Volume IV: The Superior Spider-Man Part III
This will be the eleventh chapter of Volume IV and the final part of a three part story, Otto Octavius has been so happy in his new life with Anna Maria Marconi who he fell in love with, everything is going perfect for him, except his whole world is about to come crashing down as Gwen along with Miles and Anya found out the truth about what really happened to Peter, they know that he's really Otto Octavius in control of Peter's body and living his life for weeks, they're more determined than ever before to face Otto head on and to rescue their friend who's trapped inside his own body, but Otto will put up a fight against those who would oppose them. Otto became furious the Web-Warriors caught on to his deception and everything is about to end for him, but he confides in Anna Maria about everything, told her the whole truth about who he really is, Otto wants to keep on fighting to live for her but she convinces him to do the right thing for the man who's life Otto stole, Otto eventually agrees and teams up with the Web-Warriors along with Avengers Captain America, Iron Man, and Black Widow as they're on a mission to retrieve a device that is the key to giving Peter his life back, but some are still reluctant to trust Otto, especially Miles Morales who harbors a grudge against the very man who killed his uncle, but he'll try to overcome it for Peter's sake. The team went on to fetch the device from Arnim Zola as they're in for quite a fight as this will be Otto's last mission as a hero, he'll fight to the bitter end to give Peter his life back, Otto came to accept that Peter Parker is in fact the one and only Superior Spider-Man.
The day is November 26th around 3:15 PM at Brooklyn Visions Academy as school has ended for the day and everyone is getting ready for Thanksgiving that's only a couple days away, some are thinking about going home and spending time with their families, meanwhile Miles, Anya, Ganke, and Tiana are walking out of class as Anya has noticed something going on between Miles and Tiana as they're chatting and giggling, their relationship seemed to have improved recently since yesterday. this felt like something more than just simple friendship, Anya is a bit bother by this but she chose not to say anything.
"So... wanna hang out at Form Party?" Miles asking Tiana.
"That's sweet, but I'm very busy with something today, maybe next time, okay Miles?" Tiana smiled.
"Okay, sure... next time then." Miles smiled.
"Okay, see ya." Tiana then kissed Miles on the cheek before walking away.
Tiana is leaving the group as Miles smiled and blushed, watching Tiana walking away as he then turn to Ganke and Anya giving him the look with a smile.
"What?" Miles asking.
"Is there something we need to know about you and Tiana?" Ganke smiles and teasing.
"No, we're just... good friends." Miles still blushing.
"Right, and she just happens to kiss you on the cheek, being the good friend she is." Anya smiles as she's also teasing.
Miles sighs. "Okay fine, yesterday I gave her the sketch, and... I kinda told her that I like her, just like that."
"Really?" Ganke looks surprised.
"And... what did she say?" Anya is curious.
"She told me that she likes me too." Miles said.
"Hey, that's great, way to go Miles." Ganke is happy for his best friend.
"So are you two like... dating or something?" Anya is curious again.
"You mean are we like boyfriend and girlfriend? I don't know... but I think it's kinda looking that way, but it's too soon to tell." Miles is confused to their relationship status.
"Hey, she just kissed you on the cheek, so that's a good sign things are going that way." Ganke being enthusiastic.
"I hope so too, I really like her." Miles smile warmly.
Anya is a bit bother by hearing this, Miles really wants a serious relationship with Tiana, but she shouldn't feel this way, if anything she should be happy for her friend, but she wonders why she's feeling this way again whenever they talk about it, but she snapped out of her thoughts upon her phone getting a ping, she pulls it out and checks out the text from Gwen which caught Ganke and Miles attention.
"What is it?" Ganke asking.
"It's Gwen, she wants us to come to her apartment, she says it's very important." Anya said.
"How important?" Miles asking.
"Don't know, but apparently MJ and May Parker are going to be there as well, I'm guessing this has something to do with Peter." Anya suspects it's related to Peter.
Miles sighs. "I don't know if I even wanna go."
"Look Miles, I'm not exactly happy with Peter either, what he said about your uncle was very wrong, but our friends wouldn't have asked us to come if there was something seriously wrong with Peter, we both knew the guy and he's not the type to just disrespect his friends like that, maybe Gwen might know something that would explain this sudden change in his behavior." Anya said.
"I don't like what Peter has done, but... even I have to admit, it's not like him *sighs* Okay, I'll come with you and listen to what Gwen has to say." Miles agrees to come to the meeting.
"Then we're all in agreement." Ganke Lee said.
"Let's go." Anya said.
Miles, Anya, and Ganke are leaving the school to meet up with Gwen Stacy at her apartment, hopefully she'll have an explanation to what's going on with Peter.
It's now 3:57 PM at the apartment nearby the university as Otto just returned home along with Anna Maria as they're both carrying grocery bags packed with food and ingredients necessary for a thanksgiving dinner, Anna Maria sets her bag on the table all tired out as Otto put his bag too without any sign of tiredness especially since his bag is more heavier than her, but thanks to his spider strength it was very easy, they pulled out everything they've gotten so far and puts them on the table to check if anything is missing.
"Okay, I got the can of yams, the margarine, the gravy mix, and the sausage for the stuffing. What about you?" Anna Maria asking.
"I got the buttermilk biscuits, pumpkin pie, and the mashed potatoes." Otto/Peter said.
"You forgot about the cranberries." Anna Maria reminded.
"No, I didn't..." Otto/Peter looks into the bag and missing something, he's sighs in disappointment. "Oh, I forgot about the cranberries, my mistake."
Anna Maria giggled. "It's okay, still a couple days till thanksgiving."
"So you've done this before?" Otto/Peter said.
"A couple times, my parents would often come here and I'd cook us a decent thanksgiving dinner, they even loved the delicious turkey I've made last year, but they're away celebrating with their relatives in another, so this year it's just you and me, I wished they could've had the chance to meet the new man in my life who makes me so happy." Anna Maria flirts.
"They have no idea how lucky their daughter has made me." Otto/Peter flirts.
Otto and Anna Maria leans in and kisses each other with great passion til they part way smiling.
"Amazing." Otto/Peter flirts.
"Right back at ya Slick... I should go and check if the turkey is thawed out." Anna Maria smiles as she walks away.
Otto is looking at Anna Maria walking towards the kitchen as she made him very happy and alive in ways he never imagine was possible even for him, he just watches as Anna Maria pulling out the turkey from the fridge to check if it's thawed out to start cooking for thanksgiving, Peter who still exists within his head is watching everything through his own eyes as his heart is beating but he knows that it's not from him, it's Otto.
"Hey Otto, take it easy on the heart." Peter's voice.
Otto/Peter smiles as he whispers. "Can't help it Parker."
"So... is it getting serious?" Peter's voice.
"It is, more than you could imagine, I don't expect you to understand." Otto/Peter said quietly.
"I do understand completely, cause I had that feeling for Gwen, till I lost it cause of you Otto." Peter's voice.
"And I sympathize, I really do, but this my moment now, my life is now perfect, nothing is going to ruin Parker, nothing." Otto/Peter is being overconfident.
Otto is enjoying this new life he plans to share with Anna Maria whom he fell in love with, he doesn't plan to give this up for anything, but unknown to him, Peter has something in mind that could thwart Otto's new life and possibly help him regain control of his life, all he can do is pray that Gwen and his friends will receive his message and believe him about this whole situation.
It's 4:16 PM at the apartment in Lower East Side, Mary Jane and Gwen are here along with Peter's Aunt May, Miles, Anya, and Ganke as they're both showing everyone the video on Mary Jane's phone from Peter himself on the day Vulture attacked Oscorp, he's explaining everything that has happened to him, every action he done all because of Otto Octavius who now exists within his body, control everything, all Mary Jane and Gwen can hope for is for them to believe the impossible in order to save Peter from Otto and help him get his life back.
"Gwen, MJ... if you're getting this, please believe me, I don't have much time, so listen carefully... Doctor Octopus has survived, he came after me one night and took me against my will, he managed to build this machine to transfer his consciousness into my body, I know this sounds crazy but its the truth, I've been trapped inside my own body while he's been living as me for weeks, so whatever happens don't believe anything he says or does, it wasn't me, please believe me... and Gwen, if you're getting this, I'm very sorry, I'm sorry I couldn't stop it... Please know that I love you, I'll always love you!" Peter finished saying everything he needed to say.
Mary Jane and Gwen finished showing everyone the video as they're still processing everything they've heard from Peter himself, they're still having a hard time believing Otto somehow has control over Peter's body, even Mary Jane and Gwen had a hard time at first but eventually they came to accept the hard truth.
"Wow, this... this is too much." Anya is stunned beyond belief.
"I know, we both felt the same way at first." Mary Jane shares the same feeling.
"Okay, hang on, you're telling us that Otto is somehow inside Peter's body? How is that even possible?" Miles still can't believe it.
"It all started about two weeks ago, Peter suddenly disappeared one night without any explanation, then he came back and suddenly he was totally different, that same night Otto had Peter kidnapped and transferred his mind into Peter's body, except its much worse cause none of us seemed to notice it." Gwen said.
"Yeah, but to transfer a mind into someone else's body, is that even possible?" Ganke is stunned.
"We didn't think so too, but Otto's body showing up out of the blue, that can't be a coincidence, according to the news he died about two weeks ago, around the same time that Peter had disappeared, it all fits." Gwen connected the dots.
Mary Jane turns to May. "Remember when you spoke to me about Peter? You told he was acting like a completely different person... that's because he is a completely different person, he's not Peter Parker, he's Otto Octavius."
"I can't believe it, my Peter. How did we not see it?" May is terrified.
"Cause it's Otto, he's very crafty, diabolical, and sneaky." Mary Jane said.
"He was the one who broke up with you by kissing that woman in front of your eyes, right?" Anya told Gwen.
Gwen is now more stunned. "Of course! Oh my god, how can I not see it?! I'm so stupid!"
"Don't blame yourself Gwen, Ock fooled all of us." Miles said.
"I thought he was unfaithful to me, but it was all Otto this entire time, he was the one who wanted to break up with me, not Peter." Gwen felt bad.
"He had to break up with you by any means necessary, if you gotten too close to him, you would've figured out the whole truth and his cover would've been blown. So he staged that kiss in order to make you back away, made you hate Peter in the process so you'd stayed away for good." Mary Jane figured out the deception.
Gwen felt angry and fooled. "Otto... that bastard!"
Miles sighs. "Now that we know the truth about this bastard, what do we do? What's our next step?"
Gwen calms herself down and speaks. "Peter has been trapped inside his own body, his very life stolen away from him... no more, we're not going to stand by and let Otto get away with this, first thing we do is find Otto and capture him alive, then we figure out a way to bring Peter back in control of his own body, cause he's going to come home to us, whatever it takes."
"I agree, this man has already taken my uncle, I won't let him take away my friend too, count me in." Miles is very determined.
"Me too, Peter's my friend too." Anya is also determined.
"Gwen, Miles, Anya... please bring Peter home." May pleaded with the heroes.
"We will, I promise... I can't believe I'm about to say this, but... let's go get that son of a bitch! First things first, suit up." Gwen leads the team.
Miles and Anya smiled and nodded as all three of them are in this together to find Otto in control of Peter's body and to rescue their friend trapped within, everyone is getting ready the mission to bring Peter home, Gwen is now in her bedroom changing into her suit as Mary Jane came in and wants to speak about what she's feeling right now.
"Something on you mind?" Gwen noticed it.
"I just wanted to see how you're feeling? Given everything we've just learned." Mary Jane said.
Gwen sighs uneasy. "How did I miss it? How could I not see what was happening with Peter?"
"Gwen, there was no way you could've know, it was Peter's own body, none of us could've known." Mary Jane said.
"His mind was trapped within his own body for weeks, for weeks Mary Jane, I didn't even try to help him til it was too late." Gwen felt guilty.
"Gwen, none of this was your fault... but... this isn't just about Peter is it?" Mary Jane suspects something else.
"I was fool to fall into Otto's trap, making me think that Peter cheated on me with another girl and I ended up trying to find solace in another guy, I feel so terrible." Gwen is feeling more guilty.
"And what do you intend to do once you get Peter back?" Mary Jane said.
Gwen sighs uneasy. "I'll tell him everything about Darius, he deserves to know the truth. Even if he'll hate me for it, I at least owe him that."
"Gwen... Peter will never hate you, cause he loves you so much, he loves you with all his heart, you heard it on the video he made, he'll never stopped loving you and you'll never stopping loving him too. The love you both have is much stronger than anything, no one, not even Otto could destroy it... trust me, I'm sure Peter will understand." Mary Jane smiles warmly.
Gwen smiles warmly. "Thank you..."
"Always Gwen... now you better get going, bring Peter back to us." Mary Jane said.
"That's the plan. One other thing, do you think you can get a hold of the Avengers and let them know about this situation with Peter." Gwen said.
"I don't know if they'll believe it, but I'll try, just bring Peter home." Mary Jane said.
Gwen is fully dressed in her Ghost-Spider suit as she walks back to the living room where Miles Morales is in his Kid Arachnid suit alongside Ganke, coming out of MJ's bedroom is Anya in her Spider-Girl suit, all three Web-Warriors are suited up as they joined their hands together and made a pact to save Peter Parker from Otto's clutches together, they're now heading out of the window and swinging away on the rescue mission, Mary Jane, May, and Ganke watched and prayed that they succeed in bring Peter home to his family.
