Chapter 8
Peter was standing in his bedroom looking down into his chest. There, neatly folded was his Spider-Man costume and his spare face mask. He stood there above the chest staring down at the costume which seemed to stare back at him, wondering why it was being abandoned. The haunting image of the young girl was sketched deep into his memory, making sure he would never forget it.
"Good-bye old friend. I'm sorry to do this to you, Spider-Man, but I can't handle the pressure anymore. Maybe this was a sign for me. I'm going to be the scientist I've always wanted to be and I'm going to settle down and marry Mary Jane. Take care of yourself." Peter closed the chest and locked it with the key.
* * * *
Peter and Mary Jane were sitting on the couch together watching the news, literately: The television was on mute. Mary Jane noticed that he was holding a newspaper in his hand, but was not reading it. It was crumpled up in his hand as if he had been squeezing the life out of it before she had arrived. Sensing his stress, she thought it was best not to talk about it until he was ready. She knew something was going on in his life.
"So Peter, how are your classes going?"
"Doing, great. I was falling a little behind because of all things I am doing, but I think things are about to get better. How are you doing? What have you been doing to keep yourself busy?"
"I'm going out of my mind, Peter. I am so bored. I can't wait to get back to acting. I wish I could take some of the load off your shoulders so I can keep busy," Mary Jane laughed.
Peter smiled as he glanced onto the television and saw the image of Spider-Man web slinging, and he knew instantly what they were reporting. The memories which he had successfully held back for a good time came flooding back like a tidal wave.
"Peter, what's wrong?"
Peter realized that he was crunching the paper tightly in his hand; so tightly that his veins were bulging. He did not reply to Mary Jane. Peter jumped to his feet and threw the paper down and walked out of the room.
Mary Jane was totally confused by his sudden change of mood. She looked to the television and saw the image of Spider-Man, and now her curiosity on what was on the front page of the paper had gotten the better of her. She reached down and grabbed the paper and opened it up. She gasped as she read the headline of the Daily Bugle: "Spider-Man Fails!"
"Oh my god," She gasped, covering her mouth with the fingers of her right hand as she began to read the article. She read the first three paragraphs before she put the paper down and looked toward the direction Peter went. Her heart was broken, feeling Peter's pain.
She stood up and went into the dinning room where Peter was sitting on a chair, leaning on his own legs and looking down to the floor. Mary Jane walked up to him and began to rub his back as she knelt down next to him. "I read the paper that you were holding. I can't imagine the pain you must be going through."
Tears were flowing from her eyes down the sides of his face. "She was just a little girl, MJ. She had her whole life in front of her."
"It is horrible what happened to her, but there was nothing you could have done."
"There had to be, MJ?" Peter looked up at her with his teary eyes. "I'm Spider-Man. With all of these abilities, I should have been able to do something, but I failed."
"I know how much this hurts, Peter, but you're not God. You're not all powerful even though you can do all these wonderful things and are using them for good. In the end, you're just as human as all of us."
"My standards has to be higher than most people, MJ. With great power comes great responsibility, and I failed in my responsibility. I failed that young girl just like I failed Uncle Ben. That's why I am done, being Spider-Man."
"Peter, you do not mean that."
"I have never been so serious in my life. Whenever I fail, someone dies: Uncle Ben, Norman Osborn, that little girl. Who is going to die next because I failed? It could be anyone, and even worse it could be Aunt May or yourself. I can't live with that. I won't live with that." Peter stood up. "From this day on, Spider-Man is dead." Peter went to the front door and left the apartment.
Mary Jane stood up and sat down in the chair Peter was sitting on as tears filled her eyes. Her heart was broken to see Peter so broken. What was worse was that she could not help him through this as much as she wanted. No one could help him. Aunt May didn't even know Peter was Spider-Man. She hated the feeling of being so helpless. Peter was going to have to work this out on his own.
* * * *
Dr. Connors was in his laboratory near the end of the day. For the past day and a half, the frustration continued to swell inside of him. Now things were finally looking up. It was finally time to test his no potion.
Over the last few years, he has done a study on lizards and how they can regrow limbs. After research, he discovered that they had a special gene in their DNA code that was responsible for the regenerating limbs. If he could take that gene and add it to any other DNA, perhaps that DNA will accept the gene and that mammals should be able to re-grow limbs as well. Today, it was time to test that theory.
On the table in front of him, in a cage, was a three legged mouse. It had been born missing a leg. Dr. Connors took a syringe and a jar of his green potion. Taking off the cap, he stuck the syringe into the potion and sucked up three CC's of the potion.
He went to the cage and opened the door. He gently held the mouse still as he injected it with his potion. He pumped all 3 CC's into the mouse and took out the needle. He closed the cage as he put the cap on the syringe and properly discarded it. "Now, all I have to do is wait until tomorrow and see if this works." Dr. Connors put the jar in it's secret place where no one would be able to find it: Behind other rarely used chemicals. With that, he was ready to go home and be with his family. If everything worked out, he could test his potion on himself and hope to results through the night. He would only have to make up a reason not to come home for the night. It will cause confusion but it would be all worth it to see his wife's expression when he came walking in with two arms and not one.
He made his way to office so he could pack up and leave. He walked past another chemist on his way to the office. The chemist was doing some last minute work on his project. He reached up on the shelf and grabbed a jar full of red substance and as he pulled it out, he accidentally knocked over a vile of blue substance, but the jar full of Dr. Connor's lizard DNA formula prevented it from crashing to the ground. A few drops of the blue liquid dropped into Dr. Conner's experiment before the chemist straighten up the vile. He never saw that green substance before and saw no reaction from the two drops. It appeared to him that no serious damage was done so he took the jar that he had pulled off the shelf and walked away.
