Chapter Text
-1-
Memories, a burst of memories
What's going on in my heart?
Amidst the hustle and bustle of the city, Peter Parker is just another face in the crowd. He spends his days burying himself in his obligations, working and studying, and his responsibilities as Spider-Man. He is just tired, tired of an obsession that took half a year for him. But he doesn't want to know anything more about that for the moment. And that is not what this story is about.
This story is about what he's going to see through his window.
He's watching the world outside and letting his thoughts roam when his neighbor erupts in the street chasing her boyfriend while vociferating and gesticulating exaggeratedly. The guy is leaving with his stuff, the anger in her face and the guilt in his says it all. They're breaking up.
She looks back at the building and sees Peter. He backs off, he knows he shouldn't be watching.
He goes to write some code on his computer, hiding his embarrassment. He presses enter, smiles and leaves the chair. He takes his scooter and goes out to work.
-2-
Later, Peter gets back to his apartment. He's programming a police radio transcriber for his phone. Then someone knocks at the door. It's his neighbor, a slightly older and beautiful girl with chocolate brown hair and a Yankees cap pulled low over her tear reddened eyes, way out of his league if he dared to consider the thought for a second.
"Hi, I'm Harriet," she introduces herself warmly, a friendly smile on her face. "I live next door. Welcome to the building."
"Peter," he responds in kind, returning the smile. "Nice to meet you. We kind of know each other from... kind of half a year of living next door?"
"Don't tell Dale Carnegie," she says with a chuckle, "it would break his heart. Do you want to help me finish these?" She gestures to a pack of beer bottles in her hand.
He takes a quick moment to mentally calculate his age before responding, "Well, yeah, technically I'm 24."
"Blipped?" she asks. "Lucky, you missed the most boring 5 years in history. Also, 18 year olds now can legally drink," she adds with a chuckle.
"Good to know. Come on in." He stutters clumsily.
Harriet looked around. She saw Peter repeatedly in the last six months, but didn't want to talk to him before because she was in her own bubble. Peter is kind of an hermit but this apartment doesn’t scream mental illness. She can work with this. Now that she's feeling vulnerable she's going to adopt a puppy, the kid next door.
"Do you work with computers? I thought you did deliveries." says Harriet looking at the pc.
"It's a hobby. I can't stay inside, I've got too much energy. I get jittery, I need to move, I feel uncomfortable, I start walking over the walls." Peter says this while doing a little man walking with his fingers.
"I get you." Nods Harriet, she had her own college nervous breakdowns.
They sit on the couch. Peter examines the beer. Harriet grabs the GED book.
Peter tries to make conversation but he’s a bit rusty. "How long have you been with your boyfriend?... I mean ex."
"Three years. What about you? Are you in a relationship?"
"Had," He corrects, eyes focusing on nothing as his mind drifts to the painful memories of his past.
"Spit it out dude." Harriet encourages him.
"We broke up recently. She moved to Boston for college. She's brilliant. I felt I was an obstacle for her. And..." Peter’s got the words stuck in his throat, and they won’t come out.
".. It wouldn't work...", she completes the sentence.
"The hard part is not looking back," He says with wet eyes.
"First girlfriend?" Harriet knows love stuff.
"Yeah." Peter affirms.
"If you're destined to be together you're going to find your way back to each other eventually." Her ancient knowledge of a stream of teenage relationships gives her the right words.
They look at each other, like a secret pact that they would arise like a pair of phoenixes from the ashes. They clink their bottles.
They end up drunkenly singing
“ Tessie, "Nuf Ced" McGreevey shouted
We're not here to mess around
Boston, you know we love you madly
Hear the crowd roar to your sound
Don't blame us if we ever doubt you
You know we couldn't live without you
Tessie, you are the only, only, only.”
-3-
A day after, Peter attends his class in college. The professor, Dr. Connors, presents his assistant, Harriet Osborn. When he hears those two names the Earth stops for Peter. She makes eye contact with Peter and waves shyly. "This is my right hand, or should I say, my right arm," Connors jokes. Harriet is helping Dr. Connors in his bioregeneration studies. Peter can't hear right whatever Connors is saying his concentration is elsewhere with flashbacks of the lizard and the goblin. He exits the class hyperventilated.
