I sat at the kitchen table; my mind elsewhere as I stared at some pancakes. There was no sun to reflect off them today, but my mind was more focused on how much my body hurt. Seriously, I hurt worse than yesterday. Maybe it just felt worse because I’d just woken up. I shifted my shoulder slightly and winced. At least there was one positive this morning. My mind felt clearer. Probably because I’d slept like a log after my talk with Aunt May. Seeds of guilt still burrowed deep in my mind, but the self-loathing was gone now.

  “Pete?” MJ said, nudging my hand.

  “Huh?”

  “You ok?” she said.

  “Yeah? Why?”

  “You looked like you’re in pain. Is your shoulder hurting?”

  “Nah, I’m fine” I said digging into my waffles. MJ stared at me with an uncertain gaze before going back to her food. Suddenly my new phone buzzed, shaking the table. It was Ned. I grabbed it and stood up.

  “Sorry, gotta take this” I said. I quickly made my way into the hallway and answered the call.

  “Hey Pete! I figured you’d be up by this time, what’s up?” Ned said, his usual jubilant self. I felt a smile play on my lips. He never failed to cheer me up.

  “I’m good. How’s London?” I asked.

  “It’s great man, but I’m starting to talk about the weather just as much as everyone else here” he said laughing. I chuckled too.

  “It’s good to know you’re enjoying it. Anyway, why’d you call?”

  “I… uh… I just wanted to let you know I’m coming home” he said, the joy gone.

  “What?” I said, surprised.

  “Not permanently, just for a few days” he said, with a forced chuckle.

  “Why?”

  “I… I wanted to visit Gwen’s grave. And talk to her parents again. To apologise”

  “Oh…” I said, not sure what to say. I knew he’d called Mr and Mrs Stacy and I know they’d told him it was ok, that he hadn’t had to make it to the funeral at such short notice. I didn’t realise how much this whole thing had been weighing on him. But of course, it would. I just thought he would’ve said something. Well, I guess he was now.

  “W-when are you coming?” I asked.

  “In a week. I just thought I’d tell you in advance”

  “Ok. It’ll be good for you to see everyone. Oh right, that reminds me Harry’s got a new number. I’ll text it to you, just call him. He’ll be excited you’re coming back” I said.

  “I was wondering why he hadn’t picked up any of my calls” Ned said laughing. I laughed too.

  “Well it was great talking to you Pete, but I’ve got to go” he said.

  “Already?”

  “Yeah. Technically, I shouldn’t even be calling you right now” he said chuckling.

  “Well I don’t want to get you fired or something. It was great speaking to you too Ned. See you soon man”

  “Bye Pete”

  He hung up and I pulled the phone away from my ear stretching out. I glanced back inside the living room. I wasn’t really hungry anymore. And besides, I had things to do.

  -

  The streets of Manhattan bustled with life as I strolled, bag over my back as I tried to whistle the nervous tension away. I was going back to my apartment. It was just for a few extra things I’d need for materials production. I hadn’t decided on whether or not I was ever going to put the suit back on, but I was at least going to repair it before I gave it back. If I gave it back that was.

  But my mind wasn’t focused on any of that right now. It was focused on Helga and Sasha. What did I say when I saw them again? I knew I had to apologise but would that be enough? No. And that’s what I was worried about. Helga wouldn’t kick me out after finding out I’d lied to her, even if it was as big as this. She was too kind. But I didn’t know if our relationship would ever be the same. I probably deserved that. Still the notion that I’d ruined a friendship over a lie I’d said just to protect my stupid pride, was really starting to eat away at me.

  I paused as I passed a row of TV screens in a display shop window, then took a few steps back and stared at the feed, my stomach sinking. I couldn’t hear anything, but the visuals were enough. Words scrawled across the bottom of the screen in big bold letters. ‘Sandman returns’. He was back. Of course he was back. The sound of multiple sirens echoing in the distance suddenly made a lot more sense. I’d been trying to ignore them before, but I couldn’t now. I turned my attention back to the TV, reading as words scrolled across the screen. He was still after me. Worse he’d taken hostages again. I clenched my fists, feeling an anger rise up in my chest, past the fear. I guess I didn’t need to debate it in my head anymore. The decision had been made for me. I glanced around then casually walked down the street and slipped into an alley.

