Many years ago…

"That's pretty cool!" A much younger Peter Parker affirmed as he took the popcorn from the plastic bowl had brought to him and his friend. They watched the cartoon on the TV from his bed.

"I… yeah," Harry replied. He wasn't focusing on the screen, his thoughts drifted somewhere else.

Peter eventually noticed the difference in Harry's mood. "Are you okay?"

Harry sighed. "It's just that… my father is treating me differently lately. I'm not sure if he even likes me being around him."

"What do you mean?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "He just isn't around. But whenever he is home, he will barely talk to me. I don't know what to do for him."

"Maybe… he's busy with work? My dad doesn't play much with me too, sometimes."

"He does?"

"Yes, but my mom doesn't want me to go downstairs… so I just wait for him."

Harry looked away. "... that must be cool, I guess."

Peter nodded.

Harry continued, "I wish things could have been like that for me like they are with you. I think he wants to send me to boarding school."

"What?"

"I heard him talking to that man… Menken, I think."

"Well, what if...what if your father allows you to live here with me?"

Harry smiled. "I don't think he would let that happen."

"You should ask him. It would be so cool."

"Really?"

"We could share the same bedroom and watch movies until late!"

Mary Parker opened the door to the bedroom. She smiled. "Hey, you two. It's time to go to sleep."

Peter sighed. "Already?"

She chuckled. "I'll be back in twenty minutes, ok? Then it's over." She left them alone once again.

Harry turned to face Peter, "Would you continue being my friend if I left?"

"Best friends… always."

May 31th - 2019

Harry jolted awake, eyes snapping open instantly. He immediately checked the place around him, noticing that he was inside his old bedroom.

Best friends... Harry rubbed his eyes. What am I doing...?

Harry got off the bed and wore his black shorts and white shirt. His room was dead silent, and his old belongings such as miniatures of cars and planes were still on the same spot in the stand against the wall.

Motivated by curiosity, Harry opened the large wardrobe and looked at himself through the mirror. It reflected his unhealthy appearance. No matter what he did, everything always turned out into a complete mess.

His father was back from the dead. A clone of him, somehow. Fiers had been working for him long before Harry was even born.

He was tired of being people's puppet. He had been trying to fix things in his life. His efforts were no more.

The door to his room was opened by the butler that long served his family, Matthew. He was much older now.

"Oh…my sincere apologies, Mr. Osborn. I didn't know you were already up." He stood next to the door. "I came here to check on your condition, but it seems that you are better now."

"You don't need to apologize, and please.. .just call me Harry."

Matthew nodded. "It's been a long time, I'm glad to see you again, Harry. You have grown into a fine young man."

Harry chuckled. "You don't look too bad yourself either." He joked, "Are the ladies still throwing themselves at you?"

Matthew smirked. "Like you wouldn't imagine."

"... do you know how I got here?"

"Some sort of… medical team. I didn't question your father."

Harry exhaled deeply. "So...you know already"

"I do now. Your father usually finds a way. I wasn't sure what to think when they told me he was dead." He added, "I know things have been hard for you over the recent years, but I know that you never meant for those things to happen...you're a good person."

"I'm not so… sure about that, but I appreciate it."

He nodded. "Your father is having breakfast, maybe you should join him?"

"... he's here?"

Matthew nodded and turned on his shoulder. "I'll be dusting off the statues."

Peter slowly opened his eyes and recognized the bedroom he shared with Gwen. He spotted her beside him, still asleep. She must have watched him sleep until she couldn't anymore. He cupped her right cheek and noticed the ring on his finger. Harry hadn't managed to destroy it when they clashed.

He raised his chest off the bed and spotted the bandages spread all over his torso and arms, some were stained by blood. He scratched the back of his hair, putting together his memories from the last night.

Aunt May…

He didn't want to bring her into life only Gwen knew about it. His wife had to endure the tough situation he put her in.

"Pete…?"

Peter turned to Gwen's side after she called for him. Her blonde hair fell into her shoulders as she slowly stood up from her pillow. He questioned, "Are you okay?"

Gwen yawned and sat in the bed. She approached him as they brushed their bare shoulders. "I'm the one that should be asking you that."

He looked down at the sheets over his legs. "Everything happened so quickly."

Gwen planted a kiss on his shoulder. "You can tell me."

Peter sighed heavily. "I don't know what to do about Harry. He tried to kill me… again." He added, "... and you need to be somewhere safe in the next couple of hours."

"Why?"

"It's happening… Harry was the first move. They will all come for me now. Harry has probably revealed my identity to them."

Gwen shook her head. "We are not going anywhere, at least I won't."

He raised a single eyebrow. "We...?"

She nodded. "Aunt May is here. She took care of you while I was away. She already knows… everything."

Peter buried his face in his hands. "What have I done…?"

"It's not your fault."

His muffled voice answered, "It kinda is."

"There's no one to blame here. I'm sure she understands, but if not, she eventually will." Gwen added further, "She suspected it for years, it was bound to happen."

Peter looked at his wife."She's been dragged into this life now, and I almost lost you before because of it."

"May took care of you since you were six, and she wants to continue doing that, no matter how old and dangerous you can get." She smiled.

Peter chuckled. "I think you are right."

"I'm always right."

"Thank you for these bed talks." He leaned closer and gave her a peck in the lips.

She reciprocated the kiss and felt a tiny cut on his lower lip. It would most likely vanish in a few days due to his healing. She broke the kiss and regained her breath. "I love you… more than anything else in this entire world, you know that, right?"

He cupped her cheek. "More than my spaghetti?"

Gwen frowned in thought. "Hmm, maybe… not as much." She teased. They shared a laugh. He stole a kiss from his wife. She later pondered, "There's one thing that gets me wondering, though."

Peter moved slightly off her. "What is it?"

"I haven't found your suit."

He inhaled deeply, "When I fought Harry… I considered killing him, and that's something I never thought would happen to me." He cleared his throat. "I realized the suit was influencing my judgment of things, it was somehow changing me into something else… so I took it off at the cathedral. I'm so very sorry for ignoring you all this time."