There's a girl handling flyers, it's Betty Brant! The girl from his high school. She briefly dated his best friend Ned Leeds while they went on a trip to Europe with the school. Now none of these people could remember him. He was a ghost, incommunicated, unknown. Yet he feels a bit of relief at this moment - It's nice to see a familiar face! He looks at the flyer. It's for an all female re-enactment of the three musketeers.}
"Are you in it?" Peter asks.
"Yes, I play D' Artagnan, the young musketeer," she does a mimic of drawing her sword, striking the classic musketeer pose.
"Cool!"
She’s cute, but Peter is in automatic pilot out of the shock he received in class.
“Cool,” he repeats barely on his feet and leaves. Like he could escape from something that’s going in circles inside of him.
He finally gets back home to his apartment, covering his eyes to fend off the oncoming migraine. Today's really been too much to process.
-4-
Spider-Man is swinging around a gray city. He is heading desperately towards an old building with a clock tower. Like the force of a crashing wave. Unstoppable, immutable, beyond any reason. He is a slave of his dream state, and the dream gave him one mission.
Two figures appear out of nowhere, knocking him out of the sky… They are Spider-Man, him, but weirdly distorted with some remains of the last big battle he and two other Spider-Men fought at the Statue of Liberty. One has a lizard head and another has the goblin glider. When he tries to web them up they explode like confetti.
He gets into the building. He starts shouting "Aunt May?" but the only answer is the echo. "Aunt May?"
There's no one inside, just Peter alone in the dark. The gears of the clock start to fall around him. He keeps shouting his aunt’s name, desperately searching for her. Then the whole building begins to crumble. Peter can't escape.
A piece of rubble strikes him on the temple causing him to blackout.
When he opens his eyes again he's in a room with Tony Stark... They're sitting at a poker table with cards in their hands.
“ The Gambler ” by Kenny Rogers is playing in the background.
"You know Peter, the secret to surviving is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep." He tells Peter as he discards two iron man themed cards.
"What? Mister Stark? This isn’t you." Peter questions, gesturing to the surrounding room.
"I know, I listen to AC/DC, this is your aunt's," he says, indicating the music.
"Yeah, totally. Is this a dream?" Peter is intelligent, even when he's in the oniric plane.
Tony smiles proudly "Trust your feelings, little grasshopper. Use the force."
"Use the force?" Peter parrots, baffled.
"Yes. Think of living. Imagine loving." he states cryptically.
"I feel I should memorize this," Peter gestures, looking in his pockets for something to take notes.
Tony shows his cards. They all are Iron man themed. It's a royal flush of hearts. Peter cards are Spider-Man themed but they don't even make sense as they read "PETER".
"I gotta go to a party. You should go to one too, don't miss life. Don't surround yourself with yourself. We’re proud of you, Kiddo. Carpe Diem." Tony winks.
-5-
Harriet knocks the door, Peter lets her in and lets his body hit the couch.
"Hey, your classmates invited me to a party!"
"Yeah? Isn't that inappropriate?" Peter inquiries.
"I'm not really a faculty member. And I need it. And you need it."
"Don't count me in." He tries to go back to his book, but what is he going to do? Read with Harriet there? He desists and goes to make some coffee.
"What? Are you afraid of having fun?" She teases.
"Afraid of..? Naah. Do you want some coffee?"
"I just had. You should spread yourself. Reinvent your wings."
"What?"
Harriet picks the Lego Emperor Palpatine Peter kept from the days he and his best friend Ned Leeds built a Death Star, and starts singing Black Eyed Peas while making Palpatine dance: "Let's do it, let's do it, let's do it, let's dooo it. Let's live it up and DEW IT". Adding a little voice impersonating at the end.
Peter cracks a smile.
"Come on duuude. I'm not going alone." Harriet pleads.
He looks at his Tony Stark poster right over a poster of The Police, the english rock trio.
"Ok." Peter says remembering the advice his mentor said to him in the dream.
She sees he looked at the poster when considering the idea, so she looks at it and says "I love Tony Stark!" and puts a supportive hand on his shoulder.
"He means a lot to me," Peter says unconsciously.
While she's approaching the door Peter says."Don't you fear people are going to talk if we go together?"
"What? You and me?... Naaa." Harriet exaggerates a bit, hoping Peter never made another idea in his head. She didn’t want a relationship, and he had his own drama going on with a girl in Boston.
