Who: Ben Parker | NPCs: Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, and Kraven the Hunter Where: New York City When: [Backdated] 6/10/2013 Rating: This narrative has been rated "R" by the Roleplay Entertainment Association of America (REAA) Summary: Death, gore, violence. Kraven returns from Hell to exact revenge on Peter Parker and his family.
“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother,” - Abraham Lincoln. The words hung heavy on Ben’s heart as he looked down at the page before him. Those were the only words truly legible on the notebook page, which seemed to mock its writer. The rest were all scribbled out, rambling thoughts, none of them strong enough to give any sort of credence to the moment, to the memories he held--the memories that continued to battle within his mind for the most prominent, for the most appropriate. None of them were more perfect than the other. His mind was a fog, it was incapable of grasping onto one memory, save for one...
...The portals in New York were getting worse and life was becoming quite the hassle. Then, almost overnight, apocalypse took to the earth. The portals and tares across the globe began to unleash the hordes of demon spawn upon the world, and the heroes were put to the test. Ben, dressed in all black with the white spider emblem, forsaking the red and blues of his father, swung into action with all the smugness of a man who’d never lost in his life. Who’d known only fame, mild-fortune, and good parents; who skated by in high school simply because he was gifted with genius-level intellect, got all of the girls, and on top of it all, had powers people would kill for. He was good at what he did, and he knew it; he didn’t lose unless he just didn’t care, and then he’d never dare write it off as one.
Today, then, was no different as Spider-Man swung through the horde of demons and devilish creatures. One clung to his back, clawing through the material of his costume as he swung into another, kicking it hard into a wall. Stuffing it there, he then back flipped off of that wall, grabbed the creature on his back and tore it free flinging it off into one of its friends. Spider-Man rolled through the air and brought a sweeping kick along another jaw, landing into the dirt before ducking beneath a quick slash and kick, then swinging around to sweep the creature off its feet and, as it fell, kicked it in the chest to send it sailing.
Ben grinned and clicked the communicator in his ear, “I’m not even breaking a sweat. Is this all Hell has to throw at us, because I’m beginning to think they’re not really living up to the hype.”
He clicked off the device when he heard the chastising from SHIELD, and went back to work. He took a slash into the back and winced, before spinning and back kicking the creature away from him. Right, right, pay attention to that Spider Sense Benny boy. That’s what his father would say, but Ben really didn’t care. He could take a few beatings here or there. He leaped into a group of the zombie like fire things and began to throw them from side to side as he kicked and punched, when his communicator beeped again. He recognized the tone as his father’s, and he just tapped it quickly, “Awww, daddy are you che--”
“It’s your mother Ben,” came the voice of Peter Parker over the device. Ignoring his son’s quips, “Get to the house, now.”
Ben blinked and grabbed the foot of one of the creatures, spinning and using the demon as a club for a moment, before letting him go and sailing away. Ben then back flipped out of the crowd, onto a light pole, then swung off into the distance, “I’m on my way now. What happened to mom?”
“She’s in trouble. I don’t know what, I got a call and it was her’s, she was scared even if she tried to hide it. All I know is she’s in danger, and it came from the house.”
Ben shook his head, “You’re going off a hunch from the sound of her voice? Dad, you sure you didn’t just forget to turn off the garage light again?”
The silence on the other line gave him cause to worry a bit, and he just continued to swing quickly as he could, until eventually swinging into view of the house. He then swung his way through the open window of the balcony. A balcony door that was broken and torn off its hinges. As Ben entered the bedroom to his parents’ house, all he could see were torn sheets, scattered dresser drawers, and blood on both walls and sheets. He frowned and peeled off his mask, “Dad?”
“In here...”
Ben heard the sound from the living room and made his way out. He saw his father, dressed like he’d been at a meeting and it was likely a meeting with the old Avengers trying to figure out how to stop this demon thing. The younger crowd, like Ben, could handle all of the fighting; it took the brain trust of the older, wiser ones to figure out just how to make it all go away. He dropped into the floor below, and moved up next to his father, then blinked when he saw the coffee table. It was broken, the glass shattered, and one of the pieces specifically had blood on it, and was laid next to a dismembered finger with a wedding ring on it. It was Gwen Stacy’s wedding ring, Ben could tell that much. He felt like he was going to be sick.