"Don't be," Gwen hugged him, and buried her head under his chin. "You made the right choice… you could've called me, though."

"My phone got destroyed. Regardless, I'm glad that I didn't… the thing I took off me, it's something else. I need to track it down quickly." He added, "Maybe Connors knows something about it.

"Can I go with you?" Gwen asked, innocently. "I won't say a word, I'll be a good girl."

"Are you… sure?"

She nodded. "Yes."

Peter kissed her lips again. He slid away from her and into the bed's edge. He felt his arm scream in pain.

Gwen suggested, "You should rest a little more."

Peter set his feet on the ground, despite the bad state of his right leg. "Once I'm up… I'm up." He groaned and limped his way towards the wardrobe. "I need to set things straight."

He spotted the red and blue Spider-Man suit in the back of the wardrobe.

Gwen kneeled on their bed. She could see every single tiny scar and bruises on his toned back. The consequence of being Spider-Man was seen all over his body.

Gwen broke the silence, "Simon is crawling the walls to see you."

"Really?"

"Yes, he's gotten some Spider-Man stuff that he wants to show you."

"We should check on him one of these days."

"We will." Gwen continued, "May is most likely outside. She wanted to sleep on the couch." She moved off the bed and picked the white ponytail that was over her bed stand. She set it in her hair.

"I see. At least the couch is quite comfortable." He wore a shirt. "I'll have to explain things. I owe her that much."

Now sitting at the opposite end of the large and horizontal table, Harry faced his former late father by some distance as they shared breakfast. He noticed that the skin in Norman's neck seemed greenish. Their disease was making its way out once again. The clock was ticking for both of them.

Norman struggled to eat the soup from the bowl due to his trembling hand.

Harry didn't know how to feel about him. In the end, Norman Osborn was the only family he had, whatever that meant. He broke the silence, "Okay, you want to cure yourself… at any cost. Then what?"

"It's not all about me."

"Of course it is. It always has been about you." Harry added, "Fiers wants to do something about Peter, something about delivering the ideal human being."

"He can do what he pleases with Peter, he earned that much. That's irrelevant to me, Harry."

"I find that very hard to believe. Somehow, you found your way back. You were gone, but you wanted to be here still. Why?"

"Why did we invent the wheel? Why did we create electricity? Why did we invent vaccines? Because we always wanted to be one step further."

"So, you want to cheat death."

"I want to cure us, I still can." Norman added, "That's what I'm going to do now that we have Peter's blood."

"Or else you would keep being cloned?"

"This was the first time."

Harry sighed. "Then after all the deaths, we can now live happily ever after?"

Norman silenced.

Harry continued, "We're messed up, father. There's no such thing for people like us. We are cursed… doomed. You can't cure our sins away."

"Would you rather die as I did?"

Harry leaned his back against the seat. "Maybe… I never asked for any of this, you ruined my life the moment you stepped into it, you let mom die, you destroyed my friendships, you took everything from me… because of some stupid disease you told me in the very last moment possible."

"Maybe you should have supported me a bit more, Harry. A lot of that could have been avoided then.

"What is there for me to support? Do you mean your ridiculous motto that the end justifies the means? You ruined Oscorp by yourself; how could you run away from everything you built yourself?"

Norman snapped, "All you've ever done was run away!"

"And I was wrong! Every single time I did!" Harry abruptly raised from his seat. "Keep in mind I'm not talking about you, I never ran away from you, but from the people that truly cared for me, and you're not one of them." He left the room, ready to record one final message to his former friend.

Norman placed his hands on the table and looked at his reflection in the fork.

Matthew later stepped into the room and took Norman back from his thoughts. He approached his seat. "Mr. Fiers has called earlier. The… symbiote was located in a church. He sent a team to retrieve it."

"That's good to hear. You may tell him to check on Dr. Warren regarding the serum."

Matthew nodded and took Norman's plate off the table, before leaving for the kitchen.

Norman sighed heavily. "... salvation comes at a cost."

"So, that's basically what happened since my father created that spider that bit me in the neck."

May inhaled deeply. "... you could have told me this before." She was sat in a chair next to Peter at the dining table.

"It's a lot to take in. I didn't want you to go through what I did."

"You have too much weight on your shoulders."

"I… couldn't risk losing you too, May. Ben is gone because of me and I almost failed to save Gwen when Harry came around."

"Ben's death wasn't your fault."

"... but it was. I couldn't have stopped the guy who shot him, but I didn't. That's something you will never be able to convince me otherwise, Aunt May. It's my burden."

"Would it help if I told you that you're the man that Ben always wanted you to be?"

Peter smiled, briefly. "A little, yes."

"Except for the lies and whatnot."

He pouted. "I'm sorry."

May moved her hand to the inner pocket in her pants and retrieved Peter's locket. "Don't forget about this." She placed it in the palm of her nephew's hand. "... but you can always count on me, always."

He closed his hand and looked at her. "It means a lot."

"I'm glad you explained everything to me in detail. I'm sorry about what happened to your parents."

"It's okay. It is what it is. You're here and that's what matters to me."

May stood up and caressed his hair, before leaving for the fridge. "It's a lot to take in."

"Trust me, even I have a hard time figuring all this stuff out."

Peter felt the slender arms hug his neck from behind.

Gwen planted a kiss on top of his head. "Good morning."

May turned on her shoulder. "Good morning, dear." She took the eggs and approached the sink.

Gwen took Peter's cup and took a sip of his coffee while she stood behind his chair. "How did you sleep?"

"The couch is quite comfortable."

"I'm thankful for that." Gwen returned the cup to Peter's hand. She looked at her husband's bandages on his arms. His shirt covered the rest. "We should take a look at these."

May began arranging the omelets. "Can you arrange that? I need to be at the hospital soon."

"Of course, May." She smiled. "I'm used to that, trust me."

