Volume II: The Molten Man
Note: This will be the fifteenth chapter of Volume II, this will introduce Mark Raxton as he becomes the Molten Man for the first time, he will be on the run from the very people who turned him into a supervillain, Mendal Stromm will go by the codename Robot Master as he hunts down Molten Man. This chapter will also deal with Gwen's experience after the Red Room incident as she's still struggling with her trauma. Liz Allan will be a supporting character as her brother turns to her for help, she then turns to Peter for Spider-Man's help. Steve Rogers will also play a role in helping Gwen through her trauma. Peter is also dealing with issues of his own since the Red Room Incident as he's more driven to being a superhero more than ever.
Also, there will be awkward scenes in this story, please be advised.
It's January 26th, it's nighttime in New York City, at a warehouse in Manhattan, a secret lab is set up, inside has a testing chamber where a man is unconscious inside, his name is Mark Raxton, a criminal and arsonist.
In the other room, Dr. Mendel Stromm is typing his computer and checking the vital signs of the test subject, the whole room is guarded by robot drones created by the scientist himself, the door opened behind him and Donald Menken enters the room.
"Mr. Menken, what a surprise." Dr. Stromm is surprised.
"Dr. Menken, how goes the experiment?" Donald Menken asking Dr. Stromm.
"Not so well, about five of the test subjects have expired during the tests. Leaving only Mr. Raxton her as our last guinea pig." Dr. Stromm informs Donald Menken.
"You better hope that this next test will be a success, finding you test subjects isn't easy." Donald Menken says to Dr. Stromm.
"Not to worry, Mr. Menken, I've learned a lot from my past failures with the other test subjects. I've believe that might've figured out the problem and found a solution." Dr. Menken tells Donald Menken.
"I hope so, for your sake. Mr. Osborn has gone through a lot of trouble setting up this secret lab for your experiments, after that Living Brain incident, our company has taken huge hits, so we need something, a game changer to make us some more profits. Those fools, the board members would never approve of human trials, so this entire operation has to be done off the books. He invested a lot of money in your experiments, he expects a return on his investments." Donald Menken tells Dr. Stromm.
"I understand. We are ready to begin the test." Dr. Stromm says to Donald Menken.
"Very well, you may proceed, Dr. Stromm." Donald Menken gave Dr. Stromm the go ahead.
Dr. Stromm is inside the safety room and typing into the computer. Mark Raxton is still sedated as he's strapped down inside the chamber. A group of injectors moved into place as they're all filled with an experimental liquid metal alloy.
"Are you sure that you've got the equation right?" Donald Menken asking Dr. Stromm.
"I'm sure, me and Spencer Smythe worked on it together, though he was the lead designer in this project, he came so close to completely it before his unfortunate termination. But I'm confident that this will work." Dr. Stromm says to Donald Menken.
"Proceed." Donald Menken tells Dr. Stromm.
Dr. Stromm controls the injectors remotely from the safety room, all the injector's needles pierced through Mark's skin. Dr. Stromm watched the screen as his vital signs are still normal.
"The subject is still stable. Proceeding with alloy grafting." Dr. Stromm types the keyboard.
The injectors all poured in the liquid metal alloy onto Mark's skin, causing a change to his skin as it's being replaced by a new liquid metal alloy. Mark is shaking unconscious as the change is causing pain to his body. Dr. Stromm is watching the screens as vital signs are spiking up due to the pain Mark is experiencing.
"Hang on... we're almost there." Dr. Stromm is being hopeful.
The process is nearly complete as his entire skin is being grafted by liquid metal, Mark is still shaking as the changes to his entire body has been completed. Menken and Stromm both witnessed Mark Raxton's body completely changed, his skin is now grafted with a new metal alloy. Dr. Stromm took a look at the vital signs, Mark Raxton successfully survived the experiment and now has been changed.
"Congratulations Dr. Stromm, your experiment was a success." Donald Menken is pleased with the recent success.
In the other room, Mark Raxton is waking up from all the pain he felt in his body, he opens his eyes to find himself strapped down in a chamber, he's inside a place that is definitely not prison.
"What's going on?! Where am I?!"Mark is very confused.
Mark then looked at a reflection of himself and sees what he has become, something else entirely, his whole skin has turn golden.
"What is this?! What has happened to me?!" Mark is struggling to escape.
Menken and Stromm noticed that the test subject has woken up and is trying to free himself from his confinement. Mark is still trying his best to get free but he's strapped down by titanium shackles. Mark still wouldn't calm down as something unexpected happens right before their eyes. They look at Mark as his whole body is glowing.
"What the hell?" Donald Menken is shocked and surprised.
"This was unexpected." Dr. Stromm is very surprised too.
Mark's whole body is heating up as the titanium shackles are melting via contact to his new skin, the shackles melted down into molten metal and he managed to get himself free from his confinement. Mark got out of the chamber and now stands on his own two feet, he looked at his reflection again to find out that he's glowing and is heating up. Menken and Stromm sees that he's now loose from confinement.
"Don't let him get away!" Donald Menken orders Dr. Stromm.
Dr. Stromm types the keyboard and orders the drones to enter the chamber and prevent Mark Raxton from escaping, they all received the orders and marched into the test room.
Mark is still in shock by the recent changes that happened to his body, he became something more than human. He then turns around to see a couple of robots entering the room with shock batons.
"What the hell are these things?!" Mark is confused.
Both robots came in closer and both uses their batons to zap Mark full of high voltage to neutralize him, Mark is still feeling the shock happening to him, his body generates more heat as the tips of the batons are heating up too. The shock stopped as both batons are melted, Mark then strikes back by using his hand to slice off the robot's head from the body. He then turns his attention to the other and pierced his hand through the robot's chassis and destroyed it power source. He pulled his hand out of the robot's chassis and looked at what he can do.
"How the hell am I doing this?" Mark is very confused.
He then proceeded to make his escape out of the room and sees that there's a huge roll up door nearby, he ran towards it and sees that it's shut down very tightly. The door is made out titanium steel like the shackles he was once strapped down with. He tries to lift the door up open but it's impossible with all his strength.
He gave up as it's sealed down tight, he can't move it. He then resorted to using his new gifts to melt the door down to make his escape. He placed both hands on the steel down, he focuses on generating more heat from his body and channeling it to his hands. His temperature levels are rising to higher degrees as his hands are heating up the steel door, causing it to melt down before his eyes.
He succeeded in melting the steel door down as he takes his first step outside to see that he's in New York City, he's more confused as to why he's not in prison. He then hear more foot noises coming from the warehouse he's escaped from.
Menken and Stromm rushed towards the doors with the robot escort, they see the steel door completely melted down and Mark Raxton is long gone by now.
"Damn it!" Donald Menken is very disappointed.
"I think we should notify Mr. Osborn of this complication." Dr. Stromm suggested to Menken.
"You think?!" Donald Menken is still disappointed.
It's now January 27th, around midnight at the Allan Residence, Liz Allan is still asleep in her bedroom until her phone started ringing. She slowly wakes up and reaches for the phone, she answered the call and he'd the phone to her ear.
Liz still sleepy and she yawned. "Hello?"
"Sis, is that you?" Mark is asking Liz.
Liz became shocked to hear that voice and being called 'Sis,' she immediately recognized him as her brother.
"Mark?!" Liz says to Mark.
"Yes, it's me!" Mark tells Liz.
"Mark, it's midnight, how are you calling me from prison?" Liz asking Mark.
"That's the thing, I'm not in prison, look I can't explain, but I'm in trouble." Mark sounded desperate.
"What?! You escaped?!" Liz is shocked.
"Not exactly, all I can says is something has happened to me! I'm in very serious trouble, I'm being hunted!" Mark is troubled.
"Mark, can't you just go to the police?" Liz suggested to Mark.
"No! No, I can't! I'm mixed up in something and I don't know how high up this goes! There's no one else I can trust but you, Liz." Mark is very desperate.
"What do you mean?" Liz is confused.
"I can't say much over the phone, I have to go. I promise I'll contact you again, I love you, sis, bye!" Mark hangs up the call.
"Mark?!" Liz tries to stop Mark from hanging up but she was too late.
Liz hasn't heard back from her brother for months, and now suddenly he's out and he's on the run from something. Whatever he's mixed up in, must be big, she can't go to the police, but she might know someone she can turn to for help.
It's still midnight at the Stacy Residence, Gwen Stacy is still asleep as she's shaking and turning, having nightmares as she sweats in her sleep.
Gwen is being brainwashed by the Red Room as the reprogramming process is very painful to her, she does her best to fight it but it's impossible as she's screaming and suffering.
"You will submit to the Red Room!"
"No... no..." Gwen is still fighting the reprogramming.
"No!!!" Gwen woke up and yelled.
Gwen is awake and taking deep breaths as she's having the nightmare again, she looked around to see she's back home in her bedroom, she sweating and shaking from the experience. George came into the room to find Gwen awaken and shaken.
"Gwen! Gwen, look at me!" George Stacy is all worried.
Gwen is still taking deep breaths and see looks at her dad.
"Gwennie, are you alright?" George Stacy asking his daughter.
Gwen is still breathing as the nightmare has happened again.
"It's the nightmare again, isn't it?" George Stacy says to Gwen.
Gwen remained silent as she's been through something horrible, she was kidnapped and held against her will, then she was brainwashed. George came closer and hugged Gwen to comfort her.
"It's okay, Gwennie, you're safe, you're home." George Stacy calming Gwen down.
Gwen is starting to calm herself down but she still shaken by her experience in the Red Room, for the first time in her life, she's more afraid for her life than ever before.
It's morning time in Queens , at the Parker Residence, May is cooking Peter's favorite breakfast wheatcakes, Peter is walking downstairs stretching his arms up and yawning.
"Morning." May says to Peter.
