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Spider-Man: The Indomitable Human Spirit

Peter Parker and Spider-Man. The man and the hero. Two sides of the same coin. After getting bitten by a spider, Peter Parker starts using his powers for his own selfishness. However, after a traumatic event, he realized that with great power, must come great responsibility. With those words echoing in his mind, Peter sacrifices his own desires to be the hero that people needed. This story is a character study, understanding what it means to truly be Spider-Man.

LordOrpheus · Anime e quadrinhos
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4 Chs

Peter Parker

Spider-Man, swinging through the low buildings of Queens, New York, flipped and landed on top of a small, tan house with a brown roof. That place was where he lived, the home he grew up in with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, though only he and Aunt May would be the ones living there at that point.

As he crouched on top of his roof, he couldn't help but sneak a glance through the window at the beautiful blonde girl next door who appeared to be doing homework inside her room. She didn't notice him, she never did. In the many years that they lived next to each other, they never really had the chance to have a real conversation. Or rather than not having the chance, Peter was too afraid to speak to her.

There she is...

Gwen Stacy.

The girl next door.

I've been in love with her ever since I understood what the word love meant. Or at least, I think. I guess it's more of a crush than full-blown love. I am only sixteen, so I guess I don't really know what love is. I'd have to ask Aunt May, well, I would if that wouldn't be totally lame and embarrassing.

Look at her... That beautiful blond hair, her gorgeous blue eyes, that perfect skin... I mean, who wouldn't fall for that?

Besides, it isn't just her looks I'm after. She's so sweet and she's intelligent too. You wouldn't think so because of the whole blonde thing she has going on, but trust me, she is crazy smart.

I don't think she knows about my feelings for her though, and I should probably keep it that way.

Hell, I don't think she knows much about me in general.

She certainly doesn't know that I'm some creep standing on his aunt's rooftop, watching her do her homework while I talk to myself about how I feel about her...

God, I need help...

Spider-Man then flipped off of his roof, landed in his backyard, and ducked behind the bushes before changing out of his costume and back into his normal clothes. Due to the height of the fence, it would be impossible for anyone to see him changing.

Once he was all changed, Peter Parker, with his brown hair and young face, walked over to the side gate and hopped over it with his backpack in hand. He then walked over to the front door, unlocked it with his key, and walked inside.

Immediately, he was greeted by his Aunt May. "Hey, Peter." she spoke with the voice of a sweet old lady, matching perfectly with her older appearance. She was in her sixties, having grey hair and wrinkles that matched her age.

"Hi, Aunt May." Peter walked over to his aunt who was sitting in the dining room reading the paper. The two hugged each other as a news story began to play on the TV in the corner.

"A red and blue-wearing MENACE, along with some psychopath in a rhinoceros costume, just destroyed the city with their little game of tag!" a man with black and grey hair, along with a very controversial-looking mustache that was shaved on both sides, leaving only the middle of it, screamed at the camera passionately.

"What's up with Mr. Hitler Stache?" Peter asked, looking at the screen to see himself fighting the Rhino just moments prior. He didn't realize it, but he and the Rhino were doing a lot of damage to the city during Rhino's rampage. 'Oh...' he thought, seeing how bad everything was now that his adrenaline had ceased.

"Oh my goodness..." Aunt May muttered, looking at the Rhino doing most of the damage while Spider-Man tried his best to stop the rampage. However, he was doing a very, very poor job at it.

Okay, it looks like we're both doing a lot of damage, but it was really all him! What? Was I supposed to just let him hit me? He swung, and I dodged. He threw a car, and I moved out of the way... Okay, maybe I could have done something to mitigate the damages, sure, but I don't see anyone else trying to stop men in rhino mech suits.

As Peter defended himself in his mind, he watched as he rode the wrecking ball into Rhino. "Haha! Get fucked!" Spider-Man said through the TV, causing Aunt May to cover her mouth in shock. "My goodness! Whoever raised that young man should be ashamed!"

"What? But he stopped that guy. Watch." As Peter said this, he watched himself through the TV as he let the wrecking ball destroy a building. 'Oh, right...' he muttered in his own mind.

Aunt May gasped again. "How irresponsible! Jameson is right, he needs to face consequences for his actions!"

"Consequences?" Peter asked, wondering just what it was his aunt must have meant.

"He should be arrested! He could've gotten someone killed! Both he and the rhinoceros are nothing more than... than..." as Aunt May began mustering up the words to use, Peter braced himself.

'Oh, boy, here it comes...'

"Despicable!" as May said this, Peter could feel a one-ton weight slam onto his chest.

"Abominable!" that one-ton weight turned into two tons, slamming even further onto Peter's chest.

"Vile!" two tons then turned into three.

"Low down!" the weight of four tons nearly floored Peter, he wasn't sure if he could take another hit.