“Who would do such a --”
“It was Kraven, Kraven the Hunter,” Peter reached down, kneeling onto the glass as he picked up the finger, answering before Ben could even ask how he knew, “He’s leaving a memento for me to follow.”
“But Kraven’s …”
“Dead, I know. But seems the dead’s rising all over the place around here now,” he then stood and brushed himself off before setting the finger into a baggy he must have grabbed from the kitchen earlier. He then glanced towards Ben, staring back at him. He then shook his head and began to make his way upstairs, disappearing into his room, “We have to find her. Before he gets impatient.”
“This isn’t already impatient? Do you even know where she is?”
“Forest Park, it’s a favorite place of his to hide out. He wants to hunt us, and where better to hunt than inside of the forest?”
Ben frowned at that then shrugged, “Yea, I gue-- wait, what do you mean we?”
Peter stepped out of the bedroom, his familiar red and blues pulled over. He looked down to Ben and raised a brow, “Yes, I mean we.” He then pulled down his mask, putting on his web-shooters as well before stepping down, “Now let’s go.”
Ben swung after Peter as they left the building and took off into the night sky. As they swung, Ben felt sick thinking what might be happening to his mother, scared to death that she might be hurt. This wasn’t supposed to happen, Peter and Gwen were done, Peter retired, it wasn’t supposed to be like this. They were out of the game, it was all Ben’s show now.
“Kraven never knew Peter Parker and Spider-Man were the same person,” offered Peter as they swung. No hooting or hollering, just deliberate and speedy in his desire to get after his wife, “I did my best to keep it that way. Other villains learned, but him? I made sure. He’s a hunter, and hunters use bait; if there was a single one of my enemies that would want to use your mother, or you, or anyone against me... it would be him. And I’d never know he was coming.”
Ben frowned, thinking on this, “But then... how did--” Then it clicked. Everyone knew Ben Parker was Spider-Man, or the new Spider-Man at least. It wasn’t hard to figure out his father, Peter Parker, likely had been the original Spider-Man. Ben had always figured that, since so many knew Peter was Spider-Man eventually, at least those in the superhero community, why keep it quiet? They could take care of themselves, right? Perhaps he was a bit more wrong than he previously thought. Still, it would be alright in the end, they’d get his mother safe and get these demons handled.
There was nothing but silence the rest of the way, Peter knowing just what Ben was thinking as they swung in absolute silence. Ben could see Forest Park coming up, the lush and tall trees of the standstill park in the center of the city, a reminder of the regions once humble beginnings, prior to the conquest of man and settlement. The forest of green before the forest of concrete, iron and steel.
Ben and Peter’s approach was quick, and both dropped low into the trees to begin swinging along the pathway when they lost the high rises. This required quick web-shots and zips, but they were managing for the moment. Taking the time to kick off of branches and slip past others as he twisted alongside his father, moving with the incredible speed the costume had come to mean. Ben dropped from a branch, about to swing when a sudden jolt hit him from the side, sending him crashing into a tree trunk, feeling the wood and bark splinter around him. To the right, he heard the sounds of a scuffle and he looked up, noting his father swinging around a branch, and altering his course so violently and suddenly the attacking demon wasn’t able to match and soon was caught by Peter’s webbing, and flung to the side into another tree.
Ben shook his head, pushing to his feet when he felt his spider sense go off. He leaped backwards, into the tree he’d just hit, and then bounded off of it to sail above the incoming bolt of whatever it was. He imagined it was fire, demons threw fire right? He landed on the ground and then had to backflip in order to dodge another incoming blast. This one was larger though, and singed Ben’s stomach as it went past, sending him sprawling into the ground with a heavy wince. He was able to regain himself as the half-man came stumbling out. Half-man because there was little left to consider human. His face was caved in, one eye completely gone, and half of his jawbone exposed to the elements. What he was throwing were heated lumps of what could only be described as flesh. His own flesh.
With quick reflexes, Ben was able to keep moving away from these attacks, and eventually he webbed the guy in the face, pulled him towards him, and then punched him hard enough to shatter the exposed jawbone, and then threw him off into the woods. His father had handled his two, and they immediately began for the center of the woods again, until they eventually reached the outdoor amphitheater, dropping into a tree that overlooked it.
“He knows we’re coming,” offered Ben’s father as he looked around, “And in fact, likely knows we’re already here.”
