Chapter 37: Loss

Before long, the building had collapsed completely, the dust was beginning to clear, and everything went silent. Spider-Man looked around, seeing that there were dozens, maybe even hundreds of unconscious lizard creatures on the ground, a showcase of the Thing's strength. The barriers were still up, Sue still stood suspended in the air and Johnny was still patrolling the area.

"Connors is down guys." Spider-Man said into his comms before receiving praise from the rest of the team.

"Good work, kid."

"Good shit, Spidey!"

"I'm glad you're safe."

Just as the boy began receiving his praise, the debris of what was once a building began to rumble. 'Fuck, already?' Spider-Man thought to himself, pressing his finger against his earpiece once more. "Johnny, Ben, I need your help over here."

The rumbling continued and both the Human Torch and the Thing arrived by Spider-Man's side. "So much for Connors being taken care of." Ben said sarcastically as the rubble began being tossed around by a powerful force beneath it.

"Yeah..." Spider-Man said, looking on with his lenses drooping slightly.

In the nick of time, Reed arrived with a device in his hand, the Neogenic Decombinator. It was now a gun of some sort, having the appearance of some sort of sci-fi energy launcher. Reed handed it to Spider-Man, allowing him to deliver the final blow to his teacher. "He's your responsibility, right?" Reed told him.

Spider-Man nodded before slowly walking toward the rubble with the weapon in hand.

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The Lizard screamed as he finally broke free from his concrete prison, sending pieces of debris flying as he ran toward Spider-Man like a crazed beast on all fours. He was ready to devour the hero, though Spider-Man wouldn't let that happen.

With his feet planted, the hero aimed the Neogenic Decombinator at his teacher as the beast lept into the air with his talons poised to kill.

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The weapon went off, sending a green wave of energy at the monster and causing him to stop in his tracks. He began to scream as he thrashed about on the ground, and those screams soon turned into cries of agony as the Lizard began shrinking down to human size. Spider-Man's lenses widened and he handed the gun back to Reed before sprinting over toward Dr. Connors.

The members of the Fantastic Four began patrolling the area, using the weapon to return everyone back to their human selves, as Eren knelt down beside his teacher and waited for him to turn back human.

The monster's green, scaley skin soon reverted back to Dr. Connors' pasty, white, human skin. Realizing that the doctor was now naked, Spider-Man quickly ran over to a collapsed flag pole and ripped off one of the flags before sprinting back over to Connors to cover him up with it.

Spider-Man then held his teacher in his arms and waited for the transformation to complete itself. Soon, Dr. Connors was himself again, even down to missing his arm as he was before. His eyes opened, locking with Spider-Man's through his mask and showing the hero that they were now back to being the eyes of the kind scientist he knew and loved.

"Parker? Is that really you?" Connors asked the boy, squinting up at him due to his vision being poor without his glasses. It seemed that he still retained his memories from being a monster, so Eren went ahead and removed his mask for his teacher.

"It's me, Dr. Connors." Eren Parker said, smiling down at his teacher as he held onto his lone hand. "I got you, you're back."

Connors laughed. "That explains why your grades have been dropping." The teacher joked.

"Only by a couple of percents." Eren rebutted.

Dr. Connors's laugh soon waned as he looked around at the destruction around him. "Look at this mess. I did this..." He muttered, feeling an insurmountable amount of guilt within himself, knowing that hundreds, maybe even thousands of people had died because of him.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stop you, Dr. Connors." Eren said sadly, holding back tears as he once again thought about the many ways he could have prevented any of this from happening.

"Parker... no. This isn't on you, it's on me." Connors told him "Don't blame yourself for a decision I made. I took the risk, not you."

"But, Dr. Conn-" Eren tried to give a reason for why it was his fault, but his teacher wasn't hearing it.