It's 4:35 PM at the diner nearby the university as Darius LeClerc is having lunch with his best friend Brad Davis after a day of practice, both are wearing their varsity jackets as he's confiding everything that had happened yesterday between him and Gwen Stacy, especially that one moment they've almost gotten together intimately at her apartment which shocked Brad hearing Darius got involved with the beauty queen.
"No way! You and Stacy hooked up?!" Brad Davis is surprised by this news.
"No, of course not, I mean... we almost did, but we never went all the way." Darius LeClerc said.
"What? Why not?" Brad Davis is confused.
"I think on some level she hasn't gotten over her breakup with Peter and she had a change of heart at the last second." Darius LeClerc said.
"Dude, that ain't cool for her to bring a guy over for a hook up and not let anything happen." Brad Davis said.
"Look Brad, I'm not going to just take advantage of a girl who is emotionally vulnerable, that ain't me, and besides she did the right thing not going through with it, it would've ended up hurting her later on, I'd rather not let Gwen feel that way at all." Darius LeClerc expressed deep concern and respect for Gwen.
"Very noble of you Darius, still being the gentlemen as always." Brad Davis said.
"Honestly Brad, I feel sorry for Gwen, I just don't understand how someone like Parker would just dump a woman that wonderful for another, Gwen deserves better." Darius LeClerc said.
"Wow, in all my time knowing you Darius, I've never seen this side of you before." Brad Davis said.
"What do you mean?" Darius LeClerc said.
"Darius, be honest, what exactly do you feel for Gwen Stacy?" Brad Davis is curious.
"Is it really that obvious?" Darius LeClerc said.
"I'm asking this as your friend, do you... like Gwen Stacy as something more?" Brad Davis asking.
"Honestly Brad, I'm not sure, I never felt this way before." Darius LeClerc is unsure of his feelings.
Darius LeClerc is feeling something for Gwen Stacy he never imagine was possible, he's dated his share of girls in high school and now in college, but this feeling for Gwen is something else entirely, could it be that he's falling for Gwen? Gwen is an amazing woman in every way, she deserves happiness in her life, Darius wants to make her feel happy but he knows that she still has feelings for Peter Parker, that's the reason she didn't go through with intimacy with Darius. He still has some doubts whether Peter can make Gwen happy given recent events, but he wants to Gwen's feelings first above his own, he's thinking whether to fight for Gwen or not.
It's 5:12 PM in Greenwich Village as Otto is leaving the local market after buying a can of cranberries after spending over an hour searching everywhere for one, he made his way to the alleyway as he then switched into Superior Spider-Man and left swinging afterwards and heading back home to Anna Maria, unknown to him he's been watched by several eyes waiting for the right opportunity to strike.
"Finally, I found the last can of cranberries in the five boroughs, Anna will be very pleased." Superior Spider-Man said in his thoughts.
Superior Spider-Man is still swinging until his spider sense tingles of danger, but he was too late as something invisible drop kicked him in the air and he landed down on a rooftop in a three point stance, he didn't see anything but clearly someone or something attacked him, something he could not see, showing up out of the blue is Kid Arachnid who was invisible and attacked him, Superior Spider-Man has no idea what's going on as he's makes a retreat but was stopped by the appearance of Spider-Girl blocking his way, he turns around only to find Ghost-Spider blocking his other way out, all three heroes have him surrounded to prevent his escape, Superior Spider-Man is confronted by the Web-Warriors as Peter is watching everything through his own eyes that his friends are here.
"What the gods name are all of you doing?! Have you lost your minds?!" Superior Spider-Man felt angry.
"Drop the act! There's no reason to keep on pretending anymore... Otto!" Ghost-Spider said.
Superior Spider-Man is stunned upon this revelation. "So you've finally figured it out... How?"
"So it is true, isn't it? You're really Otto Octavius, taking control of Peter's body." Ghost-Spider said.
"Finally, they got my message, you're busted Otto!" Peter's voice cheered.
"Parker, of course, should've figure this was all you." Superior Spider-Man is upset at Peter inside his head.
"Who you're talking to? Is it Peter? Is he still inside?" Ghost-Spider is very curious.
"He is, not that it'll matter, you all should've left this alone, things were going perfect, I finally have everything I've always wanted and I don't plan to giving it up." Superior Spider-Man said.
"Did you really think we would just stand by and let you take over Peter's life?" Spider-Girl said.
"Never going to happen, you've already taken someone precious from me, I won't let you take Peter too." Kid Arachnid said.
"I really hoped that my cover would've maintain so I wouldn't be forced to take drastic measures, but now you all know too much, I can't any of you live telling my secret." Superior Spider-Man said.
"It won't matter Otto, it's not just us who knows, we've already informed everyone, even the Avengers, there's nowhere on the Earth where you can hide, we will find you and bring Peter back even if it's the last thing we ever do." Ghost-Spider said.
"How unfortunate, but I've already died once and I won't give up this life of mine, I have so much to fight for, to live for." Superior Spider-Man being more determined to survive.
"So do I." Ghost-Spider is also determined.
Superior Spider-Man is about to fight his toughest battle against all three of the Web-Warriors as they're determined to capture him alive and bring Peter back in control of his life, but Otto won't back down as he finally has something worth living for, his love for Anna Maria. Spider-Girl made the first move by firing off webbing but Superior Spider-Man jumped and dodged the webbing, he counters with webbing of his own, Ghost-Spider fired off a web line at Superior Spider-Man and caught him, she then pulls him in hard and she jumped up for a knee strike as he got hit pretty hard and fell down, Peter can feel the pain but he's counting on Gwen to stop Otto.
"That's my girl." Peter's voice.
Superior Spider-Man flips back up on his feet as Ghost-Spider is being serious in stopping him by any means necessary for Peter, so Otto will have to be more determined to fight with everything he's got, but he was caught off guard as he's being hugged and trapped by being, it was Kid Arachnid who was invisible who caught him by surprise and unleashed a venom blast to neutralize Otto, the man is getting shocked with electricity as he knows it's only a matter of time until he goes down unconscious, he head butts Kid Arachnid backward in the head and unleashed his spider legs to break free from his grip, Spider-Girl is rushing to help her friend but Superior Spider-Man grabbed Kid Arachnid by the neck and tossed him hard at Spider-Girl as the two heroes collided together, Ghost-Spider rushed to her teammates getting back up.
"He's not holding back, he's using every strength in his attacks to the point of being lethal." Spider-Girl suspects his cutting loose.
"Which is why the real Spidey doesn't do that, but we can't give up, we can't let him escape in Peter's body, he'll be unstoppable, we need to keep on fighting." Ghost-Spider said.
"Agreed, let's take this son of a bitch down." Kid Arachnid said.
Superior Spider-Man recovered his strength from the shock and brace himself for another attack as all three of the Web-Warriors charged at him head on, he charged on too as he jumps and swings in for a drop kick on Kid Arachnid, knocking him down hard, Spider-Girl fired off a web line but Superior Spider-Man caught it with his hand and pulls Spider-Girl in and push kick her down next to Kid Arachnid, he then webbed them both together to keep them from fight anymore, Ghost-Spider see both her teammates are down for the count, it's up to her to fight Otto alone and stop him by any means necessary.
"Your friends are both down, don't make me destroy you." Superior Spider-Man said.
"I won't give up, I promise that I'll bring Peter back and I will do it!" Ghost-Spider refuses to give up.
"How romantic, I had hoped that destroying your love would've be enough, but clearly I was wrong, I've truly underestimated it." Superior Spider-Man said.
"You can never understand what it truly means to love someone with all your heart." Ghost-Spider said.
"You'd be very surprised, my dear... now I'll say this one last time, back away, I really don't want to use this body of your beloved to destroy you." Superior Spider-Man said.
"Never, I'm going to bring Peter back even if it's the last thing I ever do." Ghost-Spider refuses to give up on Peter.
"Pity, then you shall die." Superior Spider-Man said.
Ghost-Spider then moves in and strikes with right hook but Superior Spider-Man weaves away, Ghost-Spider strikes with a knee to the gut and hurts Otto as he could tell that she's not holding back on her strikes, she's more determined to bring Peter back with everything she's got. Ghost-Spider strikes with another hook to the face but Superior Spider-Man caught her wrist and tossed her down on the ground hard on the ground, he then proceed to finish off Ghost-Spider with a single punch to the face as Ghost-Spider flinches and waits for the inevitable, but something unusual has happened, Ghost-Spider looks to see Superior Spider-Man stopping his fist at the last second for some reason, Otto can't bring himself to finish off Ghost-Spider as something is keeping him from killing.
"Parker..." Superior Spider-Man knows this was all Peter.
"Don't... you... dare... hurt her!" Peter's voice.
Peter is somehow control part of his body, stopping Otto from seriously hurting Gwen, Otto can't bring himself to finish her off as he then pulls his fist back as he realized that Peter still has some control and could present a problem for him, so he's forced to retreat and swings away from the rooftop leaving the Web-Warriors alive and defeated, Ghost-Spider is getting back up upon realizing that Otto couldn't deliver the final blow, she felt in her heart that this was Peter who saved her at the last minute, she then went and cut her friends free from the webbing and help them back on their feet.
"Damn, he got away!" Kid Arachnid is disappointed.
"What just happened now?" Spider-Girl is curious.
"It was Peter." Ghost-Spider said.
"What?" Kid Arachnid is confused.
"Peter is alive, he's still in there... I felt it." Ghost-Spider said.
Ghost-Spider knows that Peter is still trapped inside his own body controlled by Otto, he saved her life at the last minute, but Superior Spider-Man is now long gone from the scene and the Web-Warriors lost their opportunity to capture him alive and bring Peter home, but Gwen won't give up, she's going to keep on fight to bring back the love of her life no matter what, that's a promise.
Later around 5:45 PM at Anna Maria's apartment, Superior Spider-Man just returned home but he's more disappointed now that his cover has been blown and some people now know that Spider-Man is Otto Octavius, he had to come back here to Anna Maria as he needs to leave before anyone finds him, but he couldn't leave without her, he went to check up the apartment only to find the place is empty, Anna Maria is out for now as Superior Spider-Man went back to his room and takes off the mask, he tossed it down in anger as he's very frustrated that everything has fallen apart because of Peter Parker, he looks at the mirror to talk with Parker inside his own body.
"Damn it Parker, what did you do?!" Otto is very angry.
"What I had to do, getting my life back." Peter talking through the mirror.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO COMPLICATE EVERYTHING?!" Otto is very angry.
"Me? You're the one who started this whole mess when you took away my life, separated me from Gwen, broke her heart, did you honestly believe I'd just sit back and let you have your way with my life?!" Peter talking through the mirror.
Otto realized something. "You sent something to her, didn't you? When I was out cold by the explosion, you took the opportunity to warn her while I was out."
Peter smiled in his reflection. "Guilty."
"You sneaky bastard, I want to know what you said to her." Otto demands answers.
Otto pulls out the phone that Peter owned back when he was in control, Otto suspected Peter must've sent out some kind of message on the day he was out cold, it's the only reasonable explanation to his revelation, he scroll down the photo app trying to find a video he might've made on that day, but he couldn't find it since Peter already deleted it after he sent it out to avoid suspicion, but instead he found one video that caught his interest, a video made on the night right before Peter was abducted by Otto himself.
"What's this?" Otto is curious as he plays the video and watches.
Peter is holding up his phone. "Gwen... I wanted to say that you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, you've always been the best part of my life, from the moment my lips touched yours I felt like I got butterflies in my stomach, I realize that I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life by your side, cause you make me feel like the happiest man on Earth." Peter smiles he then raised a rise a ring in view of the camera. "Gwendolyne Maxine Stacy, will you marry me?"
Peter's video just ended as Otto is stunned upon watching this touching moment Peter made for Gwen Stacy, he wanted to propose to the love of his life on that night his life was taken by Otto, now Otto is feeling more guilty than ever before, fill with more regret for his mistakes, all that anger he felt for Peter faded away from the moment he watched that video Peter made for the Gwen, he realize he took more than Peter's life.
"You were going to propose to her... on that very night." Otto felt bad for everything.
"I did... I wanted to ask Gwen to marry me, to be my wife... until this whole nightmare happened, I lost more than just my life that night, I lost everything, including her, I lost her because of you Otto, I'd give anything to wake up from this nightmare, to come back to her." Peter told Otto.
Otto sighs in sadness. "I thought that by becoming you, I can change myself, be better than who I was, but instead I keep on repeating the same mistakes over and over again, it seems like nothing I ever do will ever be enough to atone for my sins, and now I've stolen the life of a great man and robbed him of his chance at true happiness with the woman he loves."
"And now Otto... what do you feel about all this?" Peter asking Otto.
"I am... truly... sorry." Otto being regretful of his actions as he's starting to tear up in the eyes, this feeling hurts him as he sniffed. "Is this you, Parker?"
"No, even though I do feel sad for being away from Gwen cause of you, I'm not crying right now... I think this is all you Otto, your true feelings." Peter said.
"Is this what it feels like to be crying? Feeling guilt and regret, I never thought I'd ever have such feeling before." Otto is curious.
