Spider-Man : The Story of a Hero

New York — Outside the Connors Laboratory — Day

After leaving the laboratory, Peter absentmindedly walked toward the sidewalk, his gaze lost in thought, barely paying any attention to the cars passing in front of him or the pedestrians walking around him.

His mind was far too overwhelmed to notice what was happening around him. Eddie’s words continued to echo inside his head, along with Gwen’s devastated expression and the deeply worried looks on the Connors’ faces.

The harder he tried to regain control of his thoughts, the more they seemed to slip away from him. Then, almost against his will, old memories slowly began to resurface.

They were still children. He, Eddie... and a little girl their age were running through a sunlit forest. They laughed together, played among the trees, and chased one another without a single worry in the world.

For a few seconds, Peter saw their smiling faces again, heard their laughter, and felt the innocence that had once seemed destined to last forever. But those memories, once so warm, had now become unbearable.

His face suddenly tightened, and in a gesture of frustration, he lightly struck his forehead while shaking his head, as though trying to force those memories out of his mind.

A violent explosion suddenly echoed several blocks away, causing the windows of the nearby buildings to tremble. The shockwave briefly swept through the street as a thick column of black smoke was already beginning to rise into the sky.

Several pedestrians immediately stopped to look in that direction. Some were already pulling out their phones, while others exchanged worried glances. Peter instantly lifted his head.

His eyes locked onto the growing cloud of smoke.

And yet...

Unlike usual, no heroic impulse rose within him.

For the first time since becoming Spider-Man, he had no desire to rush off and save people.

He simply wanted to disappear for a few hours, to be alone with his thoughts, to let out the anger that had been burning inside him ever since his encounter with Eddie, and to understand why his past had suddenly come back to haunt him with such violence.

But he already knew the answer. No matter what he was feeling. No matter the anger, the sadness, or the exhaustion crushing him.

Whenever danger appeared, Spider-Man had to answer the call. Because behind the mask wasn’t just Peter Parker... It was someone who had chosen to carry a responsibility far greater than himself.

He took a deep breath before regaining a semblance of composure. Without wasting another second, he quickly walked around the laboratory until he reached a small corner hidden from view.

With a few swift movements, he put on his suit, fastened his web-shooters to his wrists, then carefully packed his civilian clothes into his backpack. After climbing onto the roof of the building, he left the bag there before immediately returning to the edge.

His gaze turned one last time toward the thick black smoke that continued to rise above the surrounding buildings.

Then he took off running, leaped into the open air, and fired a web that latched onto a building dozens of meters away. His body was instantly launched between the skyscrapers.

Despite the emotions that continued to consume him inside, Spider-Man was already speeding toward the site of the explosion.

New York — Burning Building

By the time Spider-Man arrived near the building, thick black smoke was already pouring from the upper floors, darkening part of the sky as towering flames steadily consumed the structure.

Several windows shattered from the intense heat, occasionally releasing bursts of fire that crashed down onto the street below. The firefighters had not yet arrived, and the local residents could do nothing but watch the scene helplessly.

Some shouted toward the windows, hoping to hear a response. Others tried to keep curious onlookers at a safe distance, while several people were already recording the fire with their phones. An atmosphere of panic was slowly beginning to spread, as everyone feared that residents were still trapped inside.

A few dozen meters away, on the rooftop of a neighboring building, an entirely different atmosphere prevailed. Crouched near the edge, Silver Sable calmly watched the fire without showing the slightest emotion.

Beside her, one of her mercenaries held his sniper rifle perfectly steady, its scope already aimed toward the surrounding streets.

To them, the burning building wasn’t a disaster that needed saving.

It was simply a carefully prepared trap.

Silver Sable calmly pulled out her phone before contacting the rest of her team, who were positioned across several rooftops surrounding the area.

— ”Well? Do you see him?”

Several blocks away, three snipers hidden atop different buildings scanned the sky through their scopes.

Each one carefully tracked Spider-Man’s silhouette as he rapidly approached their position, swinging between the buildings.

— ”I’ve got eyes on him! He just swung right past me, boss!”

