Peter Parker lies in the unkept and now-overgrown vegetable patch in the garden of Anna Watson's home in Forest Hills, Queens. His clothes are burnt and smouldering, barely revealing his Spider-Man costume under his best clothes. He shakes his head to snap himself out of his stupor, and reaches into his pocket for his mask.
Inside the house, Paul Rabin flips the dining table out of his way as he begins striding across the room. Mary Jane Watson throws herself at him to stop him.
MARY JANE
NO!
PAUL
Out of my way.
Paul throws Mary Jane aside. He vaults out of the window as Peter hurriedly puts on his mask while climbing out of the vegetable patch.
SPIDER-MAN
The X-Men would like to know your location for
copyright infringement!
PAUL
Don't compare me to mutants!
Paul fires another blast from his glasses which Spider-Man dodges.
SPIDER-MAN
Stop it, Paul! These are good people who
live here!
PAUL
Am I supposed to care!?
SPIDER-MAN
I care! MJ cares!
PAUL
GYAAAAHHHHH!
Paul fires a blast of energy aimlessly in a rage. Spider-Man throws himself into it to prevent it from hitting the house next door—the house he grew up in. The blast burns through the remainder of his clothes revealing his Spider-Man costume through the now-larger burn holes. He cries out in pain and tears off what was left of his clothes.
SPIDER-MAN
(I have to get him out of here. But how am I
supposed to—)
A band of energy wraps around Paul's head and lifts him high into the air. Spider-Man looks in through the window to find Mary Jane has lifted Paul up with her own powers.
SPIDER-MAN
MJ!? We have to get him out of here!
MARY JANE
I know. Paul you have to stop this! I care about
this neighbourhood! I–I thought you did, too!
Paul blasts the band of energy wrapped around his face and he drops to the floor.
PAUL
I'm sick of this. I'm sick of all of this! I had a family!
And they died because of me! Don't you believe
in second chances, Spider-Man? Isn't that why
you refuse to kill!?
SPIDER-MAN
I don't know your story and frankly I've never
cared, but I can't let you stomp your way through
my old stomping grounds. These people matter.
PAUL
Matter to who!?
SPIDER-MAN & MARY JANE
TO ME!
Mary Jane restrains Paul with a band of energy as Spider-Man tries to wrap him in a cocoon with his webs. Paul continues to fire blasts at Spider-Man who handsprings away. He looks across to realise that Mary Jane's energy has vapourised his webs before they could connect with Paul.
SPIDER-MAN
We need something new! We just have to get
him out of here!
Spider-Man fires several webbed shots at Paul's glasses, temporarily blinding him. Mary Jane's slots whirl to three sevens. She glows in pale blue energy and the bands around Paul tighten and strengthen. He lets out a cry of pain as Mary Jane lifts him into the air and flies after him.
Spider-Man slingshots himself into the air after Mary Jane and Paul by attaching his weblines into two trees. He soars through the air next to Mary Jane, bouncing up and down while swinging from the roofs of the two-storey houses.
SPIDER-MAN
We need to have a serious conversation about
the things you know and the things you choose
not to tell me!
MARY JANE
It's not my place to tell other people's secrets!
How do you think I've kept yours for so long!?
SPIDER-MAN
You didn't think I needed to know this!?
MARY JANE
You didn't think to just enjoy dinner and not
agitate your host!?
SPIDER-MAN
That might be a fair point but my chest still hurts!
MARY JANE
I can't hold him much longer. What do we do
about this!?
SPIDER-MAN
Put him down in the train yard and then get
some distance!
Paul breaks free and falls some 10 metres to the ground, landing in a dumpster. Mary Jane's powers fail just as Spider-Man pulls her towards him with webs. Like a hundred times before, she throws her arms around him and buries her face in his neck.
SPIDER-MAN
I've got you.
They swing to the roof of the nearby servicing facility. Spider-Man, making sure that she is safely on the ground, carefully moves his hands off Mary Jane, herself slow to let go. She clears her throat.
MARY JANE
Ok, what now?
SPIDER-MAN
Are you sure you want to be a part of this?
MARY JANE
I-I don't know. I feel like I should be.
Spider-Man puts a hand on Mary Jane's shoulder.
