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The cold body of Jason Blossom was found in the Sweetwater river and retrieved from the police, in order to do an autopsy. The entire Riverdale assisted at the scene, a chilling feeling of fear ran throw the spine of every citizen. Jason's body and the bullet wound on his forehead proved two things: that he wasn't simply missing, but killed, and that there was still a murderer in town, possibly ready to reap another innocent soul. But for Peter, the Spider-man, it was an entirely different feeling: not fear...guilt. He had the powers, yet he couldn't save another person from the cruelty of the world.

Betty glanced in direction of Peter and saw the different expression he was showing, almost as he felt responsible for what happened. She wondered why would he feel this way, but she brushed it off, she thought that at this point almost everyone felt guilty: guilty of judging him without even knowing him, guilty of not being able to help...maybe this was what he was feeling.

That weekend Riverdale officially lost its innocence.

Peter was alone in a dried land, no one by his side, in front of him: the desert, a huge land filled only with sand and dead trees. He looked frantically from left to right, trying desperately to find someone, but nothing, nobody. Suddently he saw a person quite far from where he was, so he ran towards it and when he got sufficiently near the person, Peter saw it was his lost one...his Uncle Ben

Peter: *voice trembling* "U-Uncle Ben?"

Uncle Ben: "Why, Peter?"

Peter: "What? W-What are you talking about?"

Uncle Ben: "Why did you kill me, Peter?"

Peter: *tears start forming in his eyes* "N-No, I-I didn't-"

Uncle Ben: "Yes, you did. You lied to me: you told me you needed to go to the library to study, instead you went to a boxing match..."

Peter: "...s-stop..."

Uncle Ben: "...you saw the robber escaping, but you let him get away..."

Peter: *tears start streaming down* "...p-please, s-s-stop..."

Uncle Ben: "...and because of you, I died..."

Peter: "...n-no..."

Uncle Ben: "You had already forgotten our speech about power and responsability, did you even listen to me?!"

Peter: "...I-I did-"

Uncle Ben: "Then why, Peter? Why did you kill me? I taught you everything I knew, loved you with all my heart, so why, Peter?"

Peter: "I-I didn't know what was going to happen..."

Uncle Ben: "And what did you think was going to happen, that the robber would've magicly turned himself over?!"

Peter: "I didn't think-"

Uncle Ben: "Exactly: you didn't think. What if it wasn't me? What if it was a father, a mother, or even a child?!"

Peter: "..."

Uncle Ben: "Do you realize how much pain you're causing to your Aunt May?! She's hurt, broken, and that's your fault."

Peter: "Do you think it's easier for me?!"

Uncle Ben: "At least you got your powers, your friends, even a girlfriend, but what about her? Does this seem fair to you?!"

Peter: "I never wanted these powers, I wish I never got them!"

Uncle Ben: "No, you wanted them: you're saying this just because you have guilt feelings and want to get rid of them. You just pretend to be sorry, while my wife has to share her home with her husband's killer, with the one who broke her."

Peter: "I...I-"

Uncle Ben: "Now you're sad because Veronica betrayed you...but it's only fair."

Peter: "U-Uncle Ben..."

Uncle Ben: "You are a murderer. Those like you deserve to suffer...you deserve to suffer."

Peter: "..."

Uncle Ben: "You keep trying to make it up by putting on a mask and pretend to be a hero, but Alice Cooper is right about you, captain Stacy and Sheriff Keller are right about you: all you bring is nothing but pain, suffering. And no mask, power, or 'heroic' act can cancel the blood on your hands..."

Then another person appeared suddently and stood beside Ben

Aunt May: "You've broken my heart, Peter. You killed my husband. I should've abandoned you a long time ago, just like the others. You're sad because they left you alone, but a murderer like you doesn't deserve the comfort of friends. Everyone knows you're the one who truly killed Ben, that's why they abandoned you."

Peter: *crying at this point* "A-Aunt May..."

More people appeared

Jughead: "I'm glad I'm not a friend with a murderer like you. I wouldn't be surprised if it was you who killed Jason."

Peter: "Jug..."

Archie: "You know, I really enjoyed backstabbing you back at the party with Veronica. Her lips are truly mesmerising."

Veronica: "And kissing Archie was like touching the Heaven. I don't know why I was attracted to you, I guess everybody makes mistakes."

Peter: "Ronnie..."

Betty: "I knew what was going to happen at the party, I enjoyed seeing you hurt again."

Harry: "Don't think I never saw how you and Gwen look at eachother. You want to steal her from me. You never were my friend, I should've never defended you from bullies."

Peter was crying at this point, he couldn't stand it anymore, but another person appeared

Peter: "G-Gwen?"

Gwen: "You chose her instead of me. I loved you for years, yet you never felt the same, you left me with Harry, while I wanted you, you're cruel...I hate you."

Those three words hit Peter the most. When he was at his lowest points Gwen was always by his side: when he was sad, happy, stressed, relieved...Gwen was there. His best friend...the person he loved the most, except his Aunt...the one he had a little crush on in middle school...and now she was saying that...that she hated him. Peter was speechless, he couldn't believe his ears...

Peter: "G-Gwe-en...I-"

Gwen: "I hate you!"

Uncle Ben: "You only bring pain to people, everyone who touches you suffers. You're a failure...in life, in love...you'll kill everyone, just as you did...with...me."

Jughead: "Filthy."

Betty: "Monster."

Archie: "Loser."

Veronica: "Naive."

Gwen: "Cruel."

Aunt May: "Heartless."

Uncle Ben: "Murderer."

All: "It's your fault! You deserve to suffer! Murderer!"

Peter woke up with a huge gasp, sitting up on his bed, a sweaty and teary mess. Those words haunting him

It's your fault.

