Shout Outs: Thanks to Master Skywalk 121 for reviewing the story. Thanks to Sonar for reviewing the story. Thanks to nataku2709 for reviewing the story.


Chapter 29: Remorse

Peter stared at the broken window as the image of Tony Stark being thrown out as though it was nothing. His heart skipped a beat and his mind was all mixed up; he felt numbness creeping up his body while he was trying to have a hard time to process what just happened.

No…

That didn't happen…

That didn't happen…

Peter felt his blood run cold, still trying to comprehend what had happened at this moment.

That couldn't have happened…

This was Iron Man Peter was talking about. Nothing stops that guy. Not even death. And in a few seconds, Peter would see the hovering red and gold suit at the window, ready to end this battle with him. Yes, that would happen.

"And so ends the great Tony Stark…"

"Mr. Stark? Come now, Parker. I'm your legal guardian now and I want you to drop those formal names. If you want…um…" Tony shifted awkwardly in his seat. "You can call me…um…dad…you know if you want to," Tony said quickly as he saw the stun look from Peter. "It's cool if you don't want to but I'm just—"

"I would love to—"Peter suddenly blurted out which surprised Tony who blinked.

"Oh? Oh um okay. That's cool too…" Tony slightly grinned.

Peter fell to his knees as he stated out at the window. Grief and anguish were mixed in his emotions as he finally realized that Tony was not coming back.

He let out something horrible, mourning for his deceased guardian. No, dad.

"Oh come now. Think of it," Otto spoke. "There's no more Tony Stark. No more parent on what to tell you what to do. No more restraint. Think of what you could do now that he's gone..."

Peter wasn't able to hear him at all since he was being devastated, his mind lost and confused; no longer comprehending about anything.

"There'll be a new Spider Man..." his voice hissed.

Snap out of it, Pete.

Shaking, Peter just managed to have his concentration back but he wished he didn't since all he could now feel is rage and hatred that was boiling in his blood.

"NEVER!" Peter roared.

And then, Peter slammed into Otto by throwing him backwards. Eyes blinded from anger, Peter released his webs but that only made Otto had his tentacles to rip it apart before grabbing Peter by the ankle and threw him away.

But instead of flying from out of sight, Peter sling shot himself, kicking Otto back with a powerful kick. Peter landed on the ground but he didn't wasted a second since he automatically fired his webs at the tentacle but it grabbed it.

The arm pulled Peter from behind though he landed back on the ground. And then, he rapid fire his webs so that all four of the tentacles were now tied with his webs.

Peter started to pull them back, mustering every strength he has. Otto screamed in pain as he felt the arms being pulled apart by force. He thrashed around but Peter stood his ground.

"Get off me, you little insect!"

Grunting, Peter resumed his pull until at the last pull, he felt a small budge; a small tear was heard. Small sparks sparked out as they got ripped apart until finally, Peter got them off but in doing so, it made the top of the arms rip a large tear across the ceiling as Peter flipped them over.

The ceiling started to tumble down though Spider Man quickly moved away but Otto was in too much as his neck and below bled furiously. The blood trailing down the path of where the arms had once attached to him.

And then, in a quick movement, Otto got buried from the rocks, ending him in a quick death.

Peter stared at the rubbles as he detached himself from the side of the wall.

"Good riddance," he muttered.

After he retrieved Stacy's body, Peter lowered himself all the way to the ground but he didn't notice that there was a large crowd that was gathering.

Either he didn't noticed or he didn't cared.

But as he placed Stacy down on the ground, he heard a voice, a horror one.

"Daddy?"

It was faint but he could hear it.

"Dad!" the voice screamed. The person shoved through the crowd, desperately getting herself to her father.

Peter looked up and saw Gwen who had a tear face stain.

"I'm sorry..." Spider Man whispered before he got up and walked towards the lifeless body of Tony.

Sobbing, Peter crumpled to his knees as he placed his hand on the lifeless armor where the arc reactor was no longer glowing.

In the crowd, two other people were shoving through the people. Michelle gasped as Harry caught up to her. Numbly, she walked towards Peter, falling to her knees before she cradled Peter in her arms.

"Peter..." she whispered, her eyes in pain as she watched Gwen wailing. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."


After the battle, Peter found himself back at the avengers' facility, staring at the empty shell of the Iron suit. The darkened sky still hadn't got cleared but it was no longer raining.

Soft footsteps were heard but Peter chose to ignore it.

"You see what you bring to this city, Spider Man?" Otto said softly. "You bring fear. You bring chaos. You bring death…And who's to blame but yourself? Surely, not Iron Man. He could only put restrain on you for a bit but you…you just break free and head into the city without a thought. You don't care what happens to the people."

