Spider-Man One Shots

Exhaustion

Summary: Dark Peter. Dark, dark Peter. The public is as hateful towards Spider-Man as ever, and he just can't take it anymore.

TW: this will be very, very dark. So... murder, a little bit of self-hate and more murder.

This one shot will be extremely different to the ones I always write since I'm honestly not comfortable writing these kinds of things, but it was requested so...yeah. If you don't feel comfortable reading about dark Peter then skip this.

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Peter only wanted to help a man that was being robbed, nothing more. He landed beside the thief and saw the man cower back in fear.

But the man wasn't looking at the thief; he was looking at Peter.

Not paying attention to that, maybe because he didn't notice or because he didn't want to notice, Peter webbed up the criminal and turned to the man to give him his wallet back.

The man, however, was already stumbling away from the scene.

"Don't hurt me, you- you monster!"

Peter looked down at the wallet he held in his ignored outstretched hand and sighed. It was not the first time it happened. In fact, that was what he mostly got now. Gone were the days old ladies thanked him for helping them, or that kids ran to him for a picture and a quick demonstration of his powers, or that he was happy.

Why did they hate him so much?

J.J. Jameson, he reminded himself bitterly. That guy had intended to make his life living hell, and he had achieved it. Nights out in patrol had become nights of people running away from him, of kids crying in his presence, of a feeling of absolute sadness, pain and tiredness he just couldn't deal with anymore.

It wasn't tiredness anymore, he realized, it was pure exhaustion.

And he hated it.

He hated that he was being constantly followed by the police, slapped by victims he had saved, and feared by children.

Seeing the forgotten wallet in his hand, he finally snapped. He never become Spider-Man to be famous or to be thanked, he did it to help. But now it seemed people didn't appreciate his help.

If the police wanted to follow him, or victims wanted to slap him, or children wanted to fear him, he'd give them all a reason to.

They would see that all this time he hadn't been a criminal, that he hadn't been a menace.

Because now he would be.

•××ו

When Peter swung back home that night, he relished the silence and solitude.

Peter looked through his few personal belongings, searching for things he'd need. He rummaged through the kitchen's drawers, and through his bathroom, putting all the things he picked inside a bag.

As he did so, he thought back to everything that had happened.

Peter thought about J.J. Jameson and couldn't help the resentment settling in his chest. That man had spread lies about him, he had taken all his good deeds and he had twisted them into something despicable.

Countless were the days he had cried after patrol, having been out all night to try and help only to get hate and harmful words sent his way. He had done nothing to deserve that.

Endless, hopeless nights getting seriously injured and sleep deprived, only to receive spite in return. What Peter couldn't tolerate was that many of his loved ones were dead too because of him.

So what was the point?

All the people had hated Spider-Man so much that they made him hate himself, and feared him so much that even he started to believe he was a menace. Now they had convinced him, not that he was a menace but that he could become one.

And, for the first time, he wanted to.

Even the sweet Peter Parker, the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, had a limit to his patience and selflessness.

It had been reached.

It was for that reason that he was now heading to the house of the man that had started all this mess. Carefully and silently, he forced a window open and made his way inside.

Few times had Spider-Man needed to be stealthy, as his approach to criminals was much more up-front, but this time he was so quiet that not even someone with enhanced hearing would have been able to detect him.

Peter approached the only bedroom of the house and webbed the man's mouth, then webbed him to the bed in which he laid.

Calmly, he made his way outside and opened his bag, taking out one single object and holding it close to the door.

Without remorse, he watched the lighter slowly engulf J.J. Jameson's wooden door in flames.

One down.

•××ו

Spider-Man then headed to his next target's house.

He remembered his face, remembered his expression when he fired the gun. Peter had kept tabs on the guy and was angry to realize life was treating him right.

Life wasn't treating him like he had murdered Ben in cold blood, so Peter would.

He entered the criminal's house the same way he had done before, but this time he had a different plan.

"Who's there?"

Peter smiled.

Two webs were shot at the man as soon as he was within sight, holding his arms, and a third one went towards his mouth to muffle the screams he was planning to provoke.

A knife leaving the former hero's hand was the reason for the first one, and the second knife was met instead with the silence of death.

Two down. One to go.

•××ו

A mental asylum was surprisingly easy to infiltrate, Peter discovered as he entered through the front doors without a single word being said to him.

He made his way inside, to a room he had imagined himself in hundreds of times before. He never thought he'd ever build up the courage to actually go, but there he was.

His victim? Harry Osborn.

All these years, Peter had blamed himself for Gwen's death, but he was now certain it was Harry's fault, so he would pay.

"Missed me?"

Harry leaped out of his bed, walking backwards towards the furthest wall.

Peter smiled, wondering if Harry was the only insane person in the room.

One single web towards the neck was all it took this time, asphyxiating him.

Three down. He was done.

Peter walked away calmly, but not before leaving a simple note in the doorstep, just like he had done with the previous two victims.

"Have fun trying to stop what you started now that I'm not holding back.

-Courtesy of your resident menace, Spider-Man."