Chapter Text
Chapter 1: The Change Begins
Unknown Location:
“Do you miss it? The wind on your masked face. The smiles of the innocents you saved? The chanting of your name calling you a hero?”
The walls are padded and the hole in the door is perfect for eye-level communication. The two men have their eyes locked. One set, menacing. One set tired.
“Or do you miss the fire in your heart with each punch? The smell of blood on the pavements. The screams of the ones you love begging you to be their hero.”
The menacing one sniffling, “Do you miss your failures? Tell me. Do you miss me, Peter? Our games of tag, hide and seek, and catch the girl?” A smile crosses the man’s lips. “You never liked that last one.”
Peters's arms stay crossed as he watches the clock. He had five more minutes to listen to the man’s rambles.
“I get the news sometimes. Only the Daily Bugle. I haven’t seen a picture of yours in over fifteen years, but’s nice to see the fashion report by that squeeze of yours. It makes me feel like she is in the room with me. Good writing does that. But none of this has to do with why you’re here.”
Peter stares at the clock for another moment. One more minute until the time is up.
“You want to know what I did with her body, don’t you? Why would I tell you? Then you will stop visiting me. So we have these weekly sessions and I get to talk to the man I wish was my son. God, if Harry were half the man you are he wouldn’t have been such a disgrace to the name Osborn. “
“You were always the disgrace Norman.”
“So, the spider still speaks.
“I’m not him anymore.”
“You will always be him. It is your true skin. You can hang up the webs, but the spider will always find a way out. It’s your gift. It is your destiny. Our destiny. I see a perfect world and in it, you and I dance until we die together in one massive battle. My glider through your heart and your fist through my gut and when we lay there dying. Only then, will I tell you what I did with your Aunts body.”
A ring is heard by the two men as a guard in SHIELD attire comes to the side where Peter is standing.
“We’ll talk again soon Norman.”
“I know. And I will tell you nothing but the truth.”
The SHIELD agent and Peter leave as Norman lies down, shuts his eyes, and begins to think happy thoughts. A sane man would consider them nightmares.
***
Forest Hills: The Home of Peter and Mary Jane Watson-Parker
“Mom! Benjy just peed all over my basketball shorts! The game is in an hour and Coach Thompson will bench me if I wear the wrong colors again. Recruiters are going to be there tonight.”
May “Mayday” Parker huffs and puffs as her mother rubs her face with her hands. Benjy is running around somehow out of his diaper. His red curly hair seems to lift in the breeze of his speed.
Mary Jane grabs the soiled shorts and points to the half-naked two-year-old.
“Take your brother to his room and get a fresh diaper on him and I will take care of the shorts.”
Mayday runs and snatches up her brother remarking. “You know this never happens when dad watching us. It’s like Benjy knows Dad will be gone so he does all this for him to come back. Why does Dad have these weird meetings anyway? Is it therapy? Can he quit?”
Mary Jane pulls out a Tide pen commenting, “You know how important your dad’s meetings are. He has to go to these. They keep him sane. Trust me. He missed one when you were little and he barely slept the whole week.”
Mayday takes her brother upstairs and Mary Jane fumbles to clean the wet shorts. She wasn’t used to doing most of the work around the house. She was used to traveling and writing articles about the newest fashion trend that designers would beat into the ground.
She never thought she would be a mother. She never thought she would be married because of her father, but she found someone just as broken as her and somehow, they helped mend the cracks in each other.
Mary Jane throws the shorts in the dryer. If she couldn’t get the smell out, then she could at least make them dry. Mayday would have to deal with it.
The door swings open and a brown-haired bearded man walks in.
“Tiger. Oh, thank god! Mayday has her game soon and Benjy peed on her shorts and my article is due at midnight and Miles had to cancel watching Benjy and I just need…”
Peter kisses Mary Jane quickly. His beard always tickled her. She wasn’t the biggest fan of it, but he liked it.
“MJ. It will be okay. I will take Mayday to her game. Benjy will come with me and you can stay home and write. It is all okay.”
“Oh, Peter. What would I do without you?”
“You would still soar high MJ.”
Mayday comes down the stairs holding Benjy like a sack of flour. She is tickling his ribs as his laughter fills the house.
The Parker family all smile at the same time. They are complete. Picture perfect. This is the way it was always meant to be, but tonight, it all changes.
***
Midtown: Midtown High School Basketball Court.
Peter Parker holds his son, Benjy tightly, while jumping in the air as his daughter runs down the court scoring another layup.
The crowd cheers. Peter yells at the top of his lungs. “GO MAYDAY!”
Benjy’s fingers enter his ears. Daddy was being loud.
Former bully, Agent Venom, and all-around okay human being, Coach Flash Thompson yells for his girls to keep up the pace. Everyone is cheering. The crowd is going wild every second and it is all because of one girl, Mayday.
Halftime.
Mayday runs over to her father and brother. Barely any sweat on her brow.
“Did you see me overtake that giant girl with the pigtails? I was so fast. This is my game… I wish Mom could be here.”
Peter hugs his daughter as Benjy gives her a wet kiss. “She has work. She has responsibilities to you and work. She would be here if she could. Her paycheck is triple my teaching salary. She has this power with the pen and you know what I say.”
“With great power comes great responsibility. I know Dad. I swear I see that phrase when I close my eyes.”
The referee signals to them that time is up. Mayday runs back to the court and begins the second half.
The scores go back and forth and then finally they tie it up but then Mayday gets the ball. She runs and huffs and puffs.
Two seconds left and Mayday goes in for a dunk. She makes the giant leap and…
Crash!
The backboard shatters glass all over the court. She holds the rim in her hands on the ground and the crowd roars like they were Romans cheering for gladiators.
Midtown wins.
Peters's grip around Benjy grows tighter and he starts to whisper to himself. “No. No No. It can’t be.”
The team picks up Mayday and carries her off to the locker room. They cheer her name. They make her feel like she is the center of the earth.
Peter feels shivers in his bones and then an old familiar feeling. Spider-Sense. But not of danger, but a warning. A warning that his life is about to change.