Otto's voice echoed through his mind.

"Peter..."

Peter didn't bother to turn back.

"How...what...happened...?" Happy's quiet voice came.

Was that a small tremble in his voice?

Peter slightly whirled to the side, stealing a glance from the side before he started to walk away as Happy spoke.

"If you were maybe to tell someone..." Happy began but sighed when Peter wasn't talking to him. "The arrangements have been made..." he spoke out loudly.

This time, Peter stopped in his tracks. Seeing that Happy got Peter's attention, he resumed talking but in a quiet voice though Peter could still hear him.

"It'll come in a few weeks' time…"

Stiffly, Peter spoke. He had to know. "Will the others come?"

There was a small silence before Happy answered. "Yes. Also," Happy continued as he walked towards him, forcing Peter to turn around to stare at him.

Happy winced as he stared at the grief-stricken look from Peter. He felt so sorry for the boy; he practically lost everyone. Shaking, Happy had his hand go at the back of his jean pocket, pulling out a white envelope and gave it to Peter.

"Tony Stark wanted to give you this," Happy whispered.

After the battle, Peter went back to his dorm by entering through his window before locking it. Shaking, Peter fell down to his knees as sobs emitted out of his body. He was so deep in grief that he wasn't even aware that the door had been broken in half or the fact that Harry had entered in only to join the despair Peter.

The two settled in silence, allowing the horrible wails filling the room.

"I could've saved him…" Peter gasped through his sobs. "I just stood there like an idiot and made him took the attack…Otto's right…I'm not a hero…I just bring death to those around me and to the city…it's all my fault," he wept.

"Peter…what happened at that tower…? Please…I need to know…Gwen needs to know. She's devastated. Her dad…"

Peter shook his head, not bothering wiping his tears from his face. That damn tower brought too much bad memories and it's something he didn't want to remember it.

Harry sighed. "In all honesty, Peter. As Spider Man, you owe Gwen an explanation."

"She'll hate me," he wailed. "She won't talk to me…"

"It's the least you could. If you won't tell me then at least tell her. After all, her dad was involved with the battle. You owe her that much."

Peter took in a deep shaky breath before he spoke. "He killed Tony. Otto. When Tony went to check up on me after the fire extinguisher got blasted, Otto had one of his arm tentacles pierce right through his armor…his body…I sensed my spider sense going off and I didn't do anything other than calling out his name…I'm a murderer," Peter moaned.

Harry grabbed Peter's shoulders fiercely as he made Peter look at him. "Look at me," he commanded.

When Peter forced himself to look at him, all Harry could see were the broken lifeless eyes that no longer had a shine to them.

"You're not a murderer. You're Peter Parker. You're Spider Man. You're one of the bravest person I had ever met. Let's face it: if I had powers like yours and I needed to what you're doing, I wouldn't do it. I would just turn back and try to forget I ever had powers. Forget what Otto said. You're a hero. Not a curse. You're a blessing to this city. Not a plague."

"Then why do I keep bringing the losses? No matter what I do, no matter how many people I try to save, innocent people dies…" Peter whispered.

"You can't really escape death. It's a part of the grieving process but it makes you stronger. And if I know anything, it's that Peter Parker doesn't give up."

Once Harry had made Peter release everything he had bottled up, Harry left the bedroom so that he wouldn't disturb Peter's sleep. Peter had fallen asleep on him after he told him everything and eventually, after so much crying and beating himself up for whatever faults Peter had made, fatigue took over Peter which made Harry carry him to his bed.

Eventually, Peter found himself opening his eyes as he found himself face to face to a wall. Stifling a yawn, Peter pushed himself up, rubbing his eyes while a blanket which covered him fell off him.

He looked around the room, trying to figure out when he fell asleep. He honestly didn't remember going to sleep in the first place let alone even going to bed but he certainly felt a bit refreshed although the wounds from the battle still hadn't healed his broken heart.

Staring at his bed, Peter made his mind up and threw the rest of the blanket away from him as he got up and faced at the window.

There was something else he had to do.


Gwen sniffed.

She hadn't stopped crying ever since she had saw the death of her dad. And to make things worse, Spider Man had just left her there without no explanation as to what actually had happened. He only whispered a 'sorry' and then left to mourn for Tony.

Tony…

Gwen couldn't believe that Tony Stark was dead. The most respected man was dead and obviously, that is going to be a huge deal for everyone. No matter how many pages Gwen had read through the newspaper, she would always see his name or even mention of him.

Even if Tony Stark was a respected man, Gwen was still interested in her father's death and how it happened but it was overruled by Tony Stark's death.