The amphitheater itself was a charred mess, the seats torn out to make way for pits and cages. How long had Kraven been back? Probably since the first signs of these portals, Ben surmised. The cages housed what had to be citizens of New York, almost all charred and dead; rotting corpses really, though a few surviving stragglers seemed to remain. The corpses though, had something else to them: they were shriveling, and almost husks of their former selves. He glanced back towards his father, “What the hell is this?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but it’s disgusting and it needs to be stopped.” Peter swung out of the trees and Ben watched as he dropped into one of the cages to snatch up a survivor. Landing outside of the cage, he let the young woman go and told her to run, before moving towards the next one. Ben soon followed suit, but they were again overrun by demons coming from the outskirts of the amphitheater. Tugging at the young man he swung past, Ben set the boy down and encouraged him to run as well, firing two balls of webbing into the demons running for the boy, hitting them in the face and sending them each back through the air and collapsing into the dirt beneath them all.
Jumping from that spot, Ben webbed another demon in the chest and tugged back towards himself, connecting his feet into said chest and kicking back off of him and flipping through the air to land next to another and swipe it off its feet. He then looked over towards his father who was handling himself rather well, despite his face, “Where’s mom?!”
Peter didn’t seem to hear him, or was at least too busy to acknowledge him, and said nothing. The demons kept coming though, throwing flames and wielding swords or even guns as they came. An emblazened arrow shot past them both and landed in the rear of the forest while they fight went on.
Frowning, Ben shouted again, “DAD! WHERE’S MO--” Then something hot hit him around the neck. He didn’t get to see it, but felt the tug lift him off the ground and flung him through the air and through the gate that was locked onto the front of the amphitheater. As he hit and rolled, Ben shook his head and looked up through shadow into the night sky. He could see in the distance fires beginning to form in the forests due to the Demonic attack. The cages were filled with fire as well, causing smoke to billow out of them and into the night sky, making it hard to see through the smoke. He couldn’t hear much of anything, save for the sounds of fighting, and the horrific shouts of demon soldiers. He had no idea how many captives remained.
Pushing to his feet, Ben shook his head quickly again, trying to see just what had hit him so hard. Through the smoke he saw a large, shadowy creature. The embers of the fires lighting the smoke enough to make the shadow seem, likely, larger than it was. Still, the image was menacing nonetheless. Ben took a step forward, then saw his father get slammed by what had to be the same thing that had caught him. Looking like a whip that was emblazened with fire, it was wrapped around Peter Parker’s torso, and had him slamming into the ground near the amphitheater stage, which Ben was still in behind the erected gate.
“Dad!” Ben moved towards him, but another fire whip came flying at him, and Ben had to jump back further into the shadow interior of the now enclosed stage, watching the shadow figure make its way through smoke and embers. Ben clenched his fist and grinned, ready to take on the big guy when he stepped out. Revealing the form of Kraven himself.
“Like father, like son,” offered the demonic Russian. Looking down his nose at the pair as he approached, Kraven stood at least a couple of feet taller, and seemed to emanate power from his form. His build was massive, and his large hands had the fire whips wrapped around his wrists. “Except for tonight, Peter Parker, you will not beat me this time.”
The thick accent was filled with echo, booming louder over the amphitheater than it should. Whatever demonic powers he possessed had to be causing it, and Ben was beginning to think this was about to be more fun than it was worth. He began to step forward again, but then halted when he saw several more figures step through the shadows. Several demonic warriors, and between them they carried Gwen Stacy. Ben’s mom. He clenched his fist and charged for the door, when webbing suddenly shot up in front of him.
Peter looked towards his son, as if suggesting to stop, and then looked back towards Kraven. Limping towards him, Peter was showing a significant amount of injury, likely caused by the hell-enhanced whips, but still he moved forward.
“Kraven,” came Peter’s voice. Staring up at the larger man, the original Spider-Man stood as tall as he could in his red and blues, “Your fight is with me, your hunt with me. Let my wife and son go.”
Kraven simply stared down at Peter Parker, stepping closer towards Gwen as he lifted her chin to look down at her, then shoved her face away when he glanced towards Parker, “Beautiful woman you keep, Parker.” He stared as he turned to face Spider-Man completely, “My fight is to hunt down and kill Spider-Man. I set out on that quest so many years ago, decades ago, and each time I faced you I was able to get so close. Yet, you’d always seem to find a way to slip through my fingers.”
