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Max Dillon's life had been terrible for as long as he could remember. He was always bullied, and when he thought that someone truly cared for him, they betrayed him multiple times. He thought that by becoming Electro after the incident in Times Square, he would gain more recognition, but no, all they cared about was watching that pesky spider fight him.
They thought that he had been destroyed later at the Oscorp power plant. They had no clue that he could travel through electric lines and hide himself that way. That pesky spider-themed brat ruined his plans.
Electro had reformed himself shortly after the spider left the scene. He could always hide in the electric lines until he came up with the perfect plan for revenge. After all, he no longer required sustenance in the way that a normal person does. He just needed to be near a source of electricity at all times, and in a big city, that would be extremely easy.
Electro heard from the news later on that everyone thought he was dead. He would have to prove them wrong sometime soon. He also heard that the spider-guy failed to save a college aged girl. He hoped that made the spider suffer with the knowledge that it was partially his fault for the girl’s death, as the spider’s webs were found attached to her body.
Slowly, but surely, Max came up with a brilliant plan to lure the spider out. He did not want to just kill the spider. He wanted the spider mask-less. He wanted to expose the spider’s fear and pain. He wanted the world to see the spider as he is under the mask. He wanted to see the light leave the spider’s eyes when he fried him to death with electricity.
Electro decided to fulfill his plan during the night on the coming Saturday. That would be the best time for him to hold the most leverage/bait against Spider-Man. It was a big enough plan to lure the spider directly to him even though the spider generally stuck to Queens.
He would lure the spider back to the area where their first official fight was. He would lure him back into Times Square. His plan would need a whole lot of electricity, and that was one of the best places that he could go to to get it.
Electro waited until the clock hit nine p.m.. Then, he sent out a massive amount of electricity. He used the street lights and electric billboards around Times Square to his advantage. He quickly set up a cage of electricity. He formed boundaries around Times Square, and no one could get through. He had formed a massive electric fence. It was very tiresome, but it kept everyone there.
Electro revealed himself in the middle of a stunned crowd. He heard terrified screams all around him.
“I’M NOT DEAD, SPIDER-MAN! COME AND GET ME!” he shouted as there were a few people filming.
Max could hear as news helicopters arrived at the scene and shot footage from the air. Max watched as his villain persona was displayed across the large screens once again. He was live on television and the internet. He would make sure that this would be a great show.
“I know that I am now being watched by everyone in the vicinity now. Cops have tried to stop me before, but that did not end well, so I do not advise any that are trapped here with me to try and take me down, unless you want to end up dead. Lets just wait for our good old Spider-Man to arrive! You hear me, Spider-Man! Come out, come out, wherever you are! I’ve got a whole lot of people here as hostages, and if you don’t get here within the next twenty minutes, you’ll be dealing with a few dead people.” Electro said as he held everyone hostage.
Sooner rather than later, Spider-Man arrived at the scene and landed cautiously a few feet away from him. There were armed helicopters above the scene, but they had been directed not to engage in battle, as Electro was holding everyone hostage, and they could not risk endangering the civilians further. There were news crews everywhere outside of the scene as well, and a couple of helicopters up above filming everything.
“Hello, Spider-Man. I’m back and stronger than I ever was before. I simply overexerted myself when you believed me to be dead before. I’ve learned how to control myself much better since then. I’ve brought you here for multiple reasons. I chose this place because it is where our first fight began!” Electro said as Peter snorted.
“Aw, that’s so sweet. You could have just asked for another date you know. You didn’t have to go through all this effort to get my attention again. After all, the first date was very electrifying.” Spider-Man quipped in his usual way.
Electro growled in frustration and spoke “Enough of your childish quips! I know that you do it to hide your fear! You need to grow up and face reality! Take off your mask, Spider-Man! Let them see you for the fearful wimp that you are! You are not strong! You are not a hero! You are a weakling! It’s either you unmask yourself, or everyone here ends up dying by your hand. It would not be my hand. It is up to you whether or not you want people to die in order to keep your identity safe. What’s it going to be Spider-Man? Are you going to save your people, or are you going to save yourself? You have two minutes to figure it out, and then when you fail to save these people, their deaths will be your fault because you’re too scared to reveal your identity! Admit it! Admit your identity or admit that you’re a worthless coward! Admit that you’re too scared to reveal your identity!”
Spider-Man’s demeanor changed slightly with each of Electro’s added taunts. He held his hands out placatingly to the villain and began to speak.
“Okay! Okay, Max! I’ll do it. Just let everyone go! You don’t want to hurt them. You just want me! Let them go!” Spider-Man said as Electro gathered more electricity and sent little spurts out towards civilians to show Spider-Man that he was not playing.
People were crying and whimpering in fear.
“Do it now, Spider-Man, or everyone dies!” Electro shouted as he sent a particularly large blast at a family of four that was closest to them.