"I know you've done a lot of bad things in your life as Doctor Octopus, but that's not who you are now, not anymore, you're different, you've changed Otto." Peter said.
Otto smiled feeling a bit better. "Can't believe I'm going to say this, but I envy you a lot Parker, you have so much goodness in you, you're a good person."
"Thanks... though... good is not a thing you are, it's a thing you do." Peter quoted a friend.
"Who told you that?" Otto said.
"Some kid I've met, someone who's just like me." Peter referencing Ms. Marvel.
Otto felt a bit better talking with Peter but deep down he's still regretful for everything he's done, even recently, taking away Peter's very life, separating and destroying all his relationship with everyone he loved, including the love of his life he wanted to marry, it hurts him a lot knowing that he's still done a lot of wrong things despite doing some good. He then snapped out of his thoughts upon hearing the door unlocking as he walks over to take a peek, it's Anna Maria who just returned home with a can of cranberries she herself got, Otto is looking at the woman he loves as he felt bad for keeping secrets from her, Otto sighs as he walks out of his room to confront Anna Maria and tell her everything.
"Guess what Slick? I've managed to find the last cranberries in all the five boroughs." Anna Maria suddenly stopped talking.
Anna Maria gasped upon seeing Peter in his Superior Spider-Man suit and this took her by surprise to learn that Peter Parker is in fact Spider-Man.
"Slick... it's really you... you're Spider-Man?" Anna Maria is very surprised by this revelation.
"Anna... we need to talk, there's something I have to tell you." Otto wants to confess everything.
(Later)
Otto spent time explaining everything to Anna Maria, telling her that he's really in fact Otto Octavius, formerly known as the supervillain Doctor Octopus, who has taken over the body of Peter Parker who is in fact the real Spider-Man, he even told her how he managed to pull off the impossible in transferring his mind into Parker's body, how he managed to fool everyone in his new life including her, Anna Maria is still processing everything Otto has told her.
"Well? Say something please." Otto is curious.
"I think I'm going crazy, first I find out that you're Spider-Man, but really you're Otto Octavius who stole the life of the man who really is in fact Spider-Man." Anna Maria still processing.
"I know it's crazy." Otto agrees.
"More like insane, I can't believe that the man I fell in love is in fact Otto... you've lied to me." Anna Maria said.
"I'm sorry Anna, I'm so sorry for keeping this from you, but I couldn't afford to let anyone know who I really am for vital reason." Otto is remorseful.
"So why the change of heart? Why tell me now?" Anna Maria said.
"Because my cover has been blown, Parker's old friends knows everything, they know that I'm really Otto Octavius and that Parker's mind is trapped inside this body, they're looking for me as we speak, I thought about leaving, but... I can't leave without you." Otto told his reasons everything he's doing.
"What?" Anna Maria said.
"Come with me Anna Maria, we can leave all this behind and go somewhere else. I know that I've lied to you about many things, but the one thing I've never lied about is my love for you... before I met you, I was a completely different person, I've done a lot of bad things in my career as a criminal mastermind, I've stolen, threaten a lot of lives, I even stole the life of a great man who risked his very life to protect everyone and fighting for good, it didn't matter what I've done as long as I survived... but, meeting you, you changed me, you've opened up my heart in a way I've never imagine was possible, I've finally come to regret a lot of things I've done and I vowed to change myself into a better person, I couldn't go back to being Doctor Octopus anymore because... I fell in love with you Anna Maria... so please come with me, we can go anywhere and start a new life together... please." Otto confessed his true feeling.
Anna Maria placed her hand on Otto's hand. "Otto... I love you too, from the moment you've come into my life, you've made me feel like the happiest woman on Earth, you accepted me as I am in every way... but... we can't be together no matter how much we want to."
"Why not?" Otto asking.
"Cause this isn't you Otto, this person who's life you've taken, it's was never yours, it's his. I wished that we could've met under better circumstance in a different lifetime, but... we can't. Maybe it was fate that we met, maybe fate is giving you a chance to atone for all your mistakes, to find real redemption before your time is up." Anna Maria said.
"Honestly Anna, I've never thought it was ever possible for a guy with my past to ever find redemption, for all the good I've tried to do I've still faltered back to my old ways, I don't think I could ever be redeemed." Otto is doubtful.
"Yes you can, cause I've seen what kind a person you truly are, not as a supervillain, but a good man, you've saved a lot of people in these past two weeks, you've even saved my life along with countless others, none of us would be alive if it wasn't for you, I can tell that you got a good heart, you are a hero Otto." Anna Maria said with sincerity.
Otto smiled with tears. "Anna... you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, I don't want to lose you."
Anna Maria smiled with tears also. "Me neither, I don't want to lose you too, but... you must look into your heart and you'll know what you must do. I'm so glad that I've met you Otto, despite how things turned out, you've made believe that love was possible, you accepted who I am, as myself."
Otto is still tearing up as he came up to Anna Maria and hugged her for comfort, Anna Maria embraced him and can feel all the deep sorrows he's carrying within his soul, she's also sad and tearing up more that she's going to lose the man she loves, who made her feel like the happiest woman on Earth, they eventually stopped and broke away from each other, but not before giving each other one final kiss goodbye.
Otto sighs in relief. "Thank you Anna, for everything... I know now what I must do."
"I know you do." Anna Maria smiled with tears.
Otto went back to his bedroom and picked up his mask as he know where he needs to go and what he must do for once in his life, he opens up the window but not before looking at Anna Maria one last time before he goes, for this will be the only time he'll ever see her.
"Goodbye Anna... don't ever forget me." Otto tearing up.
"I can never forget you..." Anna Maria tearing up.
Otto smile with tears. "I love you..."
"I love you too." Anna Maria tearing up in sadness.
Otto then puts on the mask and becomes Superior Spider-Man as he opens up the window and jumps out, Anna Maria went over to watch him swing away as she's crying for Otto whom she fell in love with, now she'll have to learn to live without him but she'll never forget him, Otto is swinging through the city leaving behind the woman he loves as he finally figured out what he must do in his heart.
Time is 6:45 PM at Avengers Tower as the Web-Warriors are here along with Captain America, Iron Man, and Black Widow as they're explaining everything about what truly happened to Peter and what caused this change in his personality, they confessed the hard truth that Otto Octavius has gained control of Peter's body and has been living his life for weeks, now they're pleading with them for their help in finding their friend before they lose him for good.
"So you're telling us that the Spider-Man who's been acting bizarre around us, giving us attitude these past two weeks is really in fact Doc Ock?" Tony is still having trouble accepting it.
"I know how it sounds, but it's the truth, you gotta believe us?" Gwen pleaded.
"And here I thought being turned into a spider was the craziest thing that's happened... How do you know it's really Ock?" Natasha asking.
"Cause Peter somehow sent out a video warning us about Ock, we've just confronted him and we confirmed it, it's really him, it's Ock." Gwen said.
"If what you're saying is true, then we need to find him, for Peter." Steve said.
"Where's Ock now?" Tony said.
"We don't know, we've just fought against him and we got beaten, we lost our chance, that why we need your help to find him." Gwen said.
"And how exactly do we find him?" Natasha is curious.
"Don't bother!" Otto/Peter's voice as it got everyone's attention, they all aimed at the source of the voice with their only weapons pointed at Superior Spider-Man walking towards them with his hands up. "I'm right here."
Gwen is stunned. "You!"
"That's right, it's me, Dr. Otto Octavius." Superior Spider-Man confirmed his true identity to everyone.
Gwen is still feeling very angry and upset for everything Otto has done through Peter's body as she tightens her fist and walks up to Superior Spider-Man.
"I must imagine you all have many questions, but I..." Superior Spider-Man just got punched in the face.
Gwen tossed in a right hook at Superior Spider-Man right before everyone's eyes as they've never seen Gwen like this before, feeling the rage, Otto is on floor after being punched by Gwen.
Natasha is stunned and impressed. "Wow."
Tony is stunned and terrified. "Dang."
Superior Spider-Man takes off his mask and spits out blood from his mouth, but he still remains calm. "Okay... I deserve that."
"You deserved worse, Otto... Do you have any idea what you've done to us?! What you've put all of through?! What you've put me through?!" Gwen is very upset and angry.
"I can explain..." Otto still remains calm.
"You made me believe Peter broken my heart into pieces! When this whole time it was all... YOU!" Gwen shoved Otto with so much force.
Otto felt back down on the ground as Gwen is still upset at Otto for all the damage he's done to her relationship with Peter, he gets back up refusing to fight back as Gwen has every right to be angry because of him.
"I'm very sorry Ms. Stacy, I just couldn't risk you getting too close." Otto apologizes.
"Close to what? Finding out that my boyfriend had his body hijacked by a madman? Do you have any idea of all the damage you've done?!" Gwen is upset.
"You're right, I'm very sorry Ms. Stacy. I was afraid if I ever too close to any of you, you would've figured out that I wasn't really your Peter. I just wanted to live and it didn't matter what I did, I did what I had to do to survive by any means necessary, even by hurting all the people Parker ever cared or loved, especially the woman he loves the most, I just wanted to live again." Otto explains ever reason he did to survive.
"So why are you really here, Otto? You had the chance to disappear for good, but you came here instead? Why?" Gwen demands to know.
Otto sighs. "Whether you believe it or not, I'm here to help you."
"Help us? How?" Anya is confused.
"To help all of you bring Peter Parker back." Otto told his true intentions.
Gwen is stunned. "What?"
"You heard me, I'm going to bring back your Peter, he's still in here, inside my head, or more accurately his head, he's still alive, trust me." Otto said.
"Trust you?! After what you've done you expect us to trust you?!" Miles is upset.
"Miles..." Anya tries to calm him down.
"Before I decide whether whether to trust you or not, just tell us... why are you really doing this? After everything you've done, all the harm you've caused, why are you so interested in saving Peter?" Gwen is still distrustful in Otto's motives.
Otto sighs. "You're right, I didn't care about Peter, I didn't care about what my actions brought into his life, to the people he loved, all I ever wanted was to live and start over, I thought that by being Spider-Man I could live up to his name in ways he never did, but..."
"But what?" Gwen wants to hear more.
"Being Peter Parker, I got to see life through his eyes in a way I never did as Doctor Octopus, made me feel things I'd never imagine was possible, all the goodness he's has in his heart, his dedication to doing heroism for all the right reasons, he taught me what it truly means to be a hero and because of him, I've changed and he wasn't the only one, I've met someone who made me feel... loved and good... I'm no longer that same man you all saw me as, not anymore." Otto explained his change.
"Very touching... but I'm still not buying it." Miles doesn't believe Otto.
"Miles, calm down..." Anya said.
"This is Doc Ock we're talking about, the very same man who threatened the entire world, who also killed Uncle Aaron out of cold blood, who now stolen our friend's life, how can we trust anything he's says?!" Miles protest against Otto's intentions.
"You're right Miles Morales... what I did... it's unforgivable... I can't change what I've done or give you back what I've taken from you, but... I can still bring your friend back, there's still a chance for Peter to take back control of his life, I have the means to make it happen... I'll leave that decision to you, Gwen Stacy, only you can decide what's best for Peter." Otto is still regretful but still willing to help.
Gwen sighs. "Give us a minute."
Otto walks away as the Web-Warriors and the Avengers gathered in private to discuss whether to put their trust in Otto or not, some are still doubtful of the man but none of them have the means or the knowledge required to bring back Peter to their lives again, only Otto has them, but can they trust him?
"You're not serious considering trusting him, are you?" Miles is against it.
"Look, none of us trust him, we all know exactly who Otto Octavius is and what he's done." Gwen said.
"None of us has forgotten what he almost did to the world months ago, but..." Steve said.
"But what?" Miles said.
"I just don't see any other way to save Peter, this a mind transfer we're talking about, something very impossible even for me, I don't know how Otto pulled it off, we need his knowledge on how he did it in order to bring back Peter." Tony said.
"I hate to admit this, but Tony's right, only Otto has the means to make this happen, to bring Peter back to us... to me." Gwen said.
"Maybe... but I still don't trust him." Miles is still against this idea.
"Miles, I know what did and what he took from you, none of us are asking your to trust or forgive him, but please, this is for Peter. If you don't want to be a part of this, I'll understand, I won't make you to do something you're uncomfortable with, but we made a pact to bring Peter home, whatever it takes." Gwen said.
"Whatever it takes..." Miles takes a deep breath and reluctantly sighs calmly. "Okay... for Peter."
"For Peter." Anya agrees.
"For Peter." Tony, Steve, and Natasha said in unison.
Everyone agrees that Otto holds the key to bring Peter back in control of his own life, though Miles still has some reservations about working beside the man who murdered his uncle, he knows that only Otto can bring back his friend, he's willing to overcome his vendetta for Peter, Otto see that everyone came to a decision together.
"I take it you all made a decision?" Otto asking.
"We did." Gwen agrees to work with Otto.
"But just to be clear... I won't forgive you... it just isn't in me." Miles still won't forgive Otto.
Otto nodded his head. "I understand... but I'll do whatever it takes to bring back your friend... I swear it."
"I'm going to hold you to it... for Peter." Miles said.
Otto nodded. "For Peter."
"Alright, now that we're all in agreement, how do we bring Peter back? How did you transfer your mind into his body?" Tony asking Otto for his knowledge.