Kraven stared at his own hand now, as he made a fist, miming the act of slipping through his fingers. He then shot a look to the Spider, “And then I was killed. I died, and I couldn’t even rest in peace. Sent to Hell, all I had was the thoughts of every failure, the fact that I would die never being the greatest hunter, because I never could kill you. When I was recruited into this... makeshift ‘army’, I began to plot. I do not care for world domination, or holy wars, or for whatever this whole thing is about. All I’ve ever cared about was getting back to you, and finally, finally killing you.”
He spat the words at Peter, anger and rage filling his eyes, before he then turned and moved to stand behind the elder blonde, bringing his hands down atop her head and slowly stroking his fingers through her hair before looking to his nemesis, “You were wise, Peter Parker, to keep your identity a secret from me. A true hunter would use bait to lure out his prey and to weaken them. I tried crimes and poison, but that mask hid your true weakness--your identity. You feared losing the ones you love.”
He brushed his fingers over Gwen’s cheek and shook his head, before looking to Ben, “But you, weak and ignorant, arrogant to think yourself untouchable. You let it all out, left it all in the open...”
Ben glared, and pushed towards the gate once more, ripping the webbing out of the way. He clenched his hands into fists, and raised a brow, but was interrupted by Peter before he could get a word in edge wise.
“Kraven, let my family go...” There was a desperation in his voice, looking not at Kraven himself, but at Gwen, whose eyes were filled with fear, not for herself but her family, “Give her to me and you can do whatever you want to me. You can kill me, you can have your revenge, just let her go.”
When Kraven looked back at Peter, he growled with a snarl, “I don’t want you to just let me kill you, I want an actual fight Parker!”
“THEN YOU CAN HAVE ONE!” Ben lept at Kraven, but Kraven’s minions attacked. All leaping in front of Kraven, swiping their blades at him and whipping their chains into his feet. He was attacked all at once and converged on.
Peter shouted, “BEN DON’--” but it was too late as Ben was overcome. He turned towards Kraven who was laughing.
“Choose, Parker. Son or wife,” a sneer forming as Gwen’s eyes filled and she stared back at Peter, “Ben...”
Peter knew. Gwen would never sacrifice their son for herself, and she’d never forgive Peter if he let him die. He charged the pile, leaping into it to begin attacking the creatures. He grabbed one by the neck, and lifted it before slamming it into one of its friends. Then webbing another’s feet, he tugged it away, dodging one’s attack, but then taking a deep slash to the back. He winced, but fell with the slash into a roll. He cried in pain a moment, but was soon back onto his feet as he then leaped backwards, into a backflip, and over one. Grabbing it by the head, he continued through his flip and launched it behind him. When he landed, the one that had the chain wrapped around Ben’s legs was currently biting and chewing into Ben’s shoulder.
Peter webbed it and tore it free of Ben, throwing it off to the side. He glanced towards Ben and moved towards him, watching him bleed profusely. He webbed the wound, but it would only help so much. He glared, “You shouldn’t have done that.”
“I... I just wanted to save her--”
“Well, you’ve failed,” Kraven’s voice came from behind them. Both Ben and Peter looked as Kraven looked back down at them, his hands on either side of Gwen Stacy’s head. She began to speak as a tear fell down her cheek, “Ben, Peter, I l--” Then Kraven twisted her head violently, snapping her neck and tossing her off to the side.
Ben shouted, “MOM!” But then his voice caught, shock filling him as he sat up. He had no words, nothing more to give. How... how was this happening? They didn’t lose, he didn’t lose. He just stared, completely bewildered at the moment. So lost was he, that he didn’t even feel Peter stand beside him.
As Peter rose, he peeled off his mask and tossed it to the side. His heart had broken just at the moment Gwen’s neck had. His eyes filled with fury and he looked towards Kraven. His teeth grit, and there was a tone of something in Peter’s eyes that hadn’t been there before. It was pure rage, such a rage that he ignored the pain in his legs, his back, his arms. He ignored the blood spilled and all his focus was entirely on Kraven the Hunter. He then lowered into that signature stance of his, one leg stretched out to the side, one tucked beneath, and both hands set on fingertips in front of him. He glowered up at the demon. No more jokes.
Kraven’s whips shot out at Peter at altering angles, one from the right, the other a moment behind at the left. Peter front flipped forward, and then kicked up between the ropes, webbing each as he sailed above Kraven, pulling as he continued past him, bringing each whip back with him. He’d crossed his webs, causing the whips to cross as he landed behind him. He tugged so that the whips slammed into Kraven’s neck, and around it.