"I can only imagine."

"She's lovely, isn't she?" Gwen gestured for Peter to sit down on the couch. May had left for the day after the three shared breakfast. "Let me take a look at your bandages."

He did as ordered and pulled his shirt above him, before throwing it aside. "Okay, let's do this."

Gwen took her time to scan his bandages spread all over his chest and back. "There's only a couple of dry blood stains, nothing to get worried about."

"That is good."

"But you are not suiting up for quite some time. Your shoulder is still healing."

"... fair enough." Peter continued gently, "I still need to look for the suit, Gwen. There's that guy too… Fiers. We won't be able to live in peace with those around, and I don't want that."

"Maybe one-day things won't be so difficult for us, maybe one day we can take comfort in just knowing of our existence."

"I would love that." Peter captured her lips on his and pushed her down against the couch. The TV's remote controller fell to the ground as they moved and caused the TV to turn on. He parted the kiss and looked into her eyes. "I want to take you on a date."

"After all of this is over, maybe we could go to mom's beach house?"

"California, uh?"

She nodded. "Just the two of us."

"I would love that." Peter grinned. "I would also like to see you wearing a bikini again."

Gwen wrapped her arms around his shoulder. "Maybe you are asking for more than you can handle, bugboy."

"Oh?"

Gwen smiled and caressed his hair. She later turned her head towards the television after it caught their attention. "That's about you for sure."

Peter took the remote controller in his hand and increased the volume.

"Last night, the citizens of our city were shocked after seeing what seemed to be Spider-Man fighting what people are now calling 'The Green Goblin'. Sources point out that the man in the armor and glider resembles one of Oscorp's field combat projects. Another investigation has been rumored to come up in the following days."

Peter muted the TV. "I wouldn't mind seeing Oscorp going down… most of my problems come from there."

"Maybe you should take over it?"

He chuckled. "I would run it to the ground. My father probably made the right choice by leaving it, even if that meant leaving us as well."

Gwen finally met his gaze. She asked softly, "Do you wonder how things would be if your parents were alive?"

"I haven't thought about that lately." He silenced. "What is done… is done, but hey, I'm sure they would love to have you around."

Gwen nodded and planted a kiss on his good shoulder. She questioned gently, "What's the deal with Harry?"

"Honestly? I don't know, he seemed so true about forgiveness, and then he just shows up like that and attacks me?" Peter sighed. "Something must have happened."

"I hope we can figure it out." She hugged him close. "I'm going to get dressed so that we can get you a new phone and check on Connors, okay?"

"I'm going to change into some casual clothes so that we can buy you a new phone and go to Ryker's."

"Sure, good thinking." He moved off his wife and watched her stand up and walk away from him. "Can I watch?"

Gwen chuckled. "Yes, you can."

Oscorp Tower

"We should move, soon," Aleksei stated from his seat beside the large table. "He's probably recovering as we speak. We should attack now. I need to leave this country soon."

Adrian had his arms crossed. "Do you have any idea where he is?"

Aleksei answered, "We can make him come out. That's easy." He added, "We need to get this over with. I'm tired of having to play along."

Adrien shrugged his shoulders. "Well, my armor is good to go."

"The armor is already fixed so I'm good as ever," Adrien informed.

Herman interjected, "So, do we have everything that we need? Can we end this?" He continued, "Because I agree with Aleksei, this has been going on for too long."

Quentin spoke, "There are worse things to do in life than killing Spider-Man. I'll enjoy it."

Herman asked, "What has he done to you? Why are you even here to begin with?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Herman insisted, "We all have some connection to him, you don't. Spill it out."

"Let's just say… that Oscorp might just have something that will help in the future."

Aleksei asked, "What's that?"

Quentin sighed. "You wouldn't understand it, and it's irrelevant to our main goal here."

Herman chuckled. "So, you want to be Fiers' lap dog forever, eh?"

Aleksei rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I don't care. Let's just end this."

"What about you sparkles?" Herman turned to Max's side. The latter stood still next to him. "Are we ready? Don't you think we need a name?"

"I don't care either."

Aleksei chuckled. "That's some kind of yes."

Herman, "There's five of us, right?"

"Five, if you count the Osborn lad."

Fiers walked inside the room once the door to it slid open. "You all can call yourselves whatever you like, just focus on the task at hand."

"Shoot." Quentin placed his legs over the table.

Fiers stopped in front of them. "It's time. Go out there and find Spider-Man. Make sure to bring me his body. Make him suffer. After all of that is done, you all will be able to leave the country and disappear. No one will look out for you."

Herman stood up. "Then let's assemble the six."

Ryker's Island

After being escorted by the security guards through half of the prison, Peter and Gwen stepped inside one of the visitor's rooms in the prison. Connors was sitting in the chair on the other side of the table set in the middle of the room.

Peter helped Gwen sit down first and then made his way to the seat beside her. He looked at the former scientist. "Connors."

"Peter… Ms. Stacy." Connors moved his sight to Gwen. She looked surprisingly calm. He later focused on Peter once again. There were many dark stains spread all over his face. "What happened to you?"

Peter rested both his hands on the table. "Harry Osborn."

"I see… before you tell me what's going on, I just wanted to thank you for taking care of my son… that means a lot to me."

"It's no problem." Peter finally questioned, "Do you know something about this… black material scientifically called 'symbiote'...?"

It had been ages since he had heard such a name. In the context he was aware of, the word 'symbiote' meant trouble."

"Yes I do… your father and I came up with it, but we later archived it since the whole thing turned out to be… quite unpredictable. Norman wanted us to focus on the spiders."

"What do you mean as in unpredictable?"

Connors cleared his throat. "Peter, we were almost… creating life."

"... life?"

Connors nodded. "But why do you ask now? I thought the samples were all burnt after we moved on to the spiders."

Peter shook his head. "No, they weren't. Harry told me before that they wanted me to bond with the symbiote… it would make me weaker.".