"Very well, there's this machine created by an old adversary of Captain America, Arnim Zola, he created it to prolong his life by transferring his consciousness into another body." Otto explained how this was done.
"Okay, we know how, so where is this machine you've used?" Tony said.
"Gone, destroyed along with the sub I was hiding in for months." Otto told what happened to the machine.
Tony sighs in disappointment. "Wonderful, our only hope is long gone."
"Not necessarily, the one that was destroyed was only an upgraded version, the original prototype still exists, we can still use it." Otto knows of another machine.
"So where is it?" Steve asking.
"In Switzerland, at Zola's hidden laboratory where he continues and conducts his own private research for HYDRA, that's where the prototype is." Otto gave them a lead.
"In other words, we'd have to go and break into Zola's personal lab which is probably heavily guarded with HYDRA troops and all sorts of deadly defenses, sounds easy enough." Natasha being enthusiastic.
"Not to worry, I've been there before, I know another way to sneak past their perimeter defenses undetected. But getting the prototype is only half the equation, we'd still need a body to enable the mind transfer in order for Parker to take back control of his life." Otto told them of another requirement.
"You're not suggesting transferring your mind into someone else's body? That's not an option." Gwen said.
"Of course not, the machine I used was configured for a living body, the one we're about to steal is specifically designed to transfer a human mind into a robotic body, all we need is a body with a CPU large enough to house a human conscious." Otto said.
"Easier said than done, even I don't have anything like that at my disposal." Tony said.
"No... but Oscorp does... the Living Brain." Otto said.
"What's that?" Anya said.
"It's a big green robot created by Dr. Petty, it's capable of learning and solving problems, me and Pete fought against it two years during our field trip at Oscorp when it suddenly malfunctioned. Though I'm guessing you had a hand in that incident, Otto." Gwen explained about Living Brain.
"I did, at the time I needed to throw you and Parker off balance and to humiliate Osborn in the process." Otto confessed his role in that incident.
"And you didn't care who got hurt as long as you got back at Norman Osborn." Gwen said.
"The man is a total crook, he deserved it." Otto justify his actions.
"We don't have time for this, let's focus on the mission, if that robot could house a human conscious, then we need to borrow it." Steve said.
"Good luck with that, Osborn isn't too happy that we've hijacked his Ganali Device without his permission during the Spider-Island incident." Miles said.
"Not to mention I've kinda vowed to take him down one day, right to his face." Otto said.
"Typical." Miles said.
"You really hate Norman Osborn so much, don't you?" Anya said.
"That man destroyed my life, of course I hate him, you have no idea the kind of man Osborn truly is." Otto said.
"Right now that's not our main concern, let's just stayed focused on saving Peter, shall we?" Gwen said.
"Fine... don't say I didn't warn you." Otto said.
"Alright, we know that Oscorp still has the Living Brain in their possession, all we need to do is just acquire it without getting caught." Gwen said.
"It should simple enough, Oscorp is still in recovery after that incident with Vulture yesterday, the R & D department has suffered some serious damage, but it's inventory hub should still be intact along with the Living Brain itself." Otto said.
"Alright, Miles, Anya, you two go to Oscorp and retrieve the Living Brain, don't get caught." Gwen gave out an assignment to her teammates.
"Don't worry Gwen, leave it to us." Miles said.
"We'll go fetch the robot, piece of cake." Anya said.
"I'll contact S.H.I.E.L.D. and see if they got any intel on Zola's hideout, but we'll still need some firsthand intel." Natasha said.
"Otto, since you've been there before, you can tell us exactly how to pull this off." Steve said.
"Not to worry Captain, I've done this before, managed to steal Zola's technology right under his nose, I'll do it again." Otto said.
"Alright, we're both off to fetch the robot." Miles said.
"Good luck." Gwen said.
Miles and Anya puts on their mask as they're off on their mission to retrieve the Living Brain robot for the mind transfer process required to bring back their friend Peter, meanwhile Otto stayed behind and gave the Avengers intel on how to infiltrate Zola's hidden base to retrieve the prototype to make this possible.
Time is 7:12 PM at Oscorp Tower as the whole R & D department is still in repairs after the explosion caused by Otto's fusion reactor but thankfully Otto as Superior Spider-Man stopped it before it got any worse than just one floor, a couple of security bots are patrolling around keeping an eye on the department for any intruders as they've detected absolutely nothing, they both moved one to another section on this floor, unknown to anyone Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl are climbing through the opening caused by Vulture and made their way inside undetected.
"Okay, we're in, where too?" Spider-Girl asking her teammate.
"The inventory hub of this department is up ahead, that way." Kid Arachnid pointed out.
"You've been here before?" Spider-Girl said as Kid Arachnid leads the way.
"Yeah, I kinda had to borrow their device during the Spider-Island incident, you probably don't remember since you were still resting from your injury." Kid Arachnid said sneaking around the place..
"I remember, it's thanks to Peter's blood that I'd survived." Spider-Girl said.
"More than just survive, when the Ganali device was launched, the antidote was distributed throughout the entire city, curing everyone of their spider powers, except for the three of us... and you, you got to keep your powers afterwards." Kid Arachnid said.
"Honestly... I didn't think that my life would turn out this way, last spring I only learned about you being a hero, months later I ended up being one myself." Spider-Girl said.
"Yeah... well I for one am glad that you're here, you're a great hero Spider-Girl." Kid Arachnid said.
"So are you, I know it couldn't been easy for you doing what you're doing right now." Spider-Girl said.
"You mean working with Ock? Honestly, I'm still against it and a part of me wanted to do right by Aaron, but... I've already lost my uncle, I don't want to lose Pete who's been like a brother to me, if I had to choose between getting vengeance for Aaron or saving Peter, then it's not really that hard of a choice, is it?" Kid Arachnid is determined to see this through.
Spider-Girl smiled. "I'm proud of you, you're a better person, I'm sure Aaron would be proud... and I get you, when my life almost ended, Peter came to my rescue and he gave his blood to save my life, I want to repay that back, so I'm going to see this through to the end, for Peter."
Kid Arachnid nodded his head. "For Peter."
Eventually Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl finally reached the inventory hub of the R & D department, they've opened up and gazed upon the many inventions Oscorp has created from the Ganali Device to the prototype glider technology Kid Arachnid once saw months ago, they've kept on searching and searching until they've finally found a tall green robot that matches the description Ghost-Spider gave them.
"Big green robot, is this it?" Spider-Girl said.
Kid Arachnid reads the tag. "Yeah, this is it."
"Okay, so how do we take it out of her, this thing is too big for us to carry, someone is going to notice and we'll get caught." Spider-Girl said.
"We just need the CPU, let's just take the body and the head, leave the rest behind, it'll be easier." Kid Arachnid suggested.
"Agreed, let's disassemble this big guy." Spider-Girl said.
Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl began the process of disassembling the legs and arms of the Living Brain as they're planning to steal just the torso and head for them to carry out easily.
About couple hours later over the Atlantic Ocean, the quinjet is flying overseas with Superior Spider-Man along with the Web-Warriors and the Avengers on a joint mission in Switzerland to break into Zola's hideout, they've brought the robot body of Living Brain on board as all they need is just the device Zola possess, the group has assembled in the middle of the craft as a hologram displays the map and layout of Zola's hidden base.
"This is all we got from S.H.I.E.L.D., is this the hideout you're talking about?" Captain America asking.
Superior Spider-Man nodded his head. "Yeah, that's the place, it's Zola's hideout, I'm sure of it."
"And you're weren't kidding Nat, Zola's perimeter defenses are off the charts, anti air turrets, tanks, a battalion of troops, it's isn't going to be easy." Iron Man said.
"You mention there's another way, show us." Black Widow said.
Superior Spider-Man moves around the holo map and points out. "There's an exhaust vent about half a mile north of the base, patrol up there is minimum, we land just outside of their sensor range and make our way on foot in small numbers till we reached the vents and we sneak past the perimeter undetected, the only thing we gotta worry about are the motion sensors but that shouldn't be a problem, we go in one by one and we're in, we find the device, take it and get out before anyone catches on."
"Let's hope so, Zola isn't exactly the type to be fooled twice, so expect the unexpected, this is what we'll do, Otto, you'll lead the way towards the exhaust vent, just you, me, Ghost-Spider, Kid Arachnid, and Black Widow, small team, Iron Man and Spider-Girl, you both shall remain on stand by in case things turn ugly." Captain America said.
"In our case, it always does Cap." Iron Man said.
"Why do we have to be on stand by?" Spider-Girl asking.
"Cause we need to guard the Living Brain and have it ready for the mind transfer, Otto, I need your help to modify the bot." Iron Man said.
"I understand, leave it to me." Superior Spider-Man said.
"ETA is still one hour away til we reach Switzerland." F.R.I.D.A.Y. informed the team.
"Thank you F.R.I.D.A.Y., let's get to work." Iron Man said.
Iron Man and Superior Spider-Man got to work on the Living Brain and have it modify for the device once they've finally obtain it, Ghost-Spider is sitting alone as she looks at Superior Spider-Man thinking about the love of her life Peter still trapped inside his own body, she knows that he's still in there and is very eager to be reunited with him again, but a part of her is afraid how he would react once he learns the truth about her getting involved with Darius LeClerc, she made the mistake thinking that Peter had broken her heart, but she couldn't forget Peter no matter what, she could hope that the love he's got for her is much stronger, strong enough to forgive.
About an hour later in Switzerland, Black Widow is piloting the quinjet, flying over the snowy tundra while in stealth mode, eventually Widow began preparations to land just outside HYDRA's sensor range undetected, the quinjet touched down and landed safely, a team of five are walking out of the ramp while Iron Man and Spider-Girl are staying behind and on standby if they're needed in case of trouble.
"Alright, Stark, Corazon, wait here in case we need assistance." Captain America said.
"Just give us the word Cap and we'll be there." Iron Man being enthusiastic.
"I know you will." Captain America said.
"Good luck to you both, be sure to come back and don't get killed." Spider-Girl said to her teammates.
"Come on, it's us." Kid Arachnid being enthusiastic.
"We're coming back Anya... with Peter, I promise." Ghost-Spider said.
Otto as Superior Spider-Man looks back at Ghost-Spider who's got the determination in her eyes, she's determined to go to the ends of the Earth to bring back the man she loves, despite the damage he caused in their relationship, Gwen could never stop loving Peter and Peter could never stop loving Gwen. Eventually the team consisting of Captain America, Black Widow, Superior Spider-Man, Ghost-Spider, and Kid Arachnid all proceeded on foot leaving Iron Man and Spider-Girl behind to guard the Living Brain. The team kept on venturing through the snowy tundra while trying to avoid detection by any HYDRA patrol in the air, Black Widow is showing a holomap on her gauntlet.
"Okay, according to this, the exhaust vents should be up ahead, a few kilometers from here." Black Widow said.
"Alright, let's scout ahead and make sure this intel is accurate?" Captain America said.
"You three go on ahead, I need to have a word with Otto in private." Ghost-Spider said.
"What?" Kid Arachnid said.
"You sure about this?" Captain America said.
"I am... please." Ghost-Spider is being very serious in her voice.
Captain America nodded his head. "Alright, the rest of us will scout on ahead, don't take too long."
Captain America and Black Widow are scouting up ahead as Kid Arachnid gave one last look at Ghost-Spider with Superior Spider-Man, he got a feeling he knows exactly what this is all about, something very personal to Gwen, the three proceed ahead leaving Ghost-Spider and Superior Spider-Man behind alone.
"Okay... we're alone, what do you need to talk about?" Superior Spider-Man said.
"I want to talk to Peter, to my Peter... may I?" Ghost-Spider said.
Superior Spider-Man nodded his head as Ghost-Spider reached out her hands towards his mask and takes it off, revealing the face of Peter Parker, she then takes off her own mask and shows the face of Gwen Stacy, Peter can see through his own eyes at the woman he loves. whom he never stopped loving despite everything that's happened between them.
Gwen looks into the eyes of the man she loves, hoping to reach through to her love. "Peter... if you're in there... I love you..."
Peter's eyes is shaking with feelings of love until he leaned in closer and suddenly kisses Gwen passionately, Gwen closes her eyes and kissed back as she knows in her heart where this kiss is coming from, Otto isn't even doing this as he's not in control for the moment, this was all Peter with all his will and love for Gwen, Gwen's heart is beating as the love she still has for Peter never died out, eventually the two broke off the kiss as they look at each other.
Otto/Peter looks at Gwen's eyes. "That was from him."
"I know... I can feel it, his love." Gwen smiled.
Otto/Peter smiles. "He loves you so much Gwendolyne Stacy... more than you could ever imagine."
Gwen has confusion in her eyes. "What do you mean?"
"You'll find out when you see him, you're in for quite a surprise..." Otto/Peter smiled as he then puts on his mask. "Alright, enough talk, let's get going, Peter's waiting for you."
Superior Spider-Man proceeded ahead to join up with the others as Gwen is still thinking about what Otto's means by this surprise from Peter, but she's more focused on the mission, she puts on her mask back and walks ahead continuing the mission, Ghost-Spider joined up with Superior Spider-Man along with Captain America, Black Widow, and Kid Arachnid as they gazed upon the exhaust vent that leads to Zola's hideout, Kid Arachnid noticed something in Ghost-Spider's expression.
