(Insert Take what you want by Post Malone)

Peter didn't know how it happened. He wasn't really sure of the situation if he's gonna be honest. One minute he was your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, the next he had quit. The city of New York and especially 3J made it exceptionally clear he wasn't wanted. They made it Crystal lake clear that they preferred their new lethal protectors over the friendly neighbor. Couple that with the absolute shit storm that was Peter's life at the moment and Peter decided fuck it.

His usually reliable Aunt was gone usually out of the state more often than not. Peter couldn't keep a steady job worth a damn. His rent was significantly overdue. His recently ex-ified girlfriend ended up getting a job that catapulted her well out of his league as a Broadway singer/Supermodel. Cue his best friend Harry (and her fellow red head) and bam. He's getting dumped so his ex can start dating his former best friend.

Oh but good old Parker luck has to add on to the pile of bile that is Peter Parker's life. New York is in the middle of an explosive gang war that the city blames him for. Why? Because it needs a fucking scapegoat. What other fucking reason would be appropriate? The Big Man, Kingpin, Ock, Mr. Negative, and Silvermane backed by the Maggia are all at war with each other and so far it's been a giant stalemate. Oh but we're not nearly done with the chaos.

The Avengers are split up over leadership issues with the entire team rarely being forced together. Additionally they mainly believe that the gang problems should be handled by the local police. Especially T'Challa and Namor who think of their countries first. (However even Captain America agreed.) All this despite the fact that the gangs are being led by Super villains. The Avengers seem under the impression that the "street heroes" can handle it.

If that we're not enough Peter is still reeling from finding out his black symbiote Vee, that he's been wearing for years, has up and decided to bond with his former friend Eddie Brock and his wife Anne Weying in an attempt to completely replace him as NYC's hero. To be fair when Peter found out it was using his body in his sleep to eat people he dumped it first. Although he did hear from Vee that if it didn't eat brain matter from outside sources it would have to feed on Peter instead. Something it refused to do. Kind of touching if not for the whole eating people thing.

As mentioned above the new red and black web (well ooze) swingers are well liked by the city so far. So much so that Peter actually felt pressured to just stop being Spidey. Still as stated before New York is in a gang war with criminals and civilians alike dying left and right. As far as Peter was concerned the more help the better. Although he was still concerned that Vee was eating Eddie's brain. Or would one day attempt to do so. True to his upbringing Peter had decided to warn him. That was when he got a wake up call. Eddie and his wife would occasionally kill the criminals they went after. That's what the public found out. What they didn't know was that Eddie and his wife had both gone full on cannibalistic. Regardless the city felt it was a good thing the new duo were killing criminals and basic goons. It should also be pointed out that many of them are also the same people who condemned Frank Castle for doing the exact same thing. Especially 3J who used to spread anti Punisher news in his media outlets.

Peter obviously found out about the cannibalism but what could he do. His whole super powered life he depended on his trusty spider sense for nearly everything. Vee was immune to it since he and her were bonded for so long. (Canon) So until Eddie and his wife started killing innocents Peter decided to leave the pair to their own devices. He figured if he could turn a blind eye to the Punisher he could do the same for them. It didn't help that they stalked him though. Or that he had no idea on how to beat them. Peter figured he'd cross that bridge if and when he got to it.

But the pressures kept piling on. Peter was no longer considered a friend of the X-Men. They were currently in a good place. They had an independent mutant nation and everything. The group didn't want his current bad publicity rubbing off on them. Pete could obviously understand their perspective. So at their request he kept his distance from them and their mutant problems.

The Inhumans only take care of their own so he knew he couldn't turn to them for any kind of support despite his friendship to many of their members. And even the Fantastic Four were no longer talking to him. They accused him of stealing something from them and they apparently had video proof. Peter didn't have any memory of the event. Most likely it was something done while Vee was in control during his sleep. So even they were off the table.

Daredevil was far too busy with Luke Cage and the rest of the defenders being the front lines against the villains in this gang war. Even so he did make time to play Peter's therapist from time to time. It didn't matter to them rather one was Catholic and the other Protestant. They were both good men trying to do good in the world with their gifts. Still Matt Murdock's time was previous. Peter rarely wanted to bother him with his complaints.

Black Cat wanted to gut Peter's stomach like a fish and stare at his insides. Probably before pouring gasoline on it and striking a match so she could watch even that burn. To say Peter and Felicia weren't on speaking terms is likely the universe's greatest understatement. A sad ending to their relationship considering they used to claim love for one another. But then again their relationship was built on the mutual using of each other. Sadly Peter was actually the more deceptive of the pair.

Felicia was the one who saved Gwen Stacy's life on a certain bridge. Still Gwen found out Peter was Spider-Man and never told her... he was promptly dumped. Currently she was dating a handsome nerd named Paul. She and Peter had only recently gotten back to speaking terms.