Curt frowned. "No, that was never the point. It absorbs the host's abilities and makes them stronger. Then you could have someone else wear it and take advantage of such qualities for a moment. There were many wonderful medical implications, but we couldn't make it to work fully as intended."

"... it's like an imprint of someone's DNA."

"Yes, precisely." Connors added, "The development cycle was too quick, and costly… it was a lost cause in the end. Did you… somehow get in touch with it?"

Peter rubbed his neck, awkwardly. "Yeah, but I took it off last night after I realized it was taking control over my… thoughts?"

"Our prototypes didn't want the host to go away after some time together… you were like a drug to it, the best kind there is. Is it with you still?"

Peter shrugged his shoulders. "It escaped and I need help to track it down."

"I'm not sure I can help, Peter. At this point, it's probably hiding somewhere high and slightly warm in the city."

An officer opened the door to the room. "It's time to go."

Peter nodded to the guard and held Gwen on his own, helping her stand up. "Thank you for the info, Doc."

"Anytime." Connors watched them head for the door. He called, "Gwen?"

She turned on her shoulder to face him. "Yes?"

"I never had the opportunity of saying this, but now that I have… I'm truly sorry for what I did to your father."

"... yeah." She nodded and stepped out of the room with Peter as they held hands.

Harry stepped out of the elevator that had just arrived in the Special Projects section of the building. The group was already out, and it was just a matter of time until a huge showdown took place in the city. Peter would need help, and that was the opportunity Harry could use to make things right for good.

He is not going to make it...

He grabbed the venom from the spider chamber and stopped in front of his now damaged armor. He had to destroy the rest of the vials and the symbiote along with everything else that could harm someone.

"Kari?" He called the VI as he dropped his jacket onto the floor.

"Yes, Mr. Osborn?"

"Did you send the message I told you to?" He noticed that the elevator had ascended and left the floor.

"Afirmative."

"Great, that will be all."

"Logging you out. Have a good evening, Mr. Osborn."

Harry opened the last chamber and faced his glider. He injected half of the vial into his left arm and quickly climbed into the glider and stepped inside the armor. The armor adjusted itself on his body. The neural headset was set close to his ear and it finally entered his flesh.

Fiers and Norman entered the room from the same elevator Harry had just been in. Norman questioned from his wheelchair, "What are you doing, Harry?"

"I'm ending… your legacy." Harry aimed his glider to the chamber containing the spider venom behind Norman. He fired a small missile towards the target. It passed right between Norman and Fiers.

The spider venom was blown into pieces as flames poured out of the chamber they were in. Norman fell off the wheelchair and into the ground. Fiers landed against a wall and watched the fire spread across the room.

"No!" Norman exclaimed desperately. He spotted the destroyed vials that needed Peter's blood on the ground.

Harry slowly flew out of the chamber, stopping in the middle of the room. He cackled slightly and spoke, "Our time… is over, Norman."

"Harry… please, don't do this." Norman tried to stand up. His vision began to slowly fade out because of the smoke within the room.

"Don't try to stop me." Harry shot another missile at a wall and created a passage for him to fly into the city, leaving Norman and Fiers alone to their fate.

Peter approached the counter in the middle of the kitchen and placed the plastic bags on top of it. They had just arrived from the store. His leg still hurt. "My new phone is quite an improvement over my last one."

Gwen placed her plastic bags next to his and smiled. "I'm sure the nerd inside you is happy."

He chuckled. "Hey, the nerds are conquering the world. You are not that far to be one as well."

She smiled, before slowly allowing a more serious expression to appear on her face as they unpacked the bags.

Peter noticed it right away. "Is everything alright?"

She began, "Seeing Connors was… well, I felt so angry for what he did to me and my family, it's a feeling that I'm not used to."

"Hey, cheer up, you're human." Peter walked around the counter to place his hands on her hips. "I felt the same way when my Uncle got killed, but at least here, Connors regrets what he did and is paying for it, even if it won't bring your father back."

Gwen hugged him and rested her head on his shoulder. She sighed. "I guess you are right, honey."

Peter eventually began to move in a rhythm Gwen instantly recognized. He gently spun her around on her feet. He placed a hand around on the back of her waist while the other held her right hand.

She set her left hand over Peter's shoulder as he recreated the quiet and cozy dance they performed during their wedding's reception. She allowed her husband to slowly guide her through the living room.

She teased, "You surely have this weird talent of making me… like you, even more, every day."

He tilted his head to the side. "Is that even possible?"

"You're proving it right now…" She leaned in and kissed his lower lip tenderly.

They eventually parted once they heard Ren snoring heavily on the couch.

Gwen chuckled. She played with the hair in the back of his head. "You two are a perfect match, after all."

He narrowed his eyes at Gwen's. "I don't snore."

"You do when you are very - very tired, but it's a rare thing to happen anyway so I let it slip."

"Does it bother you?"

"Of course not." She shook her head. "I hardly ever notice it."

He chuckled. "Then let's just make sure..." He was cut short after a painful tilt triggered inside his head. He closed his eyes and gasped in pain. He automatically released Gwen and took a few steps away from her.

"Peter? What's going on?"

Peter set his back against the wall and panted heavily. He exhaled deeply and finally looked at her. "I...I felt something… and when this happens, it's because something bad is about to happen, but...this was one of the most intense ones I've ever had since I saw you falling."

"... danger?"

"It's more than that." He walked towards the couch and turned the television on a new channel.

Footage of a chaotic New York was shown by a helicopter near the battle zone. Cars were destroyed and were covered in flames. There were parts of some buildings that were ruined along with the asphalt which was damaged to an extent. A crashed police chopper could be seen burning in the ground next to a mechanized mech that Peter instantly recognized.

A person wearing a yellow jacket and mask along with brown pants shot seismic blasts towards random cars. The sky was filled with an intense orange light coming from the flames back from the ground.

It was hell on Earth.

