Peter launched himself at Guardian, slamming into a wall of magenta. The world seemed to have melted away; his eyes locked only on his foe. Rage numbed the pain from the impact, and, Peter pounded his way closer, moving and twisting fast enough to dodge the blows he could, but allowing them to land when jumping out of the way would take him farther from his prey.

But then a single cry cut through the fury. "Spiderling!" MJ cried, the desperation heavy in her voice. He heard the distinctive thwip of her leaving the scene. He quickly glanced behind him. MJ, Annie, and Normie were gone. Glory was holding Jermaine and Ryan as they sobbed.

He could make out MJ's form swinging into the distance, likely going after their daughter. Who likely had Normie.

His family needed him. So, inspite of his rage, he turned his back on Guardian and followed his wife.

It wasn't long before they caught up to Annie.

They landed on a rooftop, one shorter than the others in the dense block.

"Spiderling," he said, keeping his eyes on his daughter. He wouldn't be able to hold it together if he looked at Normie.

How did this even happen? he wanted to scream.

MJ stood besides him, tears falling, how body trembling. She grabbed his hand and squeezed.

"Dad, I had to get him away from them."

"I know sweetie, I know. I'm going to call an ambulance, okay? We have to let him go." He tried not to think of Gwen, of the paramedic pulling the blanket over her still face.

"An ambulance won't help, we're too late."

"I know, kid, I know we are. But we have to do this. This is the next part, okay?"

"No. We need to take him home. To his mom, that's what he'd want."

"Annie," he whispered. "We can't do that to her." Liz. He paused to swallow the surge of grief. "There are policies we have to follow, to make this whole thing as, easy," he spat the word out, knowing he was just talking at this point, just trying to get Annie to let him go, "as possible for her. And Normie would want that."

Annie nodded, and let Peter call for an ambulance. MJ cried at his side, and Annie wouldn't let Normie go until they saw the sirens pull up besides the building. Then they brought him down, and let the ambulance take him. It all happened so fast, and yet each moment felt like an eternal nightmare. Thoughts of Gwen flashed through his mind, it was like that night was superimposed on this day, leaving him to muddle through both, when all he wanted to do was shut down.

When the ambulance left, Peter and his family stood in silence.

"Kid, how's your blood sugar," he asked gently. After what happened, he knew Annie's sugar levels were probably the last thing on her mind, but those could not go ignored.

Annie glared at him, then turned away, leaving his question unanswered.

He didn't know what to say. The horror of Normie's death hadn't truly hit him just yet. And he wouldn't let it, his family needed him.

He wrapped his arms around MJ and tried to do the same to Annie, but she flinched away.

"I threw a spider tracer on the girl," MJ said through her sobs.

"You what?" Peter asked, startled by the break in the silence.

She wiped her nose and eyes. "When Glass left," she spat the girl's name out, "I just couldn't let her get away with, with, oh god, Peter," she whispered, burying her face in his chest. "This can't be happening. He was just a kid. We used to babysit him. Remember how little he was? Those were simpler times," she said wistfully.

With everything going on with Harry, those times had been far from simple. But despite the anguish, babysitting Normie had brought some moments of levity and joy. Moments he knew he couldn't think about now.

"I'm going after her," Annie said.

"No you're not," he replied, shocked by the venom in her voice. It was beyond justifiable, but seeing his daughter in such pain shook him to his core.

"Spiderling," he whispered. " I need you to take your mother home. Okay?" Then he turned to his wife. "MJ, she's going to bring you home. I'll go after Glass."

"Don't say her name," Annie snapped. "What's wrong with you? What if someone hears?"

There was no one around but them. And Peter had only whispered his wife's name; hoping it would cut through some of the shock, grounding her, even just a little.

"You take mom home. I'm going after Glass."

"Annie…"

"What's with you today, what, our identities aren't important now?" She turned to leave, but Peter put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her, but she shrugged him off and jumped into the air firing a web, catapulting herself into action.

"Go with her," MJ said. "I think I'm going to be sick, I don't think I can come."

"MJ, are you okay?" What a stupid question to ask. Of course she wasn't. None of them were.

But she nodded before retching. "Go with her, please!"

Peter rubbed her back as she vomited, and brushed her braid away from the sick.

"Peter," she whispered harshly, "Go. She needs you. I'll be okay."

He nodded, his heart heavy. "I love you Red," he said to her, but her shoulders only sagged, and she retched again.

"Please, just go."