"Morning, Aunt May." Peter walking towards the table.
Peter sat down as May hands him a plate of wheatcakes and eggs, a mug full of coffee, Peter took a big sip of coffee before he grabbed the fork and started eating wheatcakes. May watched him eating as she can't help but be concerned about his wellbeing since his abduction by the Red Room.
"Busy night again?" May asking Peter.
"Yeah... Gwen hasn't been active since we've returned back from Russia, so I had to stretch myself pretty thin working alone these past week, just keeping all of New York safe." Peter explained to May.
"Peter, you and Gwen have been through a lot since that day, shouldn't you take things slow. You've been pushing yourself hard a lot these days." May is concerned.
"May, I'm okay... seriously, I'm fine." Peter is staying strong despite everything.
Peter finished eating his breakfast and took one big drink of coffee from the mug, he got up and grabbed his backpack, he walked closer to his aunt.
Peter kiss May on the cheek. "Gotta go, I love you."
Peter walked out of the house as May is still worried that he's pushing himself too hard more than ever before.
At Oscorp Tower, Norman Osborn is sitting in his chair looking at footages of Mark Raxton displaying unusual powers. Dr. Stromm and Menken are standing as their boss is watching the results of their research.
"Can one of you explain this?" Norman Osborn still has eyes on the monitor.
"Well Mr. Osborn, the project was originally to create durable skin for combat use again bullets and other projectiles, but this project bore unexpected fruit. Somehow he's able to generate heat out of his own body to a higher degree that no human could withstand, and yet somehow he managed to survive." Dr. Stromm explained the results of the experiment.
"Impressive, can you continue your experiment again, Dr. Stromm?" Norman asking Dr. Stromm.
"I could, but... I've used up the last of the alloy Spencer Smythe created, the others have been rendered useless after the test subjects have died. Mark Raxton is the only living survivor with the only working alloy left. If I am to continue this experiment, I would need Mr. Raxton back alive to study his new physiology." Dr. Stromm explained that he needed Mark Raxton alive.
"Do it, I want to weaponize this, create more super soldiers to be sold on the black market, a lot of people will pay anything for power like this, Mr. Raxton here has a provided us a solution to all our problems." Norman Osborn has a plan for Mark Raxton.
"But sir, I only perform the experiments, catching them isn't exactly in my wheelhouse. Mr. Raxton has proven to be quite elusive, he won't go down so easily." Dr. Stromm says to Norman.
"I've invested a lot of money into this project of yours, I won't give it up without a fight. As far I'm concerned, Mr. Raxton's entire body is property of Oscorp. Can your robots capture him alive?" Norman asking Dr. Stromm.
"I could modify them to withstand high temperatures and equip them with non lethal weapons. Though it's going to take some time to make the necessary modifications." Dr. Stromm says to Norman.
"Then I suggest that you begin immediately, you're both dismissed." Norman turns his seat around.
"Yes Mr. Osborn, it shall be done." Donald Menken assured his boss Norman.
Menken and Stromm walked out of the office as Norman is conducting illegal experiments against company policy without any regrets. Now he wants Mark Raxton back at any cost by any means necessary.
Back at Midtown High, school is almost ending as Raymond Warren is finally back and is teaching his class. Peter and Gwen are sitting together as they listened to him talking and teaching.
Gwen is still dealing with her trauma as she listens and tries her best to remain calm, but it's proven to be difficult to bury it as it won't go away, the school bell rang as Gwen got jumpy and got herself up, she surprised the entire class, including Peter. Gwen is breathing heavily trying to regain control.
"Ms. Stacy, is everything alright?" Raymond Warren asking Gwen.
"Yeah... everything is fine. Just got jumpy, that's all." Gwen made an excuse.
"Okay class, remember to study tonight, and I'll see you all tomorrow." Raymond Warren tells his class.
Everyone gathered their stuff and walked out of class, Gwen is the first to walk out very fast as Peter is catching up to her in the hallway.
"Gwen!" Peter is rushing towards Gwen.
Gwen stopped to see Peter coming towards her, he walked up to her side.
"Are you alright?" Peter asking Gwen.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Gwen tries to hide it.
"Look... I know it's been weeks since..." Peter tries to finish his sentence.
"Peter, I'm okay, seriously." Gwen tries to assure Peter.
Gwen walks away as she doesn't want to talk to anyone about what she's dealing with, Mary Jane walked up to Peter very concerned.
"What was that all about?" Mary Jane is worried.
"I don't know, but right now I'm very worried." Peter is concerned.
"Petey?" Liz's voice from behind.
Peter and Mary Jane turned around to see Liz Allan, Peter ex-girlfriend and classmate.
"You haven't called me 'Petey' in a while, Liz." Peter says to Liz.
"Sorry, did I make things awkward between us?" Liz says to Peter.
"No, of course not. So what's up?" Peter asking Liz.
"I was wondering if you've got some time, we can hang out at the Coffee Bean, as friends of course." Liz says to Peter.
"Sure, I got some time to spare." Peter says to Liz.
"Great, thank you, Pete. I got somethings I really need to talk to you about." Liz says to Peter.
Peter turns to Mary Jane. "So I'll see you later, MJ."
"Sure thing, Tiger." Mary Jane gave a friendly smile.
"Okay, let's go Liz." Peter walks with Liz.
Mary Jane watched as Peter is walking with his ex as she has no idea what she wants from Peter, but right now she's got other worries, her friend Gwen.
Later at the Stacy Residence, Gwen just returned home to find her dad still home on his work day, though he looks very worried for his daughter.
"Dad, I thought that you were working?" Gwen is surprised.
"I was, until I got a call from your teacher, saying that you looked troubled." George Stacy is concerned.
"Of course he told you." Gwen says to her dad.
"To be honest, Gwennie, I've noticed it too in these past two weeks, your hypervigilance, your trouble sleeping, I've seen these signs before from other cops." George suspects what's happening to Gwen.
"What's wrong with me, dad?" Gwen is curious.
"From what I can gather, it looks like classic symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder." George Stacy diagnosed Gwen with PTSD.
"What? Me? No, that can't be." Gwen tries to deny it.
"Gwen, you were captured and kidnapped just weeks ago, I had hoped that you were okay, but obviously something happened to you over there in Russia, something horrible. Tell me what happened?" George Stacy is worried for Gwen.
"Nothing happened, dad. I was careless and I got captured along with Peter. But we both made it home alive, that all behind me." Gwen assured her dad.
"Gwen, this isn't something you can put behind so easily, even though you're out of harms way, the trauma you experienced is still there in your mind. You can't just turn it off as you please." George Stacy says to Gwen.
"Watch me." Gwen walked up to her room.
George can't help but being worried for his daughter since she won't talk about what happened to her in the Red Room, she won't accept his help as she's in denial.
Meanwhile in the city, Peter and Liz are hanging out at the Coffee Bean sharing a table together and having their drinks.
"It's weird, isn't it? Two exes having coffee together, it's very weird, right?" Liz felt embarrassed in front of Peter.
"It's not weird at all, we're just two friends having coffee. So you said that needed to speak to me, I'm all ears." Peter is interested in hearing Liz out.
"Actually, I need to ask you for a favor." Liz says to Peter.
"What kind of favor?" Pete is curious.
"I was hoping that you could reach out to Spider-Man because it's his help I really needed." Liz confessed to Peter.
"Okay? Why?" Peter is confused.
"I just need his help in something very personal." Liz didn't say much.
"Liz, I want to help you, but if you want me to reach out to Spider-Man, please be honest with me." Peter wants answers Liz is hiding.
Liz sighed. "Okay... it's about my brother, Mark."
"Your brother?" Peter is confused.
"My half brother actually, his name is Mark Raxton, he's 21 year olds and he's in trouble." Liz says to Peter.
"Didn't know that you had a brother, you never talk about him. What his story?" Peter is curious about Mark.
"My brother was a troubled guy growing up, it all started when my mom got pregnant in college by her ex boyfriend, Mark's real father. When he found out that she was expecting his child, he dumped and walked out on her and his baby. She gave birth to Mark and raised him on her own. Then five years later, she met my dad and they got married, they had me afterwards, their daughter. Mark had a hard time getting along with his stepdad since he knew that he wasn't his real father, my mom had to tell him that his real dad walked out on them. Mark has always carried a void in his heart that his real dad left behind, his childhood wasn't very easy since other kids knew that he was unwanted child, they called him the bastard more than once." Liz tells Mark's story.
"I can understand growing up without a father, it isn't easy." Peter speaks from experience.
"Mark had a hard life growing up, being bullied and throwing tantrums at everyone around him, including his family, except for me. Mark was always there for me, taking care of me, he looked out for me, we were pretty close. But as he got older, he started getting into trouble as a juvenile, robbery, assault, breaking and entering, it got so hard that by the time he aged out, my parents kicked him out of the house as they didn't want him around me, they tried their best to help him through his issues but he didn't take their help. He didn't even finish high school, he had to resort to being a criminal in order to survive. He became an arsonist for corrupt slumlords looking to make a quick buck out of destroying buildings." Liz tells more of Mark's story.
"So your brother got arrested for arson?" Peter is surprised.
"I wish that was all he did, but sadly it isn't. The slumlord who hired him was so desperate for cash, he was very eager to destroy his apartment building to collect the insurance money, so he had Mark set the fire to the entire building. But there was an occupant still living inside the building refusing to be evicted from the apartment, so the slumlord didn't tell Mark that there was a person still inside the building when he lit the place up. When Mark found out, it was too late, he tried to get back inside to save this person, but the whole place was on fire, he couldn't go back through the burning building, this person was burned to death when it happened." Liz confessed Mark's crimes.
"My god." Peter is shocked.