Peter heard the young child with them scream in terror at the blast that landed only inches away from her feet as her parents tried to drag her and her older brother further away from the danger.
Spider-Man quickly lifted his hand up to his mask and ripped it off. He threw it to the side. He couldn’t use his current webs against Electro, and he didn’t want to risk knocking the villain back into the civilians. He really did not want anyone to get hurt, and if he engaged in battle now, there would be no way to protect the people that were being held hostage.
“OKAY! Okay, Max! I admit that I am terrified, but I am not a coward! My mask is off now! Let them go!” Spider-Man said as soon as his mask was off.
Electro grinned maliciously and built up power in his hands.
“Well, that was certainly surprising. You’re not as much of a coward as I thought you were. Let’s get this party started!” Electro shouted as he released the barriers surrounding Times Square.
People immediately began to rush out of Times Square. The police were having a hard time trying to help people get out of the line of fire. They were doing their best to keep news crews calmed, and to prevent a stampede.
People were going crazy with fear. Electro’s focus was solely on the mask-less hero now. The news crews were already trying to deduce Spider-Man's civilian identity. They now had a face to associate with the hero, but now they must figure out his name.
Civilians were soon evacuated from the scene. Police stayed behind to aid Spider-Man as well as they could. They tried to get the news crews away from the scene, but it was virtually impossible. They had just begun to cover one of the biggest stories that would go viral quickly. They had been extremely lucky that no one had died from Electro’s hostage situation.
There had been minor injuries, and some cases of shock, and more emergency services waited outside of the scene in case there were any civilians that were not able to make it out before Electro engaged in battle with Spider-Man.
The police watched as Electro and Spider-Man fought. Their weapons were useless against the fiend. Air support had arrived long ago, but they were not helping very much. They had tried once the area had been cleared of civilians, but it only angered Electro more.
It appeared that Spider-Man was fighting a losing battle. He was still mask-less, and the city watched as their hero struggled with the fight. It did seem as if the hero was gearing Electro towards something, but they were not sure what.
There were fire trucks at the scene, and everyone watched as Spider-Man led Electro closer and closer to them. Some people picked up on why he was doing that, but many were confused as to why Spider-Man was seemingly leading the villain close to where evacuated civilians were.
Lucky for Spider-Man, the firefighter Captain knew exactly why he was leading the villain towards them. The Captain directed his crew to hook up the hoses and prepare them for use. They did not question the actions and did as told.
Air support had not helped very much, and they did nothing as Spider-Man led Electro towards the trucks. News crews and the helicopters were focusing on Spider-Man’s face and covering as much of the fight as they could. Reports were already flooding into their stations as to what the identity of the hero’s name was.
The internet was going crazy, and the fight was going viral. Spider-Man got as close as he could to the fire trucks and noticed that someone had picked up on what he had been trying to do. Someone had picked up that he wanted to use water to ‘short-circuit’ Electro.
Spider-Man shouted “USE THE WATER NOW!” as he swung towards the fire truck with Electro close behind him.
Electro caught on to what was happening, and before he was doused, he sent one last massive burst of electricity at Spider-Man. Spider-Man cried out as the massive burst of electricity hit him in the torso. The cameras caught the pain and fear that covered his face as he released his grip from the web he had been swinging from.
Spider-Man had already been close to the ground when Electro struck him, but he did drop a few feet and rolled next to the fire truck. The aerial cameras zoomed in on his pained face and burned torso. They were not focusing on the villain who had now been defused. The water was successful in taking out the villain.
Electro had smiled when he took the spider down. He may not have killed Spider-Man, but he did wound him. Even after he had been sprayed with a huge stream of water that took out his abilities, he continued to grin evilly. He had exposed the spider’s identity and had successfully damaged him.
Special forces apprehended him quickly after he was short circuited, but instead of fighting, he cackled wickedly.
“HA! I defeated Spider-Man! I wanted to kill him, but this is even better! I can see the agony on his face being broadcast to the whole world! He is still a wimp! I admit that he is not a coward, but he is no hero! He was not able to stop me! Only a lowly firefighter was able to stop me! That’s your hero for you New York! He was too weak to stop me!” Max continued to say as he was put into the back of an armored prisoner transport vehicle.
Emergency services raced to Spider-Man’s side as soon as the ‘all-clear’ had been sounded. They immediately evaluated the damage that had been caused by Electro. They could see that Spider-Man was in pain, but they could also see that the burn on his torso was not nearly as bad as they thought it would be.
The blast that hit Spider-Man would have been a killing blow to a normal person, and even him if he had not been smart. They noted that Spider-Man’s suit was insulated. It had material in it that protected him from electricity. He was still injured, but not nearly as bad as he could have been.
The paramedic watched as Spider-Man’s pained grimace morphed into a pained frown as he slowly opened his eyes again. He had closed them in pain.