SPIDER-MAN
You know I'm speaking from experience when
I say this stuff isn't easy. Especially when it's
someone you know. It changes you.
MARY JANE
Y-yeah. I'm going to check if the neighbours
are ok.
SPIDER-MAN
I was gonna suggest at least suiting up—take
a leaf out of your own book on keeping secrets.
A huge hand made of the same energy as Mary Jane's gauntlet punches out of the side of the dumpster. Paul steps out. Spider-Man and Mary Jane duck on the roof so that Paul can't see them.
SPIDER-MAN
Did that come out of his glasses or is there more
I need to know?
MARY JANE
He has a watch, like mine. But that's the last of it,
I swear. The glasses and the watch.
SPIDER-MAN
Does he use slots too?
MARY JANE
He uses the same as my updated gauntlet. I
haven't seen the old one in a while. It's what you
were saying to Reed. He's using energy that the
device harnesses.
SPIDER-MAN
Ok. Without the devices is he enhanced?
MARY JANE
If he is, he didn't tell me.
Paul cries out from the forecourt.
PAUL
Come out, Spider-Man! Wouldn't it be fun to tell
your old neighbours who you are?
Mary Jane turns to face Spider-Man, sensing that his demeanour has changed regardless of the mask covering his face.
MARY JANE
Peter…
SPIDER-MAN
What?
MARY JANE
You can't.
Spider-Man doesn't look in Mary Jane's direction or respond to her statement.
MARY JANE
Peter I mean it.
SPIDER-MAN
If they know who I am, eventually someone will
talk and someone will come after you.
MARY JANE
I can defend myself now.
SPIDER-MAN
They'll know about your aunt.
MARY JANE
…
SPIDER-MAN
You once left me because a madman tore
through this neighbourhood threatening to kill you
and Mrs Watson. I'm not going to ask you what's
changed, but I need to keep people safe.
MARY JANE
…You can't use that against me.
Spider-Man turns to face Mary Jane through his mask.
SPIDER-MAN
And you don't get to tell me how I'm allowed to
feel about the ways in which our lives together
keep ending.
Mary Jane is taken aback and repeats herself.
MARY JANE
You. Can't.
The sound of energy blasts fills the forecourt.
PAUL
COME OUT, SPIDER-MAN!
Spider-Man puts his head over a barrier to look into the forecourt. He thwips a ball of webbing into a dumpster on the far side of the forecourt, distracting Paul.
SPIDER-MAN
I can't what?
MARY JANE
You know what I'm talking about.
SPIDER-MAN
Norman's known since college. There are others
too. It's up to your beau if he wants to keep his
mouth shut.
MARY JANE
Or what?
Spider-Man turns back to face Mary Jane.
SPIDER-MAN
I'm not going to kill him, MJ.
MARY JANE
Ok, I just–
SPIDER-MAN
Seriously?
MARY JANE
Ok fine. Let's forget it. I-I trust you.
Spider-Man sends another ball of webbing over the barrier they're hiding behind and hits another dumpster.
SPIDER-MAN
But I need you to leave. You're not ready for
this. I don't want you in a fight when you can't
pick a side.
MARY JANE
That's a little curt.
SPIDER-MAN
The best thing you can do right now is go and
check on the neighbourhood.
PAUL
WHERE ARE YOU, PETER!?
Mary Jane looks down into the forecourt and frowns as she addresses Spider-Man.
MARY JANE
You once told me superheroes watch each
other to know how to defeat each other.
SPIDER-MAN
When did I say that?
MARY JANE
After I came back to New York. Years ago. After
Dr Doom in the airport.
SPIDER-MAN
…You remember that conversation?
MARY JANE
So how do you stop him?
Paul's powers pick up a dumpster and throw it across the forecourt into a stationary train.
SPIDER-MAN
The same way I stop them all. I improvise.
He fires a firework-like device made of webs into the air on the far side of the facility, goading Paul who shoots it out of the sky.
PAUL
Too scared to face me, coward!?
She turns back to Spider-Man.
MARY JANE
Any more form to it than that?
SPIDER-MAN
I have to get the glasses off him. I'll worry about
the watch after that.
Mary Jane looks down into the forecourt nervously.
MARY JANE
Peter, in case I don't get the chance…
She turns to Spider-Man.