"Mark turned himself in willingly after the fire was put out, he blames himself for what happened, for being responsible for an old woman's death, it really hit him very hard. He wanted to atone for his mistakes, so he testified against his former employer and he pleaded guilty without hesitation, he was serving time in Sing Sing for arson and manslaughter." Liz says to Peter.
"What do you mean 'was' serving time? He got out?" Peter is very confused.
"No, I'm not sure, but all I can tell you is that he seems to be in some kind of trouble that he can't turn to the police for some reason. That's why I'm asking you to ask for Spider-Man to help me find him before something terrible happens. Please Petey, do it for me." Liz is pleading with Peter.
Peter is still unsure about helping a criminal, especially if he's a brother of his ex-girlfriend, but Liz seemed so desperate to find him, if Mark is in some kind of trouble as Liz claims to be in, then he can't ignore it.
"Okay Liz, I'll reach out to Spider-Man. He'll come find you." Peter agreed to help Liz.
"Really? Oh, thank you Petey, you're the best." Liz is happy that Peter is willing to help.
Peter smiled back as he gets to help the loved one of someone close to him, he can only hope that it's worth it.
At the warehouse, Dr. Stromm has made some major modifications to each of his drones as they're equipped with fireproof armor and non lethal weapons. The screen in the room turned on as Norman Osborn is contacting Dr. Stromm.
"Dr. Stromm, are your drones ready for hunting?" Norman asking Dr. Stromm.
"Yes, Mr. Osborn, they're all ready this time to combat Mr. Raxton for his capture." Dr. Stromm informs Norman.
"And how do you plan to find him? He'll be going underground after his escape." Norman says to Dr. Stromm.
"Fortunately, we've figured out that he has a family here in New York, his family lives in Queens, but his little sister is the only one who's the most closest to him. I've tapped her phone, if he attempts to reach out to her, we'll know." Dr. Stromm tells Norman.
"Excellent, as soon as you get his location, move in for immediate capture, no mistakes this time. Am I'm making myself clear?" Norman is being very serious.
"Ah... yes, sir." Dr. Stromm looked nervous.
Norman Osborn signed off as Dr. Stromm gets nervous when Norman speaks to him in a very serious tone. He looks at the computer that has tapped into Liz Allan's smartphone for any calls, hoping one of them is her brother Mark.
In Hell's Kitchen, Mark is wearing a coat and a ski mask to hide his new looks from the public to avoid detection from the police and the very people who created him. He made it to a condemned building that was burned down years ago. He looked up at the apartment window that got burned out, he began to remember the events that happened three years ago, he can her the screaming.
(Flashback)
Mark is outside the burning building as the whole place is on fire, he looked up at the apartment to see that there is still someone inside the building, an old lady. Mark is shocked that he didn't know someone is still inside the burning building, he tries to go back but has a hard time getting back inside due to the raging flames growing. Mark couldn't get to the old lady as he looked up in shame as she yelled in pain and got consumed by the fire.
(Present)
Mark shed a tear as he felt guilty for being responsible for an old lady's death, that guilty still tormented him to this day.
"I'm so sorry." Mark apologizes with remorse and regret.
Mark wipes the tears off his new face as he looked at a pay phone nearby, he needed to call his sister Liz.
In Tribeca, Spider-Man is on a rooftop looking down at the Coffee Bean to see Liz still waiting all alone.
"Eyeballing your ex?" Ghost-Spider surprises Spider-Man.
Spider-Man turns around to see Ghost-Spider here after so long.
"Gwen? What are you doing here?" Spider-Man says to Ghost-Spider.
"What? I'm out here doing what I'm supposed to be doing, being a hero." Ghost-Spider tells Spider-Man.
"Are you sure you're up for this? It's been two weeks, Gwen." Spider-Man is concerned.
"Peter, I can't let what happened affect my entire life. I need to move on, and this is how." Ghost-Spider says to Spider-Man.
Spider-Man sighed. "Okay, but... take things easy. Liz came to me needing Spider-Man's help, she's down there waiting for me."
Spider-Man jumped swings as Liz looked up in the air as did most of the people around, he came in and swooped her off the ground.
Spider-Man swings back up to the rooftop where Ghost-Spider is still waiting, Liz is on the rooftop with two spider heroes.
"Spider-Man, glad that you came, though I didn't know that you'd be having company." Liz says to Spider-Man.
"Yeah, neither did I. Parker sent me the message concerning your brother Mark. So any idea how to find him?" Spider-Man asking Liz.
Liz's phone is ringing, she pulls it out to see that it's an unknown number.
"Think it's him." Liz says to the heroes.
"Put him on speaker." Spider-Man tells Liz.
(Secret Lab)
Dr. Stromm is still in his secret lab until his computer started beeping as a call from Liz Allan's phone is patching through, he intercepted the call and listens in on the conversation.
"Mark, is that you?" Liz wants to hear Mark's voice.
"It's me, sis. Glad to hear back from you." Mark says to Liz.
"I won't turn my back on you, where can we meet?" Liz asking for Mark's location.
"Remember that building in Hell's Kitchen, the one I burned down three years ago? I'm hiding inside, I'll wait for you here, but please be careful." Mark tells Liz his location.
"I'm on my way, Mark. See you soon." Liz hangs up the phone.
Dr. Stromm then looks up Mark Raxton's criminal record, he found the building that Mark burned down three years ago. He picked up the phone and made a call to his boss.
"Yes?" Norman says to Dr. Osborn.
"Good news Mr. Osborn, I've found him." Dr. Stromm informs Norman.
"Excellent, retrieve him immediately." Norman orders Dr. Stromm.
"It shall be done." Dr. Stromm hangs up.
He types into the keyboard and activates the drones, they all powered up and come online.
"Go out there and bring Mark Raxton back alive by any means necessary." Dr. Stromm orders his drones.
"Affirmative, Robot Master!"
All of the drones fly up and leaves the warehouse to go hunting for Mark Raxton.
Later, Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider are swinging through Hell's Kitchen with Liz in Spider-Man's arms, they've landed and arrived out the burned out condemned building
"This is the place?" Spider-Man asking Liz.
"Yeah, this is where Mark's whole life changed. He's in there somewhere. Let me go in first, he might get spooked seeing the two of you here." Liz tells Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider.
"Okay, but be careful. We're right behind you." Spider-Man says to Liz.
Liz goes into the building first as Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider followed and kept their distance. One of the drone arrived at the scene and looks down to see Liz with two spider heroes.
"Mark?! Mark, it's me, Liz! Are you in here?!" Liz calling out to Mark.
Liz still couldn't see him in this burned out place.
"Don't come any closer, Liz!!!" Mark is hiding somewhere.
"Mark, it's okay, it's me! I'm here to help you!" Liz trying to look for Mark.
"Please Liz, stay back!!! I don't want you to see me!!!" Mark is scared.
"Mark, you're scaring me! Why don't you want me to see you?!" Liz is getting worried.
Mark came out of hiding still wearing a coat and a ski mask. Mark is surprised to see her sister in the company of two recognizable heroes of New York.
"What are they doing here?" Mark is getting paranoid.
"Mark, just relax, they're not the police. I asked for their help because you sounded like you're in danger." Liz says to Mark.
"I'm afraid it's much worse than that... I am the danger." Mark tells the group.
"What are you talking about?" Spider-Man is curious to his meaning.
Mark takes off the coat from his body to show his new golden metallic skin, he then takes off the ski mask and shows his face that is also changed along with his body. Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider are shocked by Mark's new appearance, but Liz is even more shocked than they are what her brother has become.
"My god... Mark, what has happened to you?" Liz is very shocked.
"I don't know, all I remember I was being transferred out of Sing Sing and the next thing I remember I woke up in a secret lab, and I became this!" Mark Raxton shows off his new appearance.
Outside of the building, the drone landed outside and zoomed it to take a closer look at Mark Raxton along with his sister and two spider heroes.
(Secret Lab)
Dr. Stromm received images from the drones feed, he see Mark Raxton with Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider together. He picked up the phone and made another call to Norman Osborn again.
"Mr. Osborn, we have a complication." Dr. Stromm tells Norman.
"What complication?! Did you find him or not?!" Norman sounded upset.
"I found him alright, with Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider. I'm looking at them right now." Dr. Stromm informs Norman.
"Spider-Man?! Damn it! Why does that meddling bug have to stick his nose into my business?!" Norman is more upset than ever.
"What do you want to do? From what I see, they're talking, probably about our illegal experimentation we've been conducting in secret." Dr. Stromm says to Norman.
"We can't risk Spider-Man finding out about our little operation we're running, I still want my property back, if those two attempts to get in the way, kill them both!" Norman orders Dr. Stromm.
"Kill them?! But didn't Spider-Man save your life more than once, including your own son's." Dr. Stromm is stunned and surprised.
"Yes, but he's also caused serious problems for me and my business. Just last year, he was directly responsible to thwarting HYDRA's attempts to obtain the Devil's Breath bio weapon, his actions strained my business relationship with them. As far I'm concerned, he's just another enemy causing me nothing but misery. If he gets in the way of us obtaining Mr. Raxton, kill him and his partner. Is that understood?!" Norman is being very serious in his decision.
"Ah... yes, sir. It shall be done." Dr. Stromm comply with. Norman's order.
Dr. Stromm types the keyboard and gave the drones new instructions, capture Mark Raxton is the primary objective, terminating Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider is secondary.
(Hell's Kitchen)
Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider both had their spider senses tingling simultaneously as they've turned around to see robot drones outside the building, Mark recognized them too from the lab.
"Oh my god, they found me!" Mark is frightened.
"Who are they?" Spider-Man asking Mark.
"The same people who made me into this, now they've come for me." Mark tells Spider-Man.
The drones opened fire as bullets are being shot at all around them, Spider-Man grabbed Liz and took cover behind the debris, Ghost-Spider followed too and got some cover, Mark is getting hit by the bullets as his new skin is still durable enough to protect himself.