"Thanks." Seriously? Is she calling me ugly? The audacity of this girl- Peter thinks.
"Not to offend dude. We gotta live while we can, there's no time to overthink. In a mmbop we're gone.” Harriet says quoting Hanson. “Also we're going with bud vibes. We'll be like Enrique and Pitbull. I'm Enrique, obviously." Harriet says before Peter gets his say.
"I'm Enri... damn."
-6-
At the party Peter takes a look at the place. Some people are dancing, some are drinking and talking. Half of them are wearing masks.
“ Levitating ” by Dua Lipa is playing in the background.
"What's up with all the masks?" Peter asks while they make way through the people dancing.
"It's a masquerade themed party. I guessed it was optional."
"I'm glad you did." says Peter, relieved.
"Top marks for not trying," she winks.
The party passes. Peter intervenes in a debate.
“Rapper's delight” by The Sugarhill Gang is now playing in the background.
"Was Thanos bad? Hot take: he was looking out for people. Hashtag controversial." says a guy to some nodding heads.
"Thanos wasn't looking out for anybody. He didn't ask before acting. He didn't do a follow up to check on the people he harmed. He was just... a basic douchebag." Says Peter charmingly enough to get some laughs.
A masked blond girl is watching him from a distance. Peter leaves to the roof to get some air.
-7-
While on the roof Peter observes some people carrying suspicious stuff into a neighboring house, he can’t believe it! it’s one of doctor octopus’ mechanical arms! His spider sense calls him to action. But someone approaches.
"Ehem, nice night, isn't it?" says Betty Brant.
He looks back to the sketchy people and then back to the girl he went to highschool with. She was best friends with his first love, Liz. The last words Liz said to him interrupt his train of thought.
"Bye Peter. Whatever is going on with you, I hope you figure it out."
He snaps back to reality. He has to give some kind of answer to Betty.
"Yeah, I just needed some air... I was bored."
"I was too. I saw the fun argument you had with Randy Robertson. We met already, I gave you a flier of the three musketeers, the play I’m starring. Betty Brant."
"I... Peter Parker."
"Do you like tarot readings Mr. Parker?" showing a deck of cards.
"I'm more of a scientific person. Do you carry the cards everywhere?"
"I had the premonition that I'd get bored easily. What do you say? Do you want to open yourself to the geometry of chance? The resonance of the shape of things to come? Pick a card," she said while playing with the cards.
"Well, we are at a party, aren't we?" Peter says and he draws a card. It's Death.
"I know what you're thinking. Don't freak out. It's a card that indicates changing, the end of a major part in your life. You're gonna need all your faith and temperance to get through it," she reads the last part from her cellphone.
"Like a jedi master..." Peter mutters to himself.
"Shall we go back to the party?" Betty signals with a thumb over her shoulder.
"You go first, I'll follow you in a minute." Says Peter.
She leaves.
Peter goes to do a closer inspection of the criminal hideout. Two men come outside.
"Are you lost, Bro?" One of the men asks, he has a confrontative attitude.
"I was just looking for my keys." Replies Peter.
"He lost his keys, Bro," the confrontational tracksuit tells the other, silent, one.
"But I found them," he shows a pair of keys.
"He found them, Bro,” the silent one nods while the talkative tracksuit starts getting furious . “Now get the f*** off, Bro. I don't like your small town sports star face, Bro. Go back to the wedding cake you came out of, Bro."
Peter plays dumb first but as he walks away his anger starts to show. He didn’t have to tolerate those insults. He could knock them easily. Why did he let himself be treated like shit? Didn't he know better? Why was he waiting to get some respect? Did he think the Avengers were going to save him? Nobody came into his defense when he was accused of killing Mysterio. Not a helping hand other than Happy. “Small town sports face, Bro”. He did have to go to Strange’s house like a beggar to ask for a favor. Didn’t Rhodey care? Did anybody love Tony Stark? Or people just used him? Did anybody care about May’s nephew? Did anybody remember May? ”Go back to the wedding cake you came out of, Bro”. He clenches his fist and grinds his teeth. He’s going to come back and beat the shit out of those idiots. He turns around and they’re not there anymore. His face turns red from the frustration and he clenches his fist with even more tension. He’s not going to knock on their door, nor turn their car around. He would expose himself. F*** it.