— ”I see him too! He’s moving incredibly fast!”

— ”He’ll be here in less than a minute, boss.”

Silver Sable’s expression remained perfectly impassive. She continued watching the flames for a few moments before slightly lifting her gaze toward the sky, mentally calculating the route Spider-Man would inevitably take to reach the burning building.

— ”And you all have a clear view of both the building and our position?”

The first sniper made a slight adjustment to his scope before answering confidently.

— ”Yes, don’t worry. We picked strategic positions, and we’ve got a clear view of the building.”

A faint smile of satisfaction appeared on Silver Sable’s lips.

Everything was ready.

The positions had been carefully selected, the lines of fire were completely unobstructed, and their target was arriving exactly as she had predicted.

— ”Perfect.”

As Silver Sable calmly watched the burning building, a conversation she had had a few hours earlier naturally came back to her mind.

New York — Fisk Tower — Flashback — A Few Hours Earlier

At the top of Fisk Tower, behind enormous floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Manhattan, a vast office lay shrouded in an almost oppressive silence. The place exuded luxury, but also power.

Every piece of furniture seemed to have been carefully chosen, every object had its place, and not a single detail disturbed the cold atmosphere that filled the room.

Around a long table, three figures faced one another. Standing straight and impassive, Silver Sable observed the two men seated before her without the slightest trace of emotion.

Across from her sat Tombstone, an intimidating man, alongside Hammerhead, whose gaze was as hard as steel.

— ”If there’s nothing else to discuss, I’ll be leaving. As for Spider-Man... he’ll be dead soon enough. So tell Fisk to be ready to pay me.”

Without waiting for an answer, she slowly pushed back her chair and stood up. As far as she was concerned, the meeting was over. She was already about to leave the office when a deep voice echoed behind her.

— ”About that...”

Silver Sable immediately stopped.

Behind her, Tombstone slowly rose to his feet as well. His mere presence was enough to fill the room with tension.

Every step he took seemed to weigh heavily against the floor as he calmly approached the mercenary.

— ”There has been a slight change of plans.”

Silver Sable slightly turned her head toward him. Her expression already betrayed a certain suspicion.

— ”Oh yeah? And what kind of change?”

— ”I spoke with the boss, and he wants you to bring him here.”

He paused.

— ”Alive.”

The moment those words left his mouth, Silver Sable’s eyebrows immediately furrowed. A hint of irritation crossed her face.

— ”Is this some kind of joke? He never told me any of that. Where is he?”

Without waiting for any further explanation, she decisively stepped toward the adjacent office where Wilson Fisk was usually working.

But before she could even reach the door, a massive hand firmly grabbed her arm.

She stopped dead in her tracks.

Hammerhead, who had remained silent until then, slowly raised his head.

— ”The boss doesn’t like being disturbed.”

Silver Sable immediately turned to look at him.

Her gaze was cold...

Almost icy.

— ”Nobody asked you, you damn dog.”

Hammerhead’s face instantly twisted with rage.

He violently shoved his chair back before stepping toward her.

— ”What the hell did you just say?!”

For a brief moment, the tension seemed ready to explode.

But before he could go any further, Tombstone simply raised one hand in front of him.

A single gesture. A single look...And Hammerhead immediately stopped. Without taking his eyes off Silver Sable, Tombstone calmly spoke again.

— ”Don’t pretend this change of plans actually bothers you. Either way, you’ll get paid if you accomplish what we’ve asked of you. So what’s the problem? He can be in terrible shape—that doesn’t matter. I just want him alive.”

A heavy silence settled between them. No one spoke. They didn’t need to. Their eyes said enough.

For several long seconds, Silver Sable held Tombstone’s gaze without the slightest hesitation.

Eventually, she sharply pulled her arm free from his grip before taking a step back.

Her irritation was still obvious.

But she understood that she wasn’t going to get anything more out of him.

— ”Fine. As long as I get paid, the rest isn’t my concern.”

Without another word, she turned around and left the office.

The door closed behind her with a soft slam, leaving Tombstone and Hammerhead alone. Several seconds passed before Hammerhead finally broke the silence.

