At the docks, Ock completed his device before telling the arms they had one more chore. At Harry's manor, he looked over newspaper clippings of Spider-Man as Ock attacked him, demanding the Tridium. Harry said he could have it, if Ock brought Spider-Man to him alive. Ock asked how, Harry said Peter Parker knew who he was. He just asked Ock not harm Peter.
"He's rebuilding that device? Is he insane?" Bruce asked, aghast.
"Those arms definitely are. I'd love to take them apart, see what their AI is doing." Tony stated.
"He's going after Harry now? What does he think he'll get from him?" Sprite asked.
"This Tridium? Ah, the material that powered his device the first time. I'd love to know more about it, I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist in this universe." Phastos remarked.
"It's probably like Badassium." Tony grinned.
"Badassium?" Peter-3 asked.
"An element I invented." Tony explained.
"You invented an element? How?!" Peter-3 exclaimed, excitement coursing through him. "How is that even remotely possible?"
"Desperation and having the right resources at the right time. It's a synthetic version of Palladium, in the simplest terms." Tony waved it off. "I'll have to try find a way to show you guys it sometime."
"Harry is too consumed by his desire for vengeance against Spider-Man, he's going to risk everyone for a grudge." Sam scowled.
"At least he cares enough about Peter still to ask Ock not to hurt him." Kate reasoned.
"That won't be a good thing I'm sure once Harry finds out the truth, this just seems to be setting up towards Harry learning who is under the mask." Clint stated.
Peter read a Bugle page that said crime was up 75% as he heard screams nearby. Heading over he saw a house fire, he realised he wasn't wearing the suit but with nobody there to help, he raced into the burning building to try rescue a child he knew was on the second floor. Finding the kid crying in a wardrobe, Peter helped her out and carried her to safety as the flames threatened to engulf them both. One of the firefighters said Peter had guts as Peter heard there was someone else in the fire who never managed to escape.
"Up 75%?! Is Spider-Man alone such a deterrent to crime in your world?" Ned asked, astonished.
"Yeah, aren't you all deterrents here?" Peter-2 asked, finally looking around the room again, trying to ignore the pitying looks he was receiving, knowing his eyes were likely red.
"We help, sure, but we focus on larger threats, not really on crime itself, we leave that for local law enforcement, so, whilst crime is lower than it was without us, it's not a sizeable drop." Steve explained.
"During the Blip, I guess it's going to be called, crime was way higher for a time before dropping, as order was re-established, and we did help on the ground alot more than we had before Thanos, it wasn't exactly rock bottom rates still." Natasha agreed.
"Huh, I guess that comes with being the only crime fighter really in the city, but crime drops alot when I'm active, and it increases if I have time off for any reason." Peter-2 supplied.
"Yeah, I've found the same, when I've been off a few times before with cold, it's gone up, when I return, it drops." Peter-3 agreed.
"You're going in without a suit? You could be hurt or worse!" May yelped.
"I had to help, I may not be in the suit and may be trying to walk away, but I can't stand still and let crimes happen anymore." Peter-2 insisted.
"I know." May said, eyes watering. "Because you're a hero, Peter."
"She's very sweet." Betty cooed at the sight of the young child Peter-2 saved.
"I've checked in on her a few times over the years." Peter-2 admitted. "She's doing well, finishing high school up about now actually."
The mood of the room plummeted when they heard about another person on a different floor being trapped and dying in the blaze.
"Peter." Happy said, seeing Peter-2's face drop when he heard again about the person he didn't know about dying, Peter-2 looked over at him. "It's not your fault, never even think for a moment it was. You didn't know they were there. That's not on you."
"I could have done better though." Peter-2 sighed.
"No. You really couldn't have. You saved a life, Peter. That's the takeaway. You can't be everywhere all at once, you know you can't." MJ insisted. "You can't blame yourself for every issue in the world, none of you can."
Peter asked himself what should he do, should he give up the life he wants to be a hero again, when Ursula, Ditkovich's daughter, knocked to offer him some cake and milk, which he accepted, then to let him know he had a message from his aunt.
"I already knew the answer, deep down." Peter-2 said. "I had to take back the suit again."
"Ursula seems kinda nice." Cindy stated as MJ frowned.
"She was nice, a good neighbour and a good friend." Peter-2 agreed.
Heading to May's, he found her packing up the house, heading to move elsewhere. She told him she forgave him and loved him, and it was brave he told her the truth about the night Ben died. He asked where his comics were, she said she had given him to the neighbourhood kid. The kid asked him if he was the guy who took photos of Spidey and whether Spidey was ever coming back. Peter said he didn't know. May said how both her and Henry knew Spider-Man was a hero and people needed heroes in these dark times.
"She's moving?" May asked.
"Too many memories and the bills are a bit much. She needed to get away from there." Peter-2 explained.
"I told you she wouldn't hold it against you." May smiled at him as Peter-2 smiled back.
"She gave away your comics? Uncool!" Ned laughed.
"It really wasn't cool at all." Peter-2 nodded.
"He really is a hero, and we really do need heroes." Flash agreed.
"Does she know that you're Spider-Man?" Matt asked.
"I think she did, even then." Peter-2 nodded. "She definitely knew eventually."
The scene cut to Peter on a roof, trying to jump it, shouting "I'm back!" before hitting the floor and holding his back, whimpering "My back" as he hobbled away. The scene then cut to Mary Jane and JJJ's son discussing the wedding, as she told him to keep his head back as she tried to recreate the upside down kiss she had with Spider-Man. Mary Jane realised it was a mistake, as she invited Peter for a coffee.
"Well, seems your comeback went amazingly well." Thor laughed.
"I may have overestimated myself." Peter-2 grumbled. "This did delay the return by a day."
"Is that how your back thing started?" Peter-3 whispered to him as Peter-2 nodded.
"Yep, many hits to the back haven't helped alongside the swinging strain."
"Is she really comparing him to Spider-Man?" Hope asked.
"How is he meant to compare to a literal superhero? Even as an astronaut?" Cindy asked.
"I don't think he's meant too, I think she wants a reason to leave him without being bad. A reason to follow her heart and go after Peter, who I expect she already suspects could be Spider-Man." Abe reasoned.
"Right in one." Peter-2 smiled tightly.
Peter and Mary Jane talked about them, as Peter said he couldn't be there for Mary Jane, both of them said their minds played tricks on them. She asked Peter if he loved her or not. Peter said he didn't, as Mary Jane asked him to kiss her, just once, to prove something. Peter looked at her engagement ring, as he moved towards her, until his Spider sense kicked in, as a car smashed through the window behind them, he hurried to protect Mary Jane as Ock attacked, throwing Peter into a wall and grabbing Mary Jane. He told Parker to tell Spider-Man to meet him at 3 o'clock or Mary Jane would die.
"Why can't you be there for her? It's kinda obvious she doesn't care about the danger risk, she's at threat even without being with you." MJ challenged.
"It was complicated, but it boiled down to my own fears, I guess." Peter-2 admitted. "We got there eventually though, we did make it work."
"You shouldn't kiss her, even if you end up together, she's with someone else." Steve told him.
"Don't worry, I didn't." Peter-2 assured him.
"Ock found you then, huh?" Bucky asked as they saw his spider sense kicking in.
"Yep, rather a bad bit of timing from him." Peter-2 joked.
"You're not ready to face him, are you?" Sersi asked.
"I wasn't, but I had to try. I couldn't let MJ die." Peter-2 said. "Although it was all for nothing in the end..."