It had been long since he removed his costume when Peter sat on the bench of the hallway. Voices echoed throughout the building as trollies moved past him occasionally. Phones and pagers would ring and call doctors to action. It was busy considering the recent attack. When patients passed by, he recognized them as students from the school. None were from his class yet, so he hadn't said hello. It wasn't likely his classmates would find him here, considering they're probably dealing with reporters and medics. The attack on the school and field trip was all over the news now, most of the reporters covering the attack at the USJ. For what was covered on the school was mostly Mt. Lady, being she was the most obvious thing to see.

Both at school, and right at his feet.

Peter looked up and saw Mt. Lady standing there with a cute grin on her face. She was still dressed in her costume, earning some perverted glances from doctors and nurses as they passed by. Her posture was confident, her body language elegant yet adventurous.

"Hey there, cutie," She winked, "Good to see you. This seat taken?"

She referred to the free space on the bench he sat on. He wasn't going to say no, so he patted on the spot with his hand. She took her place next to him, almost touching hips with the arachnid hero. She rested her elbows on her knees and held her head up with her hands, turning her head to him.

"How are you feeling, Spidey?" she asked.

"How do you know it's me?" He asked.

"Your deep brown eyes," She cooed, "I saw it through your broken lens. Quite the lookers."

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Flirt," he sighed, "Another costumed woman used to do that to me. She was a thief though, and always played games with my head."

"Oh," She said sadly, "I see, bad relationship?"

"No!" He tripped over his words, "I mean, we were never together, officially, or at all! She just- she …" he sighed, "Do you actually like me or is it just playful?"

"Honey," She started, "You'll have to understand I'm a playful flirt. It's how I do things," She smiled, "However, you aren't too sore on the eyes. But you're too young for me. Sorry."

"No, it's fine," He smiled faintly, "Makes me feel better actually, knowing for sure."

Mt. Lady sighed, "I'm sorry. This isn't about me. How's your Aunt doing?"

Peter looked up at the door next to the bench, labeled with a changeable slip that had May's name on it, "She's ok, at least that's what the doctors said. A few bruises and minor injuries, otherwise she'll be ok. Supposedly she can be discharged in a day or so. I don't know where I'm gonna take her though …"

"She could stay with your foster family, couldn't she?"

Peter groaned, "Yeah, I just feel awful about it. I ask so much of them already, but they're the only option that she has right now. Sending her home is …complicated."

Peter dug his face into his hands, sighing from stress. Mt. Lady lifted her hand and rested it on his shoulder, gripping it gently, "You'll figure all this out, cutie. You're a smart kid, in case you hadn't realized this yet."

Peter chuckled sarcastically, "Not smart enough. The suit I wear was made by my mentor. I can't even be trusted to make my own tech."

"So," Mt. Lady questioned, "You didn't invent those rope shooters?"

Peter paused, lifting his hand up, "I mean …I did. I invented my web shooters, but my mentor recreated them."

"And I assume he created your costumes design?"

"Well …I made the original, he just made it better."

"He made a fancy suit, sure. But he didn't make Spider-Man, now did he?"

He finally turned to look at her, trying to understand what she was getting at. Tony did give him the nano-suit, but he didn't always have it. He invented his web shooters, and all the little pieces of tech for his suit that he needed. Tony improved upon an idea that Peter came up with. So, who deserves the credit?

"Your mentor didn't save everyone today," She continued, "Spider-Man did. You realize that a hero is so much more than their powers or their costume, right?"

"Yeah …it's what they do with those powers, and with their gifts."

"Correction, it's what they do with their hearts."

She patted him on the back before standing up, "There's a mob of reporters outside. I'm going to go and deal with them. I'll be back to check on you if you're still here, ok cutie?"

Peter nodded, wiping a faint tear that managed to form on his eye. Mt. Lady noticed the gesture and smiled warmly before walking away. She knew he was a good man, struggling with so many responsibilities. If he kept on the path he was on, he would be an incredible hero one day. He just had so much more to learn before that day comes, but she can't wait to see him when it does.