"Hey, everything good?" Kid Arachnid concerned.
"Yeah, everything is... fine." Ghost-Spider stays focused.
"Alright, this is, the way inside is in front of us, a little reminder, once we cross inside all communications to the outside will be jammed, we'll be on our own." Superior Spider-Man said.
Captain America taps his earpiece. "Stark, we're going in, radio silence."
"Understood, good luck Cap." Iron Man said over the earpiece.
"You too." Captain America said.
"Alright, I"ll go on first." Black Widow said.
Black Widow volunteered to go on ahead first down through the exhaust vent as she has her goggles on, she taps the lens and they reveal the motion sensors all over the place as she's analyzing some openings for her to slither through without tripping the alarms, she rappels down into the vent while avoiding the motion sensors as her teammates watched her patterns, she eventually made it to the bottom undetected where there's hardly any security, she looks up to her teammates at the top looking down at her.
Black Widow calling out. "I made it! Just follow my patterns and don't deviate otherwise you'll trip the sensors."
"Okay!" Captain America then looks to his teammates. "Let's go."
Captain America rappel down and follows Widow's pathway through the blindspots, then Superior Spider-Man, followed by Ghost-Spider, and lastly Kid Arachnid, all five of them made it to the bottom as they proceed ahead towards the base itself.
A few minutes later inside the base, a couple of HYDRA troopers are patrolling around the hallway as they've spotted absolutely nothing, they proceeded on ahead towards the next hallway, unknown to anyone, the vent on top has opened as Superior Spider-Man dropped down in a three point stance and sees nobody here, he signals the others to come on down, Ghost-Spider, Black Widow, Kid Arachnid, and Captain America jumped down and made it inside undetected.
"Okay, where too?" Captain America said.
"The lab where Zola keeps his device is a few corridors from here." Superior Spider-Man said.
"Lead the way." Captain America said.
Superior Spider-Man then proceeded on ahead leading the team towards where the device is being kept, the hallway has a number of tapestries of HYDRA's emblem, they eventually passed by a portrait of Arnim Zola back when he was still human and ignore it, unknown to them the portraits eyes are watching, transmitting the feed back to the source where the master of this place is working, the most prized scientist of HYDRA, Dr. Arnim Zola, is connected to all the camera's everywhere in this base, watching everything simultaneously while he works, he just spotted Spider-Man in the company of Captain America and a few heroes.
Arnim Zola chuckles. "Well, well, well, looks like the good Captain has finally found my lair, this should be interesting."
"Shall we send troops to eliminate them?"
"No... I shall deal with them personally, I have something special in mind." Arnim Zola smiles sinisterly on his torso screen.
Arnim Zola walks away as he plans something big for the meddling heroes, meanwhile the group finally made it to the lab, Widow began using her tools to crack the control panel next to the door, she works on bypassing the encryption until she finally gained access, the door opens up and the team made to the lab as Superior Spider-Man gazed upon the prototype device that resembles the one he used to transfer his mind into Peter's body.
"Is that it?" Ghost-Spider said.
"Yes, this is the device we need to bring back Parker." Superior Spider-Man
"Are you sure this thing is even operational? It's seems pretty old, will it even work?" Black Widow being doubtful.
Superior Spider-Man walks closer and checks the device, he attempts to power it up a bit and it did. "Yep, it's still functional, this will do nicely, all we need to do is bring it to the Living Brain and Voila! Spider-Man is back."
"Good, let just take the device and get out of here!" Ghost-Spider said.
"I'm afraid not, Fraulein!" Zola's voice.
The Avengers and Web-Warriors are startled upon hearing that voice, especially Captain America as he recognized that voice too well, it's coming from the speaker in the room along with a camera looking down upon them hanging from a wall.
"What's the big hurry? It be a shame to let my uninvited guests leave so soon." Zola's voice.
"Zola, you knew we were here." Captain America said.
"Surprise Captain? Don't be, after my device was stolen a month ago, it prompted me to take precautions in the event something like this ever happens again. Did you expect me to be robbed twice? But I must say, it's quite a pleasure to have my enemies here, especially you Captain." Zola's voice.
"If you want me, show yourself Zola." Captain America said.
"Patience Captain, in the meantime please all that my home has to offer, for it shall be your tomb... farewell Captain." Zola's voice.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Kid Arachnid said.
All of a sudden the whole place is shaken as they hear explosions coming from every angle of this place.
"Get the device now!" Captain America said.
"Don't order me around." Superior Spider-Man doesn't like being bossed.
"We don't have time for this, just take it... please." Ghost-Spider said.
Superior Spider-Man sighs. "Fine... cause you asked nicely."
Superior Spider-Man quickly grabbed the mind transfer device and took it with him as he and the group are attempting to escape the compound with the device before it's destruction, meanwhile back outside far from Zola's base at the quinjet hiding in the snowy forest, Iron Man and Spider-Girl are hearing a loud tremor and explosion coming from the base their teammates infiltrated.
"What was that?" Spider-Girl is worried.
"I don't know, but I have a feeling all hell is about to break loose, we'd better get going." Iron Man said.
Iron Man walks back into the quinjet as he grabbed and carry the Living Brain with his arms out of the craft with Spider-Girl waiting outside.
"You're going to take it with us?" Spider-Girl said.
"I am, this is Iron Man's special delivery, grab a hold of me, I'll take us there." Iron Man carrying the Living Brain.
Iron Man flies up his foot thrusters and flies up with the Living Brain while Spider-Girl fires up an organic webline onto Iron Man's armor and got pulled away in the air, they're both flying towards the base as the whole compound is being blown up piece by piece, meanwhile inside the base itself a number of HYDRA troopers are evacuating as the alarms are ringing, including a pair of Avengers and Web-Warriors running away with Superior Spider-Man carrying the device in his arms, they've spotted the way out up ahead.
"There! I see the way!" Captain America running.
All five are running together towards the opening as an explosion erupted behind them and flames are heading their way, all five are running as fast as they can to avoid the flames until they've finally reached the breach and jumped out together before they all got burned alive, they made it to the outside in time as they got back up and looked at the compound collapsing down, Iron Man came in flying with the Living Brain and Spider-Girl towards them, they're both relieved that they're all alive and escaped the destruction.
"Cap, Widow, glad you're both alright." Iron Man said.
"Flattered, but this was way too easy." Black Widow isn't at ease yet.
"Easy? If this is all the best Dr. Zola has to offer, then I'm not impressed." Superior Spider-Man said.
"No, she's right, this is way too easy even for him, I don't think he's done with us yet, he must have something else in mind." Captain America agrees with Black Widow's instincts.
"Like what?" Iron Man is curious.
The Avengers and Web-Warriors all see HYDRA troopers are still alive and armed as the fight isn't over yet, but their biggest worry is the huge tremor coming from deep underground.
"What was that?" Ghost-Spider is worried.
"F.R.I.D.A.Y.?" Iron Man is also worried.
"Scanning... I'm detecting a large energy signature emerging from the below the surface, something big." F.R.I.D.A.Y. said.
"How big?" Iron Man said.
All of a sudden emerging from the ground is a gigantic robot, this robot resembles Arnim Zola's body but much larger, almost as large as Giant-Man.
"Oh, that big." Iron Man is stunned.
A number of HYDRA troopers have all seven of them surrounded with their weapons pointed at them, the giant robot then opens up it's chassis to reveal a jumbo screen as Arnim Zola shows his face before his enemies on the ground below his feet.
Arnim Zola chuckles sinisterly. "Now who's the superior man, Captain America?"
"If this is supposed to intimidate me Zola, I'm afraid it's not working, I've gone against worst things than that. You might be all big and mighty now, but you'll always be that same mad scientist who like to hide behind his creations." Captain America isn't afraid.
"Time and time again you and your band of misguided misfits always thwarted our plans for world domination, no more, tonight you and your heroes all die together, this is the will of HYDRA and together we shall triumph... Hail HYDRA!" Arnim Zola said.
All the troops all yelled out "HAIL HYDRA!" as the heroes are in for a big fight for their survival, they're surrounded on all sides.
"What's the plan, Cap?" Iron Man asking.
"Iron Man, take flight and get Zola's attention, keep him occupied." Captain America said.
"I can do that, leave it to me." Iron Man likes the idea.
Iron Man takes flights and flies up firing off his repulsors at Zola's giant robot as it hardly caused any damage, Zola felt irritated as he's attempting to strike back at Iron Man in the air, he swings his gigantic arm but missed the elusive hero, meanwhile the rest of HYDRA troopers all partake in the conflict and fired off their weapons at their enemies.
"Scatter!" Captain America said.
All heroes scattered away to confused them, Spider-Girl is doing some backflips dodging the laser attacks, she fires back with some organic webbing at their faces to blind them, Black Widow moved in and jumped up, wrapping her around one of them and flips him down hard performing a hurricanrana, Spider-Girl jumps and does the frankensteiner on the other, Ghost-Spider runs and does the flying knee on one, afterwards she performs a spinning side kick on the other, Superior Spider-Man is eager to join the fight as Ghost-Spider noticed it.
"What are you doing?" Ghost-Spider said.
"What does it look like I'm doing, I'm here to help!" Superior Spider-Man said.
"No, you have a mission to complete, get that device to the Living Brain, have it ready for the mind transfer." Ghost-Spider said.
"Seriously? In the middle of this battle?" Superior Spider-Man protest.
"You have to, you're the only one who can do this, if we lose that device now, Spider-Man will be gone forever... please, don't let all this be for nothing." Ghost-Spider said.
Superior Spider-Man moans and sighs. "Fine... I have it ready... for him."
"Okay, we'll hold them off, buy you some time, make it count." Ghost-Spider said.
Superior Spider-Man nodded his head. "You have my word."
Ghost-Spider returned back to combat to hold off HYDRA while Superior Spider-Man looks around and finds the torso of the Living Brain not to far from here, he rushes over with the mind transfer device in his possession, he made it to the Living Brain and began the work of connecting the device to the robot, he's having a hard time focusing on how to perform the modifications with all the conflict happening nearby, but he's determined to see this through to the end. Meanwhile Iron Man is still in the air avoiding Zola's attacks while trying to analyze a weakness in the robot.
"Should've brought Ant-Man with us... F.R.I.D.A.Y., any weak points I can exploit?" Iron Man said.
"Scanning... got it, there's a massive power source just behind the robot's back, disable it and it'll neutralize the threat along with Zola." F.R.I.D.A.Y. shows on the visor where the power source is located.
"Got it." Iron Man said.
Arnim Zola's giant robot fires off plasma beams from the tips of its hands all at once, Iron Man is taking evasive action to avoid them all as he's trying to fly around to his back where the power source is located, meanwhile down on the ground Captain America tossed the shield and neutralize several HYDRA troopers simultaneously before it bounced back to him, he took the shield back and tackles one of the heavy ones down hard. Kid Arachnid is backflipping around as he then fired multiple webbing towards all six troopers, he then unleashed his venom shock through the webbing and zapped them all at once, Zola is still engaged in combat with Iron Man while moving around as he's moving his legs backwards towards where Superior Spider-Man is still busy tinkering with Zola's device to notice the danger coming his way, the heel of the Zola's bot is about to stomp upon Superior Spider-Man who's spider sense tingles of danger but he wasn't quick enough to dodge it, Kid Arachnid took matters into his own hands and fired off couple web lines at Superior Spider-Man along with the Living Brain, he pulled both away before they got crushed in time, Superior Spider-Man is stunned that he was saved by the youngest Web-Warrior who harbored a grudge.
"Looks like I'm in your debt... thanks." Superior Spider-Man is grateful.
Kid Arachnid is breathing heavily. "I didn't do it for you... I did it for him, for my friend."
"Either way, thank you." Superior Spider-Man said.
"You can thank me by saving him, I'll keep you both safe, don't let me down." Kid Arachnid said.
Superior Spider-Man nodded his head as Kid Arachnid got back into the fight and doing everything he can to protect the man who took away his uncle, everything Miles is doing is to bring back his friend who's been like a brother, he's willing to put aside his grudge to do what's right for Peter. Superior Spider-Man got back to working on the device as he's very close to making it operational for the mind transfer, meanwhile up in the air Iron Man managed to fly up behind Zola's robot as his visor can detect a source of power behind the hull, he restored to using his laser beam to slice open the back with precision, the laser did the trick and opened up like a can of sardines, exposing the power source within the robot.
"Got it, just one blast from my unibeam and it's lights out for Zola!" Iron Man being enthusiastic.
"I'm afraid not!" Arnim Zola said.
Zola's giant robot managed to twist it's torso around, protecting the power source and catching Iron Man by surprise by firing multiple lasers at him, blasting him out of the air as Iron Man came crashing down on the ground hard, his armor has suffered some serious damage as Captain America was in the middle of the fight and spotted his teammate down for the count, he rushed over to check up on Iron Man.
"Hey, are you alright?!" Captain America said.
"Yeah, but I'm done for the count... listen Cap, you need to take out the power source on Zola's back, it's the only way to bring him down." Iron Man said.
"Got it, save your strength, we'll take it from her. Alright everyone listen up, we need to take out the power source behind Zola's back to stop him." Captain America said.