You deserve to suffer.

Murderer.

Peter covered his mouth with his hand and started to cry silently to not wake his Aunt from sleep.

Peter: *between sobs* "I'm s-s-sorry...i-it's all m-my f-fault..."

That night Peter couldn't sleep, he couldn't do anything but cry...a long...desperate...cry. He felt like he deserved all this, he thought that, in a way, that backstabbing was inevitable to happen, that he wasn't enough, that he was a failure.

Unknown to Peter, he wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep: Archie Andrews kept trying to sleep, but he couldn't stop thinking about that day...the 4th of July, when he and Ms. Grundy heard the gunshot. He couldn't keep this inside any longer, he needed to tell someone, anybody. But the only one he could think sharing this with was the one who now hated him, Betty. Archie soon realised how much Betty's friendship meant to him, and how he was determined to make it up with her. He thought to write her something...anything. He needed to talk to her...but she didn't want to talk to him, and for a right reason. So he put on a pair of short pants and sneaked out of his house. He jogged towards the only other one with he could talk with about this: Ms. Grundy. Once he got there, he knocked the door, and after a little while Ms. Grundy opened. To say she was shocked was the least

Ms. Grundy: "What are you doing? You can't be here."

But Archie didn't answer, instead he walked inside and started talking, going straight to the point

Archie: "It wasn't fireworks: it was a gunshot we heard."

Ms. Grundy: "You can't come to my house-"

Archie: "Probably the shot that killed Jason Blossom."

Ms. Grundy: "We know exactly what the police know: that a gun was fired, that a boy was shot, we don't know by whom."

Archie: "We know when it was fired, that's something that the police don't."

Ms. Grundy: "They're performing an autopsy."

Archie: "We can call them anonymously."

Ms. Grundy: "This is not a negotiation, Archie: this is our lives. If anybody knows that we were there, I could lose my job, you could be expelled, we could go to jail. You'll have to keep this a secret, understood Archie?"

Archie agreed with Ms. Grundy, though he didn't like lying to the police, he wanted to protect what he had with her. But Archie forgot something important about the truth: it always comes to the light, and often in the worst ways...

Neither Betty could sleep: she kept thinking about all the pain she gave to Peter by abandoning him. How much must he deal with on his own, while also taking care of his Aunt and trying to be strong for her. She got up from her bed and glanced over Peter's window. She saw him cry on his bed, and her heart sinked at that sight. She wanted to do something for him. She thought to write a message to him

Betty: <R U up? Can we talk?>

Peter saw his phone shining, so he took it and saw the message. Once he read it he looked at Betty's window and saw she was up, looking at him, and he understood why she wrote: she saw him cry.

Peter: <Yes but...this is not the best time Betty.>

Betty: <R U sure?>

Peter: <Yes, thx anyway.>

Betty: <Of course.>

Betty's heart was broken at that sight. Peter gave her a small, weak smile and closed his curtains.

The next day Betty was determined to make it up with Peter by staying by his side and comfort him. As soon as she woke up she immediately glanced at Peter's window, noticing that his curtains were still closed, so she assumed he was still sleeping, considering that it was 6:00 in the morning.

Unknown to her, Peter was far from sleeping: he was swinging from building to building. He needed to keep his head off of things, and that was the only way he could. Everytime he was overwhelmed, when he heard his Aunt crying for Ben's death and that feeling of guilt invaded him completely, only swinging could help him, and that occation was one of those times he felt really overwhelmed. That dream was still torturing him, he couldn't do but think that maybe it was right, maybe everything he was doing as Spider-man was truly pointless: he couldn't cancel what he had done, so why was he doing all of that? If he wasn't Spider-man maybe his Uncle would still be alive, his Aunt wouldn't be suffering because of it, and because of him, and maybe Veronica wouldn't have betrayed him...as soon as he put on that mask, not a single time things became easier or he felt happy, so why? Why was he doing it?

An hour later Betty was ready to go to school, but her parents wanted to speak with her. Hal, her father, started

Hal: "Hey, honey, we just wanted you to know, it's gonna be a bit of a late night for us."

His wife, Alice "She-devil" Cooper continued

Alice: "It's gonna be a lot of late nights for us. I mean, an accidental drowning, who cares? But the sociopathic son of the wealthiest family in town murdered? That's a national obsession waiting to happen."

Hal: "He's barely in his grave, Alice-"

But Alice, showing no respect of her husband's opinion or showing no respect at all, interrupted him in front of her daughter

Alice: "Can you warm up the car, Hal? I'll be right down."

Hal at that point lost his hopes, so he just left the room and headed to the car, while Alice got near Betty and sat in front of her on her bed

Alice: "Betty. You know what I love most about you? It's that you always want to see the good in people. Even people like Cheryl Blossom, and Veronica Lodge, and Archie Andrews. But when they betrayed you this weekend, you saw their true colors, didn't you?"

Betty: "Yes, but it's not me that they betrayed, mom."

Alice: "Who are you referring to?"

Betty: "It's Peter: he and Veronica were together, and I saw them kissing, so I assume they were a couple."

Alice: "Oh, I get it. *smiling sadly* You and Peter are very alike, you know? You both want to see the good in people. You never told me why you stopped hanging out with him."

Betty: "Well, it was...a bit complicated."

Betty didn't want her mother to hate Archie more, if it was even possible, so she decided it wasn't necessary to tell her, more so because she decided to start hanging out with Peter again.

Betty: "Anyway it's irrelevant: I want to walk with him to school today."

Alice: "And I'm happy about it: I would be ten times more happy to see you with a nice guy like Peter, than that Andrews."

Betty: "No need to worry about Archie or Veronica, mom."

Alice: "Good girl."

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