"Why is it that every robot I've encountered is trying to kill me?!" Spider-Man tells everyone.
Mark is still protected by his new skin but he still can feel the pain the bullets are still inflicting, the pain is too much as he began to glow again, Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider are witnessing his new powers in actions, Liz is stunned by how Mark is doing this.
Mark then tries something new as he focused his powers to his hands, forming a fireball, he then tossed it hard at the robots, but they've proven ineffective against them thanks to fireproof protection. They've fired off tear gas into the building as the whole place is being engulfed by gas. Everyone inside is coughing as they're breathing it in.
"We have go face them!" Spider-Man tells Ghost-Spider.
"Agreed. Ready?!" Ghost-Spider says to Spider-Man.
The drones are still here outside as Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider came out of the smoke and dropped kick them very hard. There's about five more drone left as they've begun the fight in the neighborhood, everyone around is watching and recording the event.
Liz is still coughing as she's breathing in too much tear gas, Mark noticed it as he turns off his powers for now, he picked her up and carries her out of the building. The policed arrived at the scene to see the spiders fighting the drones together.
Spider-Man does a flying knee and knocked the head off of the drone. Ghost-Spider does the helicopter kick and kicked the other drone's head off. She then turned to see a couple more drones aiming their wrists at her as they've activated their sonic cannons and unleashed a wave of sonic energy at Ghost-Spider.
Ghost-Spider got caught in the wave as it's becoming too pain for her to handle, the noises she hearing is triggering another episode of her PTSD, she having a hard time trying to cope with her trauma and dealing with the present day battle. Spider-Man turns around to see Ghost-Spider is in trouble.
"Ghost-Spider!!!" Spider-Man yelled out.
Spider-Man charged in and does a flying knee on the robot so hard that it shuts down, he then fired a web line at the robot's head and pulled it off hard. Spider-Man took out the two drones as he rushed to Ghost-Spider's side to see that she shaking from her trauma.
"Ghost-Spider! Ghost-Spider, it's me, Spidey! You're okay, you're okay!" Spider-Man tries to comfort Ghost-Spider.
Ghost-Spider is calming herself down but still shaking. Mark made it out of the building with Liz Allan in his arms, the police noticed a someone that doesn't look human holding a teenage girl, they all pulled out their guns and aims it at the mysterious man.
"Drop the girl right now!"
Mark stopped as the cops are all aiming their weapons at him and Liz, he lowered Liz on the ground for her safety. All the cops are frightened by his new appearance and assumes that he's a villain the heroes are fighting.
"Wait, I'm not the bad guy!" Mark tries to reason with them.
"Tase him!"
The cops with tasers all fired at Mark, shocking him with high voltage, Mark is feeling the electricity shocking his entire nerves, he's in too much pain.
"Stop! I said... STOP!!!!" Mark yelled out in anger.
Mark glowed again as he unleashed a fireball at a police cruiser, causing it to blow up and scaring everything in the vicinity. Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider both see Mark attacking cops and some innocent people caught in his sights.
"We have to stop him!" Spider-Man tells Ghost-Spider.
Both Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider used their webshooters to fire a couple of webs at Mark, but it proved to be ineffective against him in his heat up state, the webbing burned off upon impact. Mark turns around to see that Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider used their webbing against him.
"You both lied to me!" Mark felt offended.
"Mark, this has to stop! Too many innocent people are going to get hurt!" Spider-Man says to Mark.
"I was only protecting myself, those cops attacked me without hesitation!" Mark doesn't trust anyone.
"Mark, they didn't know! Please stop all this and come with us!" Spider-Man tries to reason with Mark.
"No, you're all lying! I won't let you take me in, ever!!!" Mark is being paranoid.
Mark unleashed a fireball and tossed it at Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider as they've jumped up and dodged the fireball, Mark kept on tossing the fireballs at them as they're proven to be too maneuverable to be hit. Some civilians are still here recording the fight on their phones, Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider are having a hard time striking back as he attacks.
"If you can't stand the heat, stay out the kitchen!" Mark tells the heroes.
"We're still in Hell's Kitchen, Hot Rod." Spider-Man says a quip.
Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider both came down to drop kick him together hard, but he took the opportunity to unleash a huge fireball and tossed it at them both. They both got caught in the fire blast as they've fell down to the ground, both are feeling the heat. Mark walked up to them closer still glowing and ready for another attack.
"I didn't want it to come to this, but it did." Mark formed another fireball.
Liz came up. "Mark, don't do it!"
"They attacked me, just like everyone else!" Mark still has a fireball in his hand.
"Mark, don't make the same mistake of taking another person's life again! This isn't you, please!" Liz pleaded with her brother Mark.
Mark hesitates as he couldn't bring himself to take another life again, he stopped and dispersed the fireball from his hand. He spared them both and looked at Liz all terrified of him.
"I'm so sorry." Mark felt ashamed.
Mark ran away from the scene as Liz watched him run, both Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider recovered themselves to see that they're still alive but Mark Raxton is long gone.
"Are you both alright?" Liz asking the heroes.
"Yeah, we're all good." Spider-Man makes a quip.
Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider both got danger alerts on their suits as they're beeping continuously, making Spider-Man more worried than ever.
"What is that?" Ghost-Spider is curious.
"Oh no! It's our suit's Geiger counters!" Spider-Man is shocked.
"Geiger counter? Are you saying that..." Ghost-Spider was about to finish her sentence.
"Yes, we've been exposed to high levels of radiation." Spider-Man tells Ghost-Spider.
The two spiders along with Liz, the police, and all the civilians in the area of the event are exposed to radiation and everyone is now at risk.
Later at night, the NYPD and Hazmat teams have quarantined the entire area containing the radiation spread, tents have been set up to for cleansing anyone who has been exposed to the radiation caused by Mark Raxton. Both Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider are inside with the others waiting to be decontaminated, the Hazmat men have finished cleansing the two civilians inside.
"Alright, you're both next. Strip out of your suits inside and put them in the basket for decontamination."
Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider sees two Hazmat guys inside with hoses and scrubbers, they still hesitated as they know that they have to exposed their secrets identities in order to be decontaminated. Unfortunately, George Stacy came inside wearing a Hazmat suit and intervened on their behalf.
"Let's these two go inside alone, they'll clean themselves up on their own." George Stacy orders the Hazmat guys.
"Sir, that's against protocol."
"I'm overriding it, that's an order." George Stacy gave them a direct order.
"Yes, Captain Stacy."
The Hazmat guys inside the shower room left on George's orders as he wants their identities to remain secret for obvious reasons.
"Okay, go inside and strip, the Hazmat guys will clean up your suits, in the meantime, get cleaned up." George Stacy tells them.
"Thank you, Captain Stacy." Spider-Man gave his thanks.
Both Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider went inside the shower room and zipped up the door behind them, they have the privacy all to their selves.
"Okay, let's get this over with." Spider-Man says to Ghost-Spider.
"Agreed, turn around." Ghost-Spider says to Spider-Man.
Both heroes faced the other way from each other for privacy, Spider-Man takes off his mask as did Ghost-Spider. Peter removes the top part of his suit, Gwen pulled down her pants. Peter is taking his pants off, Gwen unhooks her bra and lets it slide off her arms, Peter removes his boxers, they each placed their suits and clothing into the baskets as they're now completely exposed, they each slide down the basket past an unzipped part of the door for decontamination.
Peter and Gwen are still looking away and blushing as neither of them are wearing anything, the shower turned on as water is raining down on them, they both got soaps and started washing themselves off. Peter is feeling a strange feeling with Gwen around he's never felt before, he tilted his head to take a peek, he got a brief look at Gwen's backside as she noticed him peeking.
"Keep both your eyes looking the other way." Gwen is still cleaning herself.
Peter looked back the other way feeling embarrassed by what he just seen, Gwen felt a strange feeling too as she couldn't resist, she took a quick peek and turned back blushing by what she has seen. Peter could tell that he was eyeballed by Gwen as they're continuing cleaning themselves.
(Later)
After they're done with the showers, they both dressed themselves back up with their suits as they're now completely clean, they unzipped the door as they walked out fully suited. George Stacy still wearing his hazmat suit came up to check on them.
"How are you both feeling?" George Stacy asking them.
"Great." Ghost-Spider says to her dad.
"Peachy." Spider-Man says to George Stacy.
"Glad that you're both okay, the hazmat guys says that your suits provided you some level of protection against radiation, you should consider yourselves lucky." George Stacy to the heroes.
"Stark, always thinks of everything." Spider-Man suspected of Tony Stark.
"How is Liz?" Ghost-Spider asking about Liz.
"Don't worry, they checked her out, she's completely fine, everyone is. Luckily, the Hazmat experts say that the residual amount of radiation here isn't big enough to cause health problems, everyone will be okay." George Stacy assured the heroes.
"That's good news, for now. What about Mark Raxton?" Spider-Man asking about Mark.
"He's long gone, no one has spotted him since the battle. He's probably going underground in hiding. Can one of you explain what's going on?" George Stacy asking some questions.
"Apparently he was transformed into this being by someone, and it gave him powers to generate high levels of heat and radiation. Whoever created him sent theses robots after him and didn't hesitate to try to kill us to get to him." Ghost-Spider explained to her dad.
"I have a feeling they'll still keep coming after him until they have him. But we need to find him first very fast, Mark is like a walking meltdown, he can't be left out there with his powers being very dangerous to everyone, if his powers continues to grow, he'll be able to make his radiation more deadly to spread, it's only a matter of time until he turns all of New York into the next Chernobyl." Spider-Man explains the potential dangers the city is facing.
"Jesus... I hope you have a plan to find him." George Stacy is more worried for everyone's safety.