"I can do it, I need a diversion." Ghost-Spider volunteers.
"Leave it to us." Kid Arachnid gave the thumbs up along with Spider-Girl.
Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl both jumps and swings around Zola's robot to get his attention, Ghost-Spider reached back to a running distance as Captain America is holding up his shield.
"Ready?" Captain America said.
Ghost-Spider nodded her head as she then runs towards Captain America holding his shield up in position, Ghost-Spider jumped up onto the shield as Captain America then gave her the extra boost she needed and sent her high as Zola is distracted dealing with two Web-Warriors swinging around, Ghost-Spider managed to land behind Zola's back and has the power source in view, Zola sensed someone on his back making their way to shutting him down which made him feel very agitated, meanwhile Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl are still swinging around firing their webbing to keep him occupied, but no more, he makes his moves by opening up his missile launchers and locks onto all his enemies in the air and on the ground, Captain America and Black finished taking down all of HYDRA troops as they've notice what Zola is about to do, especially Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl swinging around.
"Oh dang!" Kid Arachnid said.
"Take cover!" Captain America yells out.
Zola unleashed a volley of missiles all around the area as some flies towards Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl swinging and taking evasive action, they've managed to dodge a couple of missiles but one of them got too close and blasted them out of the air as they've fell down to the ground, several more are coming at Captain America and Black Widow on the ground, Cap stepped in and holds up his shield to protect himself and Black Widow as the missiles came down and blasting everything in range, both heroes managed to survive thanks to Cap's vibranium shield saving their lives but they still remained injured by the blast, Ghost-Spider is crawling around as she's stunned to see both Avengers and Web-Warriors down for the count all injured.
"NO!" Ghost-Spider is terrified.
"Don't think I've forgotten about you, Fraulein!" Arnim Zola said.
Zola's robot hull is unleashing electricity all around until it reached Ghost-Spider and zapped her with so much voltage, Superior Spider-Man just finished his work on the Living Brain as it's finally read for the mind transfer until he heard Ghost-Spider's screams and looks up to see her getting shocked and falls off, she's falling down until Zola's hand took her before she hits the ground and raised her up in the air with her in his iron grip, Peter still inside his own body is watching what's happening to Gwen.
"No... Gwen..." Peter's voice.
Zola's robot gripping Ghost-Spider in his giant hand. "Don't think I've forgotten all the trouble you've caused me last year, Fraulein, now I'm going make you pay for everything!"
Zola's robot is tightening it's grip and attempting to crush Ghost-Spider as she's screaming in pain, Superior Spider-Man is terrified upon what's happening, especially Peter watching with horror.
"GWEN! Otto, you gotta save her!" Peter's voice pleading desperately.
"What about the mind transfer?" Superior Spider-Man said.
"None of that matters if I lose Gwen! I beg you Otto, don't let her die, please!" Peter's voice pleading.
Superior Spider-Man decides to suspend the mind transfer and went off to save the love of Peter's life before it's too late, he knows that Zola is vulnerable from behind, he jumps up and swings around to the back and lands on the robot's hull, he got the power source in his sights, he just needs to take it down and Gwen will be saved, he's crawling up but Zola isn't going to let that happen.
"Uh uh, I don't think so!" Zola is catching on.
Zola's robot unleashed another wave of electricity all around his back and stopped him before he could ever reach it, he can't do nothing but feel the shock of so much voltage coursing through his body, he lost his grip and drops back down to the ground, Zola turns around and sees the hero, he aims his missiles at him and launched them, Superior Spider-Man's sense tingles, warning him of incoming danger, he quickly got back up and jumps away to dodge all the missile coming at him, one of them got close enough to blast him off the air as he fell back down all injured along with all his enemies.
Zola chuckles sinisterly. "Looks like great fortune is smiling upon me, now where was I? Ah yes, I remember!"
Zola got back to crushing Ghost-Spider to her death with his iron grip, her strong body is holding out as long as she can but she won't be able to hold back much longer before she gets killed by Zola, meanwhile on the ground Superior Spider-Man is still hurt as he looks back up to see Ghost-Spider is in serious danger, Zola is attempting to kill her again.
"No... Otto, you have to get back up, keep on fighting! Gwen needs you... they need you!" Peter's voice pleading again.
Otto failed to stop Zola as he felt powerless despite having all the powers of Spider-Man at his disposal, but he lacks the strength and the will of Peter Parker that makes the man the greatest hero of them all, he looks nearby at the Living Brain still intact with the device attached waiting to be used for the mind transfer, he realized that he can't save everyone, but he knows in his heart who can and he knew in that moment what he needs to do.
"No... they need you." Superior Spider-Man firmly believed.
Superior Spider-Man rushed over the Living Brain robot and activated the device attached to the torso, a bright light is shining in between as the mind transfer has begun.
(The mind of Peter Parker)
Within the mind of the body of Peter Parker, everything is shining white with bits of Peter's memory all around in view, here stands Peter himself in his Advanced Suit with Dr. Otto Octavius standing opposite of him as this is the moment they're about to part ways for good.
Peter looks around at all the memories within his mind till he looks back at Otto. "Otto... what is this?"
"If I had to guess, we're inside your own mind, or more specifically we're at the moment of the mind transferring process, even as we speak, my mind and all my memories are being downloaded into the Living Brain's CPU." Otto said.
"Why Otto? Why did you decide to give me back my life?" Peter wants to know the true reason.
"Cause I failed... I thought that by being you, being Spider-Man, I could end up being the better hero than you ever were in every way." Otto said.
"In a way Otto, you did, you were a great hero." Peter said.
"No... cause I was wrong, I realize now that the destiny I always wanted, to be this world's savior, it was never mine to begin with... it was yours Peter Parker, it always was your true destiny... I could never be the hero in the way you are, not then, not now, the only one who can save Gwen Stacy is you, Peter Parker, so you must go back and save the woman you love with all your heart and strength." Otto said.
"Thank you Otto... what's going to happen to you now? Will this work?" Peter is worried for Otto.
"Honestly Parker... I don't know, this machine is very old and there is a highest chance that this could fail and my mind would cease to exist during the transfer." Otto told of the risks.
Peter is stunned. "You knew this might not work and you still took a chance with it, that you could..."
"I know.. nothing is ever certain Parker, there's always a chance of miscalculation, but I decided to go through with it in the end... Parker, do me a favor, if you ever see Anna Maria, tell her that I loved her till the very end." Otto said.
"I will... I promise..." Peter said with seriousness in his voice.
Otto sighs with a warm smile. "I don't know what awaits me after this, hopefully redemption... don't worry about me, go back and become who you're destined to be, cause you are and always shall be... the Superior Spider-Man."
Otto Octavius smiled as he said his goodbye to Peter Parker before disappearing into a bright white light, Otto parted ways from Peter as everything within his mind is consumed by a bright light.
(Reality)
Superior Spider-Man then woke up from his own mind to see the Living Brain right before him, but something is different about him, he's not Otto Octavius anymore, he no longer exists inside Peter's body, he looks upon his own hands and grips them with all his willpower, the person who's got complete control over the body is Peter Parker himself still dressed as the Superior Spider-Man, he's back but he's not done yet as he looks up to see Zola's giant robot gripping Ghost-Spider to death as she's screaming.
Spider-Man tighten his grip. "My turn."
Spider-Man then runs towards Zola's robot as fast as he can, he spotted Captain America down with Black Widow, but he's more focused on the vibranium shield on the ground as he fires a web line towards it and pulls it to him, he got the shield in his left arm and jumps up swinging up in the air towards Zola's head where a single eye is watching everything, right now he's focused on squeezing Ghost-Spider to death, Spider-Man managed to swing in close as he then tossed the shield towards the giant robot's single eye, shattering it into pieces and blinding Zola.
"NO!" Armin Zola screams out.
Zola isn't able to see anything anymore as Spider-Man took the opportunity to save Ghost-Spider still in the iron grip, he jumps over and uses all his strength to open up the iron hand, Ghost-Spider is weaken by the squeeze as Spider-Man took her in his arms and jumps away from Zola's arm, he landed down on the ground and runs away to safety as he sets Ghost-Spider down to rest, she opens up to see Superior Spider-Man just saved her life, but only this time its her Spider-Man who came to her rescue.
"Take it easy my love... I'll be back." Spider-Man said with a sweet voice.
Spider-Man got up to look back at Zola's giant robot moving around all blind as he got to see the exposed power source Otto tried to reach earlier, he knows what he needs to do to end all this, he runs back as Ghost-Spider looks at Spider-Man as she realized that something has changed within him, and he just called her his love.
"Can it be?" Ghost-Spider said.
Zola's robot is moving around blinding unable to notice Spider-Man coming his way, the hero jumped onto the robot's back and started crawling up towards the power source, meanwhile within the robot itself is Zola's original robot body having trouble seeing anything but it's sensors has detected Spider-Man crawling up to the power source and figure out that the hero plans to stop him once and for all, but Zola attempts to stop the hero before it ever comes to it, Spider-Man reached the power source as he's about to make his move.
"Not so fast!" Zola's voice from the robot.
Spider-Man's senses tingles of danger but he was too late as the whole robot hull is surging electricity all around, Spider-Man was caught in the current and being shocked with so much voltage, the Web-Warriors and Avengers look up to see Spider-Man screaming in pain but the hero won't give in.
Spider-Man is remaining strong while being zapped. "I... won't... give up..."
Spider-Man is still crawling up towards the exposed power source, fighting through all the pain he's feeling right now, the heroes down on the ground are amazed by this fighting spirit Spider-Man is giving, this is certainly nothing like what Otto Octavius is capable of, in fact this is exactly something only their Spider-Man can do, Ghost-Spider looks up as she has a feeling that this is Peter who is doing this right now, Spider-Man then finally reached the exposed power source, it's right before him.
"THIS IS IT!" Spider-Man screams out.
Spider-Man taps into the power of the Superior Spider-Man suit and unleashed the four red razor spider legs from his back and sent them all piercing through Zola's power source and finally hits their target, the power source is being overload with so much power right up to the point that it blows up, sending Spider-Man blasting away and falling down from the sky, he's about to hit the ground unable to save him, but Iron Man was able to recover himself and flies up at high speed, he caught the injured hero and carried him away to safety, he landed him down with Ghost-Spider along with Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl, Ghost-Spider is more worried for the man she loves, she felt like this is her Peter before her unconscious.
"Is he..." Ghost-Spider is worried.
"Don't worry, he's alive." Iron Man assured.
Zola's robot is now without power as it finally tilted and collapsed towards the ground very hard, the robot is totally wrecked as Arnim Zola is crawling out of the wreckage attempting to escape, but the vibranium shield was tossed and sliced off his robotic legs, making him fall down again as the shield returns back to Captain America in the company of Black Widow and Iron Man, his troops are down and he's unable to escape this time.
"Not so fast Zola, this is the end of the line for you." Captain America said.
The Avengers managed to capture HYDRA's most valuable scientist Dr. Arnim Zola after so many years thanks to the help of the Superior Spider-Man who is in fact Peter Parker who has gotten his life back thanks to Otto's sacrifice, but the hero himself is unconscious and exhausted from the fight, he's resting his head on the lap of Ghost-Spider in company of Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl worried for their friend, all of a sudden he's starting to regain consciousness and the first thing he sees is Ghost-Spider in front taking care of him, Ghost-Spider is stunned upon his awakening.
"Peter... is that really you?" Ghost-Spider is wondering.
Spider-Man nodded his head. "Hi Gwendy... it's me... I miss you."
"Pete? It's really you, man?" Kid Arachnid asking a bit unconvinced.
"What? Me saying Gwendy isn't enough?" Spider-Man said.
"Sorry, it just hard to tell if you're Otto or not, the man was very convincing being you for so long." Kid Arachnid unconvinced.
"He's got a point." Spider-Girl is a bit unconvinced too.
"Okay, tell me something only my Peter would know." Ghost-Spider needs a bit more convincing.
"Seriously *sighs* fine... that night in the Hamptons, the first time you and me were... together, you're sensitive with..." Spider-Man hinted out something very private between them.
"STOP! *sighs* it's him... I told you never to tell anyone about it." Ghost-Spider is somewhat upset.
"You asked." Spider-Man being playful.
Ghost-Spider smirked underneath her mask as she hugged Spider-Man without saying anything, he just embraced her too as he's glad to be with the love of his life again, Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl are both happy their friend has come back to them, the Avengers have taken Arnim Zola into custody as they see the Web-Warriors embracing Spider-Man with open arms, they got a sense their friend Peter Parker is back in control of his life. Spider-Man is glad to be with his friends agains after so long, but he looks ahead to see the Living Brain still intact, he got up and walks over to see if Otto has survived the process, he leaned down to find the Living Brain completely shut off, but he needed to find out.
"Otto? Otto, can you hear me? Otto?!" Spider-Man calling out.
The Living Brain is unresponsive and still offline as Iron Man walked up to his side.
"F.R.I.D.A.Y.?" Iron Man said.
"I'm not detecting any signs of brain waves, I'm afraid there's nothing we can do, Boss." F.R.I.D.A.Y. said.
"Otto, wake up!" Spider-Man tries calling out again.
Iron Man placed his hand on Spider-Man's shoulder. "Kid... he's gone..."
