❝𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦? 𝕨𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕒 𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟, 𝕒 𝕡𝕠𝕖𝕞, 𝕒 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕗𝕚𝕝𝕖, 𝕒 '𝕎𝔸ℕ𝕋𝔼𝔻' 𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟❞

𝐢 𝐚𝐦 𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐧 - 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫

Dear Mr Stark,

You know, I always looked up to you. 

You were my childhood hero, and you still are my idol, just more of a father figure now, I guess. Tony Stark, the CEO and the brain behind Stark Industries. I always dreamed of being like you. The legendary genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. 

One day Iron Man appeared. This brave, smart, sassy man in a suit of armour, who saved all those people in that village, what was it called? Oh yeah, Gulmira. And he became my second hero. 

And then, during that press conference, you said those legendary words: I am Iron Man. 

The press went crazy, didn't they? The playboy, Tony Stark, who sleeps with someone new every night, so different from Iron Man, the courageous hero. Why, it was a huge shock.

But to me, when I saw that video, which I saved on my phone and still have on my favourites, I was... happy? Relieved? I don't remember - I was 7 at the time, and my thoughts were still pretty mixed up. 

However, I remember one thing, a resounding thought that echoed in my mind, a promise that I made to myself: one day, I'm going to be like Iron Man. I'm going to be smart and brave, and I'm going to help save so many people! 

And then after that I raced to use the toilet, so I guess it might not seem very serious to you, but I remembered that moment, and I made it my goal. 

When that radioactive spider bit me - the radioactive spider that you created, mind you, my life changed. Suddenly, I had a means to achieve my goal. But I was scared. I was cowardly, and I didn't use my newfound powers. 

Then suddenly, Uncle Ben got shot. Why? Because he tried to stop the mugger. 

The mugger that I saw.

The mugger that I let go.

The mugger that, when the store keeper asked me to help him chase, I ignored. I kept walking. I didn't interfere. 

I even remember what I said. I said "Not my policy" and I kept walking. And Uncle Ben, who had been looking for me, saw the mugger, and tried to stop.

I saw it. I saw Uncle Ben try and stop the mugger, to capture him. Instead, I rolled my eyes and kept walking. But the mugger knocked Uncle Ben down, and when I finally decided to step in and help, the mugger had already pulled out the gun, and it was too late. 

What I realized from that day is... when you can do the things that I can, but you don't, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you. 

So I set out to be a hero, but not a hero like you, no, not a fancy superhero saving the Earth from supervillains, I set out to be a day to day hero, somebody on the ground, just looking out for the little guy, because that's what I can do. And I became the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. 

And that was how you found me. You invited me to fight in your civil war against cap, which was pretty cool, I admit, and then I helped take down the Vulture, you took away the suit because I wasn't responsible, but then gave it back, and then I realized why I did all that. 

I did that because...

I did that because

I just wanted to be like you.

I just wanted to be like my idol, my hero. And you wanted me to be better. Because you saw all those flaws in yourself. You saw only those flaws. Your playboy past, your weapons making history, the people that were hurt because of the weapons that you made, you saw what happened in Afghanistan, and you thought that was your fault. You saw what happened in Sokovia, and again believed it was completely your fault.

Now, I have to be honest, yeah, I guess it was kind of your fault. But everybody makes mistakes. And you fixed it. Sure, people died, but you didn't mean for it. You made those weapons because that was your way of earning money. Because that was what your father did. Because, all though you don't want to admit it, you look up to your father. The famed Howard Stark, who worked with Captain America, who created Stark Industries, who set that legacy for you to follow. But you fixed that. Instead, you went into the superhero business. And you saved New York. You risked your life to send that nuke to space. And you saved thousands, if not millions, of people. You created Ultron, yes, but that was because you believed that he could help save the world. He could rid the world of crime. And because you saw what was up there in space. You saw Thanos, and you were scared. And again, you fixed that. So yes, you made mistakes, but you saw your errors and fixed them. 

Like you said to me once, you screwed the pooch hard. Big time. But then you did the right thing: you took the dog to the clinic, you raised the hybrid puppies...

Yeah, it wasn't your best analogy, but I got what you meant. And I know that you know what you meant. 

And in the end, you saved us all. You invented time travel, you snapped, and you dusted Thanos. 

And... and I still miss you. We all do. But we know that you did what you had to. You fixed your mistakes. And that's why I look up to you. 

Maybe that's why I'm writing this letter. Maybe that's why I decided to sit down, pick up my pen, and pour out my heart and my thoughts onto a piece of paper dedicated to you that you'll never get to read. Because you're... dead.

But I know that your spirit is still here. That you still live on in our hearts. That you're watching over us in heaven, with Auntie Nat. With Мама Паук. Gods, I miss you both. But fate decided that you had to move on. Well physically. But you and Auntie Nat, you're legends. And, what is that song? Legends never die? That's true. You'll stay in our hearts and our memories, in the stories, forever. 

I guess what I'm trying so say is, everybody I love is gone. Either dead, or they don't remember me. And I guess it's for their safety, for MJ and Ned's safety, that they don't remember me. Because everywhere I go, chaos follows. And I love MJ. Her and Ned, they're the only people I have left, even though they don't remember me anymore. I just want to be able to sleep knowing that they're safe. So I guess that this is my final consolation, because now that Aunt May is dead, my family... they're all gone. 

So this is my final goodbye. My final ending. Because as you said, part of the journey is the end. I guess that's my new quote. My new saying to live by. Which goes right next to what Aunt May told me. That with great power, there must also come great responsibility.

I miss you, Mr Stark. Pepper and Morgan do too. And so do Happy, Rhodey, Steve, everybody. Especially Steve... And... believe it or not... Dr Strange. 

So I guess this is goodbye, until we see each other again in Heaven. I still have Karen and EDITH, and I'm working on a new AI. One that I've programmed to be just like you. So I can have you with me whenever I go on patrol. Just one last piece of you to have with me. Because although we have to move on, we still need to keep those memories, those last pieces. 

We love you, Mr Stark. I know, I can here you, telling me not to call you Mr Stark. But you'll forever be Mr Stark to me, Tony. Mr Stark... or, I guess, Dad. The father that I never had. Well I did have a father, I just don't remember them. So you can take their place, Dad.

I love you 3000, Dad

Peter Parker, Spider-Man, The Crime Fighting Spider, Spiderboy, Underoos, Kid, All those nicknames you gave me. That I remember, and I treasure, and maybe... your... son?