"This is the latest report, a terrorist group is responsible for thousands of injured civilians and police officers. The national guard is yet to comment on the event." The reporter inside the helicopter informed further, "We also received a piece of information that part of the Oscorp Tower has been destroyed by a partial explosion, the fire department along with an anti-bomb squad are already on their way.

"I need to go." Peter turned on his shoulder and limped towards their bedroom.

She tagged along. "You can't just go out now, Peter. Look at you, you're still badly wounded."

He opened the wardrobe and grabbed his suit. "This is bigger than me, Gwen. I have to try."

"Peter, no. Please, don't do this." A tear slid down her right eye. She looked down at the ground and whispered, "I can't lose you."

After wearing the whole suit minus the mask which he held in his hand, he approached his wife and gently placed a hand on Gwen's chin. He made her look back at him. "Those innocent people need me. These guys won't stop until I arrive, and there isn't anyone else that can stop them besides me."

She stared into his eyes. "What about the… Avengers?"

He shook his head. "If they were here, we would know. I have to go."

Gwen bit her lower lip. "Promise me you're going to get back to me - alive, promise me, dammit!" She tried to force him by slightly pushing him back on his good shoulder.

Peter sighed heavily. "You know it doesn't work that way, I can't promise that… but only that I will give my best try to end this right now, today." He moved a lock of her golden hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead, reassuringly.

Gwen hugged her husband. "Please be careful." She whispered.

Peter nodded and squeezed her hand one last time. He wore the mask down his face and approached the window to their bedroom. He scanned his surroundings. He looked over his shoulder, "Don't follow me, okay?"

She crossed her arms. "...I will be waiting for you."

"We still have dinner to cook." He leaped off the window and swung away. Spider-Man was truly back.

Gwen watched him swing towards his destination until she couldn't anymore. She then curled on the bed's covers, afraid of turning the television on and seeing him struggle with those people as the time passed.

Please be okay…

New York - Fifth Avenue

Aleksei stormed through the street and caused damage to everything on his way. The mech eventually stopped and stood on its legs. Herman eventually approached him from behind him to protect himself from any attack from the police on their way.

More police cars stopped away from their position. They formed another barricade and quickly positioned themselves behind the car. Aleksei raised his mechanical arms and opened fire at them for a brief moment until he spotted the blue figure materializing itself above and behind the officers. Max fired dozens of bolts to each one of them, severely injuring the opposition, if not worse.

Max began to absorb what was left of the energy from the light poles in the street.

Toomes watched the trio as he flew high above in the buildings. He spoke to himself, "... where's that damn bug?"

Spider-Man landed on Toomes' back and placed a web-line across Toomes' neck as if he was riding a horse. "You mean this bug...?!" He pushed the web-line back and towards him.

Adrien struggled for a moment and accidentally flew backward and smashed Spider-Man's back against the window of the building they were near. They crashed inside and against the work tables.

Adrien quickly recomposed himself and began running towards the window they had come from. He leaped outside but felt the webbing attach itself to his right foot as he got dragged back inside. He fell onto the floor.

"Where do you think you're going?" Spider-Man jumped on top of Adrien and began to repeatedly punch him on the helmet.

Max arrived through the outlet in the wall and quickly wrapped his electrical arms around Spider-Man's neck. He released a full charge over his enemy as the latter felt his muscles become incredibly tense.

Spider-Man pressed the back of his head against Max's face and had him stumble backward. "That hurts, Max!" He turned on his shoulder to face his former number one fan.

Toomes stood on his feet and swung his sharp wing across Spider-Man's back, receiving a painful gasp from him in return. As the latter turned to face him again, Toomes flew towards Spider-Man and grabbed him by the neck as they headed outside.

After achieving enough momentum, Toomes flew Spider-Man straight towards a building's wall, cutting it through with the vigilante's body. Spider-Man held on to his opponent's hands and tried to push them away, but with each new collision, his strength failed him.

They eventually reached the other end of the building and into the city once again. Toomes now carried Spider-Man to the highest point in the air he could reach. Once high enough, Toomes let go of Spider-Man and allowed it to freefall to his death.

Spider-Man tried to shoot a webline at Toomes but missed the target. "... son of a…"

Back at the streets, Aleksei shot three missiles at Spider-Man in the air. The latter evaded the first missile by spinning himself to the side. He held on to his knees and rolled over the second one. He then shot a biocable to the third missile which had just passed right next to him.

Spider-Man pushed the missile back towards him and later released it in Aleksei's direction.

"Oh, you…" Aleksei sighed from the cockpit as he watched the missile explode right in front of him.

Through the shattered lenses of his mask, Spider-Man saw Rhino being overwhelmed by a cloud of black smoke. As he reached the city level once again, Spider-Man shot a single biocable to the nearest building and held it tightly in his hand. The webbing stretched and snapped as he crashed on top of a taxi.

He groaned in pain. He raised his chin slightly and found a sharp opening on his ankles and right fist. His chin was also exposed. His time out was interrupted once the car behind him was tossed to the side as Rhino emerged right behind him.

Aleksei spoke from the destroyed cockpit, "Die, Spider-Man, die!" He held Spider-Man in one pawn and lifted him from the ground just to press him against the ground harshly, over and over again.

Electro stopped in the air in front of them and watched the hole in the ground that was being built with Spider-Man's body. Herman joined them and stood still with arms crossed. Toomes flew around in the air.

When they least expected, an orange ball landed in the mech's blind spot in its back and exploded from within him. Aleksei lost control of the armor and was unable to keep Spider-Man locked in his grip. The latter slid back into the ground and laid still.

From the sky above all of them, Harry shot a couple of bullets at Max. The latter grunted once the first ones landed on his body. Max quickly disappeared in the nearest light pole.

Herman ran away and hid behind a car. "... you traitor!"

Harry descended the glider ground level and next to Spider-Man. "Peter…"

Spider-Man looked up at Harry. He was surprised to see a healthier Harry Osborn. He moved a hand across his abdomen and slowly stood on his left knee. A portion of his right eye could be seen through the hole in the lense. "Why are you… here?"

