Marvel: Iron Age - The Death of Peter Parker

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PrinceIMC

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#1  Edited By PrinceIMC

THE CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY ARE THE PROPERTY OF MARVEL INC. AND THEIR RESPECTIVE AFFILIATES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, I THOUGHT OF THE STORY BUT THE WORLD IS THEIRS.
 
"How about I tell you a story while your father cleans up in the kitchen?" The elderly woman asks as she makes her way to the comfortable chair by the fire. A teenaged boy is already sprawled out on the couch with his computer projecting a holographic display above him. That leaves no place for the young girl to sit while she listens to the story. It isn't a problem though because a few waves of her hand and silvery strands attach to the ceiling and provide a swing for her to sit in. As she swings lightly she sticks her tongue out at her brother laying on the couch.

"Okay what story do you want to hear? The story of Captain America? The story of Wolverine?" The elderly woman asks the young girl knowing full well what story the girl wants to hear. "How about the story of Peter Parker, would you like to hear that one?" The little girl just beams, it is her favorite story by her favorite storyteller.

"Peter Parker was a young man, who lived with his aunt and uncle after his parents passed away. He loved his aunt May and uncle Ben as if they were his real parents. His whole life changed when he was a young man around the same age as your brother Benjamin. I know you are listening Benjamin I may be blind but I do know your computer won't get a signal this far out." The young man laying out on the beaten up old couch shuts down his computer, the display disappearing to turn his attention to his great great aunt telling the story.

"Peter Parker was bitten by a very special spider, a spider that had been changed through science. And with that bite Peter changed too, he was more than a man, the spider had given him it's own abilities. At first he used his powers for selfish reasons to make himself famous and earn money. Despite what his uncle Ben told him that...."

"With great power comes great responsibility!" The young girl responded knowing this story by heart and wanting to chime in. "Drew you shouldn't interrupt, it's rude." Her brother Ben tells her.

Madame Web just smiled and continued. "One night after being cheated out of some money Peter Parker witnessed the man who cheated him being robbed. Instead of stopping the robber Peter Parker let him go thinking it was justice on the man that cheated him. However later that night the robber came across a man who did try to stop him, a man he then shot and killed, Peter's uncle Ben."

"Peter blamed himself, but it wasn't his fault. The Web of Life is mysterious and Ben Parker might have been killed another way that night had Peter stopped the robber when he had a chance." It seems like Madame Web is speaking directly to Benjamin on the couch when she says this. Though she wears a blindfold she seems to be 'looking' at him. "Because of this Peter devoted himself to fighting crime, not for fame or fortune but because nobody should lose their loved ones to criminals."

"Peter Parker as the Amazing Spider-Man became one of the greatest heroes of the heroic age. Protecting his family was his top priority so he protected his identity fiercely which caused some people to suspect his motives."

"Like Mr. Jameson?" Drew asked politely, looking over to her brother for approval. "Yes like Mr. Jameson, but he has a more important part of the story later doesn't he?" Madame Web reaches forward and pats young Drew on the knee in mid-swing, Drew just smiles and swings away.

"Peter Parker met others heroes, some who were connected to the Web of Life through the spider totem. Some were even inspired by him though he was himself just a young man."

"The Spider-Man was accepted into the greatest heroes of the age despite some people claiming otherwise. Eventually he fell in love and had children and began fathering more and more and heroing less and less. First came a daughter named May after his aunt who by then had passed and then a son named Benjamin after his uncle." Young Drew glances over to her brother who shares the name with the son of Spider-Man just to be sure he is paying attention to the story.

"When the Iron Soldiers first arrived they seemed like perhaps costumed heroes of Peter's generation were no longer needed. He retired completely and not soon enough if you had asked his wife, Mary-Jane. But then the Iron Soldiers began hunting innocent people and children who had done nothing wrong, they had just been born different. Peter could not have stood for that even if he did not have children of his own. Peter and others came back to oppose the Iron Army and what they stood for."

"However the years had not been kind to Peter Parker, though still more able than normal men his age he was not as strong, not as quick, not as agile as he once was." Drew repositions herself in her web-swing at this point. She loves this story but knows it doesn't have a happy ending and that it is 100% true. The first time she was told it she cried, but if it weren't told completely accurate it was in danger of disappearing all together.

"Peter Parker was very smart, as things escalated he sent his family into hiding. His daughter May was nearly as old as Peter was when he began fighting crime but Peter refused to let her, it was too dangerous. The Iron Army though was very smart as well, somehow they had discovered the identity of Spider-Man and began hunting for his family. They were hiding in plain sight in New York City but as the search continued it was only a matter of time before they would be found." Even Benjamin was now sitting on the edge of his seat, as if maybe this time the story would end differently.

"Peter Parker went to Julia Carpenter, the second woman to call herself Madame Web and asked if his family would be safe. There was no doubt that if they stayed where they were they would be found, but if Peter went in to save them he would not survive. 'But if I go to them, my family, they'll be okay?' Peter asked. To which my predecessor said yes that was the only other outcome." Drew mouthed the question as Madame Web recounted Peter asking it. Tears starting to well up in her eyes.

"Peter did not hesitate for a moment, he went straight for his family with a plan to get them out of the city. Other heroes ended up joining him on the way, it was in Times Square that the Iron Army caught up with them. It was a handful of street level heroes vs Iron soldiers that outnumbered them 3 to 1. It should have been over in no time but the heroes kept those Iron soldiers busy, they fought and fought and fought to the last man standing. It came down to Spider-Man fighting alone against the last two Iron soldiers. He had taken out half the force against them on his own but he was too far past his prime to beat them and they unmasked him live on television. In his mind though he didn't need to beat them he just needed to fight long enough for his family to get away, which they did."