The only other people Peter could turn to were his highschool friend Liz Allan (who Peter hadn't seen in years) and his college friend Angelica Jones (who Peter hadn't seen in months). The main reason for the latter being missing is that she married the former and moved with her to Europe. Weird that the two Firestars would marry each other out of all things. But Liz did have that baby by Harry. To Peter that just made Angelica's decision all the more interesting. Even more interesting was that Liz hadn't bothered to look into Peter's whereabouts at all while she was in New York. He had the sneaking suspicion she didn't like him anymore despite their long friendship.

Finally, cuz we're saving the best for last, Peter's sister Teresa was in prison. She volunteered to be locked up in a SHIELD maximum security prison because of the nanite army living inside her. This particular army perfectly recorded the weaknesses of every powered individual that ever walked the Earth. Heroes and villains alike.(Canon) Famously excluding Spider-Man, since no one knows how to actually weaken him.

Peter made the decision to quit being Spider-Man after some serious soul searching. He spent hours talking to his favorite gargoyle Bruce. (canon) Basically arguing with himself. Eventually Peter came to the conclusion that the root problem to nearly everything he was currently dealing with was the existence of Spider-Man and so Peter put one of his spare costumes in the trash. He was Spider-Man no more. He did a spare costume because obviously he couldn't do the one he was wearing at that exact moment. However when he got to his shit apartment Peter curiously didn't bother throwing away any of his other costumes.

It's not what you're probably thinking. He didn't throw them away because he was subconsciously thinking of returning. No nothing like that. The reason he didn't get rid of any of his other costumes is for far more practical purposes. The costumes he still had were far more expensive then the pure cotton mesh hybrid one he threw in the trash. He made the remaining costumes in labs belonging to the Avengers, Horizon Labs, Fantastic Four, Stark Industries, ESU, and the X-Men. To put it simply millions of dollars went into some of those costumes using experimental tech. Getting rid of those would be the height of foolishness. The effect was the same. Peter bowed out of the hero game and he had no intention of returning. Peter decided to focus on Peter Parker. He decided to get his life back on track.

(Insert Staring at the sun-Post Malone ft SZA)

Peculiar sights started to pop up in Peter's life. For instance Peter went to a bank. Suddenly it began to be robbed. So you're expecting Mr. Responsibility to hop up and do something about it right. Wrong! Not only did he do nothing he was the guy that was forced to hold the bag containing stolen goods for them. Don't worry though the defender Luke Cage showed up and put a stop to the robbery. You can probably imagine his surprise when he saw Peter in the crowd of civilians. He almost went to strike a conversation with Peter. However Peter just blew past him and went on about his day. That night Luke and Jessica stayed up extra late hoping for a chance to talk to him about what was up. But he never showed up on their radar.

Another instance there was a fire. Peter could actually hear screaming. Clearly people's lives were at stake. In the end Peter did nothing. Even turning his back to the scene as he hailed a taxi to try to get to his destination. Never once did he think about how Spider-Man could make the situation better.

Next and probably the most blatant act of hatred for his life was when he saw the villain Rhino downtown. Peter had been selling his cellphone for some extra cash at a pawn shop when he felt his spider sense going ballistic. He warned his fellow patrons and that's when he discovered that Rhino had recently been in a fight with Mr. Negative. He was currently fleeing from police in the after math. The cops had Rhino blockaded off. There was just one tiny problem. Usually this was where a super (usually Spider-Man) would show up and deal with Rhino. Today was different. The cops were feeling first hand how hopelessly and hilariously outgunned they were. They finally understood the notion that they could deal with the monsters, demons, aliens, and super criminals that the heroes usually did was the mindset of the insane and imbecilic.

Right now they just hoped that Spider-Man would come in and mop up Rhino like he usually does. They were in for a massive disappointment. In the end no hero showed. Especially Spider-Man. In trying to keep Rhino contained many officers lost their lives. In fact over fifty percent of Manhattan's law enforcement officers present perished to Aleksei's hand. In all that time neither the Fantastic Four, Defenders, or the Avengers bothered to show up.

After Rhino broke the blockade to escape the officers began to pack up their equipment and count the damage. You can imagine the somber mood that settled over them all. In the middle of all this four important officers noticed Peter Parker at the same time. Police Captains Dewolf, Watanabe, and Stacy in addition to Detective Terri Lee. Coincidentally newsreporter Whitney Chang had been covering the event for the Fact channel and she too noticed Peter out of the crowd.

Now to just get one point out of the way right now. Only one of these officers took note of Peter because they knew his identity as Spider-Man and that was George Stacy. It isn't exactly uncommon knowledge that only one person could reliably get photos of Spider-Man in his early years and that was Peter Parker. Most people believed the hero took pity on the impoverished photographer and allowed him to earn easy money by photographing himself. On top of that most people believed that Peter Parker knew of some way to contact the hero. Especially since he can be often seen speaking on the hero's behalf. To the criminal network Peter Parker was akin to Spidey's spokesman. Due to his severe financial status most supervillains decided there was no value in targeting Peter to get to Spider-Man. Kind of sad really. Peter was considered too insignificant for criminals to waste money, time, resources, and life energy on assassinating.

It was Yuriko Watanabe who managed to catch up to Peter first.