He wandered the halls after Mt. Lady had left him, finding it better than sitting doing nothing. Most of the walk he simply stared at his feet as he travelled across the ground, not paying full attention to where in the hospital he was going. A quarter of an hour had gone by before he finally stopped, having seen something from the corner of his eye. To his right was a door with a window on it, and inside was the source of his heartache. At first, he only peeked in to be sure it was safe, then moved inside when he confirmed it was.

Norman was laying on a hospital bed with his right leg elevated and inside of a cast. His hands were handcuffed to the bed, and a camera rested in the corner of the room. The man's eyes were barely open before Peter came in. He had been resting after having took pain medication. The doctors seemed to have been doing their best to keep him under until the police could take him away.

After Peter closed the door, Normans eyes blinked awake. He wanted to rub his face but found his hands to be cuffed in place. When he looked around and spotted Peter, his expression turned to utter rage.

"What do you want, Parker?" Norman's voice like his appearance had reduced to normal, his body rid of the Goblin imbalance. There were scars and marks all over his body, likely a side effect of the muscle growth he experienced in his transformation.

"I need to know," Peter said, grabbing a seat and sitting down, "Who were you referring to before? Who did you lose because of me?"

Norman scoffed, "You have no idea, do you?" he asked, "Not a clue? You never once looked into it, huh Parker?"

"There is no connection," Peter scolded, "I never did anything to you. You were like a father figure to me after my Uncle died! Your son is my best friend! So, why do you hate me so much?"

Norman's eyes began to tear up, memories filling his head. Without the power of the Goblin fueling his adrenaline and emotions, he suddenly found his walls to have broken down. He could not hide behind the rage his power once gave him, and now he felt only sadness.

"Emily," Norman said with tears running down his face, "Emily Osborn… My wife."

"Emily?" Peter's eyes widened, "But …I don't understand. She died of an unknown disease. I had nothing to do with that, Norman."

"You did!" Norman tried to lunge at him, but the cuffs kept him from moving, "When I found out she was dying, I did everything I could to save her. I found a way to equip the immune system with the ability to self-heal and eliminate enemy bacteria and viruses. Of course, I needed to test this theory on test subjects. So, take a wild guess what I chose."

Peter didn't understand what he was getting at right away. He knew that he had done many experiments on animals in his quest for quality medication, but nothing that would allow someone to self-heal. He himself could do it, but that's only because of the spider bite.

The spider.

"The spider that bit me …" Peter answered, "It came from your lab when I went on a field trip to Oscorp."

"The spider that bite you was the only healthy test subject and Injected it with the only sample I had. I wanted to reengineer its blood into a cure, but when it bit you, it died instantly. I didn't have enough time to make more before …"

"…Before she died," Peter sat back in his chair, rubbing his face. It never occurred to him exactly what the spider had been created for, he only knew Oscorp had created it. He examined his hand, rubbing at a small red spot below his thumb. The bite had left a permanent reminder of what happened to him, but now it was a reminder of the life lost in exchange for his abilities.

"If the spider hadn't bite you," Norman continued, "My wife would still be alive. And to poor dirt in the wound, I had genetically enhanced that spider, to see if I could also improve the physical attributes of it. Somehow when you were bit ...It passed its abilities onto you. How's that for a slap in the grieving mans face?"

"Norman …" Peter had begun to cry, doing his best to hold the tears back, "I didn't know. I'm so sorry … If I had known, I would have-"

"Would have what? Given me your blood? Well, you didn't know."

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it," he growled, "If I had gotten the infinity stones, I could have changed everything that happened. I could revive my wife, restore my company to its former glory, and get everything back that I lost because of you."

Norman growled the last work, making Peter recoil back in his chair. What started as simply stopping the crazy villain turned into wondering who the bad guy was really. Logically it was Norman, but Peter couldn't help feeling responsible for everything that's happened up to this point.

"You call yourself a hero, but all you do is make things worse," Norman scolded, growling at him like an angered parent, "You're selfish, and only care about the attention you get. You say your noble, yet Jameson gets under your skin. Had you been true to your morals from the start, your Uncle would still be alive."

Peter stood up in a fit, wiping more tears away, "You don't get to talk about my Uncle!"

