Disclaimers:

All Spider-Man and all its related characters belongs to Marvel Entertainment, which is owned by Walt Disney Company, and the Sam Raimi Original Trilogy belongs to Sony Pictures Entertainment. No infringement of these copyrights are intended, and not authorized by copyright holders.

With the sudden, ripping pull of the copper wire, Spider-Man and Spinneret got flung across the interiors of the warehouse before finally landing their sides hard against the wooden floorboards.

"Are you alright?" Spinneret asked her beloved partner concernedly.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Spider-Man replied in an exhausted voice.

As the Spider-Couple recovered from the impact, they looked up, only to see as more larger and larger debris of the warehouse being cracked and sucked into this increasingly enormous energized orange orb of destruction.

"Peter... " Spinneret muttered, feeling scared about how could she and her partner shut down Otto's fusion reactor. "... How do we stop this?"

"I... I don't know... " Spider-Man said unsurely, as this was not the same outcome that happened like the last time.

Then, when he heard a series of electrical noise, as if its mechanics were malfunctioned, the Wall-Crawler turned around to see that the incapacitated Doctor Octopus was laying down, his fours arms and lower being submerged in a somewhat large puddle of New York's waters.

With only one desperate option left, Spider-Man turned to his partner. "Go check on your sister. I think I got one idea."

Trusting him to figure it all out, Spinneret nodded. After seeing her got back up from her crouching stance and went to check on Gayle, Spider-Man made his way to check on the wounded four-armed scientist. "Dr. Octavius."

Seeing the look of confusion on his face from his voice of recognition, the Web-Head gonna pull, what he thought would be, the riskiest move, but felt it was the only way to get through what's left of the good man, whose mind was consumed by the very AI that had taken over him.

He took off his mask, revealing the face of Peter Parker to his fallen idol. "We have to shut it down. Please tell me how."

"Peter Parker?" Otto's jaw dropped as he gave a look of disbelief. He then put up a relieved smile upon seeing the dear boy again. "Brilliant but lazy."

"Look at what's happening," Peter gestured to the fusion reactor over his shoulder. "We must destroy it."

Otto gave a quick peek over to see his fusion machine sucking in every possible debris in its growing proximity. He then just shook his head. "I can't destroy it," Otto muttered.

Although he seemed to contemplate it at first, a thought in the back of his head simply refused such an option, then his mechanical arms raised, sending one of them to grab him mercilessly by the throat. "I won't!" Otto sneered.

Despite the struggling to speak, Peter knew there's only other way for him to get through to his idol. "You once spoke to me about intelligence," He said with a choked voice, Otto's aggression expression began to slowly falter. "That it was a gift to be used for the good of mankind."

After hearing those words, Otto started to hesitate with a stuttering nod. "A privilege... "

"These things have turned you into something you're not," Peter said gravely. "Don't listen to them."

Giving each of his arms a contemplating look, Otto still looked reluctant. "It was my dream."

"Sometimes, to do what's right, we have to be steady... and give up the thing we want the most. Even our dreams."

"You're right…" Otto's words trailed off as he and Peter glanced to the side to see the reactor's getting progressively aggressive with pulling in large chunks of the warehouse into it. "He's right," He then faced all his free mechanical arms with angry eyebrows, mentally struggling for control that had been plaguing him since the day of the accident.

"Listen. Listen to me now! Listen to me NOW!"

At those aggressive words, the claws finally retracted from Peter's neck, letting him breath once more. "Now, tell me how to stop it," The dear boy asked desperately with repeated puffs.

After calming down as his mind seemed to be clear, albeit only for a short while unfortunately, as he could still hear the voices as small echoes now, Otto shook his head. "It can't be stopped. It's self-sustaining now."

"Think!"

"Unless..." Otto then looked down, as if he was in contemplative thought, before looking at Peter again. "… The river. Drown it."

Just as those words came from Otto's lips, Peter was about to turn to the out-of-control reactor, but stopped and looked back when one of the mechanical arms grabbed his arm.