He gets back to the party. Betty grabs him and he calms down. All the anger that was boiling inside of him escaping like a balloon from the hands of a child. It all seemed like a stupid dream. He had nothing to prove to those people. He was fine, and he was at a party with someone that liked being with him. They dance together to “Asereje” by Las Ketchup, this song resembles levitating in the verses and the chorus is a wordplay on “Rapper's delight” first stanza. Anyway, Peter and Betty are oblivious to the dj’s choices, they’re having a great time.
-8-
The next morning Peter makes breakfast while the Return of the Jedi is playing, the "I am a Jedi, like my father before me" scene.
Harriet knocks at the door.
"Hey I was going to go to Central Park to exercise. Do you want to join me?"
-9-
They're running at Central Park. Peter tries to talk about Norman Osborn without too much success. Betty crosses them running to the other side.
"Hi Pete! Are you coming to the play?" Betty asks while passing.
"Hi.. Bmdjsnl.. Yeah!" he tries to answer while she’s getting away.
When she’s far enough to hear them Harriet bursts out laughing.
"What was that? Does Little Pete have a crush?"
"No..." Peter answered what he thought would conclude the conversation about the topic. How rude was Harriet to ask something he didn’t even give time to consider. Yeah they danced together, and it was a fun night. But that didn’t escalate into something romantic.
Yet, there was something. He did stutter and he was being rightly mocked. The truth was that he wanted to go to the play. He wanted to see her again, even if it was just for having another friend besides Harriet. There was a hunger to live knocking at his door.
"I know it's crazy but it's true. When you get caught between the moon and New York Ciiiiiity!" Harriet sings to a half annoyed-half laughing Peter.
"Shut up." Peter slightly pushes her.
-10-
Later that night Peter is listening through his radio. There's been a robbery. And for the direction the criminals are headed, Peter suspects they're going to the hideout he had found.
Spider-Man finds the car. The tracksuit uniforms makes them easy to recognize. When the car is getting to the hideout and with the help of the webbing gets the car to crash.
Three men get out of the car, two of them have guns. But spidey webs are faster.
The driver didn't even try to watch what was going on and starts to run away but gets webbed in the ankles while the spider sense alerts Pete of a bottle flying directly towards the back of his head. He doesn't get time to react. The bottle impacts.
"Ha! I got the spider in the head, Bro!" the tracksuit boasts, grinning triumphantly.
Peter falls and touches the back of his head.
"Now you're gonna see my foot close Bro. Very clo…” he retorts but the criminal is quickly silenced. “Uh oh, ouh," the tracksuit complains with each punch he receives.
Peter heads up to see Daredevil dealing with the tracksuit.
"You know, sometimes even when you get knocked down, you can still win." Daredevil encourages Spider-Man while he’s getting up.
"I thought I was doing pretty good by myself. Who are you?" Spider-Man asks.
"Daredevil. And you're pretty well off for that hit. Bless God for your good body constitution," Daredevil replies.
"I thought I was the sheriff around these parts," Peter says with a hint of humor in his voice.
"There’s enough for everybody. To start, there are four more inside. I do the punching you wrap them to go, ok?" Daredevil suggests, and the two of them go inside.
-11-
Meanwhile in another hideout The Scorpion is thanking his scientists Stillwell and Osborn for the suit they made for him out of scraps sold in the black market, with the fame of being possessions of Spider-Man enemies from another dimension and then stolen by the tracksuits. But soon he starts to get impatient because he is not getting a message from his allies.
"The good news is that I received some money from a famous Spider-Man hater to capture the arachnid. The bad news it's that there's only enough to pay one of you. Divide it... Or not. Nature orders itself," he tells them, tossing a gun. Stillwell gets it quickly.
Meanwhile Spider-Man left the scene and is swinging through the city.
"Please Mr. Stillwell don't." Stillwell is shaking but decided. He exposes his rationale.
Spider-Man is swinging by when he hears the bang and sees Stillwell running away. He captures him quickly and goes to look for the victim.
"I deserve this fate. Beware of the Scorpion. There are samples and my disk with the files on the table. And, uh, take this," handling Pete a storage unit key, "it's my personal project. Don't let it get in the wrong hands." Peter calls 911 and quickly gets the stuff, not knowing the man who just passed away is none other person than Norman Osborn. He leaves the scene because he doesn’t trust the cops after they shot at him with his dead aunt in his arms. There’s nothing more he can do. The fingertips and DNA will incriminate Stilwell.
