Caldeus crossed the street carefully. Thanks to his relentless killing, the city had been temporarily ridden of crime. He took his groceries home but ran into Mr Andrew, his boss.
"Hey Caldeus, long time no see."
"Mr Andrew, wasn't expecting to see you here."
"Yeah, I visited a friend of mine who was sick. How've you been, you haven't come to work for quite some time now."
"Umm, I've just been busy with work that's all."
"Work? You got a job somewhere else?"
"Umm not exactly, I had to work for my uncle. I'm really sorry Mr Andrew, I don't think I can work with you anymore."
Mr Andrew shook his head in disappointment.
"First Gwen and now you."
"What do you mean?"
"Didn't she tell you, she got a job at Oscorp now. I'm quite happy for her though."
"I wasn't aware-"
"Well, I have to run along now. Take care of yourself."
Caldeus got home and looked around. It has been quite sometime since he had actually entered his house because he was so busy eliminating threats.
He remembered Clyde had promised to visit, so he brought out his phone to call him.
——spider sense——
He frowned as he walked outside. Nothing. He didn't see any threat. Suddenly, a large ball of ice flew past him and crashed on his house, destroying the wall.
"I don't think my insurance got that covered. What the heck!"
He suited up and swung to a high building, getting an Eagle's view.
"Found you."
He saw a man shooting ice balls from a large gun. Soon people were running around screaming for help.
Spiderman swung to the scene, and delivered a powerful kick to the ice distributor.
"Hello Iceman, this is Spiderman delivery services, hope you're ready to your order?" Spiderman asked, hitting his pose.
"And what's that?" Iceman replied, standing up.
"Your cold body. Or maybe I'll change the recipient to your family. Because you'll be too dead to receive it!"
Spiderman charged towards the cool villian, dodging his attacks of ice blast. Spiderman grabbed the Iceman's shirt and was about to attack when he noticed something, his suit was freezing!
He quickly jumped back, and looked at his body, surprised.
"Woah, you almost created a new flavour there, Spiderman ice-cream!"
****OSCORP***
Gwen walked with Norman into his office.
" Mr Osborn," she began," won't you talk to Caldeus concerning his recent style? I mean, I've been observing, you two haven't had a conversation since he killed the Avatar."
Norman quietly stared at the cup of coffee on his table.
" You see Gwen, Caldeus is going through a stage where even I can't help him."
"What do you mean?"
"He won't listen to me."
"You haven't tried Mr Osborn!"
"Gwen." Norman called, his voice eerily cold, " I can't help him."
"Then I will!"
"Go ahead Gwen. Considering my research he should listen to you."
"Well I'm not really sure. I've tried talking -"
"Don't stop. Continue trying. And just so you know, I like the superior Spiderman."
Gwen frowned at him. She was about to speak but then a staff walked in, and she had to excuse them.
************
Spiderman webbed Iceman to the wall, and slowly walked towards him.
"You're gonna kill me like you killed the others?" Iceman taunted.
"Obviously."
Spiderman smashed the ice gun, completely destroying it.
He ripped Iceman from the wall, and punched his stomach, making the villian stagger in pain.
"You're a monster Spiderman-ugh!"
Another punch.
Soon the Iceman was bleeding horribly. Spiderman wasn't stopping. He was about to throw the finishing blow when—
——spider sense——
He quickly jumped to the side and dodged an iron rod.
He looked at his attacker, and he was left breathless.
It was Clyde.
"Spidey, what the hell is wrong with you!" Clyde yelled in anger, taking a fighting stance.
"I don't want to fight you, get out of here." Spiderman replied, walking towards Iceman.
But Clyde yelled wasn't budging, he ran towards Spiderman, swinging the rod. Spiderman dodged easily, completely ignoring Clyde, walking towards the crawling Iceman.
Clyde didn't give up, he continued attacking, each swing more aggressive than the previous. And then Spiderman caught the rod, slowly turning to face Clyde. He punched the civilian in the guts, making him kneel in pain.
"Stay out of this, Clyde."
"H-how did you know my name?" Clyde asked standing up, attacking.