"And you don't get to talk about my wife!" Norman shouted back.

"I mourned for Emily! I was at her funeral, just as you were at my Uncles! We grieved for them both together!"

"And both their deaths are your fault!"

Peter's breathing became sporadic, and his fists clenched in anger. He felt himself overrun with pure adrenaline and emotion. It was as if everything that has ever caused him pain was right there in that room. Norman Osborn, someone who gave himself powers and used them to murder innocents was calling him the real menace.

"Do me a favor, Parker," Norman said, "Get out so I don't have to see your silent whining."

Peter couldn't find anything else that he could say to him, and just left the room slamming the door.

Standing outside the door, Peter rubbed his face and wipe away more tears, which seemed to just keep flowing. He knew that Norman was angry, but he never fully understood why. His thoughts rushed back to Emily Osborn, a kind woman who always treated Peter like family. He was heartbroken to find she died of a disease. Norman always shut himself away after that, and the thought of it all being his fault hurt greatly. True, he couldn't control where the spider would have gone, but maybe they could have found it first if he wasn't on that fieldtrip.

Peter Parker screwed everything up again, and Spider-Man has to clean it up.

"Peter?"

The voice startled Peter and almost made him jump toward the ceiling. The voice belonged to Izuku Midoryia, who was standing next to him with a puzzled and surprised look. He was wearing his gym cloths, but they had been torn and ruined, likely from the part of the USJ attack Peter wasn't present for. In seeing him, Peter felt a brief feeling of relief to wash away the pain of his tears, and he gave Izuku a strong hug.

"Izuku!" Peter laughed, "Thank god your ok! When the attack started, I got so worried!" he let go, but kept his hands on Izukus shoulders, "Did Tenya make it back in time?! Is everyone ok?!"

"Yeah, yeah!" He responded hastily, "A few bruises and I had to break some limbs, but recovery girl patched everyone up. All Might really over exhorted himself though."

"How much?"

"Not sure. His limit on his strong form used to be 3 hours, so it's probably shorter now…"

"Damn…" Peter released his shoulders and leaned against the wall, "I should have stopped him from going to the USJ. I should have been there but …"

"I know," Izuku assured, "When we came back, Overcast filled us all in. She said they had your Aunt kidnapped! Is she ok now?"

"Yeah …" Hearing about his Aunt brought in a chain of memories, leading right back to Norman. The sudden distraction of Izuku had started to lose its effect. Most of what happened today hadn't been good, but at least no one had died.

Izuku stared at Peter in concern, seeing the streaks of dry tears coming from his tired red eyes. He knew he had been crying, he could recognize that from a mile away. Normally, he would be clueless as to what went on inside his roommate's head. He was used to keeping secrets and was always hesitant to tell them some of his stories. They would need to remind him that there was no need for secrets with them, and that he could tell them anything.
For the first time, however, he knew what was going on.

"Peter …" Izuku started, feeling scared and restrained, "I …heard what you two were talking about in there."

Peter's heart dropped as he made eye contact with him, his tired eyes widening as much as possible, "…How much of it?"

"…All of it?" He worriedly answered, "Mostly …about a spider that bit you. A-and knowing your powers are that of a spider, I-I'm wondering if …" he looked toward the ground, "Were you given your Quirk?"

Peter gulped, rubbing his hand over his neck as he tried to relax his nerves. He was already dealing with so much tension with Osborn, now this was starting to push him over the edge. Peter locked his fingers behind his head and faced his body away from Izuku, trying to figure out what to say to him. Izuku noticed his body language and tried to adapt.

"It's ok!" Izuku said, "It's not a bad thing! I actually was-…" He stopped, collecting himself, "I don't mean to pry anything from you, but it's ok. You can tell me anything …. We're friends, right?"

At this point, Peter wasn't completely listening. His head was filled to the brim with thoughts all rushing to be in front. Knowing about his spider bite brings Izuku closer to the truth, which brings him closer to the reason he's here! Which means he could lose him, and the villains might kill him! Every bad guy that's here is because of Peter, and they could kill anyone at any time and he couldn't stop them! Everyone could die! Everyone was going to-

"Stop!" Peter shouted, his voice cracking and making Izuku back up in fear.

