Mmmmmmh, first fic in a while.

In a long while.

I'll add more commentary as time passes, me thinks. On with the show then!

Normal

Thoughts

Exclamation

BIG Exclamation

Boots-Up (Part 1 of 4)

Shirt? Check. Pants? Can't forget those. Baggy blue shirt to cover muscular physique? Check. Web-shooters? Check. "Not your usual teenagers checklist before school…" The person in question, Peter Parker, mumbled to none other than himself.

And last… but not least… Spider-Man costume. . . .

Silence. Peter stared at it for a while. That 'while' could've stretched out into eternity, he wouldn't mind.

The memories were still fresh. How can't they be, it's been well over a week ever since he attended the funeral of Harry's dad, Norman Osborn. Otherwise also known as the Green Goblin. That revelation still shook Peter to the core. The father of his best friend and the man he thought wanted to be a mentor figure for him turned out to be one of his most dangerous adversaries yet, turning downtown New York into a warzone, just to destroy Spider-Man. Osborn had been truly insane.

But was he…?

' Gobby ' was downright evil, no doubt about that. But all of that seemed to have vanished the moment Spider-Man tore down the creeps mask. Peter, as many nights before, went over said scene in his mind once he closed his eyes…

The moment the Goblin mask was off, Norman was almost… well- Norman. Speaking of his plans in his usual rich-business-man manner as if it were everyday business as usual. There was no maddened laughter. No overly eager grin.

Just cold and calculating as Norman Osborn was known to be.

So had Harry been right in the end? Was Norman just driven mad by the Green, even if he, in his own words, took a ' healthy ' doses in the form of gas?

"We all wear masks, Spider-Man. But which one is real? The one that hides your face, or the one that is your face?"

"Mh…" Truth be told, he never really gave that sentence much thought. All he remembers of that Halloween is being on high alert for any Goblin activity, as well as trying to bust down Tombstone alongside the Green Goblin. Who he then believed to be Norman Osborn… and was right about all along in the end! But the trap was brilliant and cruel. Pin the blame on his son and take advantage of Spider-Man's good nature.

Sometimes he wondered what would have happened if Spidey did agree to Norman's proposal of taking the blame…?

No, that's too out of character for the wallcrawler.

"What if he…?" Did… did Norman Osborn know who is behind Spider-Man's mask? No, no, no, no… too unlikely. The Green Goblin would have attacked those close to him and would surely have pitted Harry against his best friend. That much, Peter thought, he would trust the Goblin to do.

But there it is again. Norman knows, the Goblin does.

So… which one was the mask? Was Norman Osborn just the Green Goblin's secret identity? Or was Norman Osborn secretly as evil as the Goblin and was able to hide it really well? And what does that say about himself?

Peter would lift Spider-Man's mask up to his own face as he so often did when questioning his secret life as a web-slinging crime fighter. Was Peter Parker just Spider-Man's geeky, stumbling mess of a secret identity…? Is he Spider-Man or Peter Parker?

Peter shook his head at that thought, quite rapidly so. "Now I'm just digging into weird identity crisis territory. And that's the last thing I need." With that thought in mind, he stowed away Norman's… Goblin's headache inducing, philosophical question into the back of his mind.

Spider-Man costume? Che-…

Peter looked down, realizing that he pulled his Spidey outfit over his everyday clothes. And for a second, he imagined Spider-Man being late for class, throwing his satchel over his back instead of against the wall, dramatically taking off his clothes in a sprint. Basically, his suit up routine when he was in a hurry, just in reverse.

And that was irritating to think about.

Sighing, he'd remove his clothes so the tights could be on first.

"Man, just what is wrong with me? I usually pay attention to everything! Okay Pete, let's… do a sit-rep:

You inadvertently killed your best friend's dad and are now questioning if he was a maniac or not, said best friend now harbors a deep hatred for Spider-Man AND is still dating the girl you love. Oh, how about we invite that thought, you got no girl either. You dumped Liz, so that you could be with Gwen. Worked out fantastic. And! Still struggling with your secret identity."

Peter mentally sighed, throwing his satchel over and headed downstairs.