"I figured you would need some help, and I guess I was right."

Spider-Man stood on his feet again. "Why now...?"

"Whether you like it or not, I still need to take care of you."

Aleksei yelled from his destroyed armor, "What have you done to my armor?!"

Harry looked back to Peter. "I know that I did bad things to you, and you are right about everything. The truth is… my father is back and he and Fiers are behind all of this. I'm here… to make things good."

"I thought he was dead?"

"There's not enough time to explain. I've sent you a-" Harry noticed that Toomes was heading straight towards them with his sharp wings ready for the kill. "Take my hand!"

Spider-Man hesitated at first. "No kills, Harry!" He grabbed Harry's hand as the latter spun the glider and threw Spider-Man at the incoming threat.

He raised his fist in mid-air and punched Adrien, causing his mask to shatter in half. As he flew past him, Spider-Man shot a biocable to the armor in Toomes' back and pushed himself towards the criminal, before kicking his left wing.

Adrien steadily fell to the streets. Spider-Man landed on a building.

He saw Harry fly across the street as Max chased him while shooting bolts at him. He spotted Herman opening a manhole and getting inside.

Spider-Man landed on the street and overwhelmed Toomes with webbing over the car. He then headed after Herman while Harry kept the rest busy.

Norman Osborn slowly opened his eyes as he regained his consciousness, only to see a room overwhelmed by fire and smoke. He turned to the side and noticed that Fiers was nowhere to be seen. He was left alone with what was left of a lifetime of work.

He spotted the intact vial filled with a greenish liquid lying in the ground close to him. It was similar to the one Harry had been injected with. The difference in Norman's case is that the disease was in a much-advanced stage. It could potentially buy him more time. It was his only choice at the moment. He dragged himself towards the vial and eventually took it in his hand. He pressed it against his shoulder and injected the substance inside his body.

In no time, his muscles began expanding as his fragile body got stronger. His hands were replaced with large claws. He increased in size. The pupil in his eyes turned red and glowy. He was becoming something completely out of their world.

He was turning out into the ultimate Green Goblin.

"Just stay at home, okay?" Gwen begged MJ through the phone. She was curled in her bed.

"I will, of course." MJ added, "I thought Jameson wouldn't want him to go outside right now?"

"He didn't, but Peter wanted to anyway." Gwen let out a half-truth.

"I see, I guess that's the life of a reporter." She questioned, "Have you talked to May? Maybe she has heard from him."

"She hasn't answered the calls. She's probably busy attending to the injured."

"Just wait for him then, you know your man. He always finds a way."

"I hope that you are right."

MJ gently, "I have to go now, beautiful." She continued, "He will be back before you even know it."

Gwen sighed. "Thank you. Be safe."

"You too. Good night… much love."

Gwen placed her phone on the counter next to the bed and rested her head against the pillow. She stared at the ceiling and remained in deep thoughts for a moment. She couldn't take her husband off her head.

Husband...

She smiled to herself.

Gwen never expected to marry anyone, at least not early in her life. She loved Peter since day one of their relationship, but considering their lives, she didn't expect such a thing to happen how it happened. Everything considerably changed once they moved to England and began to live together.

There were still so many things she wanted to do with him. She wanted to travel all over the world with him at her side. Maybe make love to each other on a deserted beach. She wanted to sit down next to each other on their porch and watch the day go by. Maybe have a proper family, a baby.

She truly wanted all of that.

Determined and against Peter's wishes, Gwen got off the bed and wore a black leather jacket on her shoulders. She walked to the living room and caressed Ren's soft fur, before stepping into the hallway and taking the elevator.

She was unable to stay still and do nothing while her husband risked his life against the deadliest threat he had ever faced.

Abandoned Subway under Fifth Avenue…

After descending the rather long stairwell, Spider-Man carefully walked next to the train lines. He searched around for Herman. The surroundings were quiet and dark, but he could see most things around him.

Spider-Man panted heavily. His right arm and back were exposed due to the spandex being torn. He fell on his knees and lifted his mask just enough to expose his mouth and spit some blood into the floor.

He eventually stood and noticed a dark and smaller figure running across the lines. It disappeared within an old train.

"Hey!" Spider-Man called. He began following what looked to be a kid. He overheard some sobbing.

He stepped inside the train and searched for the child. The lights started to blink as he checked every corner. He found someone hiding between two seats. The child had his head buried on her knees.

He said, "Hey, little one… let me help you." He offered his hand to the girl.

The mysterious blonde girl raised her chin and looked at him. "You can't help me… everyone around you dies."

"What...?" He was taken back "I… look-" He was interrupted once his special triggered in his head and warned him of the incoming seismic blast coming from outside and towards his train.

"No..!"

The train rolled over with Spider-Man inside. It crashed past some columns and landed against a wall. Spider-Man was laid on his back, he turned on the ground and searched for the kid, but she wasn't anywhere near him.

He gasped in pain. "Am I seeing things...?"

He felt a sharp pain coming from his ribcage and looked down at it. He immediately spotted the piece of metal carved in his flesh.

"God...! He panted heavily and proceeded to remove the piece of metal. The pain only increased with every inch that was brought outside. "Herman...!" He shouted angrily and removed the metal from his body, blood splattered in the ground as he did so.

He webbed the injury with the hope to stop the bleeding and limped his way out of the train. He saw nothing but a green cloud around him. He kept turning in circles as he realized that he was not present in the station anymore.

Spider-Man now stood on the grass as he faced dozens of graveyards next to each other and in front of him. His eyes widened once he read the carvings in the stones.

Gwen Maxine Stacy Parker.

Benjamin Parker.

May Reilly Parker.

Richard Laurence Parker.

Mary Terese Parker.

He fell to his knees and faced Gwen's stone which was the one in front of him. "Gwen…? This… can't be real. no…"

Spider-Man felt the cold surface of a metallic glove touch the back of his neck. Herman questioned, "Are you ready to bite the dust?"

