Prologue

'Here lies Peter Benjamin Parker, father, husband and hero for many.

He held great power. And with that, upheld even greater responsibilities' (I dont know how to write epitaphs)

I reread the gravestone, reciting it like a mantra, as if that was going to somehow bring him back. Still it was better than the alternative. Watching them as they lowered the coffin inside the grave. As they lowered what remained of my father into the grave.

The funeral had gone by in blur, with my gaze alternating between the coffin and the portrait of my father next to it. Even when my step mother grasped my hand, I didn't dare look away in fear that I would even lose his body should I turn away for even a second. After all the things 'they' had done to us, I wouldn't be surprised if 'they' tried to confiscate my father's body as well, to be taken to a lab and dissected like to satisfy their own lust for power. Or perhaps they will make a mindless clone of him, just like they had done to Thor to make him do his bidding.

Before I knew it, the grave had been filled up and I stared at the graves of the entire Parker lineage save for myself and my stepmother. My father was buried in the center with his aunt and uncle on the right side of the grave and my grandparent's graves on the left.

I couldn't help but look at the grave of my great aunt. It still looked new as its barely been a few weeks since we had buried her. And now, her nephew was buried with her as well. My chest tightened as I looked at their graves, feeling more alone than ever before in my life.

It was until I felt someone gently wrap his/her arms around me that I was broken out of my trance. I turned to see the red haired form of my stepmother, smile sadly at me as she gently pulled me away from the graves, towards the direction of the exit. I could also see the other attendees. Most of whom I was grateful for attending. There would have been more if not for the fact that SHIELD was most definetly monitoring the funeral in search of unregistered heroes, just another notch in the growing list of wrongs they had committed against my family. Not even letting us have Dad's funeral in peace.

We walked past several familiar faces, some were Dad's old coworkers, others were his former classmates, a couple of my stepmother's family had attended as well, as well as several X-men who he had been acquainted with. I spotted Miles and Gwen in the crowd as their identities were still unknown by Shield.

I suddenly felt my stepmother tense and stop in her tracks prompting me to look at her. She was staring wide-eyed at something infront of us and as I followed her gaze, my face hardened into a glare filled with hatred.

Right outside the cemetery gates, donning black suits were the figures of Tony Stark, Carol Danvers and Reed Richards who were being blocked by a couple of police officers. Gwen's father, the chief of police was the one who had assigned them there, to prevent the press(J. Jonah. Jameson) or any other uninvited guests from entering the grounds. And the three of them belonged to the last category considering that they were among those responsible for Dad's death. And it seems like even the guests had noticed them as well, as the entire world seemed to fall deathly silent.

Both me and my stepmother continued to glare at them before she began walking briskly with me in tow. We did our best to ignore them even after they began calling after us as we walked straight towards our car with officers now keeping them from approaching us. That was until I heard one of the officers yell our hey followed by footsteps approaching from behind.

"Please Mary-Jane. At least here me out." I heard the voice of Tony Stark speak.

"I already told you no. I won't allow you desecrate my husbands body." I stepmom spoke coldly as she attempted to open the car doors only for a hand to push on it, keeping it close.

"Please. Just listen. The spider bite that gave him powers completely altered his genetic makeup without any malignant mutations like what happened with Connor. Just think about it, if we could replicate it, we can treat genetic illnesses, and save hundreds if not thousands of people." he said a little more loudly than I would have expected him to, making me suspicious.

Right outside the police cordoned area, was a crowd of reporters, recording and taking pictures of us. I then tilted my head upwards, examining the buildings closest to us and lo and behold I could make out cameras and what looked like parabolic microphones aimed at us. Upon examining further, I even spotted refractive distortions of light, a sign of cloaking technology. The bastards were probably using drones to record the entire thing. I can already imagine them editing the video in their favor and turn the public against us. Afterall, such a many desired such treatments, be it for themselves, or their loved ones.

Stark had kept on talking while I was surveying and now, my mother's knuckles had turned white and and she was shaking, either in anger or sorrow, it didn't make a difference for me. Because I wasn't just going to let him harass us like this.

"You say that my father's DNA will give people a second chance at life but let me ask you this, will it bring my father back?" I asked him as I left my step mother's side and got in between the two of them while staring directly at the eyes of the older man.

I saw him grimace in shame as he saw the lifeless expression on my face.