“Ouch. I think that I need some medical help now.” were the first words out of his mouth as he glanced at the paramedic and proceeded to pass out due to the pain.
They quickly treated the college aged Spider-Man as best as they could until they were able to get him to a hospital. The news reported that Spider-Man was being treated, and they reported the name of the hospital that he was being sent to.
No one had died that night due to Spider-Man’s bravery and willingness to protect his people. Electro had been transported to a secure facility, and he had no chance of escape. Spider-Man had a much larger situation to deal with. His face had just been revealed to the world, and if his name had not yet been released, it would be soon.
Spider-Man was transported to the hospital quickly. He was still unconscious, so no one was aware that he would not want to go to a normal hospital. When the ambulance arrived, there was a Doctor Helen Cho waiting for them. She had taken over his case. She did not see it as necessary to transport him to the compound at the moment as she had come prepared with his needed drugs when she had heard of the situation.
She had arrived at that hospital in record time thanks to Tony Stark’s technology. She checked him over and treated him. Sooner rather than later, a woman came bursting into the room where Spider-Man was at.
Security had been close behind her, but she was paying no attention to them. Helen recognized her as May Parker. Peter had shown her a picture of his aunt in case things had gotten as bad as this.
May had recognized her kid’s face as soon as it was plastered all over the news. She had watched as her kid fought a deadly villain. She had watched the news at the hospital where she worked while her kid risked his life to save New York civilians. She knew that Peter had been hiding things, but she had never expected it to be this.
“It’s okay guys. This is Ms. Parker, and the patient here is her child. I’m sure that you could tell that she was frantic to get here, as she was able to push past you. Stand down.” Helen directed the security guys.
May stopped before she reached the side of the bed across from where Helen was standing and fiddling with the machines that were now hooked up to her unconscious kid.
“I have treated his wounds and administered pain medication. I will not yet explain to you why he knows me or his mutation, as it is not my place. My boss is Tony Stark and your child has been under his tutelage for a few months. It was kept quiet. He had me develop pain relievers and drugs that would work on Mr. Parker in case of situations such as this. Mr. Parker occasionally visits the compound to get materials for his Spider-Man job and training. He was in no danger at any time while he was at the compound. Mr. Stark just wanted to train him. Mr. Parker had already built his suit, and Mr. Stark offered a helping hand. I will let he and Mr. Parker explain further after Mr. Parker wakes up. The drugs should dull the pain and make him drowsy, but he should wake within the hour. Mr. Stark will be coming shortly. I will be checking on him frequently, and I will be on call. I will get the paperwork for you to fill out. Please excuse me.” Helen said as May took a seat by Peter’s bed.
She sat in that uncomfortable plastic hospital chair and gripped her nephew’s pale hand. She could see the bandages on his torso. Her child had been in so much pain, and she had been powerless to help him. She wondered how long her child had been hiding his pain from her. She wondered how long he had been hiding his secret from her.
Spider-Man had shown up when her nephew was fifteen years old and right after Ben died. Surely her child had not been a hero for that long. Surely, he was not endangering himself that often. May thought to herself and wondered how she had never put things together before.
The television in the corner of the room was on, but it was muted. She watched as footage of the fight played alongside an image of her nephew. She watched as the video of her child being electrocuted went viral. She watched as his name became public knowledge.
May watched as the news reported her child’s name alongside one of his old high school portraits. She watched as Peter Parker’s name, not Spider-Man, went viral and became the topic of discussion. There were no subtitles on the television, but she could see that they were talking about her nephew. Footage from the fight was still being covered, but they were also showing images from his previous fights as they talked about him being Spider-Man.
Tony Stark arrived in the hospital room without her noticing, and she was startled when he spoke.
“He’s a good kid, Ms. Parker. I know that I should have told you, but he was doing good on his own. I have already called up a team of lawyers that should be able to help him through any legal troubles. He may not need them right now, but it is good to have them on stand by. I have been helping train him for the past months, and I wanted to help him get better. I know that he told you about an internship, but it was not with Oscorp. It was actually with me. I’m sorry that we lied to you, but he wanted to keep you all safe. I will help you through this. He is still a teenager, and he will have a rough time adjusting to living with people knowing his true identity. I will help him through it. He has confided in me, and he has told me things about his past. I have come to care for him, and it has surprised me. I tracked him down a while ago and offered him a position on the Avengers and he refused. I offered him tech upgrades and things like that, but he insisted that he was fine on his own. I finally got through to him one day while he was patrolling and I found out that he had been stabbed. I took him to the compound and proposed the internship idea. I am sorry that we lied to you, but I do hope that you know we did it to protect you and his friends. He only showed me his identity that day because he also had a concussion. He told me that he felt safe enough to show me his identity. He told me that his ‘spider-sense’ is quiet around me. I know that this is a whole lot of information, but as soon as he wakes up, we will be discussing this more, and I will transport him to the compound as soon as Helen gives the go-ahead.” Tony said as May gaped at him.