"I'm working on it. In the meantime, do you think you can get a hold of Mark Raxton's prison records from Sing Sing? And also especially look into his 'supposed' transfer." Spider-Man asking for George's help.
"I'll get right on it, please try to find him before it's too late, for everybody." George Stacy tells Spider-Man.
"Will do." Spider-Man says to George Stacy.
"God luck, Spiders." George Stacy says to the heroes.
Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider are both cleared as they left the quarantine area of Hell's Kitchen.
Later in Queens, May is watching the news concerning a new villain spotted in Hell's Kitchen and a potential danger New York City is facing, images of Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider are showing them fighting against this new villain the media calls Molten Man.
"It is unknown who or what this thing is, the media has dubbed this guy the Molten Man, he is considered to be very dangerous to the public. If any of you see him, do not approach and keep your distance, the NYPD and the EPA informs us that he is consider to be radioactive. Residents in Manhattan are advised to stay indoors until further noticed."
Peter just returned home after spending hours out there searching for Mark Raxton. May turned off the TV and is relieved to see Peter is alright after his encounter with Molten Man.
"Peter, thank god that you're alright. I just watched the news of you and Gwendy fighting this Molten Man." May is relieved.
"Molten Man?" Peter is confused.
"That's what the people on the news are calling him." May tells Peter.
"It's quite catchy." Peter admits it's a good nickname.
"Are you both okay? Concerning this radiation thingy?" May asking Peter.
"Yeah, we're good, we both took a long shower together." Peter says to May.
"Oh... OH!!!!" May is stunned and shocked by what she heard.
May is surprised to hear that Peter and Gwen shared a long shower together after their encounter with Molten Man, she assumes that they've done something in private.
"Did you two?" May is curious.
"Did we what?" Peter is confused.
"You know?" May trying to say something.
Peter is confused as to what May is trying to tell him concerning himself and Gwen, he then figured it out what May assumed happened between them.
"Oh!!! No, don't worry, we just cleaned ourselves up, nothing else happened." Peter giggled and smiled.
"Are you sure? Because I know that you and Gwen are both going through puberty, and it's perfectly natural that you both feel something... arousing, biologically of course." May is making thing awkward.
"May, stop, seriously, just please stop." Peter is bothered by hearing this awkwardness.
"Sorry, I just assumed... never mind. Any luck on finding this guy?" May says to Peter.
"No, now that he knows that everyone is looking for him, he'll be more difficult to find more than ever before." Peter tells May.
"Don't beat yourself down, you'll find a way, you always do." May cheers him up.
"Thanks... Aunt May, maybe you should stay home tomorrow, at least until I can find this Molten Man." Peter is worried for May.
"I can't ignore my responsibilities at F.E.A.S.T., I have to be there to help the homeless who are just more vulnerable to radiation infection than ever before. If you want to keep me and everyone safe, then you need to find Molten Man before he causes anymore harm to anyone." May tells Peter.
"I will, right now." Peter then yawns out of his mouth.
"You can do that tomorrow, right now Peter Parker needs his rest." May tells Peter to sleep.
"I'll sleep after I found him." Peter is having trouble staying awake.
"I'm sure Molten Man can wait until tomorrow, if you want to stop him, then you need to rest and get your thoughts straight. Please do it for me." May pleaded with Peter.
Peter sighed. "Okay, I'll get some sleep, feeling tired out anyway."
"Goodnight Peter... Oh, and next time, please stay safe!" May tells Peter.
May made things awkward again as Peter just turns around and walks up to his bedroom.
The next morning at the secret hideout, Dr. Stromm is still working overtime to get the next set of drones ready to hunt down Molten Man, his phone is ringing as he stops his work and he picks up the phone to see Norman Osborn is calling him.
"Mr. Osborn, I know that you want the test subject back in one piece, but I recommend that we abort the whole project, Mr. Raxton is emitting dangerous levels of radiation, if we continue and make more of him, then we could be facing a global crisis." Dr. Stromm advising Norman.
"That's not really my problem, I don't care what happens to anyone because of this, all I care about is money and power. Mr. Raxton is a goldmine for us all, I want him back by any means necessary. Continue the search and bring him back alive, no more delays. Is that understood, Dr. Stromm?!" Norman is being very serious.
"Yes sir, I will find him again." Dr. Stromm looking too nervous.
"You had better, for you own sake." Norman says with a threatening tone till he hangs up.
Dr. Stromm is very frightened to face Norman Osborn's wrath if he fails again, he switches to another method of tracking Molten Man since he emits high levels of radiation from his own body, he decided to rely on radiation tracking in hopes of finding him.
It's still morning time in Brooklyn as Peter Parker came up to the door and knocked, the door opens as Steve Rogers is still home.
"Son, what are you doing here?" Steve is surprised by Peter's presence.
"Sorry Steve, but I need some advice, please." Peter asking Steve for help.
"Come in." Steve invited Peter inside.
Peter came into Steve's home for the first time, he sees a book filled with things Steve missed while he was away.
"What's with the list?" Peter is curious.
"Oh, it's just to help me look into things I've missed in the past 80 years. So what do you need, son?" Steve says to Peter.
"It's about my girlfriend Gwen, I'm very worried about her. She hasn't been the same ever since we've got back from Russia. I had hoped that she was over it but the trauma she experienced is still there." Peter explained to Steve.
"How so?" Steve wants to hear more.
"Just yesterday in school, she got jumpy when the bell rang, and it got everyone's attention, including mines. Then she and I battle against some robots, she was attacked and she look like she froze." Peter explained to Steve.
"From what you're describing, it sounds like she's experiencing PTSD." Steve diagnosed her with PTSD.
"What?" Peter is stunned.
"When a person witnesses or experiences something so traumatic, it affects them on a physical as well as the psychological level that they relive the experiences." Steve describing the condition.
"She was brainwashed by the Red Room during my escape, I should've never left her behind all vulnerable. This is all my fault that this happened to her." Peter blames himself.
"Son, you were both abducted, you've been put into a difficult situation where you had to leave Gwen behind. There was nothing else you could've done, but at least you went back to save her." Steve defended Peter's action.
"I just couldn't save her in time when it counted the most, and now she's dealing with things she shouldn't have." Peter says to Steve.
"I know, son, it isn't fair. When it comes to this life we've chosen, we tend to see or experience things that can haunt us for life." Steve speaks from experience.
"So what helped you through it?" Peter wants to know.
"Talking helps, letting out all those emotions we've kept bottled up inside." Steve says to Peter.
"I see, thank you for all the advise, Cap." Peter thanked Steve.
Peter gets up as Steve could tell that Peter is dealing with issues of his own.
"Son... if you ever wanted to talk about things you're keeping to yourself, just know that you have friends to turn to." Steve says to Peter.
"Why do you say that?" Peter is curious.
"I can see it in your eyes, you're more driven in your life as a hero. You've been pushing yourself too hard out there to make time for a real life." Steve says to Peter.
"Because I have to, Cap. I can't simply let my guard down again like before." Peter justify being committed as a hero.
"Careful son, even when you're out there doing good, there are always consequences. Just try not to lose sight of what's important." Steve gave Peter some advice.
"I appreciate it, Cap. But I don't need help." Peter acting fine.
"We all need help, son, even Spider-Man." Steve says to Peter.
Peter walks out of the house as Steve is worried that Peter is driving himself too much being a hero to make time for his life.
Back at the secret lab, Dr. Stromm is using Oscorp satellites to track for any radiation signatures all around New York City, he got a hit on something, he types the keyboard and zooms in the map, the highest levels of radiation is coming from Central Park. He picked up the phone and called his boss.
"Good news, I've finally found him again." Dr. Stromm informs Norman Osborn.
"Do not fail me again this time, no mistakes." Norman says to Dr. Stromm before hanging up.
He puts down the phone and types the keyboard as his new team of drones are ready for capture and retrieve.
At the Stacy Residence, the door knocked as Gwen opens it, she finds her boyfriend out here.
"Peter, I was just going to head out to join you in the search." Gwen says to Peter.
"That can wait, Gwen, could we talk first? Please?" Peter wants to talk with Gwen.
Gwen nodded her head and allowed Peter into her home as she has no idea what he wants to talk about.
"What's this about, Pete?" Gwen is curious.
"I'm worried about you, Gwen, ever since we've came back from Russia and we've talked about what happened to you." Peter says to Gwen.
"Peter, you're way out of line there." Gwen felt offended.
"Gwen, I'm being very serious. I just talked with Steve about this." Peter said with concern.
"Peter, just stop, I'm fine!" Gwen tries to deny it.
"You're not fine, Gwen! You're just pretending everything is, but I can see it and so can everyone else. Something happened to you over there in the Red Room, something traumatic that you refuse to talk about it, but it hasn't made things better, it's only gotten worse. Gwen, you need help." Peter wants to help Gwen.
"You want to talk to me about my issues, why don't you go deal with your own?!" Gwen fought back verbally with Peter.
Peter is shocked by those words as he remained silent, George Stacy came into the house to see Peter and Gwen in the living room.
"Hi... is everything alright?" George Stacy is curious.
"Yeah, everything is fine, dad." Gwen pretends nothing happened.
"What she said. Did you get what we asked for?" Peter asking George Stacy.
"Yeah, I got the prison records, wasn't easy. Even got his transfer paperwork, turns out that he wasn't the only prisoner gone missing, there are half a dozen inmates being transferred out of Sing Sing in the past month, but it turns out that there was no transfer, the papers were falsified and none of the inmates made it to their respective prisons." George Stacy explained to them.
"What? Someone is taking prisoners out to be used as Guinea pigs?" Gwen is shocked.
"Whoever sent those drones must have a lot of resources and money, we're obviously dealing with someone very powerful." Peter tells the Stacys.