Spider-Man sighs calmly. "Otto knew there was a chance this wouldn't work, that he might not make it."
"He knew he wouldn't come back and yet he chose to give back the life he took from you, at the very end he did right by you." Iron Man said.
"He did..." Spider-Man looks at the Living Brain thinking about Otto. "Thank you Otto, because of your sacrifice, you gave me a chance to save Gwen, to be the hero she needed in that moment... in my book, that makes you a hero, my hero."
Spider-Man finished saying everything he needed to say to Otto who is now long gone from the world as the Web-Warriors and the Avengers all joined up and welcomed their friend back to the world of the living, but all that wouldn't be possible if not for the heroic sacrifice of Otto Octavius who gave back the life he took from Peter, they look upon the body of the Living Brain and thinks about Otto's sacrifice.
It's now November 27th around 5:31 AM back in New York City, the quinjet is flying over the city heading towards Avengers Tower where Nick Fury in the company of Maria Hill and Bobbi Morse along with a squad of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are awaiting the return of the heroes, they've spotted the quinjet coming in for a landing on the pad, the quinjet finally touched down, the ramp opens up as Captain America, Black Widow, and Iron Man are escorting Arnim Zola out, the man has been on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most wanted list so Fury needed to see to this personally.
Captain America salute. "Captain Steve Rogers, I relinquish captured HYDRA scientist Arnim Zola over to your custody, Director Fury."
"Thank you Captain Rogers, we'll take it from here." Nick Fury said.
Maria Hill gave the go ahead to Agent Morse and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they're taking custody of Arnim Zola and escorting him away to be safely locked up for all his crimes.
"With Zola off the board, HYDRA has been dealt a critical blow now that we've got their prized scientist in our custody after so many years." Nick Fury said.
"Losing Zola would only slow them down, not stop 'em, they'll just find someone else to replace him, you know their motto, cut off one head, two more shall take its place." Captain America said.
"True, but that won't stop S.H.I.E.L.D. from fighting the good fight, especially with heroes on our side. At any rate as always, we owe our debt of gratitude to your and your team." Nick Fury said.
Captain America nodded his head. "Thanks, but the real credit goes to Spider-Man, if it wasn't for him, none of this would've been possible."
Nick Fury looks ahead of the quinjet to see Spider-Man coming out with the rest of the Web-Warriors all exhausted from their big fight in Switzerland, he wanted to congratulate him but he could tell that Spider-Man has been through a lot, he'll do that another time as he walks away with Maria Hill accompanying Arnim Zola into their custody as Zola's capture will weaken HYDRA, this a big win for S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers. Meanwhile Captain America and Iron Man takes off their helmets and looks back at Spider-Man taking off his mask along with his teammates, Peter is grateful to them for coming to his rescue before it was too late, but he wants to give his thanks to the Avengers for being there for him in his time of need.
"How are you holding up, son?" Steve asking.
"Still adjusting having control of my own body again after weeks of being trapped inside my own mind, but I'm glad that this nightmare is finally over." Peter said.
"You and both, kid." Tony smiled.
"Listen... I'm very sorry for everything that's happened because of what Otto did as me..." Peter apologizing to his teammates.
"Son, none of this was your fault, you have nothing to feel guilty about." Steve said.
"None of us are angry at you... anymore, but we understand what happened wasn't really you." Natasha said.
"She's right, we didn't see this coming or we wouldn't even believe it." Tony said.
"I still don't know how the rest of the Avengers are going to believe this story." Peter said.
"Don't worry, we'll be there to vouch for you and explaining everything, but it's thanks to your friends we found out the truth in time." Tony said.
"You're lucky to have great friends who never gave up, even when the rest of us did, they believed in you Peter, especially her." Steve referring to Gwen.
Peter looks at Gwen who smiles as she's happy to have the love of her life back with her, Peter smiles as he's lucky to have Gwen as the love of his life.
"But more importantly, it's great to have you back, son." Steve smiles.
"It's good to be back, Cap." Peter smiled.
Peter shakes hands with Steve and hugs him out of gratitude for coming to his rescue, Tony then stepped in and hugs Peter as he's glad to him back to his old self again, afterward Natasha came in and hugs Peter.
"Glad you're back with us, Little Spider." Natasha said.
"Thanks Nat... by the way, I gotta ask you for a favor." Peter said.
"A favor?" Natasha is surprised.
"Actually it's for S.H.I.E.L.D., I need a small favor." Peter said.
Natasha has no idea what kind of favor Peter wants from S.H.I.E.L.D., whatever it is it must be somewhat important for it to be small favor for S.H.I.E.L.D., Peter has something special in mind for someone he owes his gratitude.
Later around 6:55 AM in the morning at Lower East Side, back at the apartment, Mary Jane is asleep in her room next to her dog Ms. Lion, Ganke is sleeping on couch, May Parker is sleeping in Peter and Gwen's room, all three stayed the night here awaiting for Peter's return as none of the Web-Warriors have came back since yesterday, Ms. Lion is still asleep until he sensed something, he suddenly wakes up and barks smiling, Mary Jane is waking up upon the dog barking.
Mary Jane yawning and rubbing her eyes. "What's wrong boy?"
Ms. Lion suddenly jumps off the bed and heads towards the living room, Mary Jane is getting up wearing nothing but a t-shirt and panties, she grabbed her sweatpants and puts them on quickly, Ms. Lion is barking at the door as Ganke Lee is waking up from the couch, May Parker is coming out of Peter and Gwen's bedroom still dressed as all three are wondering what's got Ms. Lion's attention, the dog is barking happily as the door opens up and Gwen, Miles, and Anya came back.
"Gwendy dear, you're finally home... where's Peter?" May is wondering about her nephew.
Gwen smiled along with Miles and Anya as they look back at the door, coming in is Peter Parker with a warm smile on his face wearing nothing but a white t-shirt and blue jeans, everyone is stunned to see him again after so long but they're wondering if he's really their Peter before them, Ms. Lion is barking with a smile as Peter bend down and petted the dog happy to see him too, Mary Jane can tell by the dog's reaction to Peter, showing no signs of aggression towards him, she knew in that moment that this is Peter.
"Tiger?" Mary Jane smiled with joy.
Peter looks up at Mary Jane with a warm smile. "Hey MJ, it's me."
May gasped with tears in her eyes upon realizing that her Peter has come back home to her, Peter got back up after petting the dog to look back at his dear Aunt May, May smiled with tears of joy as she went up and hugs him suddenly, he hugs her back with a smile.
May hugging with tears. "Thank god you're here Peter, I knew you'd come back."
Peter hugging with a smile. "I miss you too, Aunt May."
May and Peter finished hugging each other, Peter turns his attention to Mary Jane who is also very happy to see Peter back in her life again, she walks up and hugs him with joy in her eyes.
"Thank god you're back Tiger." Mary Jane smiled while hugging.
"Thank you MJ, for everything, I knew I can count on you." Peter hugging MJ.
"Always Tiger, always." Mary Jane smiled.
Mary Jane finishing hugging Peter as he bumps fist with Ganke as he's glad to see him too, afterwards he looks upon everyone in the room as he's got something more to say.
"Listen... I know everything has been awkward between us cause of Otto, but... I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart, I don't know how things could've turn out for me in the end, but none of you gave up on me." Peter is very grateful to his friends.
"And we never will." Anya smiled.
"She's right, we stick together... always." Miles smiled.
"We'll always be there for you... especially me." Gwen smile warmly.
Peter smiled back at the love of his life as he's happy to have Gwen Stacy back in his life.
"I'm guessing you all must be feeling pretty hungry, how about I make everyone some wheat cakes." May suggested.
"Sounds great, but... I'm pretty tired out, haven't had any decent sleep." Peter yawns feeling tired.
Gwen yawns. "Now that you'd mentioned it, I'm pretty sleepy too."
Miles yawns. "Me too."
Anya yawns. "Same here."
"Okay, why don't you get some sleep, looks like you all need it." May suggested.
"Sound like a good idea... we're gonna head back to Brooklyn, see ya all later." Miles said.
"Bye... and thanks." Peter said.
Miles smiled as he waved goodbye to Peter and Gwen, he's leaves with Anya and Ganke out the front door heading back to Brooklyn Visions Academy for some rest, Peter and Gwen headed on towards their bedroom all totally exhausted from staying up for too long in their longest fight, Peter and Gwen kicked off their shoes as they're climbing onto their bed all tired out, but Gwen has something on her mind that she's been keeping from Peter.
"Peter..." Gwen said.
"Yeah Gwen?" Peter said.
"There's... something I need to tell you..." Gwen said.
"It can wait... can we just sleep for now... please Gwen." Peter closing his eyes.
Gwen smile as she closes her eyes. "Sure... sweet dreams Pete."
Peter and Gwen both sleep together in each others arms, Peter's feeling comfortable embracing the love of his life in his arms after weeks of being apart, he's been stuck in a nightmare for two weeks, but now he's glad to be sleeping with Gwen again, Gwen wanted to tell Peter the truth of everything that's happened since he was controlled by Otto, but she decided to wait and let Peter have his moment of comfort as she needed it too, Mary Jane came by the open bedroom door to see Peter and Gwen sleeping together in the same bed, she smiled as she's happy they're together once more, she slowly closes the door and lets them sleep peacefully.
The next day it's November 28th around 9 AM at the cemetery somewhere in Queens as Peter is dressed up in black suit along with Gwen, Mary Jane, and May Parker all wearing black on this day, he's standing over a newly placed tombstone over a recently buried casket, coming to cemetery is Miles, Anya, and Ganke all wearing black as Peter is very surprised to see them here, especially Miles on this important day.
"Hey... didn't think you'd come?" Peter looks surprised.
"Neither did I, but I'm here, for you." Miles smiled.
"Thank you, all of you." Peter smile warmly.
"So... shall we?" Anya asking.
"Yeah, let's do this." Peter said.
The group gathered around the grave site where Dr. Otto Octavius is buried next to a pile of soil, this is his funeral as they look down at the casket, only six of them are here at his funeral to say goodbye.
"Is he really in there? His body I mean?" Ganke looking at the casket.
"He is, I asked Nat to pull some strings at S.H.I.E.L.D. to obtain his body for the burial." Peter said.
"That's awfully noble of you Peter, especially after everything Otto has done." May is astonished.
"I know, but I owe it to him, to let him Rest In Peace, to say goodbye." Peter said.
"So... anyone want to say a few words?" Mary Jane asking the group.
"I will..." Peter step up in front of the grave before everyone to speak. "We're gathered here to pay our respects to a great scientist, Dr. Otto Octavius, the man had a great passion and was fascinated by the power of science and how it change the world, he wanted to help people through science with great intentions... but somewhere along the line he lost his way and ended up doing the wrong things... they say everyone deserves a second chance at redemption, I guess it turned out to be true, Otto manage to his find his way again in the form of me... thank you Otto, for doing good while it last and for giving my back my life... you were a hero Otto... my hero."
Peter put his flower down into the grave and pays his respects along with others.
Peter's sighs. "I hope you found peace at last."
Peter then walks up to the shovels and picked one of them up as he's about to fill the grave with dirt, but Miles came along and picked up a shovel too, Peter is surprised as Miles nodded and smiled, Peter smiled and nodded back, the two of them picked up dirt and fill the grave together to let Otto Rest In Peace.
Later around 11:34 AM at the Spider-Cave, Peter had already changed out of his suit back to his regular clothing of a white t-shirt and blue jeans, he opens up an empty glass case with the Superior Spider-Man suit all fixed up and restore, he puts it in and adds it to his collection of Spider-Man suits, afterwards he closes the case and gazed upon the Superior Spider-Man suit thinking about Otto and all the good he's done, he turned out to be a hero at the very end. He then looks at Miles Morales chatting with Anya Corazon as he went up to speak with them, they stopped chatting as Peter is front of them.
"Hey Peter, I see you've add that suit to your collection." Miles said.
"Yeah, didn't have the heart to throw it away, even though Otto is long gone, a part of me will always be the Superior Spider-Man, even Otto told me so at the very end." Peter said.
"And I'd say he's right." Anya said.
"And what about the Living Brain?" Peter asking.
"Oh don't worry Pete, we've already snuck it back to Oscorp back to the way it was." Miles assured.
"I see, that's good to know... Listen Miles... I just wanted to say thank you for everything, I know that it couldn't been easy doing what you did, working beside Otto, knowing what he... took from you." Peter said.
"I'm not going to lie Pete, a part of me still resented him for what he did, to Uncle Aaron, I still couldn't bring myself to forgive him for it, but... he does have my thanks, for bringing you back to me, to all of us, I'm very grateful. If I had to chose between getting justice for Uncle Aaron or bringing you back, I'd still chose to save my brother, because that what we are, not just friends, we're real family Pete." Miles smile warmly.
Peter smile warmly. "I'm very proud of you Miles, you've always been strong in your heart."
"It's funny, back then Aaron told me that I was meant for more in life than what he went through growing up." Miles said.
"And he was right, you are meant for more in life, you're a great hero Miles Morales, your uncle would be very proud." Peter smiled.
Miles felt proud of himself. "Thanks."
"Oh, and thank you too Anya, for coming to my rescue." Peter said.
"You risked your own life to save mine, you gave me another chance at life, now I got to return the favor, guess this makes us even." Anya smiled.