MARY JANE
…I just want to say—
Spider-Man twists his from left to right and cracks the bones in his back.
SPIDER-MAN
Save it for later.
He sets up a slingshot with two weblines on the low wall which they've been hiding behind and walks back into it, stretching the lines.
SPIDER-MAN
You can tell me over my first taste of red…
He turns his head to Mary Jane with the swagger of James Bond.
SPIDER-MAN
…in just over a year.
He fires into the sky, leaving a single flower made of web where he had been standing.
SPIDER-MAN
YEEEAAAAHHHHH!
Mary Jane's face turns as red as her hair.
MARY JANE
You're not funny, Spider-Man!
Spider-Man calls back as he weaves through the blasts of energy being fired at him from Paul.
SPIDER-MAN
Call me Tiger!
Mary Jane holds her brow as she smiles through a frown, eyes closed. A blast of energy hits the side of the roof she's on, snapping her out of herself. She focuses, spins her gauntlet, and takes into the sky to return to her current home.
She arrives to see a commotion in the backyard. Many neighbours have appeared and are calling into the house.
NEIGHBOUR 1
Hello? Mary Jane? Are you there?
Mary Jane lands on the roof quietly and climbs in through the attic window. She runs downstairs through the house calling to the neighbour.
MARY JANE
Hello? Are you ok? I was upstairs and heard an
explosion. I must have been knocked onto the
bed and passed out momentarily.
NEIGHBOUR 1
Are you ok?
MARY JANE
A little dizzy but I'll be fine. I'll call the first
responders and make sure to rest. Is everyone
else ok? Is anyone hurt?
NEIGHBOUR 2
MJ? What's going on? I was walking the dog
when Peter arrived looking a little worse dressed
than you. Is he up there too? Is everything ok?
Mary Jane is thrown off by the neighbour's observation.
MARY JANE
Oh. No. He left a while ago.
NEIGHBOUR 3
Peter? I thought she was with Paul?
NEIGHBOUR 4
You go, girl.
NEIGHBOUR 1
Nora!
Mary Jane clears her throat and responds assertively.
MARY JANE
Paul's not here either. I'm here alone.
NEIGHBOUR 4
Did the two of them take it outside? Is that what
this was?
NEIGHBOUR 3
NORA!
NEIGHBOUR 5
I did hear two men shouting, come to think of it.
MARY JANE
Well, everyone, I can assure you I'm alone and
no one else is here. If you're all ok please return
to your homes and I'll call the fire department
and the gas service to make sure that everything's
ok. Does anyone smell gas?
NEIGHBOUR 3
I haven't smelt anything since 'Nam.
NEIGHBOUR 2
Gas is all we smell in our house these days.
NEIGHBOUR 4
You go, girl.
MARY JANE
Thank you, Nora. Please, I'll be fine. Please go
home before you all catch a chill. I appreciate
your concern.
NEIGHBOUR 6
Would you like me to come around and sort out
this vegetable patch?
MARY JANE
Let's talk tomorrow. Please, please head home
and get warm. Have a good night.
Mary Jane waves at the neighbours who slowly head back to their homes. She turns to the dining room and surveys the scene before lifting the table back to its place. She looks around and counts the stains of beef bourguignon sauce all over the carpet.
MARY JANE
That is the last time I cook with red wine.
She walks over and slumps into the couch. The watch on her wrist glows as she looks at it. She holds her head in her hands and then picks up her phone. She looks contemplatively at the screen as she scrolls to Felicia Hardy's contact details.
Spider-Man and Paul battle each other in the forecourt of the train yard. Paul fires beams of energy at Spider-Man as he swings and thwips around the forecourt, throwing objects at Paul's blasts to defend himself.
SPIDER-MAN
You know you're really bad at that. You should
try new things.
PAUL
Shut up! You gonna do anything other than
spectate?
SPIDER-MAN
Alright, B-minus. Subject analysed. Let's see
what you've really got!
Spider-Man slingshots himself directly at Paul. He lands on his face with both feet, knocking Paul's glasses off with little effort. Paul scrambles through the dirt to reach them, but Spider-Man pulls them towards himself with a thwip of his webs. He breaks them in half and they fall to the ground in sparks of electricity.
SPIDER-MAN
Sorry. Someone did that to me once. I know
what it's like.