Peter then planted his feet and tugged, causing Kraven to lift off his feet and be sent flying back into one of the cages. Peter was already on him as he hit, webbing his chest and pulling himself towards the larger man. Feet collided with his chest, and Peter began to wail punches on the man’s jaw and face, he then back flipped off the chest when he felt a twinge in his spider sense. So much focus, the spider sense was working at ultraspeed, and he was able to dodge the grasp of Kraven. He hit the ground, and then back flipped again to dodge the whips, then sprinted forward. Kraven’s whips were sent sailing towards him, and one struck Peter around the arm, throwing Peter off towards the right. As Peter flew though, he webbed Kraven’s face and tugged. Lifting him through the air with him, Peter then hit the ground, sliding along it as Kraven sailed past him. Momentum still carrying the Hunter, Peter webbed the stomach of the male, and tugged bringing him down into a heavy slam on the ground. Spider-Man didn’t bother stopping and was on Kraven once more, this time landing on his back, and bringing both hands together to crash down onto the back of Kraven’s head. Slamming it further into the dirt. He tried to hold it there, but one of those flailing arms were able to grab Peter’s arm and slam him into the dirt before Kraven.
Hitting back first, Peter felt the air leave his lungs a moment, but grit his teeth as he kicked to his feet once more and rolled out of the way of the whips. He came up and went to web Kraven, but the whips slapped into his wrists, crushing the web-shooters beneath his sleeves, but leaving one still active. They burned at his wrists too, but Peter didn’t feel this. He was soon being thrown through the air, feeling his skin split open all over as he hit one of the cages, and went through it. Rolling along the bloodied dirt inside, Peter breathed heavily, before pushing to his feet.
Kraven growled, “You will die like your wife, Spider-Man!”
Peter glared up at him, “You first.”
Ben watched the exchange, not able to move on the broken ankle he’d received from one of the chains. He also felt ill due to the bite to his shoulder, and didn’t know what that demon’d done to him. What was more, Ben moved, no scurried towards his lifeless mother, and now had her head in his lap as he stared down at her. Then looked back towards the fight. For the first time in his life, Ben knew true, emotional pain, and he didn’t know what to do with this anguish.
Peter, however, did, and moved towards Kraven as fast as he could. The whips came, but Peter spun past one, cartwheeled over the next, hit the ground and flipped over the both of them. He hit the ground rolling forward, and then came up in a handstand that launched him feet first into Kraven’s chest, sending him flying backwards. Peter was already running at him before he hit the ground, and when he did hit Peter was already lifting him into the air by his neck and spinning to slam him into the ground once more.
Kraven came up and uppercutted the spider, sending him backwards into a backflip, but again Peter landed on his feet. He dodged the whips a few more times before catching them both around his own arm. He snagged them together and noticed how the whips were literally attached to Kraven’s wrists. He snarled and tugged as hard as he could, causing the larger man to come flying towards him. As he did, Peter planted a kick into his jaw and then ran up his chest, and supplanted another kick straight to his face. He flipped away, and landed with his one active web shooter firing a shot into the Hunter’s legs, tugging to flip him onto his back.
The battle raged, Peter becoming faster and faster as he went, dodging every whip and strike Kraven could muster, flipping here and there as he drove fists into the man’s jaw, chest, and so on and so forth. Until all of that rage burned and Peter webbed Kraven’s feet into the ground, sticking him there as he then leaped at his enemy, and threw a punch so hard it cleaved the lower jaw of Kraven clear off. Sending it sailing off to the side, Peter unleashed a flurry of punches into the rib cage of the demon who was wailing in pain at the loss of his lower jaw. Blood was spilling onto the face of Peter Parker, but the punches never ceased.
Kraven grabbed Peter by the scruff of the neck, and threw him to the side while he tried to grab his bearings. Peter wiped the blood from his mouth and stood, facing his wife’s murderer, and then threw himself at him in a fit of rage once more. He caught one of the whips around his own wrist this time, feeling it shatter his webshooter below, but he hardly cared. He grabbed that whip and tugged so hard it disengaged Kraven’s wrist from the rest of his arm, and Peter spun the whip around to wrap around Kraven’s neck, and pulled him towards him. As he fell towards him, Peter leaped into the air to bring a crashing fist down into the top of Kraven’s skull and send him sailing into the dirt below.