Quentin surged from the cloud in front of Peter. He wore his usual trademark armor with green and purple-colored sections. "Haven't you done enough, Spider-Man? It's time to rest."

Spider-Man realized what was going on. He tilted his head to the side and spun on his feet, before holding onto Herman's glove and aiming it at Quentin. It charged and shot the blast at Quentin's face, the latter flew against the wall and collapsed into the dusty ground.

Herman freed himself from Spider-Man's grasp. He began to fire more blasts towards the vigilante.

Spider-Man had to jump wall to wall as the place began to crumble. "You are going to get us killed!" He landed behind Norman.

"Shut up...!" He turned on his back and aimed both hands at Spider-Man. The latter spun sideways to the left and had the blast one of the hit inflammable pipes in the tunnel.

He saw the gas come out. "Goddamnit, Herman!"

Overloaded, one of the pipes behind Herman's back exploded and quickly filled the tunnel with fire. The blaze of fire was reflected on what was left of Spider-Man's lenses before he started to run away.

Gwen sprinted through the crowd that observed the fight from far away. The police fences kept them from going any further. She approached one of the officers in front of the barricade.

"Stay still, mam."

Gwen could see past the guard what looked to be Harry on top of his glider. He fought Max and tried to avoid his attacks. Aleksei was unable to get out of the cockpit.

"Where's Spider-Man?" Gwen questioned the officer again, "Why are you not helping him?"

"A third response team is already on their way."

Gwen said aghast, "So you are just gonna stand here and do nothing? He's in danger!"

"Ma'am, please..."

They were interrupted once they felt a tremor from underneath them. The ground where the battle was happening began to crumble and formed a small crater. Every single manhole in the avenue burst into the air as the fire took its place.

People fell onto the ground but Gwen managed to stay up. She followed Harry with her eyes as he flew higher to avoid being caught in the blast.

The officer recomposed himself and received a piece of information coming from the radio on his suit.

"All units, a… large and unidentified green creature is heading towards Fifth Avenue. One of our choppers has been put down; do not engage, I repeat… do not engage."

Gwen tried to sprint past the guard but he quickly wrapped one arm around her waist and kept her from going any further.

"Let me go!" Gwen demanded. She struggled but eventually calmed a bit down once a glimpse of hope appeared in her sight.

Harry ceased dodging Max's attacks and descended back to the streets. He looked around the crater for Peter. A bare hand popped out of the ground.

Spider-Man dragged himself off the ground and between the debris. He stood on his knee. The left lens of the mask was non-existent and bits of his air came through the opening of the mask.

He sighed heavily, in pain. He wasn't able to save both Quentin and Herman.

Max materialized himself behind Harry and blasted him off the glider.

Harry landed harshly on the ground. He wiped the blood off his mouth.

Max raised his hands at Harry. He spoke, "In the end… you are the one that needs me, but I don't feel merciless,"

Harry's body froze in horror once he spotted the greenish and spiky monstrosity jumping from building to building until it finally landed over Electro.

The huge green figure, almost the same height as the Lizard but a tad bit higher and stronger, stood over Max. The latter tried to free himself by charging electricity into the monster.

The visitor placed both its hands on Max's head and pressed them together while letting out a huge grin.

Max screamed in agony for a brief time before exploding himself into sparkles that eventually vanished within the air.

"Pathetic..." Norman spoke. His facial features were completely different. He had a longer chin along with short spikes on the sides of his head.

Spider-Man looked at Harry after approaching. "Harry…?"

Norman slowly walked towards them.

"That's… my father." Harry grabbed the green blade from the ground after it fell off his destroyed glider. "He's here for you."

Spider-Man couched blood into the ground. "Figured as much."

"His condition is much worse than mine, and without the armor.. that's probably the reason why he became such an abomination."

"What do we do?"

"The only thing we can… we need to end him."

Peter widened his eyes. He was surprised after hearing Harry wanting to kill his father. "That's not right..."

"It's the only way, Peter. We need to finish this."

"Harry…!" Norman grabbed a random car on his way and threw it at them.

"Watch out!" Harry quickly pushed Spider-Man to the side and slid himself under the flying car. He drew his blade and ran towards Norman.

When close to his father, Harry jumped in the air and stabbed Norman's shoulder. He hung on the blade. He tried to remove the weapon but it was stuck on his flesh.

Norman cackled. "You were right, I wasn't around for you, but now? Maybe I can do something for you."

He grabbed Harry's neck with one hand and removed the blade from his shoulder with his free one.

Harry was unable to compete against his father's strength so he slid a bomb from his glove and into his hand. Norman quickly stabbed him in the stomach as the blade went right through the right section of his chest.

From the barricade, Gwen covered her mouth with her hand once she saw what happened to Harry.

Peter's blood froze in shock as time slowed down. He couldn't believe his sight. "No...!" He began to run after them.

Harry spit blood at Norman's face. "I'm not… done yet." He activated the bomb he was hiding and moved the hand that held the bomb next to Norman's face.

The blast made him fly out of his father's grasp and collide against Peter.

Peter recomposed himself and moved beside Harry. "Harry! Stay with me now." He made Harry stand on his knees. He cupped his cheeks with both hands.

Peter cleared his throat, "It's okay, it's not even that bad, right?" He moved his hand to Harry's back and felt a thick substance come from inside the armor. "You're fine, May will patch you up, you will be as good as new, okay?"

Harry's eyes were almost shut. "... Peter…"

He gently patted his cheek to wake him. "Hare, hey...! Wake up!" He made Harry rest his chin over his shoulder. "I got you… I'm gonna take care of you..." He tightened his grip on his friend. "Harry...?!" He shouted as hard as he could.

Peter caressed the back of Harry's hair.

"Parker...!" Norman appeared from the flames that previously engulfed him.

Peter sobbed slightly. He took a deep breath and slowly lowered Harry along the ground. He looked over his shoulder and now faced Norman. "I swear… that I will kill you, Norman."