"Well… still… at the end of the day-"

"Mmmmmmorning aunt May!"

"I'll always have Aunt May."

The elderly woman that was Peter's aunt would lift her head up from a book she was just reading, a teacup lying half-empty on the table. Instead of being greeted with the warm, loving smile he was so used to receiving, his aunt cocked an eyebrow.

"Is… everything alright… aunt May?" Peter asked, worried. "I should be asking you that young man!" May Parker would say, looking past Peter and towards the clock. "You're late!"

Peter perked up, turning around. "OH! Shoot, I-! Yeah, you're right aunt May I gotta- so yeah see you- later!"

Peter hurried outside quickly, not even being able to kiss his sweet loving aunt goodbye on the cheek! "Ugh, stupid costume and stupid identity philosophy! It's so far until I reach anything swingable! Great, just great! Welcome to your life, Mr. Parker. Here's your only bit of mercy upon entrance. Enjoy it. It's the only time you'll get any."

He mentally groaned, picking up the pace…

…and leapt right off a tall building! Now fully decked out as Spider-Man, Peter was locked in a race against time!

"15 minutes to class! Easy, I can do that. No panic, full concentration. Spin a web here, do a flip there, and-"

CRASH! BOOM!

The sound of metal crunching a few blocks down caused him to stop on a flagpole.

"Right. Take a detour following the sounds of crime. Hhhhh, I'm gonna be so busted for being late…" Pushing those worries aside for now, Spidey would attach his web to a streetlight down below, then dropped down. The fall boosted the momentum he'd receive upon letting go of the thread. Citizens below arched their heads up, wondering what's gotten their friendly neighborhood wallcrawler into such a hurry…

But as it turned out, there was no emergency. None, once Spidey arrived on the scene, who else, but Officer Jean DeWolff and Sergeant Stan Carterwere already there. And how wouldn't they be, Pete thought.

It's like the three of them set these meetings up on purpose. The two police officers were just in the process of handcuffing two knocked out criminals as the arachnid hero joined them.

Spidey couldn't help but whistle and rappel down another flagpole, inspecting the crashed vehicle. There was a massive dent at the front, looked like something smashed in with force.

"Sunday drivers on a Monday morning, huh?" He quipped. Strangely however, he'd get a similar reaction as the one aunt May gave him just this morning. "Sheesh, has everyone just sworn in today to give me the weird treatment?"

Sergeant Carter nodded to his partner, then looked up to the upside-down hero. "So, you weren't the one that put a stop on these guys, right?"

"Well, duh, I just arrived… why?"

"Because so did we." "Ah… I guess they just…" Crashed. Crashed where? Spidey grew silent, looking around the scene. NOTHING else was smashed in. No poles, no stores. The road was perfectly fine, safe for some-

"Scorch marks…" He muttered, dropping down onto the street. Looks like something hot collided with the ground.

"Might've been Stark." Carter guessed. "No way." DeWolff shook her head. "If it were Stark, he'd have stuck around. Would've made a whole show of it too."

"Specially to upstage me." Spidey casually threw in, earning himself a pair of glares being thrown his way. "Alright, alright, no quips about crime, I'll add it to the Spider-pamphlet. If I ever have the time-" Time.

"Oh crapbask- any of you got the time?"

"7:25, why?"

"Nothing, I just remembered that I, really, really, needed to be, somewhere, uhm, half- half an hour ago! See ya! GOOD TALK! MY THANKS TO WHOEVER GOT THERE BEFORE US!" Spider-Man yelled, shooting off into the opposite direction, leaving both Police Officers to scratch their head in confusion.

"So there's a new guy in town taking care of crime, so what? It's not like I'd get jealous! I wouldn't mind that at all, yeesh!"

Spider-Man landed on the empty (to his relief) roof of Midtown high school. For once he doesn't have to hide behind the trash to change into his ordinary clothes.

"Either that or Tombstone is back, taking out the competition. Think he had a score with Hammerhead to settle too… great, looks like yet ANOTHER gang war. Oh Mr. Parker-" Peter thought as he pulled off his mask, stuffing it into his satchel.

