There were very rare instances when Peter Parker thought he was going to die. And even rarer, when he was definite about it. And now was one of those moments. He was beaten and trashed by the Goblin. He couldn't breathe as he felt those powerful hands strangle him to near death. Just as he was losing all hope, aunt May ran up from behind and injected the cure, that Peter and Norman had created earlier that day, into the Goblin. His grip loosened, Peter opened his eyes to see Osborne stumbling, and then removing the cure only to see it empty.

After a couple of seconds, the creep smirked.

"It didn't work! Norman was right… He got it from you! That PATHETIC sickness!"

He took a step forward and leaned down, then grabbed Peter's head by his hair and made him look at May.

"You tried to fix me,"

"May, go…" Peter spluttered.

"Now, I'm gonna fix you."

"May…" Peter said as he saw the Goblin's glider float behind her. But aunt May didn't move. She wasn't going to leave her child alone with this monster.

"May, run please!" She brought up the hammer in her hand, facing Osborne. And then, the inevitable happened. The glider flew and struck her from the behind. May flew across the room and fell, now motionless.

"MAY!" Peter cried.

The glider turned around and the Goblin jumped on it. Peter tried standing and steadying himself to go help his aunt.

"Peter, Peter, Peter… No good deeds go unpunished." The evil smirk crept on his face once again.

"You can thank me later."

Peter quickly saw the Goblin activating the bomb.

"NO!" He jumped in aunt May's direction just as the Goblin threw the bomb. He tried to swat it sideways, but, as fate would have it, it already was too late. The bomb exploded.

"Gah!" Peter gasped as he got up. He calmed himself down by taking deep breaths, then rubbed his eyes. The Goddamn nightmares. They had reduced, but they still haunted him frequently. He looked around the small apartment with a sad look. He missed those days with aunt May- laughing, eating together, messing up the kitchen while trying to cook something new. He lips formed a smile at the memories. He picked his phone up to check for any messages or voicemails. There were none. As always. Peter sighed. Then, he looked up as he remembered something. He switched on his phone and checked the date. Today was the first of August! His rent was due today. Gosh, he hated paying the rent, especially to the nosy-pestering-evil Russian landlord named Sergei Ditkovich. Or, mister Ditkovich as they all called him. Right then, there was a knock on the door.

"RENT!" A voice shouted from outside. Ah, Peter thought, think of the devil and the devil appears.

He got out of his bed, cleaned and straightened it, then went to the bathroom to freshen himself up. Twenty minutes later, he was facing the evil landlord.

"Here's your rent, Mr. Ditkovich." Peter smiled as he handed over the money.

"Okay, be sure to not be late next time." He said in a strong Russian accent.

"You're saying that I was late? Today was the date!"

"Yeah, yeah… Go now." He waved Peter off.

Peter shrugged and began climbing down the stairs, he stopped all of a sudden when he saw an envelope right in front of his door. How didn't I see that there before? His eyes widened just as he thought that. He knew what it was! But he wasn't going to open it here, not now. He knew the perfect place. Just then, he started hearing voices behind the front door of Mister Ditkovich. Now, he didn't mean to eavesdrop, he just wanted to know what the landlord says about him, only with the slightest help of his heightened hearing ability.

"Did he give the rent, dad?" His daughter, who was around Peter's age, asked.

"Yes. At the right time."

"As always."

"Yes, yes, as always. He's actually not so bad y'know?" Peter smiled at that and shook his head.

A while later, he was entering the office of evil number two.

"Good morning, mister Jameson. Here's the pictures you had asked for."

Jameson looked up from an article he was reading and smiled. "Ah, Parker. Good for you. Keep them on the table."

"Alright…" Peter said slowly, with a frown. J. Jonah Jameson, the head of Bugle Daily, was known to be many things. But being happy or wearing the slightest of a smile wasn't one of them. Unfortunately, the expression did not go unnoticed.

"Why the frown, boy?"

Peter shook his head. "Oh, it's nothing, mister Jameson."

"Then get your ass outta here!"

Peter headed outside the door and waved at Betty, the secretary.

"Hey, Betty!"

"Hey, Peter!" He then stopped right on his tracks. He walked towards her and asked, "Umm, what's the matter with Jonah, huh? He's smiling today…"

"Oh yeah, his wife's off to her mother's for a couple of weeks."