"Yo Parker what the deal? I thought Spider-Man would have shown!? We lost a lot of lives due to his ineptitude. Seriously can you get in touch with him? We need to talk about this."

Peter made to speak but he was interrupted by George Stacy. Now Peter knew George was in on his secret identity. So what he had to say carried slightly more weight than Yuri's word.

"Yeah I'd like to know what Spider-Man was doing during all this. Too many lost their lives today Parker. I hope he (you) have a good explanation for this."

Peter turned to see if Jean or Terri had anything to say. They indicated that they didn't. So he turned to Whitney who had finally decided to add her piece.

"I'd like to ask can anything you say be quoted? That is to say has Spidey told you what's been happening with him lately?"

After that Peter got this contemplative look on his face. Then he spoke.

"It is your job to protect and serve right? To lay down your lives for the people of this city. For the innocent."

"Of course it is." George said getting a sinking feeling.

"When Spidey first showed up every person here except Whitney believed he should let the police handle things. Or that he should be unmasked. Oh then there was the idea of getting him on the police payroll. Again unmasked. All of you have had your criticisms about Spider-Man. Some of you have had your opinions change over time. But at your heart of hearts you all still believe that a hero like Spider-Man does more harm than good.

Ineptitude? Really? I think this little suaree just now kind of proves the police of this city are the ones unskilled. But hey you guys have always wanted to prove to the public that you can handle any one of the bad guys Spider-Man deals with.

Well recently Spidey has agreed. He feels this city would be much safer without him in it. He feels that the NYPD is more than equipped to handle any situation. He feels that the local officers of the law will be able to get to the truth of any matter such as the identity of the Big Man and the Kingpin. So officers you're all getting your wish. Spidey is gone and I seriously doubt if he's ever coming back.

I'm sure you've all had near death experiences. You're all willing to lay down your lives for this city. Well Spidey has layed down his life twice now. No wait now that I'm thinking about it... It has actually been four times. He's not planning on dying for this ungrateful city again. He's going to take his last life and live it for himself. He said specifically to say this to the people of New York."

At this moment Peter turned his full attention to Whitney Chang.

"Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it." With that Peter turned and left the officers to stare at each other. They were now officially in a world without Spider-Man. Looking around themselves at the devastation Rhino alone caused they realized the world just got a whole lot scarier because of it.

George Stacy was the one hit the hardest. If Spider-Man... If Peter was retiring what would New York look like in the coming weeks. But more importantly than that Peter had died. Four times so far. With tales of heroes and villains dying and coming back to life trickling out there George didn't doubt it was possible. What he was wondering was when? When did Spider-Man... When did Peter die? It had to be after he and Gwen broke up. If that was the case then Peter experienced actual death while he was just a college student. On top of that he'd have experienced it four times now. Just the thought of that scared George more than he thought it would. He at best did not like the idea of Spider-Man but after hearing the full story about what happened the day Uncle Ben passed from Peter... Let's just say George could understand where Peter was coming from after that. Still if that we're not enough his near death at the hands of Doc Ock and the Lizard certainly drove the point home. Heroes like Spider-Man were necessary.

George knew Peter not to be a liar. He kept his secrets sure. And even those were for the right reasons. But a secret wasn't a lie. So if Peter was saying he died four times. Well that probably meant he died four times. And if Peter decided he wasn't going to risk death without the guarantee he would return again... Well George certainly wasn't going to blame him any.

"Do you think it's true? Do you think Spider-Man really has quit?" Jean asked.

"I don't want to believe it. I mean Spidey has always seemed like such a morally righteous dude. I just don't think he'd just up and quit one day because the city's turned on him. They've done it before and he kept on saving lives. Rather people liked him or not he's always done the right thing." Detective Lee responded.

"Yeah. The nerve of that kid. He spoke like he was Spider-Man. Like we were all a bunch of ungrateful brats." Yuri's tone was angry at first but her next words added a hint of sadness to them. "I know when Spider-Man and I worked together I made sure to thank him for all his hard work. I've seen first hand how dangerous it could be for him. I just can't see how he could just allow himself not to help out with all his gifts. I just can't see how he can just up and quit like that"

It was here that George spoke up slightly against the notion that had been building. "Quit? You make it sound like he was obligated to save lives just because he had powers. Did none of you hear a word he said? Spidey has saved this city more times than anyone here can count. He's saved more lives than anyone here can count. And his reward for doing all that was death? Seriously he's died four times for us, for each and every one person in this city! Hell he's worked with the Avengers to save the world. And we dare get mad at him when he's had enough. No ladies I don't agree Spider-Man hasn't quit on us. He's retired and I for one think it is well deserved. He has used his power responsibly long enough. He's earned a rest."

After saying his piece Captain Stacy looked in the direction Peter retreated into letting his words sink in. They weren't in a world where Spider-Man quit. They were in a world where Spider-Man had retired. The following morning the announcement came. After three months of Spider-Man being missing in action the world got a clear answer from him. Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. Spider-Man had retired.

I'm going to let this story sink in. Please let me know what you think especially after chapter two.