Peter had thrown his hands down, fingers shaking uncontrollably. In his ears he could hear his heartbeat, going quickly like a drum in a rock band. Attention was brought to his spider bite, resting below his thumb as a scar that never heals. The scar, the memory, and the pain never fade away. It simply grows stronger with every passing step, every mistake that he's destined to make. People he loves get dragged into his messes over and over again. His Uncle wouldn't be dead if he had acted, Emily would be breathing if he hadn't.

"…Peter?" Izuku wanted to reach out to his shoulder, but he felt to afraid to poke the sleeping bear. He knew that Peter was feeling a lot of guilt, it was written all over his body.

"I need to go see how my Aunt is doing," Peter said.

"But I didn't come by myself. Momo, Mina, Tenya, Ururaka, Toru and Tsu managed to get away from the doctors to come and see you. They're all waiting in the receptionist area."

"Tell them they'll have to wait a while. I just …have to go."

Izuku wanted to speak up and stop him, but Peter had already walked away before he could build up the courage. He could only imagine what kind of pain that he was going through, knowing these villains came for him. The guilt must have been unbearable by himself.

Midoryia walked back to the receptionist area in a sulk, where his friends had been waiting for him. His personal group of Ururaka and Tenya, plus Momo and the rest of Peter's team from yesterday's exercise. The first to notice him come back was Ururaka, jumping from the seat she was placed in.

"Deku!" She greeted, "Did you find Peter?"

Izuku sighed, letting his arms droop to his side. The others stood up and eyed him with concern, knowing the expression on his face didn't mean anything good, "He's ok, but very upset. I think he's blaming himself for what happened, apparently half the villains that attacked were there for him."

"He did say he had a lot of enemies," Tsu chimed in, "And they went as far as to kidnap his family, that's pretty low."

"But …he's ok?" Mina asked, locking her fingers together as Momo put a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, he's ok," Izuku forced a smile, "He's a tough guy. A few bruises and burns I could see but nothing that won't heal."

The group sighed in relief, almost in unison. Hearing the news, Mina sat down in her chair and put her hands to her cheeks, her elbows digging into her legs. Momo kneeled down to her, keeping a hand on her shoulder.
"Pardon me," Tenya walked to Mina and Momo, "Something has just been on my mind, and I feel now is a good time to bring it up with the chaos now over. You two spoke to Peter before we left, right? He seemed depressed even before the field trip. In fact, it started after yesterdays exercise. Do you two know what caused it?"

They looked at him in surprise, then in sadness. Momo wanted to try and answer as vaguely as she could, but Mina blurted out before she was able.

"It was our fault," Mina admitted, "We …I feel strongly for Peter. Honestly, I don't know if I can call it love, maybe it's more of just admiration. But he makes me feel special, like I matter just as much as power houses like Totoroki. I liked being around him because of that. But he heard us talk about it …and I think he worries for our safety. We just made him feel like a burden."

"Peter's is a very intelligent student," Momo jumped in, "He's also not afraid to admit when he's wrong. I guess I admired that too, but it got so out of hand. We just wanted to stop and vent to one another, but Peter heard us."

"I see," Tenya put his hand to his chin, "He does seem like one to carry guilt with him wherever he goes. Perhaps if you explain the details of your feelings, he won't feel as bad."

"I don't think it matters at this point…" Midoryia cut in, making everyone stare at him, "He just talked to that green monster guy- well he's not a monster anymore but- I heard some of their conversation and it only added more guilt to him. Something about …the man's wife being dead because of him, even though he didn't directly cause it."

"That's not fair!" Toru shouted, "If he didn't cause it, then he shouldn't feel guilty! Someone should punch that meanie in the face!"

"Well…Kendo already broke his knee," Izuku said, "So …take what you will, I guess."

Ururaka's eyes lit up, "Hey, where is Itsuka Kendo?" She asked, "She was with Peter, wasn't she? That's what Overcast said."

"I don't know. All she said beyond that was that Kendo got to the hospital ahead of everyone else."

Toru whined, sitting in a chair next to Mina, "I hope Peter talks to us soon."