"No. There's nothing you could have done differently. It didn't matter how many times you tried to warn me, it didn't matter if you would have never fixed my machine I would have figured it out eventually. In the end, the result would have been the same. I'm just glad you were here to stop me in the end." Dr. Connors told his student, keeping a straight face as he thought about how he lost everything because of his selfishness.

"Don't take credit for my mistake. If there's anything you could do for me, it's that. Let me hold this burden myself. I've lost everything because of this mistake, I deserve my punishment in full, including the full blame." As Dr. Connors said this, Eren looked down at him with a confused glare.

"By everything, you mean..." Eren had a feeling that what he was thinking was a possibility, but he ignored that thought for as long as possible.

"Everything, Parker. Martha is gone." Dr. Connors admitted, confirming the fate of his wife.

"I'm so sorry, Dr. Connors." Eren said sadly, tightening his grip on his teacher.

"No, I don't deserve empathy, Parker. Just... just don't" Connors demanded sternly, leaning up to get a look at everything around him more clearly. He watched as all of the lizard creatures around him become human again, bringing a bitter smile to his face knowing that their lives weren't entirely destroyed forever. However, with the trauma they had to endure, they might as well have been.

"Eren." Dr. Connors said, looking up at the boy blindly without his glasses.

"Yeah?" Eren responded.

"Thank you for everything. Martha and I could never have kids, so maybe that's part of the reason why I felt like you were a son to me. It's a shame that things ended up this way... Regardless, thank you. Thank you for allowing me to feel what it's like to have a son." Tears began to fall from Dr. Connors's face, it was the same for Eren's. It was almost as if the doctor was giving the boy his final words.

"I'm so proud of you, Eren. Who would've thought? Eren Parker is Spider-Man." Connors laughed slightly at the absurdity of the nerdy student being the savior of the city.

"Not so loud, Dr. Connors." Eren told him.

"I know, I know. I just can't believe it. I really am proud of you, truly. No matter what happens, Eren, don't ever stop being the hero that the people need. No matter how hard it gets, don't quit being Spider-Man." Connors said.

"I won't Dr. Connors. I won't."

Soon enough, all of the lizard creatures in the surrounding area were returned back to humans thanks to the Fantastic Four and Reed Richard's device. It took a lot of work, but eventually, every single lizard creature in the city had been returned back to being a human and reintegrated into society, despite many thinking that they should be locked away someplace else.

Those who had their humanity returned to them were given daily trials to ensure that their return to being human was permanent.

As for Dr. Connors, he had his trial date set, having turned himself in for the crime of turning everyone into lizards, despite it being an accident. Norman Osborn offered to hire the best defense attorneys to defend the doctor, but Connors declined, opting to represent himself.

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It was once again a sunny afternoon in New York, the city was bustling as usual and everything seemed to have gone back to normal.

A day that should have been filled with joy, excitement, and optimism was not filled with sorrow and grief.

It was graduation day at Osborn academy. The students who survived the attack on prom night sat with solemn expressions as pictures of their peers who were not lucky enough to survive the lizard attacks sat on the chairs next to them, haunting them.

Eren Parker and Cindy Moon, the dual valedictorians, stood hand in hand on the stage looking down at their peers with pained expressions. The two of them approached the microphone before taking turns reading off the names of those whose lives were cut short on prom night.

"Savannah Willams.

Collin Young.

Everlee Adams.

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Eva Mills

Zoey Richardson

Victor King

Hope McKinney

David King

Louis Hamilton

Mariah Howard

Makayla Phillips

Michelle Price

Michael Foster

Adeline Smith

Addison Tyler

Wynter Clark

Lennox Hall

Jordyn Fuller

Carson Long

Martin Richardson

Nicole Fleming

Zavier Norris

Aaliyah Woods

Hayden Myers

Natalie Hughes

Cristian Kim

Liliana Price

Madeline Collins

Jameson Green

Francisco Cox

Finn Li

Jacob Nelson."