-12-
Peter gets back to his apartment and quickly prepares to go out. He arrives at the theater for Betty's play, feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness. He's not sure what to expect, but it feels nice doing normal people stuff once again.
The play starts with the three musketeers (Aramis, Athos and Porthos) reuniting. When they end the scene saying "all for one and one for all!" Peter sees himself and the other Spider-Men from the other universes in the place of the musketeers.
Then Betty appears as D'Artagnan, Peter can't help but feel captivated. She's radiant and confident, with a fire in her eyes. D'Artagnan enters a grand hall where his enemies await. The beautiful Anne-Michelle watches from the balcony. Loyal friend Edmond follows closely behind.
Betty heroically engages in a fierce battle with her enemies and causes a chandelier to fall, crushing them. Anne-Michelle watches in amazement, realizing that D'Artagnan has a secret, and Edmond praises his friend's heroic actions.
Later when D’Artagnan reunites with the musketeers and says "I don't have the uniform but I have the heart of a musketeer!" Peter remembers his times with the Avengers, he wasn’t officially an Avenger when he decided to follow Iron Man into space. He is starting to fall for Betty.
When the play is over Peter applauds strongly with a few tears still on his face.
-13-
Peter reunites with Harriet in her apartment and they're talking when they see the news of Norman's death. She bursts out crying. Peter hugs her.
Meanwhile the Scorpion is taking money from two money trucks.
"Easy gents! Just remember: this ain't your money I'm stealing! Play it smart and you'll get away with a few bruises. And the honor of being ripped off by the scorpion himself!"
Back in Harriet's apartment she's crying. She thanks him and says she wants to sort everything out with her family. She starts to receive calls on her cellphone. She thanks Peter again.
He looks at the keys he received. Both Norman Osborn's (Harriet’s dad and the one he fought at the Statue of Liberty) blend in Peter's head. He can hear the Goblin laugh.
An alert pops up in his cell phone telling of the Scorpion's robbery.
Peter returns to his apartment. He hears again the Goblin laugh and he throws the keys violently (maybe breaking something).
Then he sees the The Police poster, the one under Iron Man’s, where he sees himself and the other Spider-Men.
"They went through the same pain I'm experiencing. I'm not alone in this." Then he looks at Tony's poster. "I am Spider-Man."
"Don't get cocky kid," he almost could hear Tony say as he leaves.
-14-
The Scorpion’s car is stopped by Spider-Man. Bags of money fly everywhere.
"Hi, I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Don't I know you?"
"You don't know me, I don't know you. Don't approach me, I won't approach you. 'Cause you don't know what I will or I won't do, scandalous Spider-Man. I am the Scorpion, the great unmasker." he replies, reaching for his tail.
"And I am Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius." Spidey teases.
"I make my own destiny. You laugh at your own jokes. I will bring you down, because the world is a rabid dog and I'm its angel emissary." He starts running against Spider-Man.
"You really need to get a better employment agency." says Peter, shooting a web at the Scorpion.
"Your webbing could never hold me." Mac Gargan answers while throwing his fists.
"The police will do the holding. All I'm doing is the stopping!" Peter shouts while evading Gargan’s fits and shooting more webs onto his legs.
"Fat chance!" He says peeling out of the web.
Peter jumps over a parked car and asks "Why do you dedicate yourself to evil?" He finally webs Gargan legs to the street.
"Evil? There's no evil. It's just an excuse to mask cowardice and slavery. But the key to freedom is there, for those who dare to push the limits."
"Did you need to become a criminal?" Peter asks while reaching the Scorpion. The Scorpion tries to punch his jaw but Spider-Man is fast enough to catch his fist. Not fast enough to escape from the tail that injects him with poison.
"I like the intensity," said Scorpion while releasing the laugh of someone that surprises with their own answers. He peels off the webbing and grabs a debilitated Spider-Man.
"You think you can hide behind your mask. But poison gets to all the corners and hidden places. There's nothing really sacred." He says while climbing a building while holding Peter.
"The city clown will soon fall down, without a mask to hide in." He gets to the top.