" Well, would it? No. Because you had him killed. Don't try to deny it. You sent the very people who he spent years protecting this city from to capture . People that consisted of murderers, rapists and thieves and everything in between. Honestly, who wouldn't have seen that coming. Especially one as smart as you. No, you wanted him dead. He was your little PR stunt to support the registration act and when he realised just how big of a mistake he had made, and tried to make things right your pride couldn't take it. "

" That's not true..... " He tried to rebuke but I interrupted him.

" And you speak of saving lives. But tell me, wasn't that what my father had been doing all these years. He had risk his career, his relationships, and his own well being to protect New York but it was the same people who turned against him at the drop of a hat for something he didn't even do. Tell me, do those people deserve his help even from beyond the grave?"

"Look. I know you're hurt. Believe me I went through the same thing when I lost my parents." he spoke soflty but his words made me scoff.

"Really? Did some guy tried to harass you into giving up their corpses to cut them open?" I asked with as much sarcasm as I could before I violently ripped his hand away from the car door.

"Face it. You might not be making weapons anymore. But you are still the same greedy, egotistical, borderline sociopathic man-child you have always been. You are still the Merchant of Death. The only difference now is instead of weapons you are selling the freedoms and rights of other people, so long as it doesn't affect you. The same people who fought tooth and nail by your side to defend this world. "I added before opening the door and guiding my stepmom inside before briskly walking to the other side.

" You..... " Stark attempted to intercept me only for a rock clad hand grasp his shoulder and keep him in place.

" I believe the ladies said no, Stark." the gruff voice of Ben Grimm aka the Thing spoke. He wore a suit under a large brown trenchcoat. Behind him was the Johnny Storm aka the Human Torch who looked like he was ready to burst into flames. Literally should the situations calls for it. Ben nodded at me and I took it as a signal to leave. The chauffeur didn't need to be told twice as he rode away from the circus brewing outside of the cemetery like a bat out of hell.

....

The Thing's Pov,

I watched as the car pulled away before releasing Stark. There was no need for me to expend more of my energy on this imbecile. Against all my expectations, Stark didn't break down into his usual tirades, merely clenching his fist while trembling before making his exit as well. Captain Marvel followed him but the one person I didn't want to interact with didn't.

"Hello, Ben." Reed spoke, his voice was barely a whisper, dark bags covered his eyes and I couldn't help but wonder if he had even slept for days. His complexion was pale and he even looked sickly. Yet despite that, I couldn't find pity in my heart for my former friend. It was his actions that had driven me away, driven his wife away. Every time, I look at him, I could only picture the inmates of the prison in the Negative Zone who were losing their sanity due to the effects of the negative zone. I saw the face of Goliath, who lost his life against that abomination that he help create.

I merely grunted in response before leaving. It was a long walk to the airport and I was no longer confortable with being in crowd anymore.

"Hey big guy. Its nice that you came. I'm sure they appreciated it." I suddenly heard thr annoying voice of Johnny. Normally, I would have been irritated but after the couple of days, his voice was a welcomed change.

"It was the least I could do for the webhead." I answered with a chuckle before we went silent once more.

"So, what's next? You going back to Europe?" he asked.

"Yep. If I stay I'll get dragged into this pointless conflict one way or another. Better to leave this place behind, do some soul searching."

"Yeah. If weren't for Sue, Franklin or Valeria, I would have done the same. But with Sue thinking about divorcing Reed and this war, they need me more than ever."

I nodded in agreement as we continued to walk reminiscing about happier times.

....

The ride back to the hotel was filled with silence, with each of us grieving in our own way. We both wished we could simply have gone home, to the modest little house in Queens where dad had grown up. But we knew what awaited us their. More reporters and the surveillance teams of SHIELD. Hopefully, the heat will die soon when Tony kills some other hero. Or better yet, Captain America finally crushes Iron man like a tin can.

The chauffeur was kind enough to take us through the loading bay, to evade any paparazzi that might have been lurking around. And as he pulled up, the first thing I saw were two platinum blonde women waiting by the entrance. At first, I thought they were sisters given how much they look alike until I recognised one of them. She was an on-again, of-again girlfriend of my father before he and my stepmom tied the knot. Her name is Felicia Hardy, a professional thief who worked under the alias of Black Cat. She and my father had crossed paths several times and the two of them had been romantically involved from time to time before he and my stepmom tied the knot.

Once the car stopped, my stepmom quickly got out before greeting the other woman with a hug. I followed after to see the two women whispering to one another.

