Before we start, a message from myself and justimtaylor98:
A huuuuuuuuuge apologies for our tardiness in delivering this chapter, we've been kinda busy, orders at work, health and family issues...
With that said, we are now going to buckle down and REALLY work with our co-writers to get chapters of this out sooner rather than later. And this time we mean it. And speaking of chapters, you can rest assured that this story will continue into Avengers Infinity War, Endgame and Spiderman Away from Home at the very least. So yes, you can finally look forward to our versions of Tommy, Rocky, Adam and Aisha in the coming chapters., along with how the Rangers interact with other MCU characters
With that in mind, enjoy the fnal chapter before the big cilmax...and shippers? This ship is JUST about to set sail.
Responsibility and Rita
Last we saw our hero, his identity had been revealed by the teens he had slowly been becoming friends with as Peter Parker and had been mentoring as Spider-man.
Our hero was now genuinely wishing he had trained under ninjas; a smoke bomb for a quick escape would be so appreciated now...Wait, that would just make more of a spectacle and only add to their suspicion.
"Tell them" a familiar voice suddenly boomed, loud enough for them all to hear. "You might as well, under-roos. And before you comment, this payback for hanging up on me."
"Is...is that Tony Stark?" Billy asked.
...
...
For a full minute, no one said anything.
"So...wait." Zack asked. "Tony Stark. Billionaire playboy..."
"EX-playboy, thank you very much!" Tony butt in with an indignified tone. "I'm happily engaged!"
"...Tony Stark works for Spider-man?"
"No, Spider-Man works for Iron Man!" The billionaire snapped. "And again, no worrries; no one else can hear. So, go to the Wizard of Oz and explain everything!"
He then ended the call.
"...Wizard of Oz?" Jason asked.
"Think he means Zordo...OH, I get it now!" Trini laughed, then glared at Peter "But seriously. We need answers. Let's move it."
SMPR
2 hours later, the web-slinger and his friends sat in the Command centre as he finished his tale: The spider-bite, his brief careers as a wrestler and TV star...and that fateful night.
The sensation of pain at the memories of Uncle Ben returned now, but something had changed thanks to his talk to Mr. Rhodes earlier that week.
"How...? How the heck?" Kimberly asked, tears stinging her eyes at her lab partner's story.
"How what?"
"How the hell do you do it?" Zack asked. "School with kickass grades? Stopping muggings and fighting crazy supervillains? Saving people from fires?"
"Help the Avengers?" Billy added.
Whatever drama the Rangers had been feeling, they felt they no longer had room to complain. Rven Zordon and Alpha were surprised at Peter's reslove.
"Well..." Peter paused, trying to find the right words. "...I really dunno how I do it. Honestly, recently I've thought of stopping and trying to live as a normal teen. But...whenever something happens and I can do something about it, I can't leave it alone for long. I guess...you could say that with great power, comes great responsibility."
Not as inspiring as he'd hoped it would be, our hero mused...or at least that's what he thought. Because in the following minutes, he would fine himself hugged, back patted and saluted:
Suffice it to say, respect for him had gone up exponentially, and not one of the Rangers didn't shed at least one tear.
Jason remembered Peter's words from when he had moved in and at Denny's with Billy and was now grateful his prank had gone south, as well as determined to make ammends with his family. Billy and Zack had outright hugged Peter, the latter now wishing he had never been a jerk to the young superhero and Billy having to be told that it was okay to be a fan of Peter.
Kimberly had thanked Peter for everything; the project, he;ping her care about it, and the training as Spiderman. She also added that it was a lot to figure out the exchange student was a superhero, onlu to agree with Billy it did make sense.
Trini had been the last to react; she walked straight up to Peter and hugged him as well. Peter had frozen at this and awkwardly return the hug. He did not fail to notice the approving looks of Jason, Billy and Kimberly. Heck, even Zack gave him a thumbs up.
Zordon, as ancient as he was, had been moved by the young Avenger's tale. So moved in fact, that he decided to forgo his backup plan. If a boy like Peter could be a hero...why not give the rangers a chance.
Alpha had, for lack of a better term, burst into wails and also hugged Peter, apologizing for not treating Spider-Man with respect and then trying to make it seem like he had always been a supporter of the hero but had to act with disapproval for Zordon's sake.
Regardless of it all; it felt good to be Peter Parker right now.
"Hey, um...Out of curiosity," Peter asked once everyone calmed down. "If you guys had been wrong and I wasn't Spider-man, how would you have recovered from that?"
Zack opened his mouth and rose a finger, only for nothing to come out. He turned to Kimberly.
"What WOULD we have done?"
Evidently, none of them had thought of that, with all the shrugs and 'dunnos'.
An alarm suddenly rang; Trini's phone.
"Ah, crap! I promised to watch my brother today! My folks are going to kill me!"
An idea came to Peter.
"I might have an idea."
SMPR
Loud hurrahs and cheers filled the air over the town.
"THIS IS SO FREAKING COOL!"
To heck with being the cool loner; Trini would be a fool to deny that being web-swung home was one of the coolest things to ever happen to her:
The wind ripping through her hair, the spins through the air Peter would do, the close calls with hitting walls and buildings and looking down to see the city and people scurrying about their days, almost looking like colourful ants.
Peter couldn't help but admire the scene of his new crush admiring what he saw every time whenever he went web-slinging. Especially when they finally came to her house.
"Are you SURE your no gymnast?" She teased as she got off his back.. "Cause if you ever decide to do something other than superhero work, you'd kill at the Olympics."
"Spider reflexes." Peter explained, catching his breath.
"Thanks again, Peter." Trini smiled, giving him a slight hug as she knocked on the door. "Good luck at the Science Fair tomorrow. I'll pop by if I can."
The hug and that promise just made Peter's week and our hero then web-swung the rest of his way to the Scott home, a big, dumb grin on his face. And he did not care.
Jason's knowing gaze never left whenever he spied his friend. But he said nothing.
Partially because he and Kimberly had had a simular encounter.
SMPR
'Typical.' Peter thought. 'Just typical.'
The dreaded 'Parker luck', as some call it, demands that for every good moment in Peter Benjamin Parker's life, something monumentally horrible must come along to remind him that the universe hated him.
Today was no exception, as upon falling asleep on the couch, he suddenly sensed someone approaching him with ill intent. Jetting awake, he accidentally shot web at them, but it was caught and he was thrown to the floor with a shapr staff suddenly at his neck.
"Yeah, you're DEFINITELY a Rita."
Her form screamed 'evil and badass.' Honestly, Peter had kind of been hoping/ praying for a cranky witch who he could give headaches to with his jokes and puns. But no. As usual, the universe decided to deny him this request.
"And you must be this...Spider-Man? I'll make this quick." She said. "You know what I want. I'm going to take it soon. When that happens...Just look the other way. I'll leave this planet be when I get the Zeo Crsytal. Besides, you barley know these people; no one would blame you for sticking to yourself.I mean, its clear I am way above what you're used to fighting."
Rita might have succeed if she'd asked this to Peter when he was starting out. Before his mistakes cost people's lives. Before he fought with legends of his own world.
But now?
She had underestimated him.
"I can't ever look the other way again." Peter growled, taking a stance. "Win or lose, I WILL stand in your way."
The evil former Ranger seemed amused by this, with an evil, amused smile on her face.
"Your funeral, human." Rita then vanished.
"...I am REALLY starting to miss Vulture now." Peter mused to himself.
It would be a sleepless night, and the next day would be the most challenging of his life.
To be continued...