— ”I didn’t say anything in front of her, but the boss never asked for Spider-Man to be brought here. Why did you tell her that?”

Tombstone remained silent for a few moments. His gaze drifted toward the enormous windows overlooking Manhattan.

Then his jaw tightened slightly.

— ”Don’t you remember? That kid destroyed everything I’d built in this city and forced me to crawl back to Fisk. And now... I don’t hold the same position I used to. So as compensation... I at least want the privilege of killing Spider-Man myself.”

Hammerhead hesitated for a moment.

— ”Yeah, but—”

— ”Don’t worry. Leave the boss to me. I’ll explain everything when the time comes. Besides... he owes me that much.”

The memory faded as slowly as it had appeared. In an instant, Silver Sable returned to the present.

Her eyes settled once more on the building being devoured by flames as the screams of civilians and the crackling of the fire once again replaced the silence of Fisk Tower.

Spider-Man was on his way.

And she knew exactly what she had to do.

Spider-Man cut through the air one last time before landing heavily in the middle of the street, just a few meters from the burning building. Around him, panic had completely taken hold of the neighborhood’s residents.

Shards of glass continued to burst from the windows under the intense heat before crashing onto the pavement, forcing civilians to retreat even farther.

Some filmed the scene with trembling hands.

Others desperately tried to call emergency services or reassure their loved ones over the phone.

Despite the chaos surrounding them, several people stopped what they were doing the moment Spider-Man appeared.

The conversations gradually died away. Every eye turned toward him. Yet instead of the relief he had hoped to find…

He saw only suspicion.

Fear...

And, in some cases...

Rejection.

— ”Does anyone know if there are still people inside?!”

His voice carried well above the roar of the fire. He quickly scanned the crowd, waiting for someone to answer him, for a witness to point out an apartment or a floor, for a loved one to tell him someone was missing.

But nothing came. The civilians simply stared at him in silence. Some lowered their heads. Others instinctively took a few steps back, as though they still weren’t sure they could trust him.

Several whispers began spreading through the crowd, fueled by the many controversies now surrounding Spider-Man. For a brief moment, Peter felt his frustration rising again.

After everything he had done to protect this city, he had become the very person people distrusted at the exact moment he had come to risk his life for them.

— ”Let’s start from the top floor... then work our way down.”

He didn’t waste any more time.

Every second lost could cost a life.

With a quick flick of his wrist, he fired a web toward the upper floors before launching himself against the building’s façade. In just a few leaps, he reached a window that had been blown out by the explosion and immediately dove inside.

A wave of heat instantly swallowed him. The air had become almost impossible to breathe.

Thick gray smoke had already filled the hallways, drastically reducing visibility while the flames steadily devoured the walls, ceilings, and furniture.

Every creak threatened another collapse. Charred beams gave way one after another, sometimes sending showers of sparks cascading through the corridors already ravaged by the fire.

— ”HEY! IS ANYONE IN HERE?!”

His voice echoed through the devastated apartments before being immediately swallowed by the relentless crackling of the flames.

But no answer came.

Spider-Man continued moving forward nonetheless.

He opened every door that was still accessible, quickly searched each room, checked the bedrooms, bathrooms, and closets where someone might have taken refuge.

Several times, he had to duck beneath collapsing beams or push his way through passages overrun by flames.

The heat was becoming harder and harder to endure, even for him. Every breath scorched his throat a little more, while the smoke gradually blurred his vision.

Even so, he refused to stop. He descended one floor...Then another...Relentlessly repeating the same search, checking every corner in the hope of finding even a single survivor.

The minutes passed. Still nothing. Not a scream. Not a movement...Not the slightest sign of human life. His concern slowly began giving way to another thought.

— ”I can’t find anyone... I think it’s time to get out.”

He was about to turn back when a scream suddenly pierced through the roar of the fire.

— ”PLEASE! HELP ME! I’M TRAPPED!”

Spider-Man froze instantly.

His eyes darted through the hallway at lightning speed.

— ”Someone’s here!”