Peter took off, looking for his daughter.

Annie zoomed through the city, funneling her attention into her Spider-Sense, which kept her locked on the tracer's signal.

The cold, bitting air did little to sooth her burning rage. Glass was going to pay, and pay dearly for what she did. But Annie knew it would never be enough. There was nothing that could balance the scales, make this right; unless the girl had the power to resurrect the dead.

"Spiderling!" Her dad called. "Wait up!"

No, she thought, and forced her limbs to move faster, reaching farther, pulling harder, anything to breakaway. He wouldn't understand, and would just try to stop her.

But her father was able to match her speed.

"What's the plan, Spiderling?"

The plan? Find Glass. That murderous psychopath was a danger to society, and needed to be stopped. And then there was the personal score that needed settling. Normie was dead, her childhood friend, her boyfriend. Maybe perhaps her first love? But she'd never even know that now. After everything he had been though, everything he had overcome, he was dead. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

Annie fought to swing faster. She knew what she had to do. And she knew her father would try to stop her.

"Spiderling, talk to me! Please. I know what you are going through. I know it hurts. I know it will never stop hurting, but it will get better. Please. Just come home with me. We'll send the Fantastic Four after her. The Avengers. She'll pay for her crime. Just come home with me. Please."

Her father's ability to match her swing for swing pissed her off. And there was no way in hell he knew what she was going through. Yes, he lost people he loved. But he was able to move on, build a happy life. Annie couldn't see that happening for herself. The world had changed. And it wasn't for the better.

"Annie," her dad whispered. "I think I know what you have planned. After Gwen, I swore I would kill the Goblin, shook my fist to the sky and screamed it, for everyone to hear. And I almost did. But I couldn't do it. I wasn't a killer. And neither are you."

Her eyes stinging, Annie altered her swing, flinging herself in front of her father, interrupting his arc. He let go of his web to avoid crashing into her. Which was exactly what she needed.

He shot out another web to change directions, but she could anticipate his moves. She blocked him again and pushed him to knock him off balance, and countered his movements to right himself.

She wondered what this looked like to the people grounded below. An aerial melee between father and daughter.

Annie knew her father wouldn't hurt her, his moves were only defensive, so she exploited that. Her goal also to not harm, but to stop him from following her. And it ended up being easier than she thought. Adding more force to her movements, she pushed her dad up against a building and webbed him in place.

"Spiderling stop, please!" He said as she webbed him up. She made sure to get his limbs to prevent him from reaching the web dissolvent. This would hold him place. Give her the time she needed. She numbed herself to his cries, knowing now that something in her had truly changed forever.

But she couldn't dwell on that now. Annie zoned in on the spider-tracer's signal.

Amanda ran until she couldn't run any more. Before fleeing the carnival, she had grabbed her helmet and jet pack, and she took turns using the pack to put as much distance between herself and the carnival as possible; then she would land, running on foot. The reason was to avoid being spotted in the air by Spider-Man and his family. The more time she spent flying, the greater the risk of that happening.

But part of Amanda wondered if she wanted to get caught. She had just killed someone. Never in her life did she ever expect she would do something so heinous. She deserved to get caught. Deserved to be punished.

Amanda wanted her mom more than ever. If her mom had been there, maybe she could've healed him, saving his life. Hell, if her mom had been there, there would've been no reason for this plan to begin with.

She fell to her knees, gasping for breath, in a narrow alleyway. Hadn't her mom brokered the deal that gave them these powers? Turned them into heroes? It had started off for Paul.

But now? What the hell were they even doing?

Amanda wracked her brain for a way to make this situation better. Maybe after delivering Spider-Man, their Benefactor would be able to not only bring back Paul, but the man she had killed.

"Glass!" A voice seethed.

Amanda turned around, and saw Spiderling swinging towards her. She broke off into a run, then hit the button to rev up her jet pack. It groaned as it whirred to life.

Just as her feet lifted off the ground, she felt herself be snagged up, and she was catapulted forward, crashing into the side of a building. She fell to the ground but was able to land on her feet.

"Spiderling," she began. "I can fix this!"

But she wasn't listening. Instead it was all so could to duck her blow. Red dust rained down on her, the bricks above flaking off from the force of the girl's blow.

Then she threw herself out of the way, just missing a kick to the face. She reactivated her jet pack, and trying to flee, but then felt a pressure hit her in the small of her back, and she was yanked violently back to the ground. She heard something crack in her jet packed, and the low whir it made now sounded like a tired groan.

