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Proof of Existence

Chapter 11: You're My Friend

It's as if Gwen had forgotten the necessary movements needed for breathing. Her blood ran cold. Her words were frozen in her throat. In the short seconds that her light had illuminated him she'd caught more then she had initially thought. Instantly she'd wished she had not done so.

His body had changed drastically. The ears on his head were pointed. His face looked as if it were burned and was hardly recognizable to someone who didn't know him like she did. There were fangs now in place of his usual teeth. The hair on his head was now standing in an unkempt manner.

Guilt crept onto her making her feel sick with herself. She was wrong. She wasn't just in time. She was too late. Much, much too late.

"Harry—"

"Don't look at me!" He cut in harshly, before adding in a much more defeated tone. "Please." Please not you.

"Harry, I..." Gwen trailed off, trying to compose herself enough to speak.

"It didn't work," Harry started in a low tone. "You... Peter, both of you were right. You told me it'd be too risky, warned me about the consequences, but I didn't listen. And now just like my father I'm going to die."

"Don't say that," She murmured.

"It's over for me and you know it. I'm a monster."

"That isn't true!"

He gritted his teeth. "I saw it Gwen. I saw your disgust upon seeing me."

"You have it all wrong," she interjected. "When I saw you the first thing I thought of was how I'd failed you. How I knew this was all my fault. If only... if I had just stayed with you on that day then, this would have never happened. The disgust you saw is with myself."

"It doesn't matter anymore. Like I told you already, it's over for me. Look at me Gwen... I'm done. Even you probably can't bare my sight."

"Stop assuming these things!" She retorted in frustration and despair. "There's no way I'd ever feel that way about you Harry! It's you I care for not your appearance. Now you can't just give up!"

"What's left Gwen?" Harry murmured. "There's nothing left for me."

As defiant as ever she shook her head in disapproval, refusing to quit. She pressed her hands against the bars desperately hoping to reach him. "The nanobots, the nanobots will work!"

"It was just a prototype. It hasn't even been tested. There's no guarantee it'll work."

"And there's no guarantee that it won't work either."

"Even if it did work there's no way of taking the nanobots out of my body once inside."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there! We have to at least—"

"Just drop it already!" Harry snapped, turning to face her. His face was now more visible and she could see the angered expression. Yet there was a touch of something else hidden in his eyes, deep in the core.

Loneliness.

"I'm resigned to my fate, Gwen!" He confessed, averting his gaze. Didn't she understand? He was done trying. Done believing in false hopes. Done with the pipe dreams. All he wanted was to sit and wait for the inevitable. "And you're wasting your time. Leave Gwen. Go and return to your life, to the future that's waiting for you."

"You expect me to just go on with my life as if nothing?"

"That's exactly what you should do. You should've boarded your plane." He added bitterly.

"You really think I could simply leave, pretend what we did never happened? You think I would just forget the promise we made? Why do you think I'm here? It's because I can't." Gwen added in a weak tone. "You aren't alone Harry. I didn't get here on my own. Felicia helped me."

At this he faced her again. "What? Felicia?"

Gwen pulled the little object from her pocket and tossed it into his cell, near him.

He instantly recognized it as the one thing his father had left him. He'd been surprised by how devastated he was when he realized he'd lost it somewhere. "Where did you find this?"

"It was Felicia. She found it and gave it to me so that I could locate you."

"But... why, why would she do that?" He asked in confusion.

"She's worried about you Harry. You mean a lot to her. You really mean a lot to her. I couldn't have gotten this far without her help. Even Pete— Spiderman," she quickly corrected her almost-slip up. "I even got help from Spiderman."

His eyes widened slightly. "Spiderman?"

"He's out there fighting these security bots for your sake. Can't you see Harry? We all risked our lives, and why? To save you!" She finished, the desperation seeping from her voice as she was unable to contain it anymore.

A sudden laugh caused the two to turn towards the entrance.

"Menken." Gwen growled upon seeing him. Standing besides him were some bodyguards.

"I should've known you wouldn't listen." He stated.

"That's right, you should've!" Gwen retorted, trying to maintain her composure. Truth be told she was actually terrified. She didn't plan on him suddenly popping up.

Menken smiled wickedly. "Well, now we have quite a predicament here. I can't exactly let you leave here now that you've seen all this now can I?"

"Leave her alone!" Harry shouted, almost pleading. The last thing he wanted was to see her hurt. "She has nothing to do with this Menken, it's between me and you!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

Suddenly another set of footsteps could be heard rushing down the steps. "Sir! We have a problem!"

"Tch! What is it Ian!?"

"It's that freak Max Dillon, he's broken out of his cell!"

"What?" Gwen muttered in shock.

"How the hell did this happen!?" Menken fumed.

"I have no idea Sir! Apparently there was a malfunction in the lab and he broke free! He's heading straight for Oscorp!"

A wave of fear flowed through Gwen. All those scientists working the night shift, the security working, Barkley, they were all about to be killed.

"I can't let that psycho ruin everything I've accomplished by doing this! I've only just taken over that damned company!"

"Is that all you can think of!?" Gwen yelled in disbelief. There was no low this man couldn't reach. "What about all those innocent people still in the lab!?"

In response he only laughed cruelly. "You really are such a naive little girl if you think I truly value their lives over Oscorp." He motioned his guards. "Take her!"

"W-What? Get away!" She shouted and frantically tried pushing the guards off.

"What are you doing!?" Harry cried angrily. "Let her go!"

"This doesn't concern you, freak. But if you must know I'll be using your little girlfriend here as a sort of bargaining chip. Spiderman will come and try to save her." He stated, shooting Gwen a smirk before she could speak. "I know you two are friends since you came here together. I'll make sure he stops that nutjob Dillon before killing him myself. After all he wouldn't dare try anything knowing you're captive."

"Don't! Please!" Harry yelled, clinging to the bars.

"I have no use for you anymore!" Menken snapped before laughing cruelly. "Just sit there and wait for your imminent death. It's all hopeless for you even if you get out. There's no place for a thing like you in this world Harry. Now do us all a favor and just wait to die. I'm actually doing you a favor. No one will miss a monster like you anyways."

The words felt like a thousand knives stabbing him.

Monster.

Monster.

Monster.

He slid to the floor in defeat. Why not just give in? Why continue suffering? It was as he said, no one will miss a monster.

"You're wrong!" Gwen cut in, making Harry wonder if she'd read his mind. "You're wrong about him!"

It was extremely difficult trying to speak with these guards restraining her but there was no way she'd allow anyone to talk down to Harry like that. She gave Menken the coldest expression she could muster. "The only monster I see around here is you!"

"I've had enough of this, let's go!" Menken ordered.

"Harry! Look at me!" She yelled, catching his broken and defeated gaze. "You aren't a monster!"

He watched as she continuously thrashed about despite knowing it was futile. She was staring right at him, and he could almost feel her resolve as if it were an object he could grasp with his bare hands.

"You are..." She managed to wiggle free just enough so she could cry out the rest of her sentence. "My friend!"

And just like that they disappeared upstairs. Leaving him in the dark and cold cell with just his thoughts to keep him company. And yet, something warm had emitted inside him at her words.

Friend.

Her friend.

That's when it kicked in. Something inside him snapped. What was he doing? How could he possibly just stay here knowing she was in danger? There was no way he'd allow his friend to get hurt. He lifted his head, determined eyes shining even through the darkness.

Author's Notes

We're just about reaching the peak, the conclusion is almost upon us guys! Sorry it's a bit on the short side, the next will be longer.