"Someone who doesn't care about the lives they've ruined, sound familiar." George Stacy has a theory.
"I know, but this doesn't feel like Fisk nor Silvermane. Fisk is still locked up with limit resources to the outside, and Silvermane is far away in Europe evading Interpol. But it doesn't matter who running this operation, all that matters is that we find Mark before it's too late." Peter says to George Stacy.
"You're right, time is running out for the people of New York." George Stacy is aware of the potential danger.
"Got any leads from your end, because I'm all out of ideas." Peter asking George Stacy.
"Still nothing, every officer in the city are still looking for him, but so far zip, he's managed to evade everyone for so long." George Stacy tells Peter.
"Alright, I'm going to head out and try again. Call me as soon as you got anything." Peter says to George Stacy.
"Sure thing, good luck." George Stacy tells Peter.
Peter walked out of the house as Gwen stayed behind and watched. She got upset with Peter for bringing up her condition, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel bad for going off on him.
It's noon at Central Park, Mark is sleeping under a tree staying out of sight as he wakes up to see that it's daytime, he got himself up and walked towards the lake to see his reflection and what he still is, a monster.
"Why did this happen to me?" Mark asking himself.
He then looks up at the sky to see the same robots from before flying towards him. Mark heats himself up to become Molten Man again, the robots all used foam to dampen his powers, leaving him in his inactive state, a couple of them unleashed some canisters of sleeping gas on the ground, Mark is getting knocked out cold as he's powerless and vulnerable in his state, he closes his eyes. They landed on the ground with an unconscious Mark Raxton laying there, the drones radio in to Robot Master.
"Robot Master, we have the target."
"Excellent, bring him back to base alive." Robot Master orders the drone.
"Affirmative!"
The drones picked up Mark Raxton as unknown to them, a couple of park patrons are nearby and recording the event by phone. The drones then fly away with Mark Raxton in tow.
Later in Brooklyn, Steve is still home until the door bell rang, he walked up to see who it could be, he opens it and Gwen Stacy is outside.
"Miss Stacy, what brings you here?" Steve is surprised.
"Peter told me that he came here to talk to you about me." Gwen says to Steve.
Steve allowed her to enter into his home as he knows what's going on with her, she's traumatized by her experience in the Red Room.
"To be honest, Gwen Stacy, I'm very surprised, I thought you didn't want to talk." Steve says to Gwen.
"Neither did I, I know that Peter was just trying to help me and I ended up being hard on him, too hard." Gwen felt bad for everything.
"Gwen, I know how you're feeling, I really do, cause I experienced my share of PTSD more than once." Steve admits to Gwen.
"Really? Because to me, you seem very strong and brave." Gwen is surprised.
"But even I'm not made of steel, I'm still human. We all succumbed to fear and trauma, it's a part of us whether we like it or not." Steve tells Gwen.
"You must've found a way to beat it." Gwen says to Steve.
"I did, it's called courage, by being brave enough to face your fears by talking rather than running away from it, the more you try to bottled your feelings, the more it's going to try to come out. Gwen, I know that you've been scarred by something traumatic, and there's no shame in it, it's a part of you now, you need to learn to live with it, to overcome it, to take back control of your life." Steve tells Gwen.
"I wish it were that easy." Gwen says to Steve.
"No one said that it would be easy, things in life never are, but it's a step to getting better if you're brave enough to be ready. When you are ready, seek out some help, someone you can trust enough to talk to. You still have courage inside you, Gwen Stacy, so use it." Steve tells Gwen.
Gwen smiled in tears as she felt some small weight has been lifted off her shoulders, she's been afraid before in the past, but the incident in the Red Room traumatized her deep inside. She knows now what she needs to do.
It's afternoon at Roosevelt Island, Spider-Man is at the Spider-Cave where Mary Jane is waiting, he took off his mask.
"Anything?" Mary Jane asking Peter.
"No, nothing, I've swung around New York twice and still no sight of Radioactive Man." Peter says to Mary Jane.
"Don't you mean Molten Man?" Mary Jane corrects Peter.
"I know, I thought for sure that someone would've spotted him by now. How is Aunt May doing?" Peter asking Mary Jane.
"She's doing fine, she's at F.E.A.S.T. feeding the homeless, so far no one has gotten sick from radiation poisoning." Mary Jane informs Peter.
"At least that some good news, but he's still out there somewhere and time is running out." Peter is still worried.
"And Gwen?" Mary Jane asking about Gwen.
Peter stayed silent. "I don't know."
Gwen had an argument with him because she didn't want to talk to him, she was harsh on him, Peter's phone rang as he picked it up, it's Captain Stacy calling.
"It's George." Peter tells Mary Jane as he answered the call. "Hey Captian, any leads on Molten Man?"
"Yes, but I'm afraid it's bad news." George Stacy doesn't have good news.
"Don't tell me that his powers has gotten worse." Peter looked worried.
"It maybe worst than that, I'm sending a feed to your phone. Watch for yourself." George Stacy says to Peter.
Peter received a video by text, he plays it as he and MJ watched as the same drones from yesterday appeared in Central Park and managed to neutralize and capture Molten Man without difficulty, they've finished watching as Peter went back to holding the phone in his ear.
"When was this taken?" Peter asking George Stacy.
"Noon at Central Park, a couple of joggers recorded this on there smartphones." George Stacy explained to Peter.
"Damnit, I guess the people who turned him finally got him back, he's now in their hands." Peter is disappointed that they're too late.
"Now that they have him back, what do you think they're to do with him? What the purpose?" George Stacy asking Peter.
"I don't know, but it can't be good. We still need to find him before they've got what they needed from him." Peter tells George Stacy.
"Any ideas how? Obviously, these guys managed to find him before you did?" George Stacy says to Peter.
Peter snapped his fingers. "Of course, radiation tracking, why didn't I think of that? That must be how they've found him so quickly. I might use Stark satellites to track his radiation signature."
"Get right on it, and good luck, Peter." George Stacy hangs up the phone.
Peter uses the supercomputer and tapped into Stark satellites to track radiation levels around the five boroughs hoping to find a lead on Molten Man. May came into the Spider-Cave to find Peter on the supercomputer.
"Mrs. Parker, left work so early?" Mary Jane is surprised.
"I've finished my first shift so early, so I figured I'd find Peter and I drop by to check up on things." May tells Mary Jane.
"You're just in luck, Peter might've found a way to track Molten Man." Mary Jane gave some good news.
The supercomputer managed to track Molten Man's radiation signature to a warehouse in the city.
"And it looks it's finally paid off, he's in a warehouse near the river on the Upper West Side." Peter got a location.
"Now that you know where he is, how are you going to bring him in? Last time, he bested you and Gwen." Mary Jane reminded Peter.
"You're right, my webbing will be useless against him." Peter says to Mary Jane.
"Since when do you let that stop you." Gwen came into the Spider-Cave.
Peter, May, and Mary Jane watched as Gwen is here despite all the things she's going through.
"Gwen, I didn't know you were coming. Are you alright?" Peter asking Gwen.
"For now, I don't know how long until I finally get over what was done to me, but I can't live my life in fear, not anymore. I can't sit by in fear while other peoples lives are at stake. The only thing I'm most afraid of is losing you, Pete. Please, let me help you." Gwen wants to help Peter.
Peter doesn't want to risk Gwen's life again if she freezes up from her trauma, but she's more determined to helping him despite everything.
"Okay then, let's go." Peter says to Gwen.
"Good luck, you two." Mary Jane says to Peter and Gwen.
"You kids be careful out there, and please use protection this time, okay?" May tells Peter and Gwen.
Peter and Gwen stopped as they heard that awkward sentence coming out of May's mouth.
"What?" Gwen felt a bit awkward.
"Aunt May?!" Peter felt embarrassed.
"Oh dear! I don't mean 'that' protection, I meant... never mind, just be careful and stay radiation free." May tells Peter and Gwen.
"Well... maybe it's best to bring the Iron Spider Armor along, and this time you should be the one wearing it, just in case." Peter suggested to Gwen.
"Fine then, let's get going." Gwen agrees with Peter.
"Then suit up." Peter tells Gwen.
Peter and Gwen walked away to be suited up in the battle against Motlen Man and whoever is holding him.
The sun is setting down in New York, at the secret lab, Mark Raxton finds himself strapped down yet again, he looks around to find that he's back in the testing chamber like before. He tries to power himself up but couldn't.
"Don't bother trying to heat up, the new sedatives being pumped into your system is designed to neutralize your powers for a time. I'm sorry to have to do this to you, but my boss would kill me if I failed him yet again. Now that you're back, it's time to collect some of the alloy on your skin for study, this will hurt, but just know I don't take any pleasure in this." Robot Master speaking from the other room.
Dr. Stromm is still hiding himself behind the glass as he types into the keyboard and proceeded with taking a sample of his new skin for study.
The machinery activated its thermal lance to cut through Mark's new skin, Mark is getting afraid by the closeness of the burning flame, it's finally touched him and it's causing him more pain, making Mark scream in terror.
(Outside)
Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider who is now donned on the Iron Spider Armor are just outside on a rooftop looking at a warehouse where Molten Man's radiation signature traced to.
"So this must be where the secret lab Mark mentioned is located. We must be vigilant, there's no telling what we're going up against." Spider-Man tells Ghost-Spider.
"Agreed, let's go in quietly." Ghost-Spider tells Spider-Man.
Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider jumps off and swings in closer to the warehouse.
(Inside)
Mark Raxton is still screaming from the pain of the thermal lance cutting into his new skins as Dr. Stromm watches from behind the screens. The phone rang as he picked it up to see Norman Osborn is calling.
"Mr. Osborn, I wasn't expecting your call so soon, I'm right in the middle of an operation." Dr. Stromm tells Norman.
"I want a report on the test subject." Norman wants results.