…

The bar was dimly lit with a sinister glow about it. Wood and brick were all that made it up, with TV's hanging on the wall. Currently, it was nearly empty minus two figures. One was a cloud of smoke in a nice suit, standing behind the counter and cleaning glasses. The other was sitting on the other side, his body covered in dismembered hands.

Tomura tapped his fingers against the wooden table he rested on, twitching with inner rage like a child, "That Goblin fellow failed us! Just like I told you! I told you he wasn't right!"

"Things didn't go as planned, I know," Kurogiri replied, "But we'll have a second chance."

"All Might was supposed to die!" Tomura shouted, "Nomu was supposed to kill him! This isn't fair!"

The door to the bar suddenly flung open, slamming against the wall. A feminine figure walked in, sitting in the seat right next to Tomura. The two villains stared at her a moment, before Tomura stood up and stepped away from her.
"Who are you supposed to be?!" He shouted, "If you think you can just walk in here-"

"Calm yourself," She spoke, "I have a proposition."

"I don't want to hear it! Intruders deserve to die!" Tomura attempted to reach his hand out to grab her. Before he could reach, she simply looked in his direction and her entire body glimmered with a blinding light. Tomura was thrown back a full yard due to the power emitting from her skin. The light was scolding hot, as if being exposed to the sun's hot day at the beach. Kurogiri hid under the table to avoid the light, finding his eyes unable to bear it.

"I said calm yourself," She spoke again, "I worked with Goblin before he went behind my back and made a deal with you. He's been arrested, so now I inherit his …investments."

"You think we will work with you?!" Tomura shouted.

"I think you don't have a choice if you want your League of Villains to have any members."

"Hear her out, Tomura!" Kurogir shouted, "I can barely see!"

Reluctantly, Tomura finally agreed, and the light from her skin slowly died. Tomura sat back down and grabbed a drink, not bothering to look at her, "What do you want?"

"To offer you employees. In exchange, you help me find some …jewelry I lost."

"…What's the catch?" He asked in suspicion, "All this for some jewelry?"

"Special jewelry," She added, "I have several ideas going to try and find them. Some involved manipulating Goblin, others involved putting trust in a certain hero's stubborn personality. Both proved somewhat effective, but Goblin was rash and only thought for himself. I'm looking at the bigger picture, and you can help me paint it," She held out her hand, "Do we have a deal?"

Tomura laughed, "If you want to live, I don't suggest a handshake as our contract."

He laughed again, "Fine, one less brat off the streets."

He reached out with no hesitation and grabbed her hand. Kurogiri looked away, assuming the worst to happen next.

But it didn't.

Normally, coming in full contact with all five fingers of his hand made the other participant disintegrate. This time however, smoke emitted from their handshake, shocking Tomura. He pulled his hand away in pain, examining his palm. It looked red, having almost been burnt enough to scar.

"How did you do that?!" He demanded.

"I put a thin layer of light energy between our skin, we didn't technically make contact. And now you know just what I'm capable of. So, ready to hear me out?"

"…Yeah," Tomura nodded, "I'm listening."

Elsewhere

The billionaire stepped out of his car with the door going up, dressed in a fancy suit and glasses. In front of him was a massive building, with a window up top designed with a strange symbol he didn't recognize. Closing the door of his car and locking it, he approached the front door steps and knocked. When he didn't get a response, he knocked again, and the door opened on its own.

He walked inside, just as the door closed behind him. Inside was a hall with objects resting on pedestals. Everything looked either expensive or ancient, meaning he likely shouldn't touch anything. High above him was a chandelier, being responsible for most of the light in the room.

"I've been waiting for you," A man said as he walked down the stairs. He was dressed in a blue monk outfit, with a large red cape draped over his shoulder, "How can I help you, Mr. Stark?"

"Just Tony, is fine Strange," he replied, "I've been trying to solve a problem, but I'm out of options. You and I both know I don't believe in magic, but I need your help."

"The Sorcerer Supreme is always able to help a friend, even if he can be a bit …difficult," He clapped his hands together, "What do you need?"

"A friend of mine is trapped somewhere," Tony answered, "And I need help finding him."