Peter chuckled. "No wonder."

He exited the building and was now heading for Delmar's III, to get himself the best sandwich in town.

"Pedro, mi niño! There you are! Was wondering if you were gonna come or not…" Delmar started as soon as he saw Peter entering.

"What's wrong, amigo? You don't look too good."

Peter held up his hand to show the man the envelope in his hand.

"What is- wait… Is that it? It's already here? Eso fue rápido!"

"Yup, exactly. Which is why I'm scared to open it."

"Kid, why do you worry. You're a smart boy, I know you made it. Marie, get Peter his usual!"

"On its way!" Came a voice from inside the kitchen.

Delmar looked at the young boy with care but also with sadness. Peter was a new kid here, in Queens. He knew that the boy had gone through a lot, but didn't know what exactly. He was also aware that the boy didn't have any parents, and his aunt, the only one he had left, had passed away some months ago.

"Come on! Let's go sit comfortably and open it."

Peter nodded at this and headed to sit on an empty table. Once they both were sat, he closed his eyes. He recalled the previous time he had received the response from MIT. It was about nine months ago. MJ, Ned and him, the three were sitting together with hopes-

"Pedro, you okay?" Delamr's voice interrupted his memory. Peter looked towards the man, who was sitting quietly just looking at him. Peter never felt more awkward. From behind, Marie, a sweet woman, approached them and set the sandwich and the cup of coffee down on the table.

"Here you go… Enjoy." She gave a smile, to which he returned one, as she walked back to the kitchen.

"Kid, open it. Don't be afraid."

Peter shook his head and slowly opened up the envelope. His hands were shivering slightly as he caught the piece of paper in his hand. He looked at Delmar, who just pointed his chin towards the letter. Peter read it out aloud-

"Dear Peter,

On behalf of the Admissions Committee, it is my pleasure to offer you admission to the MIT class of 2026…" He stopped.

Peter read the sentence again. And again. He couldn't believe his eyes.

"YOU MADE IT, CHICO! WELL DONE!" Delmar shouted as he celebrated at the top of his lungs.

Peter smiled. "I did it… Finally." Then, the smile on his face fell.

"What is it, Pedro?"

Peter looked down. "I- I just wish aunt May would be here. She would've been so proud… and happy."

"Yes, she would've. She was very lucky to have you, you know that?"

"Hmm. Thanks, mister Delmar."

"It's alright, kid. So now what? You gonna become the next Tony Stark? You got brains like him, if not more."

Peter looked up at the mention of the name. Tony. Mister Stark. He looked out the window and straightened up.

"No, I won't become the next Tony Stark. The world already had one. As for me, I'm Peter Parker. That's who I'll be."

Delmar laughed and patted his back. "Boy, I'm proud of you. If I had a son, I wish he'd be like you…" Peter smiled.

"So, chico, how does Parker Industries sound to you?"

Peter laughed at first, then stopped. "Not that bad actually. It's got this nice ring to it."

The old man smiled. "I know."

All of a sudden, Peter's spider-sense started tingling. He looked towards the front door, and a couple of seconds later, entering through that door was a man, in his thirties wearing sunglasses. He also had a stick in his- Oh, he's blind. How much more dumb can I be?

Delmar got up. "Well, Pedro, eat away. And you're not paying for it, it's on the house for what you achieved today." Peter couldn't refused and gave a smile. The blind man had his head inclined towards their direction, as if he were listening to their conversation.

Delmar approached the blind man. "Mister Murdock! Been a long time. How are you doing?"

Murdock. He was Peter's lawyer! The one who somehow caught a flying brick… Flying from behind him.

"I'm fine, Delmar. What about you? How's buisness?"

"All good… So, what can I get you?"

"Just a coffee, if you please."

"Sure thing."

"Umm, I also wanted to ask you something…"

"Sure, go ahead."

Peter now frowned and looked towards them.

The man dropped his voice to a whisper and leaned in a bit.

"What do you know about…"

Peter's heartbeat increased rapidly, and strangely enough, the blind man turned his head a bit as if he sensed it happening.

"About?" Delmar asked.

"What do you know about Spider-Man?"