Ock's tentacles lowered him down a little, though he was still well above Peter and the ground he stood on. He held out his hand, an agitated look on his face.

"Hand over the serum, arachnid," he growled.

"You know, as much as I appreciate how you're the only one of my enemies who actually respects me enough to at least get my namesake's class right," Peter said, getting into more of a defensive stance, "I'm afraid I still can't do that."

"Very well," the doctor replied with a sigh. One of his tentacles then shot with lightning speed straight at Peter, who only barely leapt out of the way. The tentacles continued to strike rapidly, not letting up for a second. Peter only barely managed to stay ahead each time, the chase taking them from the floor to the wall and even to the ceiling of the building.

Peter knew that he couldn't play keep away forever; if he turned his back on Ock for even a second to try and make an escape, it would be over. The doctor was doing far too good a job of keeping the battle close, so he couldn't breakaway. He'd have to go on the offensive, but he would have to pick and choose his opportunities carefully. Those arms moved just as fast as he did, maybe even faster.

Maybe if he could get him talking.

"Why do you even need this, doc?" Peter asked, pointing to the serum in his other hand. "What's the point of a tech wiz like you stealing something like this?"

"A means to an end, Spider-Man," Ock replied, two tentacles reared back and ready to strike at any moment. "Believe it or not, you're standing in an extension of my brain right now."

The tentacles then shot forward, with Peter ducking under than backflipping away from them.

"I'm not sure I follow," Peter spoke up, trying to continue the conversation. "I mean, I see all this server space you got here, so, what, you're trying to steal all the world's information or something?"

"Oh, so much more than that," Ock boasted as he approached Peter. "After I've disposed of you, I will make it so that my brain will have a working wireless connection with every computer across the world. I will effectively run the world as I see fit, taking whatever I need while destroying those who would stand against me."

"How in the world do you plan to do that?" Peter said, "there's no way your brain can..."

He then glanced at the serum, and suddenly it was coming together: Ock was planning to use the serum to get his brain to function at a high enough capacity to be able to process all of the information he was talking about. If it really worked that well, then the doctor actually could run the world. Everything ran on or went through technology these days, after all.

An anger started to flow through Peter's body; his blood began to boil, and he grew hot all over. He'd worked so hard to get this serum as treatment for someone who needed it, someone he loved, and Octavius had stolen it for nothing less than his evil, selfish purposes. He hadn't cared who got hurt in the process, only concerned about what he'd wanted.

One of the tentacles came after him yet again, but this time, Peter lunged forward, shooting a web straight at the doctor's eyes. One of the other tentacles managed to block it, but it left just enough time for Peter to strike...except it didn't, as another tentacle managed to grab a hold of him just before he could throw his blow, wrapping him up tightly. To make matters worse, he'd dropped the serum when he got hit, though Ock had caught it.

"Oh, how I've waited for this day," Ock said as the tentacle Peter was wrapped in squeezed on him even harder. "You've been a thorn in my side for too long, but now, you'll share the same fate as all others who stand in my way."

The doctor made a fist with his right hand, and the tentacle Peter was wrapped in seemingly responded to it, squeezing even tighter. Peter was starting to feel more than just cramped; he swore that he could feel the pressure beginning to squeeze even his insides together. He felt like he was about to either blow his top, literally, or be squished into jelly. He groaned as he fought against the mechanical appendage, catching a glance of the serum in Ock's hand.

No, this wasn't how he was going out.

With one great effort, Peter stretched his muscles as much as he could, and suddenly, the tentacle around him broke apart, dropping to the ground in pieces along with him.

"Aargh!" Ock yelled, staggering backward.

Peter quickly recovered and, going on the offensive again, he leapt at Ock. The man tried to shoot one of his tentacles at him again, but now, with both hands free, Peter navigated rapidly through them like a kid on a jungle gym, maneuvering through them quickly before delivering a quick but solid punch straight into Ock's face, causing him to fall back and collapse to the ground. He webbed the serum as Ock released it before it could hit the ground, yanking it back to himself.

The doctor groaned lightly as he struggled to get up, but Peter wasn't taking any chances. He forced Ock onto his stomach, grabbing ahold of all the tentacles from their point on the harness, and he ripped them out of their sockets.

"No!" Ock cried out, "what have you done!?"

Peter bent down next to him.

"I've made sure you won't be able to use those to hurt anyone else ever again."

"You've taken away everything from me," Ock growled, appearing to reach into his lab coat. "Now, it's my turn to do the same for you."

Before Peter could react, Ock pressed a small button on a remote-like device he had on his person, and alarms suddenly began going off across the building, red lights blaring on and off.

"Please tell me you did not just trigger a..."

A couple of explosions rang out at different points in the building.

"...self-destruct order," Peter finished.

He had no time to waste. After knocking Ock out so he couldn't do any more damage, he gathered the unconscious Rhino, Vulture, and the still glassed over Sandman and stuffed them all into the elevator as the building began coming down around him. By the time he was going back over to get the doctor, water was leaking from the outside, with it rapidly covering the floor.

Peter glanced up, seeing a large mechanical structure on the ceiling was barreling down straight for the doctor, so he swiftly ran over and shoved him out of the way, the chunk falling on him instead, causing him to drop the serum again, the vial now laying just out of reach. The impact knocked all the air out of Peter's body, and the weight already felt like it was crushing him. He immediately began fighting against it, but he couldn't even so much as budge the large pile of debris.

"No," Peter muttered. "No no no!"

He fought harder, but the object remained still, unwilling to so much as scoot one way or the other. He couldn't even really get into a good position to use his arms to lift, the structure pinning him down almost completely flat on his stomach. Peter struggled and struggled, but no matter what he did, no matter how many times he tried, he just didn't seem to have it in him. He began breathing more heavily from the exertion, his willpower starting to wane. The weight of the object he was trying to lift felt like nothing he'd ever tried to lift before.