"The great Spider-Man, slayer of the criminal set. Cut down in his prime. How the city will mourn for the loss of their little vigilante. But tomorrow they'll mourn you a little less. By next week you'll fade into a fond memory." The Scorpion states to a drowsy Spider-Man.
"You came here to die. And you know it. Now it's time to say goodbye!" He throws Spidey off the building. Peter wakes up while falling. His concentration comes and goes. Like blacking out and waking up. He gets to throw a web. But while balancing he falls and hits the streets.
“Hey! Are you alright?” a new yorker says to Peter, who can’t think anything but…
“Home! Antidote!” and while shouting those two words, he webs and exits the scene swinging through the buildings.
-15-
Peter gets to his house and takes the antidote. Then he has a dizzy dream about May’s death and his fight with the green goblin.
He is in an infernal place with Quentin Beck. Peter tries to run to him while shouting: "You! It's all your fault!”
He trips and falls, tries to get up and keep running but he falls again, like some magical force prevents him from getting Beck. He shouts again, unable to hold his anger and frustration “You ruined my life! I hate you!"
Mysterio answers "You can't win underoos" while he turns into dust. Norman's laughter comes from nowhere to haunt him once again.
Then it starts to get dizzier. MJ says "You promised you'd come back for me. What about us? I was always by your side, why did you turn your back on me?”
It ends in his aunt's living room with Matt Murdock who says: "You know, even when you get knocked down, you can still win." The dizziness passes.
Then he gets to an ethereal place with his aunt.
"Why the sad eyes Peter?" She asks.
"I'm afraid. I'm afraid of not getting what I want in life," Peter replies.
"You can get it if you really want it. You can create anything if it comes from that precious heart of yours," she puts her hand in his chest while she states this.
"If I could I would," whispers Peter.
"It's your decision. The adventure of life is exquisite for those who are brave to live it." May shows him a white glowing sphere.
"I miss you. I miss everything." Peter cries.
"I'll never abandon you. I'll be by your side whenever you need me." May's words echo while Peter’s vision fades to black.
-16-
Peter wakes up and takes a look at Norman's files. There is footage of scorpions experiments with the poison and the antiserum which is dubbed "Project Die another Day".
The footage shows how progressively Mac Gargan lost his mind: "Seeds grow in the darkness. Diamonds form under pressure. Olives are pressed to release oil. Grapes must be crushed to make wine. I must try the poison again and again till I produce my own natural alexipharmakon " - "In order to the Scorpion live, Mac Gargan has to die. The greatest sacrifice for the greatest reward!".
He has enough. He goes and serves himself a glass of water. Goes back to the computer and minimizes the Scorpion’s files. He puts a tutorial on the basic punches of boxing.
-17-
It’s Norman's funeral procession after seeing Harriet receiving condolences from several people. Peter follows from away with his scooter. Wilson Fisk is there in a car when he gets attacked by the scorpion. Peter decides to intervene as Spider-Man.
"Seems like the fun just started at the side of the road" Spider-Man announces his arrival after leaving a great amount of webbing on the Scorpion’s face.
"I thought I'd killed you last time" replies the Scorpion, surprised while removing the web from his face.
"You did not kill me. You will not kill him." Spider-Man points with his finger while making his statement.
"We will see", says Mac Gargan and runs to attack Spidey who jumps in time to evade it.
"You got your part wrong, it is", he says gesticulating in an exaggerated way, "Rohan is mine!"
"Do you like following me, clown?" says Gargan furiously.
"It was that or tattooing me 'Fly like an eagle'. A shame that the artist isn't available this week". Spider.Man quips with a regained confidence.
"What didn't you get from last time? You like reruns don't you?" The Scorpion doesn’t understand what is goin on.
"Dude, you voldemorted yourself. How do you look in the mirror?" Spider-Man teases.
"Who wants to look at glass when you can look at a bulky bank account on a paradisiacal island." The Scorpion is sure there’s no flaws in his logic.
"At least I don't play James Bond in my basement. Die another day, seriously?" Peter shows his highest card.
The Scorpion gets mad. How does he know? This time Spider-Man is not going to survive. "You feel funny? Do you know why the spider crossed the Scorpion? To get to the other side"
He is going to make sure that Spider-Man doesn’t survive this time. "You can't have a miracle twice, arachnid". But when he tries to hit him with his tail Spider-Man rolls and gives him an uppercut that leaves him unconscious.