Spiderman dodged his attacks easily, and punched him again. But Clyde wasn't giving up, he continued attacking, trying his best to prevent the hero from ending the life of the near-dead villian.
"Spidey! What happened to you? You were a hero, one we all respected! Now, you're just this monster!" Clyde yelled, grabbing his aching stomach.
"Shut up! Just shut up!" Spiderman yelled in anger, "you don't know what's it's like! You'll never understand! None of you ever do! These villians kill innocent people everyday! They hurt others, scar them for life. Peter Parker died by the hands of the very villians he spared!"
Clyde was shocked as he stood up slowly. The mask on Spiderman's face disappeared, and Clyde was even more shocked.
"Caldeus...it's you."
"You'll never understand Clyde."
"Stop this now, we can go home and talk-"
"Leave." Spiderman said coldly, the mask reappearing.
Clyde shook his head.
"You are not the Caldeus I know. Now I see why they call you the Spider demon. I'm getting married on Sunday. I don't want to see you there, you bloodthirsty demon." Clyde spoke silently, limping away.
Spiderman turned to face Iceman, but the latter wasn't moving. He has died from blood loss. Spiderman looked at his palms. They were stained with blood.
He was confused, he was lost .
*********"
Gwen opened the door with a smile, but the smile disappeared when she saw Caldeus.
"Gwen, can we talk-"
"Umm, no I have something to do bye!" She hurriedly said, shutting the door.
Her heart ached, she didn't wasn't to do that, she just wanted to hug him and cry, but she was scared.
Caldeus stood silently for a while, then he walked away.
He sat down on a rooftop looking at the afternoon sky. He had just lost his best friend and now Gwen wouldn't talk to him. He picked his phone and the first thing he saw was a notification from Toktik. CCI NEWS had posted a video about him, calling him a menace and a monster.
"Am I really a monster?" He asked himself.
——spider sense——
There was a bank robbery in progress.
He swung to the bank, entering through the window. There was no usual joke, he just swung in and beat the robbers to a pulp. Looking round, he saw how the civilians looked at him. A child's doll had fallen near him, but after witnessing him almost end the life of the robbers the child was too scared to collect it. He stared at the doll in silence, wondering what he had become.
Spiderman picked the doll and handed it over to the child.
And just like that, he was out of the bank.
***EVENING*****
He swung to a river , deactivating his suit. He stood there looking, thinking. He saw no problem with the way he handled crime, but everyone else saw plenty problems. He hadn't slept in a long while, his eyes were red, he barely showered too.
"You ok?" A lady with a baby in a stroller called out to him. She walked towards him and smiled.
But he didn't return her smile. He just looked at the sky lost.
"Do you think I'm a monster?" He asked the now confused lady.
"Well, no. You aren't a monster."
"But everyone calls me-"
"It doesn't matter what people call you, all that matters is what you call yourself. Who are you?" She asked. That question but Caldeus way deeper than he imagined.
Who am I?
"I am Caldeus." He muttered, his eyes gaining light.
"And I am Mary Jane Parker ,but people call me MJ." She introduced herself, still smiling.
"MJ. Thanks for your help MJ, you've given me serious therapy." Caldeus said smiling.
"All I did was spit some nonsense." She said laughing.
Caldeus smile widened too.
"And this is my son, Peter Parker Junior."
"Junior? You don't mean -"
"Yes, I was Spiderman's wife. I'm literally a celebrity here I'm surprised you didn't recognise me from the beginning."
"MJ, I gotta go! I need to apologize to some people!" Caldeus said, running off.
******
Clyde and his fiance sat in a room, arranging their marriage cards.
"Aren't you inviting Caldeus, you said he's your best bud."
"No, Caldeus is going through a lot right now."
********
Caldeus ran to Gwen's house. He knocked frantically, and she opened the door. He was about to speak when she hugged him tightly.
"Don't ever leave me again Caldeus." She sobbed.
The broken hero had been repaired.
Soon, Dexter got to know of it, after Spiderman webbed criminals to walls and left them for the police, a habit he had dropped.
Little did the hero and his crew know, Dexter was closer to unleashing the Spider grid than they could ever imagine.