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Quote1 I’m still doing it. Spider-Man. Dutiful. Joyless. Like an old man’s trip to the gym every day. I’ve tried to stop, to see if I could actually give it up, maybe win MJ back. But with great power - comes great guilt. I can’t turn my back on people who need help. Maybe... maybe I’m just trying to trick myself into thinking I’m helping. Quote2
Peter Parker

Appearing in "Chapter Four: Brothers in Arms"

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Synopsis for "Chapter Four: Brothers in Arms"

It is the year 1995. In Chicago, a reporter named Lori and her photographer, Ben, arrive at a major fire scene, which is apparently one of many that week. As they try to get closer, the arsonist behind the fire is revealed to be Doctor Octopus, who identifies Ben as not only a vigilante named the Red Mask but also Ben Reilly, the clone of Peter from almost two decades earlier. He demands Ben come with him, or else he will kill Lori.

Meanwhile, in New York, Aunt May has died, and Peter - who is in a friends-with-benefits relationship with Jessica Jones - continues to run Parker Industries, now a major conglomerate in communications technology. One day, Tony Stark personally comes to meet with Peter to discuss a merger between their companies, but Peter gives him an ultimatum: he will only agree if Tony stops making weapons, displeased with how enemy powers have acquired them. A shocked Tony refuses, claiming they helped them win the Cold War, and that if it weren’t for them Peter and many others wouldn’t have families. He then goes on to insult Peter by saying that MJ ran all the way to Portland just to get away from him, leading Peter to angrily reply that he will attack Tony if he ever again insinuates that he wouldn’t do anything to protect his children. As Tony leaves, Peter tells Jessica over the phone that he is more than expecting a hostile takeover from Tony, but questions whether he wants to fight back at all.

Peter is still Spider-Man, but his advancing age and lack of connections has made him jaded with his superheroics. While helping a woman with some muggers, Spider-Man gets another police call, this one revealing that Doc Ock is wreaking havoc and demanding Spider-Man show himself. When Spider-Man does eventually get there, Doc Ock reveals that he knows his secret identity, then quickly incapacitates him with gas.

Peter awakens to find himself in Oscorp, with him and Ben strapped to stretchers. Doc Ock is running some tests, and Harry is revealed to have been forced to become his assistant. Peter tries to appeal to Doc Ock by talking about May, but he brushes it off. Doc Ock claims that Peter was the reason they separated because he as Spider-Man-Man could not handle them being together, and after discovering Ben’s existence at her funeral, he decided to see if he could make a clone of himself to start his life over using them as the templates, as Helen and Warren have since died. Doc Ock looks at the results to see any irregularities, but discovers to everyone’s shock that Peter, not Ben, is the clone. Enraged, Ben breaks free from his restraints and attacks Doc Ock, blaming the world for stealing his life. Harry releases Peter from the restraints, and Peter stops Ben from continuing to assault Doc Ock. Ben asks Peter if he ever suspected the truth, which Peter denies. Suddenly, angered at both Peters disagreeing with him, Doc Ock tries to kill them both by impaling them on one of his arms. Ben senses it and jumps out of the way, but Harry jumps in front of Peter and is mortally stabbed. Horrified, Doc Ock flees; Ben angrily tries to follow, but is knocked out and placed safely by Peter. Peter then cradles Harry as he dies in his arms.

A week later, Peter and Ben meet on a rooftop. They have both gone over Doc Ock’s results and realized he was telling the truth. Peter has subsequently made a decision: in a folder, he details all of the things he has done over the past 18 years, and gives it to Ben so that Ben can take over Peter’s life while Peter himself retires to live a normal life. Ben is taken aback by this, but Peter says that he has become tired of the busy life and knows Ben wants to live up to his full potential, while also knowing one would have to disappear to avoid people making a connection between them. Ben eventually accepts, giving Peter his Red Mask hood before leaving.

Later, Peter calls Jessica and asks to know someone’s location. Peter approaches a building, where Norman can be found inside. Norman acts dumb to Peter, but Peter reveals he deduced the truth. It is revealed that Peter had Jessica constantly do P.I. work on Norman, and thus figured out his plan: he was the one who told Otto about the cloning, then falsified the results to make it look like Peter was the clone and make him quit on life, but after some personal testing, Peter found this wasn’t the case, and he is in fact the original. Norman gloats that this should have hurt Peter for a brief moment, but Peter retorts that it gave him the courage to retire. Frustrated that his plan failed, Norman rants that he will next try to help Tony with the takeover by making Harry sell his stock in Parker Industries. This causes Peter to realize that Norman doesn’t even know Harry is dead, and he reluctantly informs him. Peter is about to leave Norman to mourn, but Norman blames Peter for his death and sends a glider his way. As Peter snaps the glider in half, Norman suddenly has a heart attack, and he collapses and dies while cursing Peter, who muses that he could have started a new life with the son that loved him instead of focusing on revenge.

Wanting to avoid Norman’s fate, Peter books a flight to Portland, and drives to MJ’s home. There he is greeted warmly by his family, and walks into the house to begin a new, peaceful phase of his life.

Solicit Synopsis

THE REAL-TIME LIFE STORY OF SPIDER-MAN CONTINUES!

Spider-Man’s life enters the 1990s! The COLD WAR is no longer cold as PETER PARKER returns to a world gone MAD! But will he let that madness infect HIM and his family?

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