The Edge | Peter Parker

Chapter Nine

"Peter!" May smiled brightly at him as she saw him approaching her in the kitchen.

"So, if you're running this place while Mr. Li is out of town, who's doing your old job?" He inquired with a smile. She laughed at him because she knew why he was asking.

"Me... But I could always use more help." She gave him a look as she pointed to the basket on the counter. He grabbed it and followed her. "You know anyone?"

"Actually, I do." An idea popped into his head. "His name is Miles Morales."

"Why does that sound familiar?" She asked as she looked up to the ceiling, thinking for a moment.

"His father was being honored at City Hall." He rushed out, and May sighed. "I talked to him at the funeral. He's a smart kid. He's just having a tough time."

"I knew a boy like that, once." She smiled slyly at him, and he returned a gentle one as he looked down at the floor.

"I remember it helped to, uh, stay busy." He admitted, which May knew this was hard for him to talk about. Even to this day she didn't think he'd completely processed his grief. She couldn't blame him, he'd suffered so much in this life. "Might help him, too. Here's his mom's number."

"Thanks." May took the post-it note from him. "I'll give her a call."

Peter swallowed hard as he knew the tough part was coming up. "Hey, you haven't heard from Mr. Li, have you?"

"No, why?"

"Just curious." He shrugged. She eyed him for a moment. "I've got a few minutes. I'm gonna look around and see if there's anything else I can do to help you out."

"Oh, Pete, you don't have to." She shook her head. "I know you're busy."

"I know." He smiled. "But I want to."

She smiled brightly as she watched him walk away. Peter was such a good boy. He was so selfless and always wanting to do the right thing. Like his uncle, he had an incredible moral compass. He was definitely a Parker, through and through. She went back to preparing food, and Peter headed up to Li's office. He was going to help May, but first he was going to the office. "Hey! Glad to see you're okay."

"I'm hanging in there." Peter replied ironically, chuckling slightly and giving Jimmy, one of the residents at F.E.A.S.T., a reassuring look. He came around so much and many of them had been there for so long that they knew him well.

"May said you were at the bombing," Another began. "I've been praying for ya."

"Thank you." Peter told him, giving him a genuine look. He nodded in reply, continuing on to do whatever it is he was doing. It was times like this, this kindness and generosity, that reminded him why he was Spider-Man and why he still has faith in humanity. It also made Peter even more curious and confused as to why Li did what he did. He had been planning this for a long time. Norman is a bad man, but for someone who created F.E.A.S.T. and did so much goodness for people, how could he do that? It didn't make sense. Hopefully it would after this. He stepped up to the door to his office, but it was locked. Truthfully, what else did he expect? He needed to find a way to get in there and quietly considering all the people around. There was a vent nearby on the ceiling. He made sure there was no one nearby when he quickly zipped up into the vent and shut it after him in one swift motion. As he crawled through the system, he spotted another room which he'd never seen before, nor knew existed. He also came across some high-voltage lines. He shot an electric web to the junctions, overloading it and stopping the electricity flowing to the lines. Who needed that much power?

He fell down through the vent into the office. It appeared normal, but if there was one thing he learned in the last eight years, nothing is as it appears. The room he saw from the crawlspace was obviously on the other side of the shrine Peter spotted on the right wall. The shrine was clearly a way into it, but how? He examined it, seeing the large canvas photo. It was Li's parents. There was a keyhole in the frame. What was most confusing was the fact that Li claimed his parents abandoned him. Was that even true? Was everything he told them a lie? Peter just wanted to know what truly happened at this point. What caused him to do all this? Everything was starting to make less and less sense as he went on, not more. It made him realize how hard it can be to trust people, especially in this day and age. Just like when he found out years ago about Mysterio and how Nick and Maria were actually Kree. It was all starting to make him think more. How could he ever really trust someone when, in a world like this, you just can't?