"In the end...." Madame Web's voice cracks. Though this all occurred many years before she was born she possesses that memory along with the powers she has inherited from each previous Madame Web since that day. "In the end the Iron soldiers offered him a choice. If he surrendered he would face a sentence of life in prison, otherwise it be a sentence of death. Did Spider-Man give up?" She asks Drew who has stopped swinging and is sitting motionless. "No!" Both Drew and Ben say at the same time.

Madame Web leans back into her chair. "No, with his last ounce of strength he webbed them both in the faceplate and defeated one of them in an instant. But then it was over, the other Iron soldier hit him with a fatal repulsor blast and Peter Parker was killed for all to see." There is no sound at all other than the crackling of the fire, all three of them are holding their breath until Madame Web speaks again. "But it wasn't in vain. That day was the day the world saw the Iron Army for what they truly are, tools of oppression. And even more that day was when the spider symbol came to mean freedom, because of the sacrifice of one man."

"Mary-Jane, May and Ben had made it out of the city but were still in danger. If it weren't for the kindness of one man who took them to safety they would have been caught. Who was he?" Leaning forward again and giving Drew a bit of a push so she would start swinging again.

"Mr Jameson!" She crows in swiping away her tears with the sleeves of her shirt. "Yes J. Jonah Jameson, who was then even older than than I am now, saved Peter's family. May wanted to return and avenge her father's death but Mary-Jane was wise and said that is now what he would have wanted. He would have wanted them to help others avoid the same fate because nobody should lose a loved ones to a criminal. Mr. Jameson tried to bring attention to the acts of the Iron Army but was branded a traitor. Mary-Jane and her family began working in secret with the help of Madame Web and anyone else who identified with Peter Parker's sacrifice to help others escape the Iron Army's brand of justice. That is how there came to be Spiders in every major city, getting food to those who need it, gathering information and helping those who speak the truth and are branded traitors escape to the wilds."

They are all quiet. This story is told to everyone who considers themselves a spider, it is the origin of their movement. Then Madame Web speaks up again. "Well I think your father has finished cleaning the dishes, you two should gather up your things. It's a long way home."

A man emerges from the other room using a dish towel to wipe off his hands. "Was that the old Madame Web psychic powers knowing when I was done?" He asks to the elderly woman, his wife's great aunt. "Well?" He asks once the children have left the room to gather their things.

"Benjamin still blames himself for his mother's death, he doesn't realize that her sacrifice is what allows not just him but you and Drew to survive as well. But....he will be Spider-Man." The boy's father looks crestfallen. "But he's so young, he doesn't have nearly the powers that the legendary Peter Parker did. He's just a boy Mattie, and if he puts on a spider costume and defies the Iron Army...they'll kill him."

Martha Carpenter, the current Madame Web replies. "It isn't about powers Max Kairos, it is about spirit. Your son has the same intellect, the same drive, even the same sense of humor as the original Spider-Man. That is where his destiny lies. He has been working with the developers of the nanite suit, he knows it inside and out and it will enhance his powers to give him the greatest chance. Plus we will train him, all of us will help him develop the skills necessary. He has the potential of having an even greater destiny than Peter Parker himself."

Max Kairos understands the number of lives the spiders have saved since they began operating, but it is still his son. "Once he is 18 he can make the choice for himself, train him in the meantime but no missions until he is old enough." Madame Web nods her silent consent.

"Now what about Drew?" Max asks. Drew is the other reason he brought his children all the way out here, to be evaluated by the Matron of the spiders. "Drew. I would like to speak with her more often, she bears further interest."

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joshmightbe

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#2  Edited By joshmightbe

I love it, it gives the previous age of heroes a more mythic quality

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Jonny_Anonymous

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#3  Edited By Jonny_Anonymous

noiiiice

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batkevin74

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#4  Edited By batkevin74

Very good, very good indeed

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desperado_

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#5  Edited By desperado_

Awesome job! Very well executed.

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#6  Edited By The Impersonator

Great chapter!

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InnerVenom123

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#7  Edited By InnerVenom123

Excellent work! Love the way the story is told, and Peter's last act was epic.

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tomdickharry1984

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#8  Edited By tomdickharry1984

Jonah saved MJ? Maybe the nean old bastard mellowed in his old age. Great story, lovin your work

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PrinceIMC

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#9  Edited By PrinceIMC
@tomdickharry1984: Some of my favorite Jonah moments are when he is noble. Like in the Spider-Man movie when Green Goblin blasts into his office and demands to know who takes the pictures of Spider-Man and even though Peter is right there he says that they're anonymous. I figure after Spider-Man stands up against Iron Soldiers and is unjustly murdered on TV Jonah would do what he could to protect Peter's family.
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batkevin74

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#10  Edited By batkevin74

Bumped, coz it's good!

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tomdickharry1984

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#11  Edited By tomdickharry1984

Sorry to haro on @PrinceIMC but any more, last time I bug you I swear!!!!!! (fingers may be crosed)

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batkevin74

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#12  Edited By batkevin74

@PrinceIMC: Casual bump :)

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TommytheHitman

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#13  Edited By TommytheHitman

:(

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batkevin74

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#14  Edited By batkevin74

@princeimc: Nice to have this back on the first page :)

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batkevin74

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@princeimc: Still an amazing piece of writing

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