Spiderman Legacy

Chapter 7

            "Guys like us never get the girl." That's what Peter's grandfather had always said. He always chuckled and looked longingly at an old picture of Mary Jane, his long late wife. Pete stood up on a rooftop, looking out over New York City. He thought back to when he'd sat in the warm, plush living room of his grandfather, laughing at his bad jokes and random puns. Sometimes he'd stop and take a serious breath. That was when Pete knew he was going to learn an invaluable life lesson.

              "Not for very long," he remembered the old man saying. "No, you'll have a highschool sweetheart, but you'll break it off 'cause you're an idiot and you've got your eye on another girl. Then you'll date someone in college, and she'll be the love of your life, but you'll lose her forever because you were too daggon sure of yourself, and you couldn't do what needed to be done in time. 

         "Oh, and then you'll meet another girl you hardly ever thought about, hardly even noticed, and you'll fall in love, but its on-again off-again, because guys like us are... complicated. Then someday you'll settle down, have kids, live for a bit before you get old and you've gotta watch her go, and wait till you meet 'er on the other side." 

           Pete had sat there, thinking long and hard over his grandpa's words. "Guys like us?" he'd asked. "Yup. You and me, lil' Petey." His grandpa had always called him that, knowing he'd hated it. But the truth was, he loved that he and this amazing man shared the same last name. His other grandfather, Steve Rogers, had died before he was born, and had only one child: Peter's father. He loved his dad, but he was always away on missions, saving the universe. His mother was loving and caring, but closed off, reluctant to share her life experience with Peter. Of course he had an uncle, Ben, but he hardly knew the man. Grandpa Parker was the best parental figure he had.

         Peter stood now, thinking over the conversation, realising only now that his grandfather hadn't been talking about any of the things he thought he was; not men with Parker blood, not boy geniuses, not Peters. No, he'd known, for Peter's entire life, that one day he was going to take on the mantle of the family legacy. And now more than ever, what his grandpa had said haunted him. It was as he'd said: he didn't have a choice. He had to become Spider-Man. It was his responsibility. But it was so hard for him to think that he'd live the rest of his life as half a man. Half of him would be whole, complete, victorious because of his works as the Spider, but the other half... the other half would spend decades bouncing back and forth, torn to pieces by the turmoil in his romantic endeavors.

         "Peter?" Grace stepped up behind him. "We've been standing up here for fifteen minutes, and it's kinda cold this morning. It was your idea to come and practice web-swinging." Peter turned and faced his friends behind him. Joseph, Jesse, Grace and his mother. His mom was in costume, but had the mask off, which was strange; it almost didn't belong, like somebody had photo-shopped her face onto Spider-Woman's body. "Uh, yeah... sorry." He shook his head and tugged on the straps for his web-shooters. His mom had offered him his grandfather's old ones, which he'd taken, but he'd decided to redesign his own. He checked over them, making sure they were in working condition. They were mostly carbon fiber, with some silver filaments and titanium supports showing on the casing. "Let's uh... do this." Peter was just in some sweats and a long-sleeved exercise shirt, with a balaclava and goggles to hide his face hanging out of his pocket. He hurriedly pulled them on, along with a pair of fingerless gloves. His mom stepped up to the edge of the roof with him and pulled her mask on. "Ready?" She asked. "I hope so." He turned back towards the city beyond. Lucky for him, his powers had manifested last night in his sleep. Not so luckily, he'd broken his end table in half trying to shut off his alarm. Back on the lucky side, though, swinging on a web line at insane speeds wouldn't kill him like it would a normal human.

        His mother stepped closer to the edge, then said "Just jump. Your spider-sense will kick in and do most of the work for you." After a few seconds of looking over the city, she jumped, swinging away to a rooftop a block away. Pete took a deep breath, rubbing his hands together and taking a step back. He did do parkour; he'd made plenty of scary leaps before, but for some reason jumping the distance between two twenty-story rooftops and jumping off a twenty story rooftop felt very different. He took a couple more steps back, and, after a running start, he leaped from the roof, spreading wide then tucking into a slow turn. When he straightened out he was still plenty far from the ground, but there was a small tingle in the back of his head, like a little static shock. Suddenly the shock jumped through his body, and he reacted, raising an arm and shooting a web line to a rooftop ahead. He held on tight as he continued to fall, then the line pulled taut, and he was hurtling at untold speeds in large arc. He reached the top and released the web, flying upwards with a loud woop. In the ecstasy of the moment, he almost forgot about his mom, waiting a few rooftops over. Peter cleared his mind as he started to fall again. This time when the tingling came, he was prepared, and was able to direct his movements more adequately. He flew through the air, flipping and swinging. 

         He reached his mom's rooftop within seconds, landing with a laugh. "That was incredible!" "I know," she said. She had a mask on, but Pete could tell she was grinning. "It-it's like... flying!" May nodded. "And... I mean, I thought it would take me months to learn to do it right but... it just comes naturally! I mean, I feel like I could maneuver my way around ten heat-seeking missiles in a narrow alley with one arm tied behind my back!" May chuckled. "Maybe we'll lay off on the missiles for now... but you are pretty good. It took me a while to get where you are." Pete grinned under his mask. "I told you those Parkour lessons would pay off." May chuckled again and waved Pete to the edge of the roof. "Let's get back to your friends."