"Its good to see you too. Let's get inside for now." I heard my stepmom whisper before releasing herself from the hug and grasping my hand once more.

The four of us then made our way inside. We kept a brisk pace as we walked to the elevator. We had taken the penthouse suite, which was the most secure floor on the hotel. Money wasn't an issue and my stepmother was a very famous actress.

When we reached the living room, the other woman took out a tablet. She pressed a series of buttons before pausing, then held up 4 fingers. She then gestured us to follow. Based on the fact that the others were staying silent, I could guess what was happening as well. The lady guided us to a vase at the corner of the room and began examining it and before long, she took out a small recording device hidden in the crevices. We found three more scattered around the penthouse as well. None of us made a comment about it, we already knew who the culprit was.

The woman scanned the penthouse a couple more times before giving us a thumbs up and we finally took a seat.

"So, have you told her?" Felicia asked MJ while giving me a glance.

"No, I thought it would be best if I told her after the funeral." MJ replied sadly, while squeezing my hand gently.

"Tell me what?" I asked.

My stepmom then turned in her seat, so that she was completely facing me and I mirrored her. Then she opened her mouth and uttered two words that almost gave me a stroke.

"I'm pregnant."

.....

After staring at my stepmom for what seemed like hours, I finally managed to find my voice.

"Are you sure?" I asked and got a nod in response. I looked at the other women but they too nodded affirming my stepmom's words.

We were already having enough trouble from Shield, trying to protect Dad's body and the research he had done while under the employ of Stark. But now, the existence of a child who may or may not have the same powers as my father will make them escalate even farther. The fact they tried to crash Dad's funeral and attempted to bug the penthouse we lived in was proof that they had gone down the deep end. At this point I don't think they'll not resort to kidnapping if they don't get what they want.

"So, what do we do?" I asked with a hint of urgency in my voice.

My stepmom them glance at Felicia who began speaking. "This woman here, is Silver Sabilova." she gestured at the other woman. "She leads Sable international and is a crown princess of the kingdom of Symkaria." The woman in question nodded. "She is also acquainted with your father and owes him quite a bit." she continued.

"With how things are going, neither me nor your stepmother wants her raising a baby here. And so, we want to use Silver's connections to smuggle both of you out of America and into Symkaria. Shield has no authority there and they will keep her and the child a secret. So what do you think? "

My first response was to say yes. Even without shield, there were plenty of people here who would attempt to harm my new sibling. From the Kingpin to the Sinister six and worst of all, Norman Osborn aka the green goblin. There was no reason for us stay.

But then, I remembered. The sight of my father's battered, lifeless body. The gaping hole in his chest that had killed him. I remembered the hearing J. Jonah. Jameson praising the Thunderbolts and how their actions were justified. My stepmom lost her husband aunt-in law (is this right) and I lost my father and my great aunt. And now my half sibling was going to grow up without a father. And the ones responsible, they get live on, like nothing ever happened.

Moreover, I felt that running away was no different than letting his legacy die.

And so after careful deliberation, I answered. "No. I'm staying."

Obviously this wasn't well received and this culminated in an argument between me and my mother with me eventually, convincing her to let me stay. It also helped that my presence here will distract other interested parties from my mother, considering I am the biological child of Spiderman who may or may not have similar powers vs his wife who, as far as anyone knew, didn't have any powers. People were more likely to come after me than her thus my presence will put her in more danger.

______________________________________________

(a few days later)

I was pulled into one final hug my stepmom. This would be the last time we'd see each other for a while. Of course we can talk via phone, but it's not the same as talking in person.

"Be sure to eat on time, if you're running out of money, just email the Symkarian embassy, they will pass on the message. If anything happens make sure to call Kaine or Gwen or Miles or....." She continued speaking.

"Don't worry, I will. You just worry about yourself. Meaning no alcohol, no smoking, no stressful activities, and keep away from hot tubs." I countered and I got a finger flicked on my forehead.

"Cheeky girl." she muttered before tightening her hug so much so that I was struggling to breathe. The hug finally ended after 5 whole minutes when Silver came to retrieve her. After more tearful goodbyes, we finally parted ways.

I waited until the plane was out of sight before making my way back. My tears were now dried, my eyes now filled with new found determination. By sending my last remaining family away, I made it so there was nothing those bastards could use against me. And I was going make sure they get what they deserved. No matter what it takes.