"I'm already piercing through his new skin for study, it's won't be long, though I don't how much abuse Mr. Raxton can take, he could pass out and die." Dr. Stromm explained the risks.
"That's not my concern, continue dissecting him, take him apart piece by piece, I don't care what happens to him, I want this project to continue by any means necessary, so stop stalling and make it happen, Dr. Stromm." Norman says without any care.
"Yes Mr. Osborn, I'll do as you ask." Dr. Stromm hangs up.
Dr. Stromm doesn't enjoy torturing the poor man or cutting him up, but Norman Osborn doesn't care about the lives he's ruined all in the name of making money and power. Dr. Stromm is more afraid of Osborn if he refuses to do as he asked, he continues doing his work on Mark Raxton who is screaming and suffering.
Meanwhile Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider managed to sneak inside and found a secret lab hidden inside the warehouse, they went through the air ducts undetected as they made it to the test chamber to hear Molten Man screaming, they crawled in closer for a better look. They managed to get a peek down to see Molten Man being tortured by a thermal lance cutting into his new skin, they couldn't believe what's happening before their eyes.
"Oh my god." Spider-Man whispers in shock.
"What they're doing to him is so heinous." Ghost-Spider is also shocked.
Ghost-Spider is being triggered by another episode of the incident she had in the Red Room as she was brainwashed and tortured, seeing Mark like this triggered her trauma again, Spider-Man noticed it.
"Ghost-Spider, look at me." Spider-Man looking at Ghost-Spider.
Ghost-Spider turns her head and looked at Spider-Man still shaking in her bones.
"I'm here, you can beat this, I believe in you." Spider-Man says to Ghost-Spider.
Spider-Man grabbed her hand as Ghost-Spider is taking deep breaths and relaxing herself, she has Spider-Man at her side helping her through the trauma, she felt more safe and comfortable in his presence. Ghost-Spider is calming herself down as her trauma is lessening and she's returning to her old self for now.
"Are you okay?" Spider-Man asking Ghost-Spider.
"I am, thanks to you. Thank you for being at my side." Ghost-Spider says to Spider-Man.
"Always... now let's go save Mark." Spider-Man tells Ghost-Spider.
The vent shaft was kicked down as Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider jumped down and surprised Dr. Stromm who is still hidden behind the tinted glass.
"What are they doing here?!" Dr. Stromm is shocked.
Dr. Stromm watched as the heroes kicked off the thermal lance and stopped the procedure done on Mark, he then dialed to Norman Osborn to explain the situation.
"Mr. Osborn, we have a huge problem, Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider are here, they just found the lab." Dr. Stromm informs Norman.
"Spider-Man?!!! No!!! Damnit!!!" Norman is very anger over the phone.
"This all very bad news, sir. What do we do now?!" Dr. Stromm asking his boss.
"This turn of events is very unfortunate, we can't allow them to trace this whole operation back to us, have your robots killed them all, activate the self destruct sequence and get the hell out of there, this whole operation is now dead!" Norman gave the order.
"Understood." Dr. Stromm comply with the order.
Dr. Stromm types into the keyboard and orders the drones to terminate Spider-Man, Ghost-Spider, and Molten Man together, all the drones received the order, he then activates the self destruct sequence to blow up this entire building to destroy any evidence, after that he runs out of the room in a hurry as the screens all countdown to two minutes.
Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider both managed to free Mark Raxton from his confinement, Mark is very confused as to why they saved him, he's still untrusting of them or anyone.
"Why are you both here?" Mark is confused.
"Well hello to you too and you're welcome for us saving your hot butt." Spider-Man makes a quip.
"Come on, let's get you out of here." Ghost-Spider helps Mark off the stretcher.
Spider-Man looks around the room and noticed that is familiar, like he's seen it before from somewhere. Both of their spider senses tingled.
"Oh oh, we got trouble." Spider-Man tells the group.
The drones came into the test chamber as they all got their weapons switched to lethal.
"We have received our orders, you all shall be terminated!"
Mark then turns into Molten Man and runs away from the scene leaving Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider behind.
"Guess that leaves us to deal with them." Ghost-Spider tells Spider-Man.
The drones all opened fired as both spider does evasive maneuvers, Ghost-Spider uses the Iron Spider functions to activate the spider legs from the back, she managed to land closer and strikes a couple of drones off.
(Outside)
Dr. Stromm made it outside of the building and got inside the car. Molten Man made it to the outside too to see a car moving, he figures that the man who him into this and tortured him is inside that vehicle.
"You!!!" Molten Man screamed out in anger.
Dr. Stromm panicked as he drives the car away as fast as he can, Molten Man uses his fireball to strike at the man but the car is moving too fast and evading his attacks. Molten Man watched as the man who created him got away from him, he's very disappointed in himself for failing to stop him.
(Inside)
Spider-Man does the martelo de negativa and kicked one drone hard as it collided with two more. Ghost-Spider is surrounded by four drones as they all charged at her and jumped on top of her, Ghost-Spider uses the four spider legs to pushed them off her with all her strength, they all crashed and broke apart in pieces. Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider looked around to see that all the drones are gone.
"That shall be all of them, now let's find out who's behind all this." Spider-Man says to Ghost-Spider.
Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider made it to the other room to see that the place is empty, but the thing that got Ghost-Spider's attention is the screen that is counting down to fifteen seconds.
"Spidey, look!" Ghost-Spider pointed out.
Spider-Man looked at the countdown to ten seconds left as he realized what that means, it's very bad news.
"Oh no! Let's get out here!!!" Spider-Man tells Ghost-Spider
Both spiders rushed out of the building as fast as they can, only five seconds left.
(Outside)
Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider made it out of the building as the explosion happened behind them, the shockwave sent them flying off the ground. Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider both managed to survive and escaped in time as they lay on the ground.
"Are you alright?" Ghost-Spider asking Spider-Man.
"Yeah, you." Spider-Man asking back.
"Yeah, I'm good." Ghost-Spider tells Spider-Man.
Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider both stand up on their two feet and looked back at the destroyed building, the lab along with all the evidence is now long gone.
Spider-Man sighed. "So much for finding out who's behind this."
Ghost-Spider looks around. "Where's Mark?"
Spider-Man noticed it too, Mark Raxton has disappeared during the fight, they still need to find him yet again.
"We need to find him." Spider-Man says to Ghost-Spider.
Ghost-Spider used the Iron Spider Armor to track for any radiation signatures, she found it not too far from here.
"Got it, he's at the park." Ghost-Spider informs Spider-Man.
Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider swings away from the destroyed building and swings towards the park at high speed.
Moments later, they arrived at the park to see Mark all alone and on his knees. They approached him closer to see how he is doing, but they could tell by the expression on his face that he's not looking too happy.
"Mark, it's okay, it's just us, you're safe now. Let us get you some help." Spider-Man approaches Mark.
"No... it's too late." Mark doesn't believe Spider-Man.
Mark ignited himself and became Molten Man as he's glowing and only continuing to grow hotter. Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider's suit Geiger counters are showing levels of radiation rising.
"Oh no, this is not good." Spider-Man is more worried.
"What is it?" Ghost-Spider is also worried.
"His temperature is rising and the radiation he's producing are reaching dangerous levels, I think that he's going through a meltdown." Spider-Man explained to Ghost-Spider.
"Meltdown?! You're saying that he's about to go nuclear?!" Ghost-Spider is more worried.
"Exactly, at this rate, he'll kill himself and all of New York. We have to stop him." Spider-Man says to Ghost-Spider.
"How? We can't get close enough to him! We'll be burnt to a crisp." Ghost-Spider warns Spider-Man.
"But we can't sit back and do nothing, everyone will die." Spider-Man says to Ghost-Spider.
"I know... I think I know a way to reach him. The armor can get me close enough to talk to him. I'm going in." Ghost-Spider says to Spider-Man.
"Be careful." Spider-Man says to Ghost-Spider.
Ghost-Spider walks in closer with the Iron Spider armor providing her protection against the heat and radiation. Mark isn't stopping as he's more determined to end his life to stop all the pain and suffering he's feeling.
"Mark, listen to me, please! You don't have to do this!" Ghost-Spider trying to reach out to Mark.
"I can't live with I've become, what I've done in the past, not anymore! I just want this pain to end! If I have to die for it to end, then so be it!" Mark isn't backing down.
"Mark... I know you're in pain, I know that you've been scarred deep inside you soul. Because I felt it too, I've been through something so traumatic that it left me so frightened to live my life, my friends and family try to help me but I wouldn't let them. I thought if I didn't talk about it, that it wouldn't hurt so much, but I was wrong, I was so wrong." Ghost-Spider confessed her trauma.
Spider-Man is listening and her speech is touching him, he's still going through issues of his own since their abduction, but it runs deeper than that way before.
"Mark... you don't have to keep the pain in, you can let it out." Ghost-Spider reaching to Mark.
"It too late for me, my old life is long gone, and this is the only way to make it stop." Mark isn't backing down.
"What about your sister? Liz? She lives in here in New York, doesn't she matter?" Ghost-Spider tries reaching out again.
"Liz? Of course she matters, she always matters to me." Mark is reminded of his sister Liz.
"She'll die along with everyone in New York because of you. I know your story, I know that you still feel guilty for taking a person's life, even though you didn't try to. Do you want to make that same mistake again by killing everyone here? Is that what you want?" Ghost-Spider tells Mark.
"No... that's not what I want! But I don't know how to make all this pain go away!" Mark still glowing hot.
"You don't have to face this pain alone. Mark... let us get you some help... you can still do the right thing for once in your life... make the right choice... be strong to face your pain... for Liz." Ghost-Spider says to Mark.