  I changed as fast as I could, though it felt painfully slow; with each second that ticked by a gnawing worry grew in my stomach. Finally I grabbed the mask, hesitating but then steeling myself and pulling it on anyway. It was still filled with sand and the shattered lens had only gotten worse. Crap I didn’t have my goggles.

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  “Great” I mumbled. I’d have to do without. I webbed my bag to the side of the dumpster then covered it with some crates. I looked around and leapt up onto the wall, crawling up until I was a decent enough height.

  “Here goes nothing” I said, then leapt of the building and fired a web out into the street. I swung downwards my heart in my chest and then curved away from the ground, swinging up into open sky. I let go and with a fwip, fired another web and swung down the street even faster. I carried on swinging, trying not to shit myself, as I picked up the pace. Slowly, I eased into a rhythm regaining my wits.

  Wait a second, I had no idea where to go. Crap. How did I find this guy? Did I have to search the whole city? No that was stupid. I’d find the helicopter. There’d been one last time, it’s how they got the aerial footage. Dammit, that meant I’d have to get higher. I fired another web and swung before throwing my entire body upwards. I flipped through the air and landed on a tall building in stride. I rushed up the side, not daring to look down as I climbed, the reflection on the windows changing from rooftops to bright blue sky. I reached the top, and leapt up, looking around quickly. There. No time to waste. I rushed towards the edge of the building and froze, my feet sticking to the side. I scrambled backwards, as fear gripped me. Holy shit I was high.

  "Dammit. Not now Peter" I said. I peered over the edge again. I couldn't do it. Wait a second... I rushed back from the edge and fired two webs to either side of the building before pulling them back as far as they could go. At least this way I could circumvent jumping off the building. Plus it was faster. I steeled myself, closed my eyes and let go. I shot forwards through the air, high above most of the city. I flew, the air raging in my ears. It was almost peaceful. It probably would be if I could control it. I let out a scream as I started to dip, the buildings beneath me rushing up faster than anticipated. My mind went blank as the buildings drew even closer.

  My instincts took control, and I fired a web out forwards. Somehow it connected with something, then went taut as I dipped past the roofs of buildings. I swung down a street with blistering speed, my feet narrowly missing a car. Then I let go, flailing as I shot forwards, and barely missed a building before landing amongst some trees. I took a few seconds to make sense of what just happened as I hung awkwardly amongst a wreath of branches. I looked up, through a thicket of leaves, to see the helicopter circling above me. Oh. Oh wow.

  I leapt down to find myself in a park, watching as people rushed past in a panic. They all stared at me, some with relief and others with looks of fear. I made my way through the crowd before spotting Sandman through a gap in the trees. I readied myself, preparing to leap into battle then, paused. He hadn't seen me yet. I could get the drop on him.

  It was risky, but if I got the hostages away, then he couldn't pull anything if he started to lose. I circled around, keeping distance until he was facing away from me and I had a better look at the hostages. Ok, I could do this. I could do this. I leapt forwards, pulling myself with a web and shot through the air. I grabbed the hostages with a web as I flew past Sandman then swung away. We landed quickly, and I cushioned the hostages fall with my body. They both looked at me shocked as we lay on the floor.

  "Run!" I shouted. They didn’t need further instruction, bolting towards the park exits. I hopped to my feet and turned around to see sand swirling up and I swung back towards the clearing, landing as Sandman roared obscenities.

  "Come on man, if you want friends, you just have to talk to people!" I shouted, raising my trembling fists. He hurled a wave of small spikes at me and I weaved through them, relying on my spider sense.

  The cloud of sand had grown larger, as Sandman’s voice echoed through the park.

  “DON’T YOU DARE MOCK ME!!” he boomed his voice amplified as if it reverberated from all the sand.