"-your optimism ever so astounds the world…"

He lost count of the many times he sighed today. Nothing was going great thus far. And now he dreaded school even more than ever. He wasn't on talking terms with Liz, that much was sure. Harry guarded Gwen like a rotten hound- "Woah Pete, chill. Treading into black-suit style of thinking here. Harry lost his dad and Gwen's all that's keeping him from becoming Gobby Jr and embarking on a path of revenge against the webslinger under the influence of the green. And I don't think I'll take that chance, much less have him do that to himself."

With sigh number (?) out of the way, Pete would push the doors to-

Rattle rattle.

Locked.

"I bet this never happens to the Fantastic 4…"

"Pete?" Speak of the devil-

Speak of the friend, Harry was unfortunately the first person Peter would meet in the halls after he had to sneak around the building by wall-crawling around and entering through the first open window he found. "What were you doing in the janitors office?" "Oh just… you see I kinda got lost on my way to the… bathroom?"

Harry Osborn stared at Peter Parker, who was in the process of closing the janitor's door behind himself. It felt like hours went by as the two stood there for a mere moment. Peter just nervously gulped… it was difficult to look at Harry, much less directlyat him.

"YOU WOULDN'T KNOW RIGHT FROM WRONG IF IT'D BLOW UP YOUR GLIDER!"

"DAD!"

Yeah… that scene would replay in his nightmares and on the daily at times. It wasn't pleasant, but at the same time he can't forget it either. Guilt is such a nasty thing.

"Peter-?" "Mh-mh-mh-wha? OH! Sorry I just… spaced out. Didn't sleep well." "Had a nightmare about killing your dad right in front of you..." Somehow, that attempt at humoring himself just caused Peter to be more bummed out than he was before…

"I'll say." Harry added, finally turning around to walk with his ' friend ' "You're usually never this late for school. You doing alright bud'?"

"Well, since… you're asking, I-" "Oop!" Harry cut in, raising his hand up for Peter to stop talking. Which… he did. "Hey Gwen, over here! Tell you what, you can tell me aaall about it later Pete, I gotta… you know. Go. Talk to Gwen, my girlfriend. Heh… you know? Alright, see ya later Pete!"

"Did… did Harry just rub that in? Yeah I know she's your girlfriend, don't have to- rub it in, he did!" Peter would stare after the Osborn boy with utter disbelief, watching as Gwen smiled at him awkwardly. The poor girl glanced around, probably trying to find Peter in this mess of students.

"I-I can't believe it! Harry wouldn't-! Hhh, give him a break Parker… he lost his dad and… Gwen's the only one he got. Naturally he'd hold tightly onto that…

But would he really wave you off like that?! The whole worlds gone crazy today… me included!"

Mysterious crimefighters, philosophies of a dead Green Goblin, possibility of a new gang war starting soon and oh boy did he look forward to the school drama. Because Peter Parker doesn't have much else going on, right…?

Looks to be another bitter chapter in the life and times of Peter Spider Parker Man.

"Worst possible way this coulda ended, ay tiger?"

Mary Janes smooth yet raspy voice coming from right next to him send a somewhat pleasant shiver up Peter's spine. Pleasant… shiver?

"Oh-oh, ah well, I…" He stuttered on, his gaze fixating on the ground as soon as his voice lost it's sound. Peter remained silent, thinking… worst possible way, that sounds about right. "Yeah… I-I guess." "And there's the understatement of the century." MJ purred and for a moment, Peter imagined the redhead in a tight, black spandex. It caused him to blush for a moment and moved his inner Spider-Man to give his mind a helpful slap. Keep it PG, Spider-Man!

"Chin up tiger, you'll win her back yet." Oh, how Peter wished he could share that optimism. Gwen would stay with Harry for as long as he was grieving, and something deep within Peter told him that that might be for a long time. Other than that, he noticed how ' restrained ' MJ was being. He never heard her speak so few words. Perhaps, Peter thought, she's just gonna want to leave it rest for now. Not that he minded, of course.

Better for it.

"You holdin' up okay?"

Confused over it, rather.

"Well… MJ…. Ah-I dunno, what do you say to that?" Peter stated, surprising himself a little by how honest he was being to her. By her silence, she probably expected him to continue.