Paul lunges at Spider-Man but he handsprings backwards out of the way.
PAUL
You son of a #$%!
SPIDER-MAN
Prescription? Yeah that's expensive. Bet it was
hard for you to get insurance, come to think
of it.
Paul fires a blast of energy which knocks back Spider-Man. He lands on his back and springs up and into Paul who is back on his feet. Paul falls down with Peter standing over him. He pins Paul's hand back against the floor and crushes the gauntlet on Paul's outstretched wrist with his foot. It sparks with more electricity as Paul lies there, seemingly defeated. Paul starts to scratch in the dirt but is interrupted as Spider-Man picks up him and jumps onto the roof of the two storey building.
Spider-Man holds Paul by the lapels from the top of a platform awning. Paul dangles some seven metres in the air. Spider-Man squirts web fluid up Paul's nose. It bounces off the back of his nasal cavity and reaches his nasal septum before Spider-Man stops. He grabs the piece of webbing dangling from Paul's nostril and rips it out along with all of Paul's nasal hair.
PAUL
YEOW WHAT THE #$%!
SPIDER-MAN
What happens when she rolls three skulls?
PAUL
WHAT THE #$% WAS THAT?
SPIDER-MAN
A reminder.
PAUL
Of what!?
SPIDER-MAN
That there's leaving you alone, there's ending
this permanently, and there's just a lot of grey
in between.
PAUL
(Oh my god I can smell the cold.)
Spider-Man bitch slaps Paul.
SPIDER-MAN
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SHE ROLLS
THREE SKULLS!?
Paul composes himself.
PAUL
You think I'd let a woman like that out of my
life to chance alone? She's never been able to
roll them unless I allow it. The three skulls are
a fail safe. A leash.
SPIDER-MAN
A LEASH!? What the #$% is wrong with you!?
PAUL
When you see the things I've seen you take a
different regard for the value of life.
SPIDER-MAN
Drop the riddles.
'No regard' isn't a 'different regard'. I saw that
world too.
PAUL
You didn't see as much as me.
SPIDER-MAN
Yeah, because I had the brains to escape, dumb $$.
Paul smiles malevolently.
PAUL
The fact remains. The skulls give me the peace
of mind that I'll always finish my story on my terms.
A precious commodity when—
SPIDER-MAN
When you've already ended everyone else's story on your terms?
PAUL
Hmph.
SPIDER-MAN
Tell me about the three skulls. How does it work?
Can't she just take the watch off?
PAUL
That's the best part. All I need is to be able to
draw. Symbology isn't about gadgets and gizmos,
it's about whatever I want.
SPIDER-MAN
And what's that?
PAUL
Dominance. The knowledge that I was an actor,
not acted upon. That I can determine my own destiny.
SPIDER-MAN
So why the three skulls?
PAUL
Wayeb.
SPIDER-MAN
What's he got to do with it?
PAUL
Wayeb will give me ultimate power. All he asks
in return is a soul. And he likes you and Mary Jane.
Hence, the three skulls.
SPIDER-MAN
Meaning what?
PAUL
Can't figure it out?
Spider-Man lifts Paul closer to his face. They can feel the warmth of the other's breath on their faces.
SPIDER-MAN
I'm going to need you to be specific so I know
what conversation we're having.
PAUL
You know.
Spider-Man's eyes narrow.
SPIDER-MAN
If you hurt Mary Jane I swear to god I'll tear you
apart.
PAUL
I thought Spider-Man didn't kill. First time for
everything?
Spider-Man's voice is low and grizzled
SPIDER-MAN
The calculus is different when Mary Jane is in
the equation.
Spider-Man throws Paul into the air and backflip-kicks him higher. He pulls him to the ground below the awning with webs and jumps down. Paul is bloodied and bruised, his clothes in tatters. Spider-Man throws him into the wall and webs up his wrists and ankles to the wall behind him, his arms above his head.
Jackpot and Black Cat appear on the edge of the forecourt and run towards the two men.
BLACK CAT
Spider-Man, stop!
Spider-Man shoots a webline either side of Paul and pulls himself into him at high speed, landing on Paul's stomach with an extended leg. Paul vomits from the shock of the impact and goes limp, still held in place by the webbing.
JACKPOT
Oh my god, he's actually going to.