"I'll do it," Otto said with a regretful look in his eyes, as he knew he couldn't hold back the arms for long, and this was the only way the poor scientist could see as his own salvation for everything that transpired to this point.

Despite Peter's hesitation to let his idol go along with this, he reluctantly stayed as the four mentally-subdued mechanical arms steadily lifted Otto out of the puddle, so that he could put an end to his machination of destruction.

Before Otto would go and make things right, he gave one more glance to see Spinneret trying to reassure Gayle. He then turned his eyes towards the brilliant, dear boy with a meaningful look.

"Remember to never let her go," Otto said solemnly, referring to his words during their first meeting together and to never make the same mistake that made him lost his wife to his own misguided hubris.

Peter gave an acknowledging nod to his words, silently promising to himself and Otto he won't.

With that likely being the final time they see each other, Otto proceeded to the bottom of his fusion reactor, where he'll put an end to it all for good.

Just when things seemed to calm down a bit, a loud echo suddenly caught Peter's attention, making him turn around, only now realizing he also revealed his secret to someone else in his presences as well

"Wait, you?!"

Seeing that there's no way to deflect the truth he unintentionally gave away to his girlfriend's sister, Peter just simply exhaled and nodded in acknowledgement.

Then, another thought just occurred to Gayle when she turned to Spinneret. "But that means you're... ?"

Knowing the fact even she couldn't dodge around it any longer, Spinneret lowered her head down, slowly pulling her mask down until it was wrapped around her neck, her real face completely uncovered.

Gayle's mouth dropped as she covered it with her hand when she just witnessed her own sister just unmasked right in front of her. An actual superhero.

Before the oldest Watson girl could comprehend her words, the warehouse already gotten more worsen as more of its structure getting ripped and pulled into the heart of the fusion reactor, including the wall's support-columns that both the brunette and redhead were standing right next to.

"GAYLE!" The instant MJ's senses warned her of the entire warehouse wall's slowly collapsing on top of them, she quickly wrapped her arms around her sister's upper frame and leaped as far away from the incoming impact.

As the wall finally came down and the Watson siblings landed safely, albeit only after a dirty grind against the floorboards, Gayle regathered her thoughts after a look at MJ's red-and-white costume.

"Mary Jane?"

"Hey, Big Sis," She muttered through a nervous voice with a meek smile.

"But... wha... when... how... ?"

"It's a long story. But first, we gotta get out of here," As MJ saw that Peter went and helped her and Gayle off the floor, she noticed Doctor Octavius was nowhere to be seen. "Peter, what happened to him?"

When the love of her life offered no words and a solemn look in his eyes, MJ understood what he was silently implying. It's almost like how Peter had the same expression the night his uncle passed away.

"C'mon," Mary Jane offered her hand out to him with a gesturing nod to the opening the downed wall provided. "Let's get out of here."

After swinging away from the fully drowned warehouse, where Otto and his machine had finally sunk to the bottom of the river, Peter was perching on the top of the crane that was just nearby the docks, letting the two Watson sisters had some private chat to themselves by the operator's compartment.

"Quite the development we found ourselves in, heh," Mary Jane said, trying to light up the mood.

"You're telling me," Gayle scoffed with a gleeful, yet disbelieving smile. "To think, all this time, my little sister was actually a superhero."

MJ let out a small smile. "Even I have trouble believing it sometimes."

"Yeah, like I'm actually so jealous you get to do all those spectacular things while I'm just back at Florida just tapping on my toes for a living."

"Well, I did stop doing this for a little while."

"Then... why did you wear the suit again?" Gayle asked curiously.

"When the news about Mom being sick first came, I was… distraught, scared I may be not able to handle too much responsibilities, so I hanged it up and just focused on what mattered the most to me."