  “Then stop kidnapping people!” I shot back.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt anybody but you!”

  “Why?!”

  “You took everything from me! The same day that damn explosion turned me into a monster, you destroyed my world!”

  I went silent. Lucas’ fight with Dr Gonzales. He’d lost something. Everything maybe. People had died in the fight. I knew that, but I guess I’d been so focused on the positive, all the people Lucas had rescued I hadn’t even considered the bad. People had died, entire houses had been destroyed and I could see why people would blame Spider-Man. The guilt Lucas carried made much more sense now that I could see the anger it was responsible for. I raised my hands, all the fight leaving my posture.

  “We can talk things through y-”

  “NO!””

  “Please, you don’t have to do this!”

  “IT’S THE ONLY THING I HAVE TO DO!!!”

  His voice shook the ground we stood on and then my spider-sense came to life. All the sand in the arm shot towards me, forming into a huge wave of sand. On no. I fired a web to pull myself backwards, but the wave crashed into me, then squeezed at me. I struggled to pull myself out, fighting against it as Sandman approached, his arm a dagger. The sand only crushed me further, pulling me down deeper as he drew near. He brought his blade towards my neck and I twisted, barely dodging it before kicking out the sand in desperation. The sand on the ground shot upwards, following me in a torrent as I drew further away. It was gaining. Shit. I wouldn’t make it. I threw myself with the last bit of my strength, and crashed to the ground, skidding across the floor. Sand landed on top of me and I scrambled back to avoid the crushing pressure, but nothing happened. I frowned, waiting for the sand to do something when I spotted Sandman down on one knee. He’d used up a lot of energy. Then it clicked. Distance. He could only control the sand within a certain distance. I needed to get him away from it.

  I had to strike quickly. Leaping up, I fired two webs and sling shot myself at him, catching him off guard. He created a wall of spikes but I yanked myself around it with another web. He charged at me, his fists large hammers. I dived closer, catching him off guard again. He tried to readjust, as the sand at our feet shifted, but with the added weight, his balance was off and he hadn’t been expecting my move to make the constructs fast enough. I leapt over him, grabbing both his shoulders and as I came down, threw him with all of my might. He cried as he flew, and the sand at my feet fell still. This was my chance. If I could web him up I could keep him from getting away. I rushed forwards, suddenly realising people might not have completely evacuated the area yet. Crap. I sped up clearing ground, before I emerged onto a walk, the East River staring back at me.

  I breathed heavily, staring at a cloudy part of the water. I’d thrown him further than I thought. Well what now? Was it over? It'd been fast, a lot faster than the first fight for sure. I looked around. All the people nearby were a decent distance away. I glanced back into the water to see the sand cloud still hadn’t moved. Crap, was he dead? He was a villain, but I didn’t want him to die. Wait, could he even die? His body was made completely of sand, that he was in complete control of, even when dispersed. So maybe he couldn’t die unless it was all destroyed. But wait, what sand had his consciousness and what sand didn’t? I didn’t know. But he definitely seemed to struggle mentally without a concrete physical form.

  My spider sense buzzed and a large hand of wet sand reached out of the water. I dodged it, and it crumbled with a wet splash, cracking parts of the walk and obliterating the guardrail.

  “…spider-man…” it whispered. Thank God. He wasn’t dead. Not completely sure how he was alive though. Now how did I capture him? The wet sand slowly retreated into the water and then swirled about before the cloud of sand faded into the depths. Crap. I dived inside the river, chasing after it, but it disappeared into the darkness before I could do anything. I swam back to the surface and pulled myself out of the water, looking around at the damage to walk. I fell to my knees as relief overwhelmed me. The fight was over. He’d gotten away, but everyone was ok. I’d rescued the hostages, and I hadn’t just run when things had gotten tough. He’d also told me enough that if he ever showed up again, I might have a way to stop him for good. I leaned my head back looking up at the sky. Maybe this Spider-Man thing wasn’t so bad.