BLACK CAT
SPIDER-MAN!
Black Cat dives into Spider-Man's side and wrestles him to the ground. Spider-Man pushes her off into the air and she flips to land on her feet between him and Paul. He rises to stand.
BLACK CAT
I won't let you do this. You're better than this.
SPIDER-MAN
Not being good enough is the story of my life, Felicia.
Black Cat slaps Spider-Man across the face. He looks at Paul's limp body and turns his back on him and removes his mask. Peter stares at his hands, struggling with what he knows and what he feels. He turns back to face Paul as Black Cat cuts the webbing on his wrists and lowers him to the ground. She turns to Peter as Mary Jane runs to Paul's side.
BLACK CAT
What the #$% is wrong with you!?
PETER
He threatened MJ. The three skulls. I know what they're for.
Black Cat is silent for a moment.
BLACK CAT
…A threat isn't enough for that kind of decision.
PETER
What if it is?
Jackpot kneels by Paul and removes her visor.
PETER
No, MJ, get away from him!
Black Cat holds him back.
MARY JANE
Paul, are you ok? Paul, can you hear me?
PAUL
…I hear you just fine.
Paul rolls over onto his back and tries to get up, only for Mary Jane to push him back down.
MARY JANE
No, that's enough. This has to stop. We need
to talk about this.
Paul reaches into his pocket.
PAUL
Sure, we can talk. We can talk about how I'm
tired of playing House with you, and those
damned kids. We can talk about how you've
served your usefulness.
Mary Jane looks at Paul nervously. There is a high pitched whine of something powering up. Paul takes his hand out of his pocket to reveal the prototype watch that Mary Jane used to use. Three symbols appear above Paul's head. Before she can react Paul blasts her across the forecourt with an explosive bolt of lightning.
BLACK CAT
Oh my god…
PETER
MARY JANE!
Peter flies into the air after Mary Jane and closes the distance between them with his webs, catching her. He twists them around as the two slam into the side of a shipping container with Peter's back taking the force of the impact. They fall to the ground with Peter cradling Mary Jane in his arms. She has bad cuts and burns on her face. Her hair is singed. She coughs and blood rolls down her cheek from the side of her mouth.
PETER
MJ? MJ!?
MARY JANE (faintly)
…Peter?
PETER
I'm here, MJ. It's gonna be ok.
MARY JANE
I'm sorry, Peter.
PETER
There's nothing to be sorry for. Just rest. Felicia
and I will take care of this.
Black Cat engages Paul. The two exchange blows as Black Cat acrobatically dodges his swings and replies with her own. Paul tries to fire blasts of various elemental powers from the old watch, but it continually rolls two skulls and a third symbol. The few blasts that connect with Black Cat have no effect on her momentum and movements.
MARY JANE
I love you, Peter Parker. So much. Even
when that lunatic scared me all those years ago,
and I decided to leave, I've never stopped.
It was always you, Peter. Only you. Always.
Peter takes his mask that he's had tucked into his waist and uses it to dab Mary Jane's wounds.
PETER
(Oh my god, these cuts are deep.)
I love you too, MJ. I always have.
You're gonna be ok.
In one motion, Black Cat perfectly connects two roundhouse kicks; the first with the watch on Paul's wrist, shattering it into several chunks causing various parts of it to fall off Paul's wrist; the second with the side of Paul's head, causing him to fly sideways and land in the dirt. She towers over him and puts one foot on his chest.
BLACK CAT
Stay down, Peachfuzz.
MARY JANE
I should have fought for you more. I was just
so scared that I'd hurt you again if we got too
Close. I'm sorry, Tiger.
Lying on the ground, Paul begins to scratch in the dirt.
PETER
Hurt me? Are you kidding? You could never
hurt me, Red.
PAUL
I won't be denied. I will be in control. I will
decide my own fate this time.
BLACK CAT
What is that supposed to mean?
Mary Jane's gauntlet starts to spin on her wrist.
PETER
What's happening? What are you doing?
MARY JANE
That's not me.
One skull rolls. They stare at it in shock.
PETER
MJ?
Two skulls roll. Peter and Mary Jane look at each other with fear in their eyes.
MARY JANE
Peter, I lo—
Three skulls roll. Mary Jane Watson collapses lifelessly in Peter Parker's arms.