the first time peter got called evil, he was 15. He was webbing up some petty thief waiting on bigger crimes, when some kid passed. The kid looked at Spider-Man, looked at the criminal, looked at the webs, and asked his parent.
āIs that man evil?ā
it only occurred to Peter a few blocks later that the kid might have been talking about Peter, not the criminal. That the child might have seen a subdued grown man being taunted by a masked man, and assumed the masked guy was in the wrong.
Peter shook it off quickly, reassuring himself that itās a kids question and the answer is obvious. But the question stuck in the back of his mind. Every time he made a wrong move, every time he second guessed a patrol, every time he did something that could get someone killed.
āIs that man evil?ā
It only got louder after the spell, when his closest friends outside the mask were people fighting for spare change on the streets and murmuring amongst themselves how to get a quick meal without getting caught. When Spider-Man got brought up as a potential danger, rather than a helper. When someone warned peter himself to be careful in these parts, because Spider-Man usually hangs around here and you donāt want to be in the wrong area if things go south.
Is he evil?
And he isnāt, he knows. He knows. He knows that heās not evil the same way he knows heās not good.
People donāt get to be one thing.
Peter knows he isnāt evil. But he knows better than to think himself a hero, either.
... @potatogunson you did this?
By accident!! He asked me for a word and at that time I was telling him how evil he is so that was the first word that came to mind!!