"Hoodlums!" the metaphorical weight was too much for Peter, but he stood his ground, thankful that Aunt May was finished because one more hit would have destroyed him.

'Ouch...' he said in his own head before speaking aloud to his aunt.

"Isn't that a little harsh?" Peter asked her.

"This is a Christian household so I will refrain from going any further."

'God would have wanted me to stop that guy... probably.' Peter thought to himself.

"Well, anyway. I need to work on some... stuff. For school. Homework, yeah. I'm gonna go do that." Peter started for the stairs rather quickly. Before he could get too far, Aunt May spoke once more. "Oh, you can eat. I already made dinner." she told him, though her words didn't break his pace in the slightest.

"Already ate. Thanks, Aunt May!" and with those words, Peter disappeared upstairs.

Before long, Peter was sitting at his desk with formulas and chemicals scattered across it. Following along with his finger, Peter started listing off chemicals before looking directly at said chemical.

'Salicylic acid.'

'Touline.'

'Methanol'

'Carbon Tertacholide.'

'H-heptane.'

'Potassium Carbonate.'

'Ethyl acetate.'

'Hexate.'

'BHA.'

'Sodium Tetraborate.'

I did in fact borrow these from the school lab, however, there's tons of this stuff in the world. Point is, I didn't steal it because there's far more of it... somewhere. They won't miss it.

He needed a new formula for his web-shooters and they happened to include some things that a teenager couldn't afford or obtain so he took them without permission.

With his 'borrowed' goods, Peter went to work, mixing them together using the exact percentages he had calculated weeks prior. Before long, Peter found himself holding two pencils in front of his face, both being held together by a single web. Using all of his superhuman strength, Peter pulled the two pencils apart. Despite his overwhelming strength, the webs didn't snap.

'Okay, that's a good sign...' Peter thought to himself. If a web couldn't handle this simple test, there was no way it could hold up his weight. "Time for some real stress testing." he whispered before grabbing his backpack and heading straight for his window.

As Peter climbed out of his window with his backpack on his back, he looked up to lock eyes with his neighbor, Gwen Stacy, who was looking directly at him with her eyebrows furrowed through her window. He could visibly see her mouth "What?" before smiling and laughing at him. Peter laughed awkwardly and waved at her. "I don't... I don't know." Peter mouthed back.

Gwen, close enough to her window, opened it and spoke to Peter as she still sat at her desk. "What in the world are you doing?" she asked, still laughing and looking at Peter with that radiant, white smile of hers.

"I uh..." Peter grumbled before once again talking to himself in his own head.

What the hell do I say?

What? Am I gonna just tell her something like, "I'm going out to fight some crime. You know, test my webbing or whatever. Maybe help some old ladies cross the street. What about you?"

No, I can't say that.

"Just... you know..." Peter shrugged.

Seriously, Parker? That's the best you could come up with?

"No. No, I don't know. You wanna elaborate?" Gwen was still cheesing as she teased him. She was interested in what he was doing, considering he always seemed so secretive and to himself. Despite being his neighbor, the only thing she knew about him was that Peter went to her school and that his name was Peter Parker.

"Yeah. Yeah, I was just going out. You know, like other kids our age. Being a perfectly normal, spunky teen!" Peter playfully rocked his fist to the side as he said this, using his other hand to hang from his window.

"From your window, Mr. Parker? I've never done that." Gwen looked at him up and down before looking down at the large drop that Peter would have to endure if he continued exiting his room via that method. "Oh... you're sneaking out aren't you?"

"Maybe. I guess I wouldn't expect the perfect Gwen Stacy who always listens to all the rules to be an expert on the methods of sneaking out."

"Oh? Is that so? So plummeting... gee, I don't know... fourteen feet is part of your expert method?"

"I wouldn't call it plummeting. I'd more so describe it as falling with professional precision." Peter quipped back. Despite being so afraid to talk to her after all those years, it seemed that the two of them already had chemistry together.

"Falling with professional precision?" Gwen giggled as she repeated what Peter said, making it sound even sillier than it already did.

"Yeah, wanna see?" Peter told her.

And... I am an idiot.

"Show me, Mr. Expert." Gwen told him.

As she requested, Peter dropped down, flipping and landing on his two feet like a gymnast. As if he had just bagged an Olympic gold medal, Peter raised both hands up above his head before pointing finger guns at Gwen. "That's Mr. Expert Plummeter to you."

Gwen was speechless, looking down at Peter with her jaw dropped nearly to her windowsill. "Woah..." she said breathlessly, still staring at the wannabe gymnast with her deep blue eyes.

"Yup. Very wow. Anyway, I'll see you later!" before Gwen could ask any questions, Peter hopped the side gate and sprinted away. Leaving Gwen behind as she watched from her window. "See you later..." Gwen whispered, but Peter was already gone.

I am trying really hard to make this comic book-like despite it just being words on the page by using more literary devices like hyperboles and such. Let me know how you feel about it.

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