Part 8

Clothing was thrown to the floor. Drawers were open with a few ripped out of their housings entirely. Embedded storage lockers that housed shirts and jackets were all askew from what looked like a typhoon or another similar force of nature. A strong gust of wind filled the room, rattling a few empty hangers with one of them falling off its mount only to land in an empty space between a couple of pairs of boots.

As more wind circulated throughout the room, a large window remained open and gently tapped the side of a wall. Outside the building an approaching Blackhawk helicopter could be heard as well as several vehicles below. The window was so incredibly high that no ordinary person could possibly survive a fall from such a height; however, the one who burst forth from the opening several moments ago was anything but ordinary and left only a single, near invisible strand of web behind.

High above the city streets, far away from those below, a solitary figure ran, leapt, crawled, and swung his way from rooftop to rooftop. Had anyone been watching he would have appeared to be a blur running through the night under the bright light of the full moon.

He dove and flipped from one building to another, landing in a rollout as he leapt across a busy street. Extending his right arm he fired a thin, clear web line to assist his leap across the concrete canyon far below. What looked like a face plant to the side of the buildings wall turned into a quick planting of his feet as the lone young man ran up the building and performed a one handed flip to the roof.

"Man, I haven't moved like that in a while. Almost forgot what it's like to swing through the city like that."

If anyone were to see him now they would have thought he was a common street thug in a grey zip-up hoodie. Red angled patterns adorned the chest and back with the sleeves torn off to offer better movement and a red long sleeve shirt underneath. The short time he's worn his blue jeans, they already had holes in the knees and frayed bottoms with his new pair of sneakers getting a good breaking in.

Running a hand through his hair while taking his hood and red face covering off, Peter headed over to the ledge of the building and looked over Times Square. Bright lights turned night into day as people bustled about for whatever reason they deemed was important to them. Horns honked, people laughed, everything seemed as if the world were without any troubles at all. It had continued on without him as if he had never existed to begin with.

He let the cool night breeze flow through his hair and over his sweat covered skin as he looked over the streets below when he heard the people begin to cheer and clap. One individual gave a loud "Go Spider-Man!" yell that managed to catch him off-guard.

A smile crossed his face for an instant as a wave of delight washed over him. The acceptance that he had been granted after the world nearly ended seemed to come back to him when he saw the real reason they were cheering; the new red and black Spider-Man was swinging by.

Peter watched him carefully as the new guy showed off for the crowd of people. Everything he had worked so hard for and endured was now being credited to another. The feeling of acceptance and delight was soon gone.

"So you're the new guy," Peter said. The new Spider-Man swung away with the crowd still cheering for him. "I'll be seeing you later. Maybe you'll have better luck than I did."

The other Spider-Man faded into the distance, leaving time square, the people, and Peter behind. Letting out a long, heavy sigh, he leaned hands down on the ledge and closed his eyes.

Maybe this is a good thing. He thought. Someone else will deal with what I've had to put up with as Spider-Man. They'll have to put up with the headaches of that costume, not me. I just need to get…

Before he could finish the thought, several bright flashes caught his eye from below. Looking over at where it came from, he watched as a young woman wearing a pair of jeans, white tank top and a baseball cap posed for a cameraman. Even though he couldn't see her face he had a feeling she was attractive. After striking a few more poses she took her hat off and let her long, red locks flow around her shoulders.

Peter couldn't help but lean in closer. He was too high up to see her face clearly but he still tried to look upon her features anyway. "Yeah right Parker. No way is your luck is that good. Probably just some other girl down there."

"Hey M J, over here!" The sound of a man's voice surprised him with the saying of those initials.

"Mary?" Peter watched as the young woman jogged closer to the building he was on and finally saw her face. He was wrong in thinking he didn't have that kind of luck because there, right below him, was Mary Jane Watson. His Mary Jane Watson.

"Mary Jane." He quickly pulled his face covering and hood on before hopping over the edge and descended down to the street below.

His eyes were wide with the want to see her again. His heart raced but not from fatigue, it was from being so close to her and drawing ever closer with each passing second. Remaining in the shadows of the alley, Peter was less than ten feet from the ground when he saw her. A bright smile was on her face as she came closer to where he was. His heart beat faster at the sight of her and that maybe, just maybe, she saw him. Maybe she would see he wasn't dead and would run up to him with that beautiful smile of hers where they could reunite and be together again. Those thoughts made him excited and crawl faster to just the very edge of the shadowed area. A moment later, his hopes were shattered.

She didn't see him. She wasn't smiling at him or coming to him. She was heading over to another young man and fell onto his arms. Peter's heart stopped and ached at the sight. The smile that she used to give him was now being used on another along with the arms she used a hold him with.

Peter's entire body froze. It had never dawned on him that in the long months since his supposed death that Mary Jane would have already moved on with her life and replaced him. The sight of her with another guy made his chest feel heavy yet empty at the same time. A cold chill enveloped him as he saw the two of them close together. Not wanting to see anymore, he climbed back up the building to where he was before his hopes of reuniting with the woman he loved were destroyed.

In a daze, he set down in the corner of the rooftop and pulled his head coverings off. A blank look covered his face as he leaned against the stone structure of the ledge. "She found someone," he quietly said. His voice was barely above a whisper. "She's forgotten about me."

He shut his eyes tightly as the warm feeling of tears welled up in his eyes and flowed down his face. "She's moved on."

A moment passed as her smiling face flashed in his mind once again. Images of them laughing, hugging and kissing appeared before his eyes. They were images he would never get a chance to relive again.

She looks happy. She deserves to be happy. I've done nothing but bring her grief and pain from being Spider-Man. I never should have told her who I was. I never should have gone out with her or thought that I could be with her. She's better off without me.

All was quiet on the deserted rooftop he inhabited but that was soon changed. A short distance away, a loud explosion filled the night air with the screams of innocent people coming soon after. Peter jumped to his feet and quickly wiped his face clean as he looked in the direction of the commotion. A fire burned inside a building that people were hastily moving away from as they screamed for help. A few were trying to help the injured to safety as whoever was behind the destruction leapt into the front-less building.

"Oh crap." He didn't want to do it but knew he had no choice in putting a stop to what was taking place. He had to help if he could, even if it meant he had to play hero again.

Jumping onto the ledge, Peter once again slipped his face covering and hood back on before firing a web line to a nearby flagpole. Before taking off to put an end to whatever was happening, he looked down at Mary Jane one last time.

"Goodbye Mary Jane. I'll always love you."

He halfheartedly jumped off the building and swung to his nearby destination with a broken heart and the need to take what he was feeling out on someone.

To be concluded