A few seconds later, the voice rang out again. This time, it sounded even more desperate.

— ”P-PLEASE! S-SOMEBODY! I-I CAN’T BREATHE...!”

Without the slightest hesitation, Spider-Man immediately sprinted toward the voice.

— ”I’M COMING! I’M GOING TO HELP YOU!”

Without wasting a second, Spider-Man rushed toward the source of the cries. He sped through several hallways, vaulted over collapsed beams, and burst through a thick curtain of smoke that burned his eyes.

The flames continued spreading all around him, causing the building’s structure to groan more and more ominously. Guided only by the desperate cries for help he had heard, he eventually entered a large apartment that had already been half-devoured by the fire.

In the middle of the room, a figure appeared to be curled up on the floor beneath a thick gray sheet, completely motionless.

For one brief moment, Peter felt a genuine wave of relief wash over him.

Finally.

After searching the entire building, he had finally found someone.

— ”Found you!”

He immediately quickened his pace, almost forgetting the exhaustion and anger that had still been consuming him only minutes earlier.

— ”I’m here, ma’am. It’s over! I’m getting you out of here!”

He instinctively reached out as he approached the figure.

Then...

His spider-sense exploded.

A familiar jolt shot violently through his entire body. Without thinking, he instantly threw himself to the side.

At that exact moment, a blade violently sliced through the air where his head had been only a fraction of a second earlier.

The force of the strike brushed against his mask before crashing into the wall behind him.

The sheet slowly fell to the floor. The figure calmly rose to her feet. It was Silver Sable. Her eyes were locked onto Spider-Man with absolute focus.

Her face showed neither anger nor satisfaction. Only the cold determination of a seasoned soldier.

She naturally widened her stance, settling into a perfectly disciplined fighting posture, ready to strike again at the slightest movement.

The moment he recognized her, Peter stood motionless for a second before briefly closing his eyes.

He had finally understood. There had never been a victim. There had never been a cry for help.

The whole thing...

Had been a trap.

— ”Damn... I can’t believe this. You want to kill me, is that it?”

A very faint smile appeared at the corner of Silver Sable’s lips.

— ”Looks like you’re used to it.”

Peter looked at her for a few seconds before letting out a deep sigh. Even in a situation like this...He no longer had the energy to get angry.

— ”If only you knew...”

He ran a hand across his forehead, as though trying to ease the migraine this day was giving him.

— ”Look, I don’t have time for this bullshit. If nobody’s in danger, I’ve got no reason to stay here, so... see you.”

There wasn’t the slightest hint of humor left in his voice. He simply sounded exhausted. Tired of chasing criminals. Tired of being manipulated.

Tired of a day that seemed determined to make his life miserable from the moment he woke up. He let out another sigh before turning his back on Silver Sable.

— ”Today... I don’t have the strength to deal with psychos like you.”

He had barely taken a few steps when a metallic click echoed behind him. Silver Sable had just drawn both of her pistols.

Without the slightest hesitation, she immediately opened fire. The gunshots echoed throughout the entire floor. Unlike most shooters, she wasn’t aiming for vital organs.

Her opening shots were aimed directly at Spider-Man’s legs, with remarkable precision, intending to limit his mobility before the real fight even began.

But Peter reacted instantly. His spider-sense guided every one of his movements. His body seemed to dance through the hail of bullets, performing dodges that were almost impossible.

He spun around, leaned backward, pushed off a wall, then launched himself into an aerial twist that allowed several bullets to pass only inches from his suit.

Silver Sable followed every one of his movements without losing her composure.

A spark of interest flashed across her eyes.

— ”Impressive... So the rumors about you are true.”

Peter landed lightly on his feet before slowly raising his eyes to meet hers. All the exhaustion that had built up since the beginning of the day could now be heard in his voice.

— ”What did I just say...?”

He remained silent for a second, finally realizing that she wasn’t going to back down.

Whether he wanted to or not...

He was going to have to fight.

In one fluid motion, he assumed a fighting stance, his eyes gradually regaining their full focus.

— ”I don’t have time for this!”

TO BE CONTINUED.