Peter was standing in his bedroom looking down into his chest. There, neatly folded was his Spider-Man costume and his spare face mask. He stood there above the chest staring down at the costume which seemed to stare back at him, wondering why it was being abandoned. The haunting image of the young girl was sketched deep into his memory, making sure he would never forget it.
"Good-bye old friend. I'm sorry to do this to you, Spider-Man, but I can't handle the pressure anymore. Maybe this was a sign for me. I'm going to be the scientist I've always wanted to be and I'm going to settle down and marry Mary Jane. Take care of yourself." Peter closed the chest and locked it with the key.
* * * *
Peter and Mary Jane were sitting on the couch together watching the news, literately: The television was on mute. Mary Jane noticed that he was holding a newspaper in his hand, but was not reading it. It was crumpled up in his hand as if he had been squeezing the life out of it before she had arrived. Sensing his stress, she thought it was best not to talk about it until he was ready. She knew something was going on in his life.
"So Peter, how are your classes going?"
"Doing, great. I was falling a little behind because of all things I am doing, but I think things are about to get better. How are you doing? What have you been doing to keep yourself busy?"
"I'm going out of my mind, Peter. I am so bored. I can't wait to get back to acting. I wish I could take some of the load off your shoulders so I can keep busy," Mary Jane laughed.
Peter smiled as he glanced onto the television and saw the image of Spider-Man web slinging, and he knew instantly what they were reporting. The memories which he had successfully held back for a good time came flooding back like a tidal wave.
"Peter, what's wrong?"
Peter realized that he was crunching the paper tightly in his hand; so tightly that his veins were bulging. He did not reply to Mary Jane. Peter jumped to his feet and threw the paper down and walked out of the room.
Mary Jane was totally confused by his sudden change of mood. She looked to the television and saw the image of Spider-Man, and now her curiosity on what was on the front page of the paper had gotten the better of her. She reached down and grabbed the paper and opened it up. She gasped as she read the headline of the Daily Bugle: "Spider-Man Fails!"
"Oh my god," She gasped, covering her mouth with the fingers of her right hand as she began to read the article. She read the first three paragraphs before she put the paper down and looked toward the direction Peter went. Her heart was broken, feeling Peter's pain.
She stood up and went into the dinning room where Peter was sitting on a chair, leaning on his own legs and looking down to the floor. Mary Jane walked up to him and began to rub his back as she knelt down next to him. "I read the paper that you were holding. I can't imagine the pain you must be going through."
Tears were flowing from her eyes down the sides of his face. "She was just a little girl, MJ. She had her whole life in front of her."
"It is horrible what happened to her, but there was nothing you could have done."
"There had to be, MJ?" Peter looked up at her with his teary eyes. "I'm Spider-Man. With all of these abilities, I should have been able to do something, but I failed."
"I know how much this hurts, Peter, but you're not God. You're not all powerful even though you can do all these wonderful things and are using them for good. In the end, you're just as human as all of us."
"My standards has to be higher than most people, MJ. With great power comes great responsibility, and I failed in my responsibility. I failed that young girl just like I failed Uncle Ben. That's why I am done, being Spider-Man."
"Peter, you do not mean that."
"I have never been so serious in my life. Whenever I fail, someone dies: Uncle Ben, Norman Osborn, that little girl. Who is going to die next because I failed? It could be anyone, and even worse it could be Aunt May or yourself. I can't live with that. I won't live with that." Peter stood up. "From this day on, Spider-Man is dead." Peter went to the front door and left the apartment.
Mary Jane stood up and sat down in the chair Peter was sitting on as tears filled her eyes. Her heart was broken to see Peter so broken. What was worse was that she could not help him through this as much as she wanted. No one could help him. Aunt May didn't even know Peter was Spider-Man. She hated the feeling of being so helpless. Peter was going to have to work this out on his own.
* * * *
Dr. Connors was in his laboratory near the end of the day. For the past day and a half, the frustration continued to swell inside of him. Now things were finally looking up. It was finally time to test his no potion.
Over the last few years, he has done a study on lizards and how they can regrow limbs. After research, he discovered that they had a special gene in their DNA code that was responsible for the regenerating limbs. If he could take that gene and add it to any other DNA, perhaps that DNA will accept the gene and that mammals should be able to re-grow limbs as well. Today, it was time to test that theory.
On the table in front of him, in a cage, was a three legged mouse. It had been born missing a leg. Dr. Connors took a syringe and a jar of his green potion. Taking off the cap, he stuck the syringe into the potion and sucked up three CC's of the potion.
He went to the cage and opened the door. He gently held the mouse still as he injected it with his potion. He pumped all 3 CC's into the mouse and took out the needle. He closed the cage as he put the cap on the syringe and properly discarded it. "Now, all I have to do is wait until tomorrow and see if this works." Dr. Connors put the jar in it's secret place where no one would be able to find it: Behind other rarely used chemicals. With that, he was ready to go home and be with his family. If everything worked out, he could test his potion on himself and hope to results through the night. He would only have to make up a reason not to come home for the night. It will cause confusion but it would be all worth it to see his wife's expression when he came walking in with two arms and not one.
He made his way to office so he could pack up and leave. He walked past another chemist on his way to the office. The chemist was doing some last minute work on his project. He reached up on the shelf and grabbed a jar full of red substance and as he pulled it out, he accidentally knocked over a vile of blue substance, but the jar full of Dr. Connor's lizard DNA formula prevented it from crashing to the ground. A few drops of the blue liquid dropped into Dr. Conner's experiment before the chemist straighten up the vile. He never saw that green substance before and saw no reaction from the two drops. It appeared to him that no serious damage was done so he took the jar that he had pulled off the shelf and walked away.