TONY STARK HAD JOINED HOWARD STARK IN DEATH

Angrily, Gwen threw the paper away as she was no longer interested in the Stark family. Yes, they were important but so was her dad. He was also in the battle as well, fighting alongside with the Great Tony Stark.

"Dad, I've missed you…" Gwen whispered as fresh set of tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Um…hey Gwen…"

Startled, Gwen gasped as she turned around and saw Spider Man who came through the balcony's door entrance. Gwen simply stared at him with jaw open, goggling at him. It took her a while before she snapped herself back to reality.

"How'd you get in here? Ever heard of privacy?" Gwen asked angrily.

"I'm sorry," Spider Man stammered. "I've…um…pick pocketed the lock and well…you know…" Spider Man slid the door open. "It…opened…"

Gwen shot him a dirty look. "Well, that's what happens when you do that. Why are you here? If you honestly came here to tell me about that door then please go away. You have no business here," Gwen replied, turning around so that Spider Man wouldn't see her crying again.

It's strange though. Gwen hadn't really seen Spider Man this close before. Sure, she had seen a small figure of him, flying through the city into the distance but not this close. It was almost intimidating.

Peter felt his heart being broken again as he saw the state of Gwen.

"Gwen…" Spider Man spoke. "I'm sorry," he responded, walking towards Gwen who was a bit stiff as she felt him close to her.

"How did it happen?" Gwen sniffed. "How did my dad died?" she whirled to stare at the mask. "Please…I need…I need to know…"

Peter lowered his head down. In all honesty, he doesn't actually know how her dad died. All he know was that he found Stacy's body on a pile of rocks with Tony telling him that Stacy's gone. The only one who knows about what really happened were Tony and Otto.

"To be honest, I don't know myself. I was too busy fighting with the Green Goblin who has been finally stopped. When I got to the Tower, I saw Stacy being on the pile of rocks. I'm assuming there was a large explosion that took place and it sort of…crumbled…" Peter whispered. "I'm so sorry. Stacy…Captain Stacy…he was a good man. I know we had a rocky relationship but he trusted me enough to continue to roam around the city…he was a good man and he didn't deserve to die…"

Gwen stifled a sob. "W—what about Stark? I knew he was very close to you and this also must be very hard on you…I'm so sorry…"

Peter nodded slowly. "I…I guess that's life…I guess that's how it goes…"

Regardless, the end of the week had came by quickly but the talks of Tony Stark's death were still roaming around the halls. There were some whispers and occasionally glances at Peter who hung his head low while his hoodie was covering his face.

He walked down the halls with his hands stuffed in his pocket. But as the week came to an end though, he was constantly reminded that Tony Stark's funeral would come quickly. It was to be taken place in the evening but regardless though, Peter wasn't sure how the funeral would go.

Would it be private?

Peter doubt it since the whole world knows about the death. It may be broad cast but there would be at least some people who would come to attend to the actual funeral.

Michelle scowled at the people who kept giving Peter stares. She honestly feel bad for Peter since he had lost everyone he ever loved. Sure, he had her and Harry but it just wasn't the same.

"You will be alright?" Michelle asked, feeling sympathy for the boy.

Peter nodded solemnly. There was a small pause.

"I'll see you later…" Peter whispered, earning a nod from Michelle.

Michelle sighed as she watched Peter opening the door before closing it. What happens now, Michelle doesn't know. Nevertheless, she walked away from the door as she went down the hall to her dorm. She still has packing to do and plus, to console a friend as well.

Peter began to pack once he entered his room though he gave a small weak smile to Harry who also had the same idea about packing earlier. Sure, they could've done it tomorrow but Peter felt that it was best to do it today. Without a word, Peter went to his closet to pick out his stuff including his suitcase but as after picking the suitcase, a letter fell out of his sweater pocket.

He stopped what he was doing and bend down to grab the white envelope. He stared at it as he remembered Happy who had given it to him. Not wanting to open it now, Peter stuffed it back in his pocket and began to pack.

Once they were done, Peter hung out with Michelle and Harry. Gwen was no longer to be seen but even if the weather was beautiful, it seemed to mock them. They would spend with each other until it was time for them to go to the funeral. Peter couldn't help but to have tears roll down his face as Happy had picked them up from the school.

This was it.

Peter was really going to say goodbye to Tony. And he wasn't even ready at all.

The graveyard rolled into the view and the limo stopped.

"Ready?" Michelle whispered.

Peter shook his head. "No. I'm not ready to say goodbye."