"May," he muttered as he took deep breaths, the seemingly pointless exertion rapidly wearing him down, "I...I'm...

Peter caught a glimpse of the serum that was just out of his reach. He thought of May, the image of her lying comatose in her hospital bed suddenly flooding his mind. She was counting on him; he was the only one who could save her life.

He couldn't give up. He wouldn't give up.

"Come on, Parker," he said through gritted teeth, pinning his hands to the ground again. He began pushing once more, the structure still refusing to budge.

Peter also thought of Eddie, and all that his friend had told him about and how he had pushed him to not give up on living life to the fullest. He remembered seeing how happy he was with Anne, the joy that the couple shared, and thought of how he wanted to experience that again for himself.

Peter was slowly starting to rise now, the structure and debris only moving because HE was.

Finally, Peter thought of Mary Jane. The two hadn't known each other long but had nevertheless grown close during that time. He thought of his missed opportunity where he had stopped just short of asking her on a proper date. He thought of everything she had done for him, all the ways she had shown how much she cared, and how she had stayed with him in his weakest moment even as he had begged her to leave.

For the first time in a very long time, Peter realized that he really wanted not just a routine, but a life.

It was what May had wanted for him all along...and she would live to see it.

Letting out a cry, Peter forced himself upward, the structure lifting even more than before. Once he got it up enough, Peter put his hands to the structure, managing to get on one knee. Taking a couple quick breaths, he strained one more time, managing to get to a partially standing position, if still a little squatted.

The water was rising more and more; it was now or never.

With all the strength he had left, Peter tossed the great weight up as much as he could before diving out of the way of its collapse back to the ground.

He did it.

Quickly grabbing the serum before it could wash away, he grabbed Ock as well, high tailing it to the tunnel as fast as he could. He tossed the doctor inside, pressing the button to send them on their way. They had all managed to get most of the way through when he saw the place finally explode. Thankfully, the tunnel system ran independently, so it continued on its way towards the old pier building, finally arriving and coming to a smooth stop.

Peter removed the villains one by one, leaving them in the building before making his way back to Harry, setting him free from the webbing he'd bound him with. The serum still in hand, he almost doubled over, all his exertion finally seeming to catch up with him.

"Looks like you found what you were looking for," Harry said.

"Yeah," Peter said in between breaths, waving the serum up to show him. "I did."

He then stood up.

"Thanks to you."

"No," Harry said, shaking his head. "I know I can never make up for what I've done. I'm just glad that I finally did something right for once."

The sound of police sirens drew their attention. It made sense, since a fisherman or somebody out on the water probably felt the explosion of the base and reported it or something.

"Go," Harry said, "I'll fill them in."

Peter just looked at Harry, unsure of what to say. He still had so many mixed feelings towards his former best friend, but at least a few more of them were positive now. He extended his hand for the man to shake, an invitation which was accepted. He then shot a web and swung off, the serum clutched tightly in his left hand.

Peter stopped his foot from tapping again, trying to reign in his nervous nature.

After he'd run to his apartment, Peter had thrown some street clothes in a bag, made his way to the hospital, changed, then brought the serum in to the doctors, all the while excited that he'd pulled it off after all. However, reality set in when they explained that they needed to check and make sure it was still viable after all it had been through. He'd completely neglected the possibility that, in all the insanity that had taken place around this thing, something somehow could've happened to reduce its effectiveness.

They'd started the process of checking it almost immediately, but it felt like it had taken forever. Peter hadn't left the doc's side the whole time, eagerly awaiting the results while righting to control his nervous mannerisms. It was just that the thought that he'd put in so much effort and had gone through a lot to get the treatment back but somehow could've still found a way to mess it up was something that he could totally see happening, and it terrified him.

Finally, the doctor rotated his chair towards him, and Peter's whole body stiffened with nervous anticipation.

"It's still viable."

Peter closed his eyes, letting out a hard breath of relief, hanging his head as the mental exhaustion from so much anticipation (combined with everything else) hit him.

He'd done it. He'd really done it.

The doctor then gathered some others and they immediately proceeded to begin, checking all their equipment and setting everything up. Peter watched outside the room through the window, rubbing his hands together and once again falling into all kinds of nervous habits. He never took his eyes off the scene though, observing as the doctors injected the treatment through multiple IVs.

After a while, the head doctor came out.

"She seems to have received it well," he explained, "but only time will tell."

Peter hadn't even realized he had dozed off when he felt something against his arm, rousing him from his slumber. He opened his eyes slowly, squinting as he looked to see who or what had awoken him.

It was May, who was finally awake.

Peter's eyes widened as he observed her improved state: she was awake, though still didn't seem to be quite all there. He could tell that she was registering his presence though, even if she still couldn't seem to be able to express it through words just yet.

"May?" he muttered, his eyes already tearing up. He stood up from his seat, reaching over to give her a hug, which she reciprocated as best she could with her still limited mobility.

The doctor then came in.

"Well, good to see you're finally awake," he said to May before turning to Peter. "We have good news: all of our tests are showing the treatment is successfully countering the chemicals in her brain. If things continue at the pace they're on, she should regain the ability to talk, engage in conversation, and perform most basic tasks within the next twenty-four hours, and she should be good to go home. However, she will likely still need as much rest as possible."

"Yeah of course," Peter replied.

The doctor smiled.

"It really is a miracle, isn't it?"

After everything he had been through to get to this point, Peter couldn't help but agree.

"Yes, yes it is."

Wow, almost there! Now, to see if I can stick the landing with the final chapter...

Thanks again to all who've been so supportive of this story! Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!

"But I will sing of Your strength, in the morning I will sing of Your love; for You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble." Psalm 59:16