the kitchen.

Norman sat down, feeling at home again. He firmly grabbed a glass, only for it to shatter, causing his hand to start bleeding.

"What the hell? Emily!"

Emily walked over to Norman and noticed his bleeding hand.

"How did-"

"I don't know, but it stings."

"All right, I'll get the first-aid kit," Emily said as she walked out of the room.

Although he could feel the mild pain, Norman somehow felt better. In fact, he felt way better than he ever had before. He still needed to do some research on how it had happened. Obviously, the experiment was the only possible explanation, but it had failed.

A smile slowly formed on Norman's face as he thought about everything that was happening.

Norman's hand was wrapped in gauze while he and his family were eating, which was a slightly awkward meal since no one was talking. No one knew what to say to Norman since he had been home. They wanted to comfort him about the serum failing, but they were afraid that he'd get angry.

"So, Harry, who visited me while I was in the hospital?" Norman wondered.

"I was there everyday," Harry answered. "A lot of Oscorp people were there. I don't know of any names, though."

"That's all?" Norman asked, surprised.

Harry nodded.

"You weren't there, Emily?"

"I just couldn't see you that way, Norman. You were asleep. I didn't know if you were going to wake up." Emily defended.

"Well, it's nice to know my wife was able to support me while I was unconscious," Norman mocked.

"Do you know how hard it was for me?"

"You seem pretty devastated to me," Norman said sarcastically.

"Not everything is about you, Norman."

"And not everything is about you. You don't care about this marriage," Norman responded coldly.

"I care more about it than you do," Emily countered. "All you do is cause trouble for people."

"Like who?"

"Adrian Toomes. If you hadn't fired him, he wouldn't have gone crazy. He nearly killed you, and he could've killed Harry!" Emily scolded.

"And if he wasn't a terrible employee, he wouldn't have needed to be fired," Norman countered.

"This is coming from the man who arrogantly stole his project idea. Hell, I'm not even shocked that you didn't apologize or do anything to fix it. You never do, and you're no different than him."

Angered by his wife's words, Norman stood up and threw his napkin on the table.

"What a nice way to be welcomed back home," Norman said before walking out, leaving Harry extremely uncomfortable.

Thanks for reading the first chapter of Vol. 2! Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to the readers who have stuck with us since Vol. 1. Reviews are greatly appreciated.

Next chapter: Peter makes a new friend who can help him move on from losing Valeria.