"My best friend's dad turns out to be a supervillain,Gwen is- and let's be honest- just going out with him now because anything else would break his heart. Liz is- I don't even want to start there. So no, I'm not… not really holding up okay, Mary Jane. I guess I'll just see where I-"

"Morning Parker." Flash Thompson, Midtown's (or atleast Peter's nr.1) bully casually greeted, passing by the pair of MJ and Peter on his way to class.

"-go from… here…" Blinking twice, Peter turned to watch the jock just… go about his business. Nevermind his leg doing better. "Did… did Flash Thompson just tell me 'Good morning' and went his way? …aw man-"

MJ felt slightly sorry for the ever so confused Peter Parker, who just leaned against a locker and slid down.

First, he's late for school, then some mysterious newcomer to New York stops a crime before Spidey or even the cops arrive, Harry just- threw him a basket full of doubts and now Flash is being nice to him? Or neutral.

EVERYTHING was just being piled on, minute after minute.

Truly-

"-the whole worlds gone upside down…"

He'd perk up as MJ offered him her hand as to help him get back up. "Only thing we can do is keep getting back up, tiger…"

Peter grabbed onto Mary Jane's hand, sighing. Should've been obvious that she knows what it feels like when a whole world goes topsy-turvy on you. From gambling addiction to supervillain, that's not something you can just ' fix '.

Add Mark Allen to the many tragedies Spidey was never truly able to prevent.

"Thanks, MJ.

I-I mean that." "No problem tiger. But… you can let go of my hand now." Peter's cheeks flushed a bright red, and with some slight effort (thanks spider-powers), he'd get his stuck hand free. "Sorry-! Sorry. I'll… see you later." Peter finger gunned, turning around and tightening his satchel. Talk about awkward…

And it did not stop there…

Guilt, as a whole, is a thing you can't just sweep under a rug and simply forget about. Especially when it is something of this magnitude. Guilt is what drove Peter Parker to make Spider-Man a hero, to become a hero. With great power, comes great responsibility, that is what he told himself everyday. It is what Uncle Ben tried to teach him. Peter would learn the truth behind those words far too late, however. And the price for that knowledge, was his uncle's life. Peter would never forgive the crook (Black Cat's father as it turns out) that took his life, but also himself.

Now, it's a different sort of guilt. The confusing kind. See, before then, it was as simple as black & white, night and day: A criminal he let slip killed Uncle Ben. Now it's: Norman Osborn under the influence of a mind and body-altering enhancement drug became the Green Goblin- a supervillain. Then framed his own son for his actions, even broke his leg to sell the story.

Then, in their final confrontation, when all cards were put on the table, Spider-Man intentionally destroyed Norman's glider, causing him to crash into a water tower filled with pumpkin bombs.

And Harry had front row seats to the entire thing. Spider-Man had never killed any of his villains. Green Goblin was a first.

The first. And Peter didn't know if the man had it coming or not. Killing wasn't justifiable, ever. He didn't do it on purpose either… right?

" !"

Peter's head shot up, he didn't even realize it was down in the first place. "Sorry Professor Warren, I-"

His pupils shrunk a bit as he looked straight ahead to the front, and who- no what stood at the front.

Because, next to his Biology teacher stood a 6' foot (and then some) sky-blue and white colored robot, sporting some pigtails on its head as well as some paint on that- should look like hair?

"Now then, Mr. Parker, if you were paying attention, will you introduce yourself to Ms. Wakeman like the rest of the class has?"

"Oh uh… I'm… Peter Parker. Nice to… meet you, uh-" Did it have a first name?

"Ms. Wakeman." There was a round of snickering, and Peter desperately wished that Rhino would just come bursting through the wall or- something that'd excuse him so he could vanish. And was it just him or did the robot look displeased?

"It's Jenny." It said, her voice confirming that she was female- in design.

"The worlds gone mad." Peter thought. When he looked around the silent classroom, he was instead met with faces that eerily mirrored the kind of look aunt May gave him this morning. No one looked shocked, surprised or weirded out by a robot standing in front of the class. And it can talk.

"So why do I seem like the only insane one…?"

End Part 1