Spider-Man: Close To Home
Chapter 15: Superheroes
"Thanks, Mr. Delmore!" Peter said as he left Delmore's bodega with his sandwich in hand. He made his way across the street, and began to bite into his sandwich as he crossed the street and made his way home.
Yesterday's events were still weighing heavily on his mind. It was a real life-or-death situation. People were still alive today because of what he did. Just the thought of that carried such a proud weight in his chest that he almost couldn't breathe every time he thought about it.
If he had any doubts before about whether he should stick with this superhero gig, they were definitely gone now. After all, what else could he do with his powers?
As he made his way down the street, he came across the same second-hand store he always did. TV's that were on display in the front window had been tuned in to the news, and there were a few people gathered watching the story being told.
When Peter saw what was passing on the news, he stopped too…
"Troubling news out of Vienna today. As ambassadors from across the world over met at the International Centre to ratify the Sokovia Accords, disaster struck. The believed culprit known only as The Winter Soldier was spotted on security cameras sneaking nearby and shooting a rocket into the building.
"The Sokovia Accords, of course, came into development after the catastrophic events surroundings Sokovia where the Avengers stopped an army of robots laying waste to city. It was determined that it was time that superheroes be brought into check, and now these events have only further solidified this need in the minds of governmental authorities.
"It is still too early to determine the extent of the damage that was done to the building, but already the death toll as a result of this attack is over a dozen. Among those dead, the king of the poor African country Wakanda: King T'Chaka.
"Our heartfelt support and prayers go towards the families of those killed in the attack as now new questions arise about the presence of the Avengers and other like super-powered individuals and whether or not they actually provide a protection or a danger to the general public…"
"Bahh, those Avengers do nothing but make a bunch of messes and then we get stuck with the cleanup. Things'd be better if they'd never shown up at all." One gentleman standing there commented before going on his way.
As the news began to move on to other stories, the small crowd began to go on their way. Peter began to make his walk back to his apartment again, continuing to eat his sandwich as he thought this over.
It was hard to deny that things had gotten crazier ever since the Avengers had first shown up when aliens invaded New York. A lot of people blamed them for what happened that day. That day still had a big effect on Peter, that being the day that he lost his uncle Ben…
But he never blamed the Avengers for it.
After all, it's not liked they caused the attack to happen, and if it hadn't been for them, the death toll would've no doubt been much higher than what it ended up being.
That's why the world needs superheroes. Even if they can't stop bad things from happening all the time, how much worse would things be without them? And now, Peter had to think about himself and how he fit into that argument as Spider-Man.
The answer was pretty clear to him: New York needed Spider-Man. Sure, he wasn't an Avenger yet, but somebody's gotta look out for the city while the Avengers are busy fighting off robot armies and killer aliens.
And with that, Peter's mind was made up…