As the solemn expression appeared on Mary Jane's face, she continued. "When I decided to stop, I thought he was able to manage it all by himself. But then, I slowly realized… I was being a little selfish, because I also neglected Peter, leaving him to fight crime all alone, when we should've gone through it as partners."

Accepting her words with a nod, Gayle gave quick glance at Peter before looking at her sister again. "So… that's why you loved him so much? Because you two got these powers?"

"No," MJ shook her head. "It did bring us together at first, but there's more to him than just having these powers; the entire time spending with Peter, he helped me out of my shell that I built up… as my own escape fantasy from our… troubles back home.

As Gayle nodded in understanding, already knowing she was referring to both them and their Mom's shared history of being abused in their household, MJ continued. "Since you left for Florida, I just buried myself even further into that shell, seeing as things been getting more difficult for me and Mom, but I never wanted to take away your chance to live your dreams."

"I am so sorry, Mary Jane," Gayle said sincerely. "Really, I do. I had no idea you felt that way."

"I know. But ever since this wonderful boy entered my life, I never felt more… myself, more free to show who I really am and never be ashamed for it. And that's why I'll always be there for the man I loved," Mary Jane finished with a deep smile, both honestly and wholeheartedly.

After letting some deep thoughts process her sister's words, Gayle then looked up at the unmasked Web-Head.

"And you really do truly love her?" It doesn't sound so much like a question, more rather a statement, because the way he was very fiercely protective of the redhead back in that now-drowned warehouse never left Gayle's mind.

Peter nodded with no signs of hesitation in his sincere voice. "I always have."

As Gayle looked away with a thoughtful expression on her face, she saw sirens from a string of police cruisers driving up to the scene, her worried fiancé no doubt to be amongst them.

Turning back to the redhead, seeing that MJ was actually being serious in her decision and who she wanted to be with, Gayle reluctantly nodded, knowing now that there's no point in trying to change her mind.

Mary Jane had her hand extended until she let out a continuous steaming of web-line for the brunette to hold on and descend safely towards the lower levels of the crane they were standing on.

After Gayle landed safely and relinquishing the web from her grasp, she gave one more look at the Spidey-Couple before hearing a loud shout of relief for her name.

"Gayle!"

Looking down to see whose voice it's from, it was really John Jameson himself, who's climbing up the ladder leading up the crane.

Descending down to reach to her fiancé, Gayle was caught with a huge hug of relief and reassuring kisses from John. In the midst of their relieved reunion in each other's arms, she peeked up high to see her little sister and Peter looking over her as they were in a perching stance on the long arm of the same crane she was dropped from.

Seeing Gayle giving them a farewell nod, the Spider-Couple returned the gesture before standing up as they put back on their respective masks, looking away as the Watson-Jameson couple finally reunited with each other.

Spider-Man and Spinneret turned their heads, looking at each other with love behind their lenses as they were clasping their free hands together. Then, they leaped off into the night, gracefully web-swinging from the scene.

Upon seeing them just disappeared into the night sky, Gayle just let a sad sigh as she closed her teary eyes. Her little sister was really not so little anymore, and she had to accept the reality of that.

Words: 2193

A/N: So, Gayle finally realized the truth about her sister and now knows Peter wasn't all how she perceived him to be. Kinda shocker, huh?

Well, don't have much to say, other than we're now close to the final chapter of this movie, so better get ready for that very soon. Well, as soon as I can recover from another covid infection. Yeah, another one after two years of being free from the first time really makes it ridiculous and literally painful to go through again.

Anyway, any constructive criticisms and comments would be greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.

Reviews:

ian . cotterill . 56: Glad you're really enjoying this chapter.

I can say this: it will be more personally focused on MJ more than Peter in the third film this time around. After already experiencing the hardships of our fellow hero, feel it's more appropriate that we will focus more on the heroine of this story.

Again, thank you for liking this story so far.

DCDGojira: Thank you again.

Batrenz: Appreciated your kind words.

TW: Thanks, man.

Cosplayer9615: Happy you liked it.