The cops arrive and Spider-Man leaves shouting “be careful with the tail! It’s poisonous!”
-18-
Peter sat on the bus to Boston and his thoughts drifted to the winding path that had brought him to this moment. "Starting over is never easy," Peter reflects, "we cling to yesterday and worry about tomorrow. Things can unravel in the blink of an eye."
In Boston, Peter's sees MJ walking down the street with her new partner. He knows he can't force things to his advantage, and even if it hurts, it's time to move on. "The only way to overcome obstacles is to face them and keep our eyes on the horizon." He leaves the Palpatine figure at Ned's doorstep as a gesture of appreciation for their friendship and the memories they shared.
Harriet finds a note in her window with a key: "Your father gave me this with one request: keep it out of the wrong hands. I trust that you will do that. Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man." In a storage unit she finds the Green Goblin's glider. Peter's reflection continues: "There's always a chance to start again, and I feel this is my time to embrace the unknown and take risks. Life’s turns are irrevocable. Accepting them is a call for heroism no one can take for us. Even Peter Parker can’t call Spider-Man to save him from that task."
Spider-Man swings through the city concluding:
"Someday I'll have to leave this body.
Someday I'll have to leave everything I know behind.
One day, whether I like it or not, that moment will come, and I hope on that day to be at peace and face it with confidence.
I hope that this certainty can be the fuel for me to commit to giving my absolute best from now on, because that's where I'll find that peace and confidence.
I hope that when that moment finally comes, and it’s too late to do anything about it, all I have left to do is just to smile one more time."
-19-
A double date is going on in Betty's apartment. She and Peter are on the same couch and behind them is an open window. Randy Robertson and a girl are sitting in front of them in two chairs with a tea table in the middle. Betty and the girl are having a fond conversation while the guys are not so involved.
"... the whole afternoon. I wondered for a moment if he cheated in his exams because he's so messy with his class notes."
"Do you like Spider-Man?" The girl asks Betty out of nowhere.
"I prefer the european version, what's his name... the night monkey. Why?" Betty asks curiously..
"Because you know when he caught the Scorpion I didn't get if people were applauding for him for protecting the citizens or for mistreating someone who doesn't fit in our frame of acceptable." the girl answers.
"I know what you mean. Today we just discussed Kafka's metamorphosis in Dodson's class. Like society forces people to fit at whatever cost. Even if it means eliminating the very person", Betty adds.
"Makes you wonder if we are ready to start living besides extraterrestrials."Peter tries to participate but his heart is not in it. Randy lights up.
"I could share an apartment with an alien princess or someone like... Alf. But what are the odds" says Randy looking at the girl who bursts out laughing.
"Ok, you convinced me. Shall we go to your house to look for a board game? Do you have yahtzee?", she says to Randy.
"Yes and many more. I don't wanna brag but it's quite a collection...", Randy replies as they leave Betty and Peter alone.
Betty plays with her hair. Peter cleans the crumbs off his jeans. They look at each other for a moment.
"Sorry. I know it was your neighbor's dad's funeral, but she didn't.", Betty tries to explain.
"Oh that? Don't worry about it.", Peter teases, a bit more dry than usual.
"Pleeease... forgive me!" Betty pleads, engaging in his act.
"You make it so difficult." Peter looks directly into her eyes.
Then they throw themselves in a desperate kiss. Betty pushes a little stronger and Peter falls back with his arm opening to the side of the window. An unexpected shot of organic web goes outside.
The end
Post-Credit
"What do you think?" Says Harriet while Peter is playing with the Playstation
"It's cool, but I would never have associated Spider-Man with skating in California and... drinking sodas?"
The game is a mashup between Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and PepsiMan. The main character is Spider-Punk, who skates on the street collecting soda cans.
"Nevertheless I'm dressed for the occasion!" Says spider-Punk on the TV, before drinking a the content of a soda can vigorously. "Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, cinco, seis!"
Spider-punk skates away and then is joined by Captain America and Iron Man while in the bottom appears a caption that reads “Skatengers Assemble”.
“I just upgraded the team, no need to thank me”, says Iron Man.
“I can do this all day”, adds Captain America..
"Let's make this last forever!" Shouts Spider-Punk.