Spider-Man : The Story of a Hero

New York — Small Restaurant — Afternoon

Because of the extreme weather conditions outside, Gwen and Eddie had been forced to leave the terrace where they had been sitting moments earlier and take shelter inside the restaurant. They had settled into an isolated corner of the establishment, far enough away from the other customers to talk without being disturbed or overheard.

But ever since Eddie had finally revealed his true face, he hadn’t said a single word. He remained there, immersed in a heavy silence, while Gwen continued to watch him with a hard, distrustful stare. The minutes passed without him seeming willing to speak. Eventually, realizing that he clearly had no intention of explaining anything on his own, Gwen broke the silence.

— ”It’s over, Eddie. I figured out your little game. Now I want you to answer me… why? Why are you trying to hurt Peter like this? When I first met you, I had such a good impression of you. And when I heard you talk about Peter like he was your little brother… I thought, ’Wow…’ Peter lost his parents, then his uncle… and I thought you’d be an absolutely amazing presence in his life. But Peter is the best person I know, and if someone is against him, then he can’t be the problem. You made me doubt him, but that’s over now. You have no idea how angry I am right now…”

The more she spoke, the more her gaze lowered toward the table. Behind her anger was also a deep frustration with herself. She felt terribly stupid for having given so much weight to Eddie’s words, to the point of questioning and hesitating, even for a moment, about the kind of person Peter truly was.

— ”Are you done rambling about your perfect boyfriend?” he said in a cold, impatient voice.

Eddie’s tone was nothing like the one she had grown used to until now. Faced with this suddenly cold and impatient voice, Gwen slowly raised her eyes toward him.

— ”What? You think Peter is perfect?”

A mocking chuckle escaped him. He wasn’t even trying to hide the contempt he felt anymore, almost giving the impression that he was openly making fun of her.

— ”Hey, tell me… do you think you’re living in some fucking fairy tale or something? You think just because you’re dating him, you know everything about him? Oh no… you don’t know shit! That guy is a monster.”

As he spoke, the anger became increasingly clear in his voice, in the features of his face and even in his gaze. Gwen was deeply shocked by it.

She stared at him for a few moments, almost unable to recognize the man she had been talking to normally only a short while earlier. And despite everything he had just done, something briefly appeared in her eyes.

Sympathy… no. Pity.

— ”You’re insane, Eddie.”

— ”You think I’m insane, is that it?! Well, you haven’t seen anything yet!”

Suddenly, Eddie leaned toward her, violently shifting the table in the process, then tried to grab her arms. Startled by his sudden reaction, Gwen let out a small cry and immediately tried to pull away.

— ”What are you doing?! Stop!”

— ”Don’t you want to see just how crazy I am? Huh?!”

Without thinking any further, Gwen slapped him violently across the face. The sharp smack echoed around them and was enough to stop Eddie dead in his tracks. He remained motionless, as though suddenly brought back to himself, regaining a more controlled behavior within seconds.

Gwen, meanwhile, was breathing heavily. Her breathing had sped up considerably and she stared at Eddie in shock, still deeply shaken by what had just happened.

The scene obviously hadn’t gone unnoticed. Several customers and employees had turned toward them, while murmurs began spreading throughout the restaurant.

One of the employees was just about to come over and check whether everything was okay when Eddie abruptly stood up. Without saying a word or even turning around, he hurried out of the establishment, leaving Gwen sitting in her seat and everyone else present completely speechless at his sudden departure.

Parker House — Evening

At the Parker house, calm now filled the living room. Aunt May had fallen asleep in Ben’s arms, while Peter had also dozed off in his corner of the couch. Only Ben was still awake. His attention eventually shifted toward his nephew and, noticing the troubled expression on his face even in his sleep, a slight concern appeared in his eyes.

— ”U-Uncle Ben…?”

— ”You were moving in your sleep and you looked scared. Everything okay? Did you have a nightmare?”

Peter remained completely confused for a few moments. He looked around, carefully observing the living room, his uncle, his sleeping aunt… then even went as far as discreetly pinching himself, as though checking whether he had simply woken up inside another dream. Yet nothing changed. Everything seemed perfectly real. Maybe he had truly returned to reality this time.

— ”U-Uh, yeah… I’m okay. I think I just had a nightmare.”

His uncle gave him a gentle, reassuring smile before continuing in a calm voice:

— ”You look tired. I think it’s time for you to go to bed. Especially since you have school tomorrow.”

— ”Yeah… you’re right.”

Peter slowly got up from the couch, still slightly unsettled, then gave his uncle one last look before leaving the living room.

— ”Good night, Uncle Ben.”

— ”Good night, kiddo,” he replied gently.

Peter headed toward the stairs, went upstairs and walked directly into his bedroom. Once inside, he remained still for a moment, looking around the room, just as perplexed as before.

No matter how much he tried to convince himself that all of this was real, that strange feeling continued to linger deep inside him. Something kept telling him that everything wasn’t normal. His gaze briefly hardened with doubt before he finally released the tension and lay down in bed.

Lying on his side, Peter let his gaze drift toward his bedroom window, through which he could see part of the sky. Yet something immediately seemed strange to him. It was nighttime, yes, but it wasn’t the night he knew.

The sky was submerged in an abnormally deep darkness, almost oppressive. It wasn’t simply the darkness of space or that of a starless night… it was something else. Once again, Peter was unable to identify exactly what was wrong, but his instincts gave him one certainty: something wasn’t normal.

Growing increasingly uncomfortable with the sight, Peter eventually turned over in bed, deliberately turning his back to the window. He tried to push the feeling out of his mind, to stop thinking and simply fall asleep. Little by little, his eyelids grew heavier and his thoughts began to fade as he slowly drifted into sleep.

Then, just as his mind was finally beginning to sink away, that same cold voice reappeared inside his head. Just as calm as before. Just as chilling. And once again, it slowly whispered the same words:

— ”Kill them…”

TO BE CONTINUED.