May breathed in deeply and let out a long exhale. She was not angry at either of them. She was just overwhelmed. She was saddened that her nephew felt that he had to hide his identity from her. She just nodded at Mr.Stark and accepted his words. She said nothing to him.
Tony took a seat beside her in the other plastic hospital chair he had pulled up. Tony may not have known the kid for very long, but he still cared. He had been working with the kid for the past months, and there was no way that he could not care for the kid.
Peter woke a few times during the night, but was too groggy to get an actual conversation out of. May and Tony sat by his side. The next morning, Helen told them that he could be transported to the compound whenever they would like.
May accepted the offer, and allowed Peter to be transported to Stark’s compound. The arrangements were made quickly, and Peter was transported easily. May had been allowed to ride with him while Tony was driven to the compound by Happy.
Hospital staff had been required to sign non disclosure agreements, and they were not allowed to release anything to the media. Tony told May that he would help handle the media after Peter recovered.
Peter woke up again later the next morning, and was able to have an actual conversation.
May heard him groan as he woke.
“Ow. That really hurt. OH! OH NO! NO! MY IDENTITY! It’s not safe! We need to leave! We need to leave!” Peter began to freak out.
May and Tony were quick to try and calm him down. They were able to calm him down and assure him that they were at Tony’s compound. They were in a highly secure place.
“What’s going to happen now? Mr. Stark, my identity has been exposed. We have talked about this before, but I never expected it to come so soon. I thought that I would have years to prepare plans. We can’t stay in the house anymore, I’m sure that it’s crawling with reporters by now. You’re not safe anymore.” Peter said as he teared up.
“Peter, honey, I do not care a bit about that. I only care that you are safe. It was surprising to find out that you are Spider-Man, but it is not the end of the world. We will get through this. I’m a little surprised that you lied to me about the internship, but this is honestly so much better than what you told me. You found someone to teach you things that you needed to know, and he has helped keep you safe. I am proud of you, and even if we never get to go back to that house, it will be fine. I only care about keeping you safe.” May said.
“Your house is actually fine, and I have kept the reporters and media from hounding your friends and classmates. You went viral on the news, and I have been doing my best to help. I have security stationed around your residence and around your school. Your friends are perfectly safe, and no one can get to your house. The media is going crazy, and someone from the hospital broke the NDA, so there will definitely be a lawsuit there, and they know that you have connections to me. They would be idiots to try and go after you right now. No one can get to you while you are under my care, and I will do my best to ensure your safety for as long as I can. I’ll be helping handle the media in the coming days, and you two will be staying here at the compound for the foreseeable future. You guys are safe. I’m sorry that your identity is out now, but we will handle it. No one would dare to hurt you while you are under my care.” Tony said.
Peter exhaled softly. He was extremely relieved. His mentor had learned of the situation quickly and done his best to handle it. His mentor had stationed security around his home and campus. May was there with him, and she was safe. Peter was entirely relieved that his family was safe.
Peter’s identity had been revealed by a villain, his face had been shown on the news, the videos of the fight went viral, and his civilian name was trending on social media. The media was going crazy at the reveal, but the news was mostly positive. The villain had been defeated, and he had saved countless lives. He hated that his identity had been revealed, but he did not regret doing it.
Peter had saved countless lives just by taking his mask off when a villain wanted him to. Electro wanted to see his fear and wanted to kill him. Electro did see his fear, but had not killed him. He just succeeded in showing the public that their heroes are capable of fear too. Peter was not ashamed of his fear.
Peter smiled and replied “Thank you, Mr. Stark. I’m glad that you are here to help us through this. I’m angry that Electro risked the lives of everyone there, but I do not regret unmasking myself. It possibly saved many lives. I know that things will change drastically, and I am not ready for it, but I also know that you two will be here for me through it all. Electro is in prison now, and he helped me show the world, but especially New York City, that I am willing to give up my identity for them. I just hope that this showed them that I am truly devoted to helping them. I do not regret showing my fear or my face. It reinforced that I am willing to do anything to keep New York City safe.”
Tony and May smiled as Peter said exactly what he was thinking. The coming days would be hard, but they could get through it together. Peter Parker may have been outed as Spider-Man, but it was not the end of the world. He had his family with him in a safe place, and that was what mattered. He was still injured, and he would be hurting for a while, but it had been worth it. Peter Parker was Spider-Man, and he would always power through whatever bad thing life threw at him next. Peter had survived many hardships during his life, and this was just another to add to the pile. It was not the end of the world, it was just the end of a secret life. He no longer had to hide from his friends or May. Perhaps, it was actually beneficial that his identity had been revealed.