Norman cackled. "Yes… that's the spirit!"

Peter spotted the police officers arriving on the rooftop of the buildings around them. They were setting up their weapons at the edge of each building.

Norman approached Peter. "Harry was weak, but you? You are special, you were always meant to become who you are, or do you think that what happened to you was merely an accident?"

"Shut up…"

"We waited for such a long time for you, Peter."

"Shut up..."

Norman insisted, "Join me… we can change the world for good, no more pain… no more deaths. Isn't that what you fight for?"

"Shut up...!" Peter rushed forward with his fist raised at Norman. He punched the monster in the face and caused some blood to be spilled from his mouth. The bones in his hand shattered, but he didn't care.

Norman grabbed Peter in the air and smashed him against the ground. He held on to him tightly, before raising Peter once again and releasing him in the air only to land a blow in his stomach.

Peter flew away and stopped some meters from the barricade Gwen was in.

Norman shortened the distance between them with a single jump as he pressed his feet over Peter's chest, making him yell in absolute pain. He said, "Don't be selfish like your father was, or are you willing to commit the same mistake that led to his death...?!"

Peter webbed Norman's face. Norman instantly walked backward and tried to remove the sticky substance. Norman stretched the webbing to the side and ripped it apart. He saw Peter smash the door of a vehicle on his face. He bounced around and ultimately kneeled on the floor.

Peter jumped on Norman's back and wrapped his arms tight around his neck. He then shot a web-line from his hand to the other and around Norman's neck, keeping him locked on a leash for as long as he could.

"So be it..." Norman moved his hands over Peter and buried his claws on his back. He then pulled Peter over him and pressed him against the ground again.

Norman began to repeatedly punch his target. The latter's mask was halfway into being completely gone. Norman smiled once he realized the damage on his face.

Peter managed to avoid the next incoming fist towards his cheek by tilting his head to the side and then smashing his forehead against Norman's. That did more damage to himself than to Norman.

"You are… weak!" Norman shouted.

Peter could barely see anything. His eyes were becoming swollen. He did notice the blue laser targets on Norman's shoulders. The cops at the buildings were ready to fire on him.

Norman moved the palm of his claw against Peter's heart, before slowly pressing the tip of his sharp nails inside the flesh.

Peter grunted in pain. "Wait… wait."

Norman stopped with his swings. "What?" He saw Peter let out a smirk,

The first electric stick was shot at Norman's back. He looked over his shoulder and spotted the glowing blue light from the stick. More sticks were then shot at him. They activated and charged his entire body with energy.

Norman released Peter and covered his head with both hands from the rest of the incoming sticks. A few more pierced his leg and arm. He kneeled into the floor and roared in pain.

Peter eventually managed to stay up once again. He saw Norman try to resist the electrical charge coming from the sticks. Peter fully covered his right hand in webbing and slowly limped towards Norman. He increased his pace and when close enough, he uppercuted Norman in the chin and had his teeth shattered at the impact.

Norman was knocked up straight and fell on his back while still being electrified. Peter stood over his chest and proceeded to repeatedly punch his face against the ground. With each punch, Peter felt more pain in his hands and body, but that didn't matter to him.

Peter inhaled deeply as he stared down at his enemy. He spotted a damaged light pole that was made of steel set on the ground next to him. He shot a single biocable at the pole and pulled the pole into his hand.

Peter raised the pole above his head and later swung it down. The ambient was charged with silence. He panted heavily and watched what he had just done. He later turned on his back and looked at the crowd back at the barricade.

The strike teams at the buildings greeted each other proudly for finally putting an end to the whole ordeal.

Peter looked down at the deep wound on his ribcage. The webbing there had turned out red. He had lost too much blood.

He caught a glimpse of his wife back at the barricade. She had tears moving down her cheeks. He managed to smile, but not because Gwen was there, but because he had granted her a better future.

No more conspiracies, Oscorp related matters, or anything of the sort.

Peter fell on his knees without taking his eyes off his wife and eventually collapsed to the ground.

Gwen noticed that the guard was distracted as he talked to someone on his radio. She ran past him and under the fence. She quickly ran after her husband. The officer tried to grab her but fell once he stumbled into the fence.

She finally reached him. He rested on his chest. She stood on her knees and gently turned him around. She placed his head over her lap and removed his torn mask. His face was filled with bruises and stains. Blood poured from his lips and nose.

His eyes were barely open.

"Peter...?" She caressed his hair. "I'm here now."

She touched her forehead against his. "Don't you dare leave me now… I need you with me, please."

Gwen looked up to the sky and kept her husband's head close to her chest. She cleared his throat. An ambulance stopped near them along with a couple of police cars. The medics opened the back of the ambulance and rushed towards them.

One of them crouched to check on Peter. "Jesus Christ… his own… mother wouldn't recognize him."

"Don't let anyone take pictures!" An office in the area ordered them. They formed a circle around the pair while a second team checked on Norman Osborn.

The pole was stuck on the ground and next to his head.

"He's not breathing…" A medic informed. His partner joined him next to Peter and told Gwen to release him.

She reluctantly obeyed as the paramedics quickly started the reanimation process. They began to stimulate his heart. A woman pressed her ear against Peter's heart, but there was nothing to be heard.

Gwen held his bare left hand while watching everything. One of the medics demanded a defibrillator from the ambulance that was quickly handed to him.

They ripped the spandex that covered Peter's chest and placed the two small devices against the skin. "One… two… three!"

Peter's chest raised for a moment. Gwen cleared her throat.

A spotlight coming from a chopper was cast on them. The ropes were thrown off the helicopter and more officers slid them down towards them. They went towards Toomes and later surrounded Aleksei who was still stuck in the cockpit of his armor.

"Again… one… two… three!" His chest raised once again.

Gwen tightened her grip over his hand. "Stay with me..."

16/02/22 - The chapter was fully overhauled. Fixed mistakes, improved dialogues, and scenes. Minimal story changes.