To Song With No Soul: Interestingly, an ottophile's love for villains begins and ends with the good Doctor Octavius. The exact same people who will cheer on Dr. Octopus will heap general abuse and wish all varieties of ill will towards the Green Goblin. Otto's just a little crazy and paranoid though; Norman's a sociopath, plain and simple.

Happy reading, my Loyal Minions! Keep the reviews coming!

Chapter 4: Saving Me

"Show me what it's like

To be the last one standing

And teach me wrong from right

And I'll show you what I can be

Say it for me, say it to me,

And I'll leave this life behind me

Say it if it's worth saving me."

Nickelback, "Savin' Me"

Finally, she could face herself and her misdeeds. I was in it for the thrills, the perks, and the fame. And what did it get me? The momentary thrills left my beloved Pete dead. Instead of fame, I'm an outlaw, blamed for his death. And the perks—what of them now?

She was a sadder, but wiser woman, and she knew what she had to do.

She was kneeling at the bedside of Peter Parker's adored aunt, May. She had been a second mother to Pete, she'd heard, ever since his parents, Richard and Mary, died under mysterious circumstances. Richard was the baby brother of her husband Ben.

"May…I have something to tell you."

May blinked up at her in sudden recognition. "Mary Jane. You're my friend Anna's niece."

Mary Jane smiled. "Anna Watson used to be your fellow Red Hat Society member and bingo partner, didn't she?"

"I haven't played bingo in such a long time," May remembered. "I've switched to bunco."

"May, there's something I need to tell you about Peter's murder."

"I heard about that, Mary Jane. He was killed by that horrible Octopus. You saw the whole thing, but it's not your fault. If anything, it's mine. He was withdrawing that money to treat Ben and me to lunch, and he wanted to use the rest of it to take you out to dinner. Please don't blame yourself."

Mary Jane shook her head in secret admiration. Here she was, her husband and nephew dead, facing the woman responsible for her nephew's death, and here she was, trying to comfort her!

"I have to tell you the truth now, May."

May looked up at her in puzzlement.

"He was at the bank withdrawing his money, but that money came from taking pictures of Spider-Woman. I found out Doctor Octopus was heading for the bank Peter was waiting at. I raced over to the bank, but I had to call him and make sure he got the money first, just because I wanted to go to dinner. He told me he was in line right then, so I left for the bank. When I got there, Doc Ock was robbing the bank and—" Mary Jane's voice broke, and she nearly collapsed in sobbing.

"Just tell me, Mary Jane. I need to know the truth, whatever it is. I need to know."

"—and then I came in and tried to fight him off, but Doc Ock took Peter hostage. I couldn't save him because I didn't warn Pete where Octavius was going and I was late because all I cared about was the money he was getting. I tried to save him. It was too late."

"'Fight him off'?" May was genuinely perplexed. "'Save him'? You couldn't do anything. You couldn't fight off a grown man with mechanical arms."

"Yes, I could have! And I should have, but I didn't because I took it all as a game!"

Finally, the puzzle pieces put themselves together. May shook her head. Impossible. It couldn't be. Mary Jane's mysterious accident and illness at that field trip, the inordinate time Peter was spending with Mary Jane in the basement with all his chemistry equipment, Peter's status as the photographer with "exclusive access", it all added up to…No. It can't be. "You're Spider-Woman, aren't you?" It wasn't really a question. She knew, and all she needed was verification.

"Yes. I am—or was." Mary Jane admitted.

"I thought of you as my daughter! You were the one I wanted my Peter to marry! And you—!"

"I never meant him any harm! I'm sorry, that's why I'm telling you! I've even lost most of my powers—"

"Just go!"

Mary Jane obliged, knowing May was right—she was culpable in Peter's death. True, Doctor Octopus was the triggerman. But her personal conduct was what set the events in motion. She had a debt to pay.

She'd ditched her suit, but she knew where it had ended up. Some garbage man picked it up, brought it to the Daily Bugle headquarters, where it now hung on the wall as J. Jonah Jameson's personal trophy.

Thing was, she didn't shoot web anymore. Didn't know if she could still climb walls, either. Time to find out.

She shut her eyes, concentrated, curled her two middle fingers toward her palm, and flung it out. To her amazement, a long, silky strand of spider web flew out of her wrist, catching on her hairbrush.

The Amazing Spider-Woman smiled.

At the headquarters of the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson stared regretfully at the costume hanging on the wall. "No word on the Norman Osborn murder case," his gofer, Hoffman, was telling him. "They're saying this 'Green Goblin' guy people have seen lately might have been the killer. The New York CSI unit says it looks like a supervillain-type murder. But every time someone gets close to him he flies off and screams about Spider-Woman."

"Norman was not only my boss and my paper's biggest shareholder, he was my friend, Hoffman. It was my fault he died." Jameson was still looking up at that costume. "I drove Spider-Woman away."

Hoffman nodded. "She's the only one who could've stopped the Goblin."

Mary Jane peered in the skylight, listening to Jonah "eulogize" her. It was like being Tom Sawyer, hiding out during his own funeral and listening to all the people who hated her in life praise her in death. Irony! She shot a web, carefully yanking her costume up unnoticed.

"Spider-Woman was a hero. A role model for all the little girls in New York. I just couldn't see it, and I treated her so unfairly. I practically had her drawn and quartered in my paper, and now I'm paying the price!"

Aw, and here I am without my digital video recorder.

Jonah was sniffling, trying to keep the tears back. "Spider-Woman was a…" Then he noticed the costume was off the display, replaced by a note which read:

Thanks for holding it for me, Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Woman.

"…A thief!"

Okay, Watson out. Exit stage left.

"A criminal! She stole my suit! I had it dry-cleaned and sewn up, too! She's a menace to the entire city! I want her strung up by her own web! I want Spider-Woman!"

She hurriedly slipped it on. If it's Spider-Woman he wants, then Spider-Woman he gets! I'm feeling generous tonight, in this case.

Spidey felt astonished to see the care Jameson had taken to repair her suit. The holes and slashes were sewn up; even the crusty old bloodstains were gone. The suit felt better than new; and so did she.

The Amazing Spider-Woman was back and swinging—literally from the rooftops again. She was her old self again; fearless and strong, the consummate actress and comedienne if not actually a showboater, sailing through mountains and valleys of glass and steel.

She heard a shout from below: "Look overhead, it's Spider-Woman!"

Spidey shouted back down at the small crowd: "Damn straight, bee-yotch!"

Thank you, Peter, for setting me free, she thought.

Oh no, you did that yourself, he replied. You won't hear my voice anymore, Mary Jane. The rest is up to you to work out. But remember, my love will always be with you.