Act 2, Scene 18
Peter wakes - again. This time however he's in a normal - if excessively large - bed. The room at large is very grand and ornate, clearly belonging to a house of some size. To one side of the bed stands a large piece of medical equipment. There are three other people in the room; the two men who brought him to the van and the female driver. The woman moves to his side as he tries to sit up.
WOMAN: Try not to move. You're healing fast but you're not done yet.
PETER: Who-
WOMAN: Sssh.
She presses a button above the bed. It's an intercom system of some sort.
WOMAN: He's awake, sir.
MAN'S VOICE: Excellent. I'll be down straightaway.
WOMAN: Drink this.
PETER: What-
WOMAN: Hot soup. You had hypothermia when we brought you here. That seems to be clearing up too, but a little extra warmth can't hurt.
The two men help him into a sitting position and adjust pillows at his back. The soup is placed before him on a bed tray. Peter lifts the spoon before his brain catches up.
WOMAN: If we'd wanted to hurt you, Peter, you'd be dead by now. Eat.
PETER: How do you know-
But he flashes back to a day or so earlier, during his happy little first-day routine at the Sentinel, being greeted with 'Good morning Mr. Parker' from the two female receptionists. One of them is the girl who speaks to him now.
PETER: You work for the Sentinel.
LYNAS: She works for me.
He enters the room and motions for the two men to leave. They do so.
LYNAS: They all do.
He walks to the side of Peter's bed and checks the readouts on a bank of monitors there. The soup is removed.
LYNAS: You're doing well, Peter. Miraculously well, if you consider your condition when we brought you in not eight hours ago.
PETER: Eight hours? I've been out for eight hours-
He moves and winces, but has a little more capacity to move than the last time he tried.
LYNAS: Want the highlights? Punctured lung. Healed. Broken leg. Unbroken. Massive internal bleeding. Stopped. Eight broken ribs...then six broken ribs...then three, and to look at you now...
PETER: Why are you doing all this?
LYNAS: Repaying a debt.
DRIVER: We all are, Peter.
PETER: I don't understand.
LYNAS: I've always been a very wealthy man, Peter. This is my family home. Eighty-six empty rooms for a child to get lost in. I hated it. I love to be surrounded by people. That's why I don't use a limousine. And that's why, about a year ago, I happened to be on a certain train.
Super-quick flash of the train incident, except this time we see Lynas amongst the passengers as Peter's unconscious body is carried shoulder-high.
We come back to Peter. There's a light of understanding in his eyes, and we sense that he's begun to relax a little about this for the first time.
PETER: You carried me.
DRIVER: We all did.
PETER: We?
LYNAS: There are thirty-four of us. When Octavius took you and we were left waiting for rescue, we had nothing to do but talk. And we realised we owed you for what you'd done. Being used to chairing commitees and the like, I was chiefly responsible for the gathering of telephone numbers, of email addresses. We kept in touch with each other.
He pulls back his shirtsleeve and displays his wrist to Peter. There's a small tattoo of a spiderweb on his skin, discreet enough not to be noticeable.
LYNAS: We, uh, we call ourselves the Web. Not original I'll grant you.
PETER: (to the woman)Do you have a tattoo?
DRIVER: (looking at Peter hungrily)Yeah...but mine ain't on my wrist.
PETER: (hurriedly sitting up) So, er, thanks for everything, but I-
LYNAS: I wouldn't, Peter. There's only one wound on you that hasn't healed.
He points. Peter looks down at his shoulder. Chang's teethmarks are still there, red and sore. He touches the area with a finger and winces.
PETER: What did she do to me...
LYNAS: We scanned you with everything we could get. (shrugs) Couldn't detect a damn thing. All I know is your skin, top to toe, was jet-black until about three hours ago. Then it just...faded away. If you wait here and we can get some better equipment-
Peter shakes his head and throws back the sheets, swinging his legs free and hopping to the floor. He's wearing only briefs. The driver reacts. He flexes himself, testing his body, and seems fine.
PETER: I know where to go. And besides, I have other things to do.
LYNAS: The Goblin?
PETER: He's gotta be stopped. (off Lynas and the woman's reaction) What's happened?
LYNAS: He's been busy.
He reaches for a control and presses a button. A wood panelling slides back to reveal a hidden television. A news channel shows a few images of destruction from New York; a ruined bank vault; a smoking armoured van, etc.
PETER: Oh my God...
His fists clench. It seems the penny has finally dropped to Peter that Harry is beyond help. We see determination enter his expression.
PETER: Thank you for everything, but I have to go, now.
LYNAS: Uh, you might not want to leave just yet (he nods to Peter's less-than-dressed current state)
PETER: Oh...do you have anything I could-
We cut to a sliderobe being opened. More than a dozen Spider-suits lie behind it. Peter's eyebrows raise. He's pleased, but he's also a little dubious.
PETER: Nice.
LYNAS: We tried to think of everything.
He excuses himself. Peter removes a suit from the sliderobe. He's standing in a changing area in front of a full-length mirror. He touches the spider-suit...
PETER: Whoa…
His fingers discolour red and blue. Startled, he drops the suit. The discolouration spreads up through his fingers to his arms and down to his legs. He staggers backward…
We cut to Lynas waiting outside. Peter emerges a few seconds later fully clad in a spider-suit. He looks, to put it mildly, perturbed, and is pulling at it and stroking it with his fingers.
LYNAS: Good fit on you?
SPIDERMAN: Very...
Lynas hands him a business card.
LYNAS: You need anything, you call me.
SPIDERMAN: I will. And thanks.
He takes the card and lets his hand drop to his side. His 'suit' extends a tendril and absorbs the card into its skin. Peter's eyes widen. His hand slaps the skin where the card vanished, and a second later it re-emerges, ready to be taken. Peter leaves it where it is and it is re-absorbed. Lynas sees none of this.
LYNAS: Everything alright?
SPIDERMAN: Eh...sure.
They're on one of the outside balconies of the house.
LYNAS: See you at work, Peter, one way or the other.
Spiderman springs from the balcony and begins webbing his way into the city. Lynas watches him go.