I'm working on Marvel's Spider-Man in American comics.

Chapter 323 The Meaning of Masks

Gwen Stacy walked down the street, looking at everything around her.

Yesterday's battle seems to have changed nothing. They defeated a very powerful villain, they knocked out Peter, the mastermind behind the Lizardmen, but what else? Earth-65 doesn't seem to have gotten any better, not even a little bit, at least not.

This left Gwen somewhat confused; what was the point of their fight?
Perhaps it never had any meaning to begin with.

The only good news was that the overwhelming wanted posters and advertisements for Spider-Woman on the streets had stopped, and the news was no longer talking about her. Gwen seemed to feel a little better. She swung on her webs and went up into the sky above the city. S.H.I.E.L.D. had kept its promise, and the police would no longer be chasing her.

She saw someone spraying graffiti on an abandoned billboard, so she curiously swung over and saw two boys who looked quite young spraying paint to create new designs.

"What do you think of this painting?"

One of the little boys asked his companion, but to his surprise, he received an unexpected answer from a girl: "I think it's pretty good."

The two little boys turned around and saw Spider-Woman's mask. In a panic, they grabbed their spray paint and sprayed it at Spider-Woman, shouting, "Run! It's Spider-Woman!"

"what?!"

The spider senses didn't react, so Gwen's mask was sprayed with paint. Smelling the unpleasant paint smell, she leaped to the top of the billboard, watched the two little boys run away, and couldn't help but sigh.

Nothing has changed.

The warrant may have been withdrawn, and no one will be chasing Spider-Woman anymore, but everyone still believes that Spider-Woman is the murderer of Peter Parker and a terrible villain. No one would disagree with that opinion.

This damn mask has become a symbol of a criminal!
Gwen, feeling both frustrated and angry, ripped off her mask. Then she sighed helplessly. After the battle yesterday, Peter Parker from another reality asked her why she wore a mask.
Why does Spider-Woman wear a mask?

To protect the safety of their families.

She answered Peter's question in this way, but the question cannot explain many things. For example, Spider-Woman is now a wanted criminal who is hated by everyone. Everyone thinks Spider-Woman is a bad person. Why doesn't she design a brand new costume and change her mask? Why does she still use this costume?

Gwen has never intended to change her uniform.

"If you're not planning to get a new one, then think about what's the point of having this uniform now."

Gwen muttered to herself about what Peter had said yesterday, and after a long silence, she took out a new hood from her backpack and put it on.

I have things to do, or rather, I should do them.

"Shouldn't Spider-Woman be held responsible for the death of high school student Peter Parker? Yesterday we received news that Dr. Cindy Moon, the arrested Spider-Woman and head of SILK, is the real mastermind behind Peter Parker's death. The superhuman serum she sold and trafficked to the market, the lizard serum, is the culprit behind all of this. But if you ask me, shouldn't Spider-Woman also be held responsible for this?"

Jonah Jameson was offering a new assessment of the information received yesterday. Essentially, all S.H.I.E.L.D. needed to do was transform the Daily Bugle's narrative of "Spider-Woman must have killed Peter Parker" into "there is no evidence that Spider-Woman killed Peter Parker," thus withdrawing the arrest warrant. "Indeed, subjectively speaking, she stopped a young man who had turned into a lizard from harming others, but why couldn't she have shown a little mercy..."

As S.H.I.E.L.D. reveals more information through the NYPD, the truth of the incident is gradually revealed: Peter Parker, a young student who could no longer endure years of bullying at school, bought the Lizard Serum from the black market, intending to take revenge on the bullies who had bullied him. He then raided the Midtown High School prom. Spider-Woman stopped the Lizard Parker in the battle, but accidentally killed him.

In one sense, it relieved Spider-Woman of her troubles; in another sense, it simply confirmed that she had committed murder.

So, what does Spider-Woman's mask really represent to other people?!

She encountered a gang that considered her one of their own and wanted to recruit this new spider-powered individual into their ranks. She also met several upright police officers who, despite having their warrants dropped, still kept their hands on their holsters, pointing them at themselves.

Of course, some people believe that she stopped the terrifying lizardmen and hoped that she would help them get back their stolen wallets.

Everyone sees this mask through their own eyes, and everyone defines themselves through their own perspective: good person, bad person, murderer, hero.

So why do I still wear this mask, making it hard for me to breathe? Why, since that day, have I been unwilling to take off the mask? Why do I even try to distract myself by exploring my own abilities and flying through the air?

Gwen saw her father chasing a criminal, a superhuman criminal at that. Gwen took a deep breath and quickly followed.

The super-powered criminal known as Tombstone had nearly overturned all the police officers present, leaving only Sheriff Stacy still firing her gun. However, against the impervious Tombstone, such an attack was clearly ineffective. Just as Tombstone was smiling and gradually approaching, a spider web stuck to Tombstone's back and flung him away.

"I learned from a friend that the best way to deal with big guys like you is to just hang you up."

After blindfolding Tombstone's eyes and mouth with spider silk, Spider-Gwen hung him upside down, but Sheriff Stacy pointed her gun at Spider-Gwen: "Stop, Spider-Woman."

“I know, Sheriff, I know Peter Parker is important to you. You may think I’m lying, that I colluded with the police to have the warrant dropped… but it’s not the same. I’ve seen a lot of people, heard a lot of people define this mask, and I’ve heard far too much about how they think I am.”

Gwen finally understood why she had been wearing a mask all this time.

She took off her hood and looked at her father in the empty space.

“You’re a good cop, Chief Stacy. You’ve worn your badge and gun your whole life because you know that if you don’t, they’ll fall into the wrong hands. But when I first put this mask on, all I thought about was that I wouldn’t have to carry anything anymore.”

“I think I’m special. Peter wanted to be like me, so he became a monster—that’s why I didn’t change my mask. It’s my responsibility, that’s the meaning of this mask.”

“If I don’t tell the world what this mask represents myself, and instead let them say it, I would be letting Peter Parker down.”

　The last paragraph is a modification of Spider-Gwen's original quote.

　　The next chapter will be later.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)