After composing himself, Peter got out of the car followed by Michelle and Harry. It was rather a large crowd. Among the crowd were the Avengers themselves, all surrounding the large hole that had been dug so that the large black coffin could be put inside. But to add a nice touch, there was a medium size statue of Tony Stark in his Iron Man suit, towering above the grave.

Peter took no notice of the crowd; he was trying to prepare himself to say goodbye.

The trio stood in front of the empty hole that was ready to be covered by the casket. But the fact that he was staring at the grave didn't help his tears since it betrayed him. Sniffling, Peter stole a glance to the side and saw that next to Tony's tomb were his parents but Peter quickly averted his gaze and stared at Tony's grave.

Peter sensed a presence that was next to him but he disregarded it.

"I'm so sorry…" the voice whispered.

Peter wiped his tears away as he lifted his head only to see Black Widow with a mournful look on her face. Peter gave the weakest smile he had ever muster but he hadn't said anything.

After everything had settled in, the Priest made his appearance and he began to speak.

"We often say that death could not be forecasted. When we say this, we imagine this hour would be in a distant future. We never thought we would be thinking about Tony Stark as a memory…"

As the Priest continued to talk, away from the cemetery, the Priest's voice seemed to be carried within the small breeze from the wind, down the busy roads until it reached the Times Square where the funeral was being broadcasted all over. The Times Square ended up being incredibly crowded as the people watched the funeral; each of them carrying a candle to respect the man who was clad in a red and gold suit.

But as the scene was pulled away, it was lifted upwards where a shape was formed by the crowd. The formation of the audience was made into the form of Iron Man from the thousands of candles that had been lit up, creating the outline.

"…Those we love don't go away. They walk beside us every day…unseen, unheard, but always near, still loved, still missed and very dear…" the scene seemed to be shifted back to the cemetery. "By so saying we bid you farewell and good night to your physical body. As we know that you will forever be in spirit…"

The coffin was finally put in the hole but the Priest's voice was still being heard as Peter had a handful of dirt in his fist. He stare at the black coffin for a while until he finally let go of the dirt that had hit the casket with a soft thud. After the speech, Peter pulled himself away from the crowd; he needed to get away. He only was surrounded with Harry and Michelle who was beside him.

There were some people who said their sorrows to Peter though he didn't even know half of them but he took their griefs from politeness.

"What happens now?" Michelle asked, interrupting the silence.

Peter shrugged. "I…I don't know…but I know for sure is that I'm not going back."

Michelle and Harry widened their eyes as they stared at Peter with surprised and confused looks.

"Not going back? What do you mean?" Harry asked, baffled.

"Exactly that," Peter spoke. "I'm not going back. I'm not going to the University. I'm going to finish my job as Spider Man so that I could finally put an end to my legacy. I'm going to seek out the villains and end them once and for all. I'm going to finish my plan."

"Your plan?" Harry paused. "You mean, you're still set on going back in time to revive Stromm?"

Michelle stared at him with an incredulous look. "You're going back in time? Peter, are you insane?!"

Peter shrugged. "One would say that I am but I know that this has to happen. I've just got a gut feeling that it would work. That the answers of what I'm looking for would be discovered in the past."

"Then let us go with you," Michelle blurted out.

"No. I can't. It's too dangerous. I'm not letting someone else who's close to me to get killed. No. You guys are important to me and I need you to stay alive. Please. Happy will take care of you two. Along with Gwen who still doesn't who I am but Happy's smart. You'll be safe with him."

Michelle stared at him. "Are you sure?" she whispered, feeling the threatening tears coming into her eyes.

Peter sucked in a breath as he stared at her. He nodded at last. "Yes. I'm sure. This is what Tony would want me to do," he whispered. "I don't know when I'll be back. It's going to take a while…but please stay safe…"

Tears blurring her eyesight, Michelle threw herself on to Peter but the tears betrayed her since she started sobbing.

"I know you already made Tony Stark proud," she pulled herself away. "But please, Pete…Come back to us…come back to us, safe and sound…"

Peter nodded. "I will…I promise."

Harry gave him a tight hug where Peter returned the gesture as well before they pulled off. Exhaling the breath, Peter went back to his spot as they stared out at the beyond where the sun had finally took its last breath.

Author's Note: I'm not crying. Are you crying? I'm not crying *blows nose* the fact that Peter had never got a chance to call Tony 'dad' just tears my heart T_T but holy crap. Book six is done; one more chapter to go and then holy flippin stuff. But what do you think that envelope is? BOOK SEVEN IS COMING OUT SOON, Y'ALL! *screams eternally* I WOULD NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD MAKE THIS FAR! THIS IS SO TRULY FLIPPIN AMAZING! THANK YOU GUYS! THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO SHARE THIS WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE! THANK YOU!