Appearing in "Legacy!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Mary Jane Watson-Parker
- Benjy Parker
- Peter Parker
- Jack "JJ" Jameson
- Ladyhawk (Rosetta Morgan)
- Ladyhawk (Regina Morgan))
- Normie Osborn
- Davida Kirby
- Courtney Duran
- Moose Mansfield
- Brad Miller
Antagonists:
- Howard Kavanagh (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Sandra Healy (First appearance)
- Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) (Cameo)
- Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) (Cameo)
- Elektra Natchios (Cameo)
- She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters) (Cameo)
- Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) (Cameo)
- Raptor (Brenda "Blackie" Drago)) (Cameo)
- Caitlan Leiber (First appearance)
- Nova (Richard Rider) (Mentioned)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Legacy!"
May narrates how she has been healing for several days since her battle with Seth, as she holds her newborn brother Ben, the future Spider-Man. May tells her mother she is ready to return to school, and Mary Jane offers to apply makeup to hide May's bruises. Much to May's amusement, Mary Jane shares that her father used to wear makeup MJ applied to hide injuries he received as Spider-Man.
Downstairs, May finds her father fixated on her ruined Spider-Girl costume, shredded as it was in her fight with Seth. May tries to assure Peter that she survived because she remembered the advice and training he had given her. Peter ominously says that he and May's mother need to have a sit-down talk with her later. May fears that this means the end of her superhero career, and wonders if the female heroes who came before her also felt the self-doubt she does, or whether she even measures up to them.
Within the hallways of Midtown High, Davida Kirby notices the bruises and swelling May has tried to conceal. May tries to pass off her injuries as being from an in-line messenger. The rest of her friends are taking part in a blood drive Jimmy Yama arranged, but May inwardly laments that her radioactive spider blood means she cannot donate.
May tries to touch up her makeup in the washroom, but this causes fellow student Sandra Heally [sic] to awkwardly inquire, 'Was it your father or your boyfriend?' May is immediately baffled, but as Sandra slinks away, May intuits that the only reason Sandra would ask that is because she is a victim of abuse, herself. This leads May to learn more about Sandra, leaning on Brad Miller for help on that. Brad uses it as an opportunity to apologize for taking May for granted when they dated before. May thinks on how she has too many boy problems right now, including having not spoken to Normie Osborn after their kiss, and tells Brad she isn't ready to have that conversation.
May attempts to speak to Sandra, but is rebuffed. Sandra chides herself for having said anything to May, and asks to be left alone.
Later, dressed as Spider-Girl in her battered costume, May spars with the Ladyhawk twins and asks their advice on how to handle a suspected case of domestic abuse. One twin bristles at the question due to their difficult family situation which included an abusive father, while the other explains they were split up to live with either parent, and their father -- a crime lord -- died in a shoot-out when they were in high school. After their tale, they conclude that Spider-Girl's friend cannot be helped unless she is ready to admit she needs it. They refer Spider-Girl to a women's shelter they know.
May gets into civilian garb and visits St. Andrews. The social worker invites May in. Due to all of her lingering bruises, the social worker assumes when May is talking about a friend being abused, she is actually speaking of herself. May leaves, still uncertain how to help Sandra.
That evening, May visits Courtney at the hospital. Moose is also there. Moose admits to May that he wanted to help with the blood drive, but he kept fainting at the sight of needles and blood. Yet he remains firm that he will return tomorrow, because some things are important enough not to give up on. This seems to inspire May.
Once more May finds Sandra at school and poses the same question that started their interaction: 'who is it Sandra--your boyfriend or your father?' Sandra is evasive at first, but May assures her that she just wants her to know that she is there for Sandra if she ever does want to talk. May departs, and Sandra offers no reply.
The narrative switches to follow Normie Osborn, who thinks on his partner Brenda, the former villain Raptor, and how Spider-Girl saved both Brenda and he from their dark paths. He consider what May is to him, stopping short of considering her more than a friend. He knows he loves her, but as he considers whether he is in love with her, she appears before him at his hideout, and he knows the time for clarity between them has come.
They each apologize to each other, Normie for how he reacted to the kiss, May for kissing him and jeopardizing their friendship. He gives her a platonic kiss on the forehead, and promises he will always be there for her. May's expression shows she accepts this gladly.
Upon May's return home, she finds her parents seated on the couch, waiting for her. Peter tells her they never wanted her to take the hero's path, with all of its hardship. Nevertheless, they present her with a wrapped gift: a new Spider-Girl costume to replace her tattered old one. Her parents, despite their worries, are proud of the hero she has become.
May suits up and tells her infant brother that heroes like them make mistakes, but they never give up.
Swinging through the city, Spider-Girl comes full circle on thoughts earlier in the story, feeling that it's fine if she is never one of the, 'great super heroes,' because she knows she has done well, and better than anyone expected.