Mark is still feeling conflicted with himself as to whether or not to live and spare everyone's lives including his sister, or to finally give up on life and let everyone die as a result of his actions. Mark closes his eyes as he stops himself from glowing and temperatures and radiation levels are going down. Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider watched as Mark Raxton decided to live and get some help for the first time in his life.
"Do you promise to help?" Mark asking the heroes.
"Yes, I promise that we'll get you all the help you need." Ghost-Spider promised Mark.
"And we'll also help you find a way to undo what was done to you, to get your old life back, I swear it." Spider-Man also promised Mark.
Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider managed to help Mark through the suffering he's been through and promised to get him some help for everything he's done and what he became.
Later, the fire department are outside of the destroyed building hosing off the fire with water. The NYPD and S.H.I.E.L.D. are also at the scene as agents are escorting Mark Raxton who is inside a lead lined chamber awaiting to be transported to the Raft. A taxi cab stopped outside the crime scene as Liz Allan got out and spotted her brother, she rushed but was stopped by two cops.
"Miss, you can't be in there."
"It's okay, let her pass." George Stacy gave permission.
The cops stepped as Liz rushed to her brother Mark.
"Mark!" Liz calling out.
Mark turned his head to see Liz rushing towards him.
"Liz!" Mark called out to Liz.
Liz made it before the agents were about to board the quinjet with Mark.
"Mark, I thought I'd never see you again." Liz says to Mark.
"Me neither." Mark smiled at Liz.
"Where are they taking you?" Liz is curious.
"Where I should be, locked up and getting some help. Everything is going to be okay, Sis!" Mark assured Liz.
Liz teared up. "I'll miss you."
"Me too." Mark teared up too.
The agents took Mark inside the quinjet as Liz stayed behind and watched the ramp closes, she got to see Mark one last time before it closes. Liz stepped back as she watched the quinjet lift off the ground and flying away with her brother inside.
Meanwhile Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider are with Captain Stacy looking at the destroyed building.
"Did you learn anything?" George Stacy asking the heroes.
"No, all the evidence was destroyed, so was any clue as to who's behind all this." Spider-Man informs George Stacy.
They see Liz walking towards them after watching her brother leave by air.
"Hey Liz." Spider-Man says to Liz.
"What's going to happen to my brother now?" Liz is worried for Mark.
"He'll be taken to the Raft, the scientists there will help him, they'll find a way to undo the changes done to him, he be back to being old Mark Raxton again someday, I promise." Spider-Man tells Liz.
"Thank you... I want you both to promise me one more thing." Liz asking Spider-Man.
"Anything." Spider-Man is curious.
"Promise me that you'll find the bastards who did this to my brother, Mark may not have been a perfect person, but he didn't deserve this and no other being should ever have suffer through this ever again. Promise me." Liz asking Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider.
"You have my word, I will find them and they will face justice." Spider-Man promised Liz.
"Come on, I'll take you home." George Stacy offers Liz.
George took Liz away to be taken back home as Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider still has lingering questions about this whole illegal experimentation that happened here.
"Who do you think was behind all this?" Ghost-Spider asking Spider-Man.
"I knew I've seen that place before... Of course, the Devil's Breath." Spider-Man snapped his fingers as he figured it out.
"What?" Ghost-Spider is confused.
"There was a super virus being sold to HYDRA last year. I've seen that room in the background of the footage of a person dying from it." Spider-Man explained about the Devil's Breath.
"My god... are you saying that?" Ghost-Spider is shocked.
"That the same people who created the deadly super virus are the ones who turned Mark into Molten Man. They're out there somewhere, and we going to find them one day, I swear it." Spider-Man says to Ghost-Spider.
Spider-Man is facing off against a secret enemy who has no morals about the lives he's ruined, someone very powerful, and he swore to himself and Liz that he'll find him one day.
At the same time at Oscorp, Dr. Stromm is in the office where his boss Norman listens to him talking about recent events concerning Spider-Man and Molten Man.
"The lab was completed destroyed, Mr. Osborn, all the evidence is gone, no one can trace it back to you." Dr. Stromm informs Norman.
"And what of Mr. Raxton?" Norman wants to hear more.
"The authorities already have him in custody, it's out of our hands now." Dr. Stromm informs Norman.
"How unfortunate... for the time being, we'll have to lay low on any future experiments, can't have the board members catching on to this. Is that understood?" Norman tells Dr. Stromm.
"Yes sir, please excuse me." Dr. Stromm then walks away.
Dr. Stromm left the office as Norman turns his seat around and looked out at the city, he's still not very happy with Spider-Man interfering with his operations yet again.
"Spider-Man... you've disrupted another of my business ventures yet again... one day, I shall squash you like the annoying bug you really are... as of this moment you're my sworn enemy, I will find you and I will destroy you... I swear it." Norman tells himself.
Spider-Man has made himself an mortal enemy of Norman Osborn. He will destroy Spider-Man one day as he destroyed all of his enemies.
The next morning at the Stacy Residence, Gwen and George are having breakfast as George is reading the papers of Molten Man brought into custody.
"I guess you and Pete saved the city yet again. Though I admit, I was getting worried that your trauma might stop you from doing your job." George Stacy confessed.
"It almost did, if Peter wasn't by myself when it did, I don't know what could've happened last night. He helped me through the trauma and I was able to overcome it." Gwen tells her dad.
"You're lucky to have a great boy like Peter at your side." George Stacy says to Gwen.
Gwen smiled at that thought of Peter always being there for her. She snapped back as the doorbell rang, she gets up from the chair.
"I got this." Gwen walked over to the door.
Gwen opened the door and finds her boyfriend Peter outside.
"Hey Pete." Gwen greeted Peter.
"Hey Gwen, I thought I'd come by and check on you." Peter says to Gwen.
"Sure, come in." Gwen invited Peter inside.
George looked as Peter and Gwen are walking up the stair as they need some time alone to themselves.
Gwen and Peter are completely alone in the bedroom as they have much to talk about.
"So how are you doing? Do you still feel the trauma weighing you down?" Peter asking Gwen.
"A little, I'm still dealing with things, though one things for sure is that I don't have to face it alone, not anymore." Gwen tells Peter.
"I'm glad that you're getting help." Peter says to Gwen.
Gwen felt silent. "Listen Pete, about what I said before, I was harsh on you, I was too harsh, I'm sorry."
"Don't be, I get that you were dealing with your trauma, there's nothing to apologize for... and besides, you were right." Peter admits to Gwen.
Gwen is surprised that Peter agrees with her about what she said about him dealing with his own issues.
"I've been pushing myself too hard out there ever since we got back from Russia, I felt myself careless when we got abducted and I had to be more careful and dedicated that ever before. I pretty much blamed myself for failing to protect you and leaving you behind when the situation was against me, if only I found a way to spare you from all the pain before, I would've given my life for you." Peter confessed his issues to Gwen.
"You did, Pete, more than once, I get that you were in a hard spot that forced you to leave me behind, but you came back for me, you fought to save me from myself when the Red Room had me under their control. It was because of your love that I was able to break free. I've never blamed you for everything, I hope you know that now." Gwen forgave Peter.
"I love you, Gwen." Peter tells Gwen.
"I love you too, Peter." Gwen says it back.
Peter and Gwen leaned in closer and kissed each other on the lips. After they're done, they sit and smiled as they have each other for comfort.
"Speaking of unresolved issues, about before... what happened... in the shower." Peter felt embarrassed taking about it.
"The shower?" Gwen is confused.
She tries to figure out what he meant, until she remembers her and Peter being stuck in the shower together after their fight with Molten Man and being exposed to radiation, they're were completely exposed in each other's presence to clean themselves.
"Oh!!! You mean..." Gwen blushed at that moment.
"Yeah... that, I know you were looking." Peter blushed too.
"Sorry, but you looked too." Gwen reminded Peter.
"Sorry about that, it's just... I never did anything like this with anyone, showering with someone, even a girl." Peter blushed as he admits to Gwen.
"Yeah, me too." Gwen blushed as she admits to Peter.
"So... I'll see you later?" Peter asking Gwen.
"Sure." Gwen says to Peter.
"Okay then, bye Gwen." Peter smiled at Gwen.
"Bye Pete." Gwen smiled at Peter.
Peter walked out of the bedroom as Gwen still thinks about that awkward moment they've shared together, they felt something more strong than regular love.
Later at the Parker Residence, Peter is with Aunt May who is still home as he needed someone to talk to about his recent issues concerning his drive to be Spider-Man more than Peter Parker.
"Seeing Gwen facing up to her fears, it really got to me in more ways than I can ever imagine." Peter speaks with Aunt May.
"Peter, I know that you've pushed yourself too hard after failing to protect Gwen from the Red Room, and it can be a heavy burden for someone your age." May says to Peter.
"No, the truth is I felt it way before that incident, I think it's always been deep inside ever since..." Peter says to May.
"Since the night Ben was killed." May says to Peter.
Peter nodded. "For so long, I let that one single tragedy define me, drive me, it's made me who I am."
"But now?" May says to Peter.
"But now I want to be more than just a hero, to have a real life beyond wearing a mask, but I don't know how I can do that without disappointing Uncle Ben." Peter says to May.
"You can't disappoint him, Peter, because he's dead. No matter what you do or how hard you try, you can't change the past. You need to make peace with his death just like I have and move on." May tells Peter.
Peter cried out a tear. "How, Aunt May? How am I suppose to let go?"
"You can start by leaving the past in the past, and start living for yourself. You don't have to face everything alone, Peter, you have people who love you and who will always be there to help you, if you let them." May tells Peter.
Peter smiled with a tear. "I will... thank you."
May hugged Peter as talking with her about his loss of Uncle Ben has lifted a huge weight off his shoulders, if Gwen is able to face her problems, he can too.
Note: Please write comments or reviews about this chapter and tell what you like about it, thank you and continue enjoying the story.