Spider-Man: Fire and Desire

Chapter 8: Soul Searching

Author's Note: First of all, sorry it took so long to update this! Life has a way of being rather eventful. I have my own form of Parker Luck sometimes, but it'll be full steam ahead with this story from here on out. Enjoy the chapter!

Intro Music: Spider-Man 1981 Theme

Peter Parker has been going through it. That's the recap of recent events.

I mean, he usually goes through it, but now?

This random Spider lady that goes by the name of Madame Web suddenly tells him he has to save not only his universe, but other multiple universes or everybody is literally going to die because of Kingpin's Project M. Sure, he's Spider-Man, but he's also a senior in high school. He's only been Spider-Man for one year. One whole year. To have this kind of pressure... It's unnerving. Unsettling.

He already wasn't thinking completely straight before the news, but once this was revealed, he started to really not act like himself. Much like how Black Cat pointed out, Spider-Man rushed into Fisk Towers without a solid plan. Was the pressure getting to him? Absolutely, no doubt about it.

Speaking of Black Cat, the cat burglar who usually gets herself into trouble, really got into trouble last time, and that's saying something when you consider who we're talking about here. Kingpin knows her secret identity to be Felicia Hardy. How does he know? A story for a later time. Though, he used this knowledge to his advantage, basically saying if she doesn't bring him Spider-Man, her mother is dead.

Long story short, with Spidey's strong insistence on going to Fisk Towers, which didn't help Black Cat's feelings in the matter, she did ultimately bring him there.

And that's where everything went downhill.

Because Spider-Man attacked 'Wilson Fisk,' the hero of New York, he's now seen as public enemy number one. Then, you add in the fact Spider-Man's parents, Peter's parents, along with Uncle Ben, the man he looked up to the most, the whole reason why he became Spider-Man in the first place, the same guy who told him the ever so famous words of, "With great power, comes great responsibility," were all working with Kingpin at a particular moment in time, you can imagine how Peter felt when he heard this news, and how he still feels right now.

Being in the hospital doesn't help either.

Peter Parker sat up in his hospital bed. His face, his eyes, everything about him resembled a bevy of emotions. Anger, confusion, sadness... What has he been doing this whole time? How can he listen to a man's advice, his very own Uncle Ben's advice, the very words he's stood by when it comes to him being Spider-Man, how can he take those words seriously anymore when the same man who told him this didn't practice what he preached?

Take this for instance, imagine you not only looked up to somebody, but you really, really looked up to that person. The way they thought, the way they acted, their ideologies, everything.

But then you later find out that same person, who apparently stood up for everything you stood up for, or you eventually came to stand up for, imagine if this same person supposedly stood up for the exact opposite things. Imagine if it was all an act from the very beginning.

You'd feel betrayed, right? You'd feel lied to.

Peter kept on hoping this was all a bad dream, a fake reality, and hopefully he would wake up from this mentally draining nightmare, but he only wishes it could be so simple.