Never Forever

In a battle with Fusion, Spider-Man is completely paralyzed after the villain snapped his neck. Picking up the wall-crawler and carrying him away, Fusion muses how soon Spider-Man will be dead and nobody will know why and soon the web-slinger will be forgotten. Spider-Man blacks out and when he recovers consciousness he is in Fusion’s home which is decked out with superhero and villain memorabilia. Mocking the wall-crawler, he explains that Spider-Man is responsible for the recent explosion that killed three hundred people at the Edgar Building was his fault because the bomb in the mannequin he stopped was rigged with an altimeter that caused it to explode if there was a sudden stop. If Spider-Man wasn’t trying to be a hero the mannequin would have harmlessly hit the ground. He then tosses Spider-Man on the floor and leaves him in the darkroom alone.

There, Spider-Man tries in vain to move, reminding himself that he has to be home to feed Caryn’s dog Barker, whom he promised to look after while she was gone for a few days. He thinks about all the other people he knows that will miss him, last of all Mary Jane. Fusion, meanwhile, sits on a chair and watches Spider-Man in silence. Eventually, he begins speaking, telling Spider-Man that he hasn’t taken off the wall-crawler’s mask because he doesn’t care to know his secret identity because he doesn’t view the hero as a person anymore. As he berates Spider-Man once again for being responsible for his son’s death, Spider-Man suggests that Fusion keep yelling since it will cover up his own guilt. This throws Fusion into another fit of rage and he beats on Spider-Man some more before leaving him on the floor again.

There, Spider-Man continues to struggle to fight his current condition. Refusing to give up struggling despite the appearance of being completely paralyzed, Spider-Man’s fingers suddenly close into a fist. Then through sheer force of will, Spider-Man manages to get up to his feet. Confronting Fusion again, Spider-Man tells the villain he has figured out how his powers work. Fusion fights back, admitting that he doesn’t have the ability to assume the powers and abilities of others, but has the power of persuasion to make others believe what he wishes them to believe. He explains how he had used his powers for years to make it rich and will now use them to stop destroy Spider-Man, as he believes the wall-crawler is too weak-willed to release his power. However, Spider-Man is able to resist Fusion’s commands and is easily overpowered. As their fight spills out into the street, Spider-Man tells him that his own self-loathing was his own undoing. Realizing he is defeated, Fusion then compels a passing car to crash allowing him to escape when Spider-Man saves the driver.

In the aftermath of the battle, Spider-Man returns to his apartment to feed Barker and ponders his encounter with Fusion. He thinks about how the death of his son motivated Fusion to hurt and maim others while the death of his own Uncle Ben convinced him to become a hero.[1] In the end, he figures that there is a fine line between becoming a hero and becoming a psychopath.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Fusion, Barker

Continuity Notes

1. Uncle Ben was killed in Amazing Fantasy #15.