She tried to stand, but Spiderling kicked out and swept her leg under feet, again knocking her down. Then she threw a punch. Amanda thought she could dodge it, but disoriented and dizzy, the punch landed, her helmet shattered off of her head. The helmet took some of the force, but the hit still landed; a shock of pain spread throughout her face and head, and then the world went black.

Annie stood over the unconscious girl. She raised her fist, ready to bring it down again and again. But instead, her eyes traced her face and she saw that Glass was no older than herself.

Finish the job, she told herself, but she still couldn't bring her fist down; the idea of beating someone to death made her skin crawl. Annie grabbed the girl, and ran up a skyscraper. At the top, she stood at the very edge and glared down at the city, suddenly recalling her and Normie's first kiss on the side of his building.

Eyes stinging, she extended her arm, dangling Glass over the edge. This would be a quicker end, all she had to do was let go. Let go, and Glass could never hurt anyone again. Let go and Normie would be avenged. But he'd still be gone. She wondered what he'd think of her, crossing this line. She remembered the day he showed her his father's journals. God, that seemed so long ago. She remembered how heart broken he had been, reading passages where his dad wrote about becoming the Goblin to protect Normie and the Osborn name.

She tried to force the memory back down, and tried again to open her hand and drop Glass. But she couldn't. Glass would pay, but not in blood.

Annie brought her back over the sky scraper, and then her Spider-Sense flashed an image of Guardian, firing a dome of energy.

And, of course, the image came to life, and Annie, now physically and emotionally spent, was hit from behind and knocked over. She dropped Glass, whose limp form rolled off the edge.

"No," she yelled, and tried to stand, but she was held in place by a magenta sheet.

Guardian flew over her and shot down the side of the building, disappearing. And then he ascended back into her field of vision, holding Glass's limp form. While she couldn't see his face, they locked eyes for a moment, and then he flew away, the magenta force field fading, setting her free.

She wanted to go after them, but, she realized just how exhausted she was. Her body and costume were ripped and covered in blood, both hers and Normie's. She felt woozy and a little sick. A thought of about her bloodsugar levels flitted through her head, a grateful reprieve from the horror in her mind. As much as she wanted to go after them, she knew she'd be no match. For now.

Annie circled back, and found her dad, still struggling against the webbing, and had almost managed to get his arm free. If Annie didn't feel so terrible, she'd probably be impressed. He stopped struggling as she sprayed the webbing with dissolvent.

Sighing, she sat next to her father on the side of the building, pulling her knees to her chest, feeling his gaze on her, and not being able to meet it.

"I couldn't do it," she whispered, staring off into the skyline. The beautiful, clear afternoon sky forever marred.

Her dad put a comforting hand on her shoulder, and pulled her close into an embrace, holding her as the day's events finally purged themselves from her in a cathartic cry.

"Let's go home," he said as her cries subsided. "Your mom needs us."

"She got away. I didn't catch her."

"We will. I promise you. But we need to go home. Okay? Come with me."

Annie nodded, and they sat together for a while longer in heavy silence.

Swinging home, Peter kept checking to see if Annie was still there by his side. Relief flooded each time his eyes found his daughter.

They swung back to Gayle's home, and discretely crawled into the window of the guest bedroom that MJ and Peter now shared.

He saw MJ on the floor, with her costume halfway off, curled up and crying. His heart broke. He had never seen her like this before.

"Mom," Annie whispered, and kneeled down to her.

Peter grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her. Then he scooped her up and placed her in the bed.

"I threw up," she whispered.

"That's okay," Peter said, as Annie rubbed her back.

"I can't stop seeing him. Normie. God, I held him that night, when Harry died. I held him so tight as he cried and promised I would never let anything happen to him."

Now he and Annie were both crying. "Its not your fault, MJ," he whispered, knowing his words meant nothing. Even after all these years he still blamed himself for Gwen.

Annie rested her head on her mom's shoulder.

"I don't want to do this anymore. I can't!" She said, trying to tug away at her costume.

Annie looked up at him, her eyes wide with concern.

Before Peter could respond, the sound of sirens wailed by the home, heading towards the city.

"Just Go." MJ said. "Go off and play the hero. I'll be fine."

Peter and Annie locked eyes, both knowing that MJ was not fine. But he couldn't ignore the sirens. He broke away from his family and grabbed his phone and sent a quick text to Felicia. Then he went to the window and pulled it down, shutting it with a gentle click.