As the names were read, the parents, family members, and friends of those who passed failed to hold back their tears as they remembered those who were taken from them in such a horrific manner. Eren, allowing Cindy to take a break from having to do the difficult task of delivering such a heavy speech, got closer to the microphone and began to speak.

"These are the names of the bright, gifted students of Osborn Academy who couldn't be with us on this day to celebrate the beginning of our journey out into the real world as adults. Our friends, our siblings, and our children who we lost on that night will forever have their memory live on at this school and in our hearts. To every one of us, to those of us who were able to walk this stage, it is our responsibility to continue onward with our heads held up high and make them proud, as that's what they would have wanted for us." Eren paused, stopping himself from choking up at the moment. Cindy squeezed his hand tightly as a few members of the crowd applauded to encourage him.

"There is something I learned on that night, something that I want to share with all of you today. In life, nothing is ever guaranteed. Tomorrow, our lovers, our friends, our family... they may not be there for us. That's why you should love your partners, love your friends, and love your family as if it were your last day on Earth. You never know when it'll be the last time you can utter the words, 'I love you' to them."

"I made that mistake earlier this year. When I lost my mother, I completely shut myself away from those who cared about me, I took their love for granted and that isn't something that my mom would have wanted for me if she were here with me today. Please, everyone, starting today make it known to the ones that you love just how much you love them, it could be your last chance."

Eren gripped Cindy's hand tightly, looking into her eyes before saying what he's wanted to say for so long. "Cindy Moon, I love you." Eren said plainly, causing Cindy's face to slightly change color before Eren looked into the crowd at his best friend Harry Osborn. Eren pointed to him before telling him what he'd been holding back for so long. "And my best friend, Harry Osborn, I love you too."

Harry smiled, "I love you too, bro." He shouted back at his friend, overcome by the happiness that filled him after seeing how much Eren had changed since they first met.

"To my fellow Osborn Academy graduates, know that we are more than capable of making our fallen peers proud in the end. We are all a family now, one that is strongest when we come together. I thank all of you for your kindness and the many memories I share with you in those halls. Truly, thank you."

Eren received a standing ovation as his classmates applauded him for being brave enough to get up on stage and give such a heavy speech in the way that he did. This was the first time his peers truly acknowledged the boy, it was saddening that it took a tragedy for that to happen.

Both he and Cindy stepped off of the stage together, hand in hand as the crowd continued to applaud them.

Due to the tragedy that had just happened, there was no after-party for the graduation, most people went straight home to grieve and be with their families. Noticing that Dr. Connors was absent from the graduation, despite having a few more days of freedom left before his trial, Eren decided to give the man a visit.

Wearing his gown and holding his cap in his hand, the young hero approached the doctor's home before making his presence known with a knock at the door. However, the door was left partially opened, allowing Eren's fist to push it open even further.

"Hello?" Eren shouted into the darkness. "Dr. Connors?"

Eren walked into the home, shutting the door behind him. "Dr. Connors!?" He shouted, again receiving no response. Eren noticed a light coming from one of the rooms in Dr. Connors's home, so he slowly approached it, making sure to be wary in case anything were to go down at that moment.

Slowly, Eren approached the room and pushed on the door slowly to open it. Soon enough, the door was opened wide enough for Eren to walk through, and so he did while calling out to his teacher one last time. "Dr. Conn...ors..." Eren said brokenly as his eyes widened at the sight in front of him.

He dropped his cap to the ground as he looked onward at the man in front of him.

Dr. Connors was sitting at his desk with an empty bottle of alcohol on top of it and an empty revolver in his hand. There was a single bullet hole in his head, self-inflicted.

Next to the bottle of alcohol on Connors's desk was a picture of his wife, now covered in his own blood.

Dr. Connors had taken his own life.

Whether it be due to the fact that he had lost the one and only love of his life, the fact that he would soon have to face life in prison, or perhaps both, the doctor couldn't bear to live anymore.

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