Peter landed behind him and breathed heavily, staring down at the mangled form of Kraven the Hunter. He threw the whip to the side, as he watched Kraven stumble to his feet. He was a demon, he could not die, thus the reason for the power behind all of what Peter had to give. This man could not be killed and so had to be beaten so badly he simply couldn’t fight. When Kraven turned to face him again, Peter shook his head and leaped towards him, but this time was caught in a grapple by Kraven’s handless arm, tugged against him, and felt a deep black dagger shoved deep into his gut. Peter blinked and felt his whole world go numb for a moment. His vision went blurry and he slammed his head into Kraven’s, causing the man to stumble back.
Hitting the ground, Peter ripped the dagger out of his gut, and felt weakness filling him. He shook his head and looked to Kraven, he stepped towards the demon who’d fallen to his own knees. Peter stood over him, and Kraven gave him a look of defeat, almost begging for Peter to use the dagger to kill him. Peter looked down at the dagger, then at Kraven, and then just tossed the dagger to the side before moving past Kraven. The howling continued as Kraven grew angry, but unable to speak. He stood to attack Peter again, and charged Spider-Man. Peter drew on every last bit of his energy, spun, and planted the hardest punch he could straight to Kraven’s face, lifting the man from the ground and sending the demon spawn back towards the edge of the fire-laden woods.
Peter then fell to his knees as Ben came up next to him.
“Wh..why didn’t you kill him?! He killed mom!”
Peter frowned and then looked up towards Ben, disappointed that the lesson still had not hit his son. He shook his head, and then looked towards the fiery forest once more, “Because Ben, unlike you, I know what it means to wear this costume... with great power, comes great responsibility.”
Then Peter looked to Gwen, and moved to lay next to her, staring at her as he finally allowed tears to form just as he blacked out.
“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother,” Ben offered the crowd of onlookers at the funeral for Gwen Stacy. For his own mother. He looked up towards them as he tried to swallow away the tears he felt, looking to his father who sat frail and broken in a wheelchair at the edge of the benches. The dagger hadn’t been able to kill Peter Parker, but what it had done was with some sort of demonic... power, it had ripped Peter’s spider powers from him. Not allowing him to heal from the wounds he’d suffered fully, and so Peter would take some time to come back from that night.
There was no life in Peter Parker’s eyes, and Ben knew it was because Peter, who would always love Ben, would never truly be able to forgive Ben for what had happened to Gwen. Ben, himself, might never be able to forgive himself he reckoned. He looked at the note once more, before beginning to speak, “these words were spoken by Abraham Lincoln, but I think they express what all of us should know of ourselves. That no matter who we are, what we do in life. No matter our faults, our struggles, our insecurities; no matter our greatest accomplishments, successes...” You Raise Me Up began to play behind his words, low over the crowd as he spoke, “Or abilities, we owe all that we are to our mothers. People always ask for assistance from God, they turn and ask ‘where’s my guardian angel’? God has answered all of our questions, and prayers in more ways than we can imagine. Yet, this one was answered prior to us ever asking it--he gave us our guardian angels in the form of our mothers.”
He swallowed, looking at the note in his hand, before grabbing both edges of the podium and looking to everyone, “My mother was my guardian angel; she was my soldier, my partner, my friend, my protector, my teacher, and most importantly she was my inspiration. Unfortunately it took this long for me to realize that. I have lost the most important person, the most important woman, and the only mother I’ll ever have in the most tragic of ways. Yet even in those last moments...”
He looked to his father, who was staring up at him with a smile that Ben just couldn’t accept, “I watched as she proved herself to be the strongest person in my life too. She thought only of her family, those she loved, and never of herself. She... Gwen Stacy, my mother, is the truest hero in this family.”
He then looked towards the picture of his mother that sat atop the coffin, and raised his hand as he wiped at his tears, “Mom. I.. I love you and I miss you.”
He then stepped towards the coffin, laid his hand on the surface, before leaning in to whisper through it, “I’m sorry..”
Feeling a hand on his back, he turned to look down at his father. Though in truth, Peter Parker would never blame Ben for what happened, Ben could only feel that blame when he looked at Peter. Still, he couldn’t help himself as he leaned down to wrap his arms around his father, tightly hugging him as his tears fell. Silence speaking only, ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘it’s okay.’.