Peter then hugged both Miles and Anya. "Thank you both for everything, I owe you... so... did I miss anything while I was gone?"
Anya smiled as Peter stopped hugging. "Actually... Miles finally worked up the courage to tell Tiana his feelings."
"Wait, that same Tiana you've talked about?" Peter smiled.
"Anya..." Miles felt a bit embarrassed.
"Well... you can tell me another time. cause I got plenty to spare. I'm gonna head on out, still got a lot of relationships to mend, cleaning up Otto's mess. Starting with Kamala, Otto has ghosted her these past weeks, I hope that she'll understand everything." Peter said.
"In case she doesn't, we'll back you up." Miles said.
"Need us to come with you?" Anya said.
"Thanks, but I gotta do this alone." Peter smiled.
"If you need us, we'll be there as always." Miles smiled.
Peter gave Miles and Anya a thumbs up as he walks over to the table where his Advanced Suit has been for the past two weeks, he picks it up and holds it in front of him, looking at his favorite suit.
Peter smiled. "I miss you... time to suit up."
(New York City)
A lot of civilians around Time Square are going on with their lives as they've seen someone swinging in the air, it's Spider-Man back in his regular Advanced Suit, Peter is getting the hang of having his life back as New York's hero after weeks of being trapped and Otto taking over, now he's back to his life as the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, he's passing by Time Square heading on towards Jersey City.
"Oh! It's good to be back!" Spider-Man being energetic swinging around.
Later 3:15 PM at Empire State University, while school is closed for Thanksgiving break for it's students, some are still hanging around, including Dr. Connors who is at his lab where Peter is right now after he spend some hours explaining everything to Kamala Khan about his sudden absences, now he wants to make things right with Dr. Connors after he quitted the assistant job thanks to Otto, he's unsure if he'll get his position back but making things right with Dr. Connors is more than enough for Peter.
"I know that I haven't been great with you last week due to my show in superiority, I was wrong, but I really appreciate the opportunity you gave me, if you're willing to give me another chance to prove myself, then I'll do whatever it takes to make things right with you, cause you're a great teacher, Dr. Connors." Peter apologizing for what Otto did as him.
"Well... I really appreciate you trying to make things right Mr. Parker, but normally I don't give out second chance like this under any circumstances." Dr. Connors said.
"I see, thank you for listening." Peter was about to leave.
"However... I do see great potential within you, you're very gifted in science and that's a gift to be share with the rest of the world, so I'll only give you one more chance, just one chance, understand?" Dr. Connors said.
"I understand." Peter said.
Dr. Connors smiles warmly. "Then welcome back, Mr. Parker.
Dr. Connors and Peter shake hands as Peter got back his position as Connor's assistant.
"Thank you, I won't let you down." Peter said.
"I hope not, but just out of curiosity, why is science so important to you?" Dr. Connors is curious.
"Someone once told me that intelligence is not a privilege, it's a gift, and you use it for the good of mankind." Peter quoted Otto Octavius.
Dr. Connors smiled. "Very wise man."
"Yeah... he was." Peter said.
"Well, I should finish up, my family is expecting me for Thanksgiving." Dr. Connors said.
"Sure thing Doc, Happy Thanksgiving." Peter said.
"You too, Parker." Dr. Connors waved goodbye.
Peter is leaving the lab after he finished apologizing to Dr. Connors and managed to get back his position as Connors' assistant, he's walking out onto campus as he realized there is one more place he needs to stop by before heading on home for Thanksgiving, coming out of the gymnasium is Darius LeClerc dressed in his varsity jacket, he spotted Gwen's ex Peter Parker heading out of campus as he decides to speak with him about Gwen.
"Parker! Hold up!" Darius LeClerc calling out and catching up.
Peter stops and turns back at Darius. "Can I help you?"
"You probably don't remember me, names Darius LeClerc, I'm friends with Brad Davis." Darius LeClerc said.
"Oh yeah, I think I've seen you a couple time, if this is about what happened weeks ago with Brad..." Peter thinking about Otto's incident with Brad Davis.
"No, it's not about that." Darius LeClerc said.
"Can we make this quick? Gwen is expecting me to be home very soon." Peter is in a hurry.
"Wait, so you two are together again?" Darius LeClerc sounds surprised.
"Yeah, why?" Peter is confused.
"It's just... I thought you were going out with someone else." Darius LeClerc is confused.
"Oh, you mean Anna Maria? It's... very complicated... listen Darius, I know that I haven't been very good to Gwen recently cause of the way I've acted, but I want to make things right with her, make her happy again, cause at the end of the day I still love her, I'll always love Gwen with all my heart." Peter being sincere.
Darius listened to Peter professing his love for Gwen, even though Darius himself felt something for Gwen he never imagine was possible, he wanted to tell Peter about what happened between him and Gwen while they broke up, but he deep down he knew on some level that Gwen is still in love with Peter Parker and he still wants Gwen to be happy no matter what, he couldn't bring himself to tell Peter the truth out of respect for Gwen Stacy or to destroy her happiness.
"So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Peter is wondering.
"Oh... ah... it's... Gwen is... she's an amazing woman Peter, she deserves to be happy... so promise me that you'll be good to her and make her felt like the happiest woman on Earth." Darius LeClerc being sincere.
Peter smile warmly. "It means a lot that you care so much for Gwen, I can tell that you're a good guy Darius... I promise to be good to Gwen, you have my word."
"Good, cause if you don't, I know where you live." Darius smiled as he walks away.
Peter is more confused as to why Darius cares so much for Gwen, he senses the level of sincerity in his voice, exactly in the way Peter would speak about Gwen, but right now he leaves the university and heads on towards one more stop before heading home, to see someone important.
Time is 3:32 PM nearby the university, Anna Maria Marconi is in the kitchen cooking all alone trying to distract herself from everything that happened since a couple nights ago, she learned that the Peter Parker she fell in love is in fact Otto Octavius, this whole thing took her by surprise but despite everything she still loves him and is saddened that he's no long with her, she then snapped out of her thoughts as someone is knocking on her door, she stopped cooking and walked up to see who came to see her, she opens up the door to find Peter Parker standing outside her apartment.
Anna Maria is stunned upon seeing him. "Slick?"
"Ah... no, I'm sorry I'm not Otto, I'm Peter Parker." Peter said.
"Oh... I'm so sorry, I just thought..." Anna Maria felt embarrassed.
"It's okay... may I come in?" Peter asking for permission.
Anna Maria nodded and allowed Peter inside the apartment she and Otto shared together for two weeks, Anna Maria is being shy around Peter since he reminds her of her Slick, the man she fell in love with, but he's not this person right now, he's a completely different person from the man she loved.
"Okay, so what brings you here... Peter?" Anna Maria said.
"I just wanted to check up on you, Anna Maria, I know that we've never officially met, but I was inside my own head while Otto was living my life, I got to see everything, including the woman who captured his heart." Peter said.
"Is that what he told you?" Anna Maria said.
"He didn't have to, in all my time knowing the man, I don't think I've ever seen him display genuine feelings of love, didn't think he ever could, that was until he met you, I know for sure that he loved you, Anna Maria, even till the very end, he wanted me to tell you that." Peter said.
Anna Maria is tearing up upon hearing these words from Peter, she was the last thing he thought about at the very end, he loved her and she loved him.
Peter looking with worry. "Anna Maria, you're alright?"
Anna Maria wipes her tears and smiles. "I am... thank you Peter, or should I say Spider-Man... don't worry, I won't tell anyone your secret, I promise."
Peter smiled. "Thank you Anna Maria."
"Wait here, I got something for you." Anna Maria walks away.
Peter waited in the living room as Anna Maria went to the closet and found something precious, she walks back as Anna Maria is holding a black leather moto racer jacket that his Aunt May gifted to him, Peter is stunned upon seeing it again.
"Here, I believe this is yours." Anna Maria smiled.
"You've kept it all this time?" Peter smiled.
"Didn't have the heart to throw it away even when he wanted to, I was going to donate it to a thrift store or something, but... I'm returning it to you." Anna Maria said.
Anna Maria hands Peter his leather jacket as he took it in his hands, he then puts it on over his white t-shirt, he smiled as he felt more like himself wearing it again, it meant something to him.
"How'd I look?" Peter wearing his favorite jacket again.
Anna Maria smiled. "You look good in leather, Slick... oh, I'm sorry, old habits..."
"It's okay, I don't mind... thank you Anna Maria, you're truly a wonderful person, I can see why Otto loves you so much." Peter felt happy.
"You got someone too, don't you?" Anna Maria suspected.
"I do, she's everything to me, my true love." Peter said.
Anna Maria nodded with smile. "Don't ever let her go."
Peter nodded his head. "So what's are you going to do for today?"
"I'm still cooking for Thanksgiving, which I'm going to spend all alone... without him... don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Anna Maria smiled assuring Peter.
Anna Maria went back to the kitchen to continue cooking for Thanksgiving which she plans to celebrate all alone without anyone by her side, Peter can't help but being sympathetic to Anna Maria, she's a good person whom Otto loves and values, she deserves better, he thought of something for her.
It's 5:34 PM at Lower East Side at the apartment, Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy are doing everything they can to organize a Thanksgiving dinner here with family as neither have cooked anything recently due to their focus on rescuing Peter from the clutches of Otto Octavius, they've completely forgotten about Thanksgiving and now things are more chaotic here as they're wondering what to do and how to explain this to their loved ones coming over very soon.
Gwen sighs. "In all our worries over Peter, we've forgotten about Thanksgiving."
"I know, how are we going to explain this to Aunt Anna and Mrs. Parker?" Mary Jane is worried.
"I guess we're going to have to tell 'em dinner is cancelled." Gwen said.
Mary Jane sighs. "So much for celebrating Thanksgiving here with our folks, at least Miles and Anya are lucky celebrating with their folks, we both have the worst luck."
They're looking down upon themselves thinking Thanksgiving is over, but all of a sudden they heard the door knocking as Gwen takes off her apron and walks over to the door, they find Peter here carrying a perfectly cooked turkey in his hands, Anna Maria is here with containers of food she personally made for dinner, Gwen and Mary Jane are curious as to what this is.
"Hey, looks like we're a bit early." Peter being enthusiastic.
"Pete, what's going on?" Gwen is curious.
"What's going on is Thanksgiving has been saved, I'd figured with everything that has happened, none of us had the time to prepare a decent Thanksgiving dinner, so I've asked Anna Maria if she'd be willing to celebrate Thanksgiving here with us, we've brought enough food for everybody." Peter holding the turkey.
"Wow, you're a lifesaver." Mary Jane sniffed the aroma of turkey in the air. "Smells great."
"Believe it or not, Anna Maria is quite a decent cook, she has a way with food." Peter said.
"I was going to celebrate alone, but Peter convinced me to celebrate here, if that's okay with you." Anna Maria said.
"Of course, we'd be happy to have you." Mary Jane is being polite.
Anna Maria then looks at Gwen. "You must be Gwen Stacy, Peter has just told me about you."
"He did? Like what?" Gwen is curious.
"He told me that you're the love of his life, that you meant everything to him, he's lucky to have you... listen, I'm... I'm very sorry about everything, I didn't know that you and Peter were an item when I first met him, back then he was Otto control him, when he kissed me, I had no idea that you saw the whole thing, that's not what I intend, I just got caught up in the moment, and for that I am truly sorry." Anna Maria being regret for the misunderstanding.
"Anna Maria, there's nothing to apologize for, I'm not angry at you or Peter... anymore... but I understand that what happened that day was no ones fault, and I really appreciate you wanting to make things right, I can tell that you're a good person Anna Maria, so... friends?" Gwen smiled.
Anna Maria smiled. "Friends."
Gwen and Anna Maria shake hands as they're now on good terms with each other.
"Okay, now that we're all friends, we should set up, our aunts are going to be here in a couple hours." Mary Jane reminded.
"Right, better get started." Peter said.
Everyone began to organize everything for Thanksgiving dinner starting very soon.
Later around 7:30 PM at the apartment Anna Watson and May Parker are knocking on the door as Peter and Mary Jane stopped their work on the table as they knew who that could be, they opened up seeing Aunt May and Aunt Anna here, they both invited their aunts and hugged them, Gwen and Anna Maria just finished setting everything up for dinner, a few minutes later everyone is seated down in their chairs with a table between them filled with all sort of Thanksgiving feast including desserts and some ciders to drink, Peter got from his chair with a glass in his hand, everyone raised their glass up.
"I'd like to make a toast, we're all thankful for being here on this great holiday among friends and family about to have a wonderful feast before us... I know that we've had some hard times in the past years, we had some struggles, we've lost people we love... but despite everything we've lost, we're still thankful for what we have, each other, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world... cheers!" Peter finished giving his speech.
Everyone said "Cheers" "Happy Thanksgiving!" to one another as Peter carves the Thanksgiving turkey and hands each person a piece, everyone started dining in and celebrating the holiday, even though Anna Maria did lose someone recently, she's found the strength to keep on moving forward with the friendship she formed with Peter and Gwen, Peter on the other hand is very thankful to have his life back again and with the love of his life, things are sure to look better for the couple.
(Later)
Sometime later everyone finished celebrating Thanksgiving and putting the leftovers in the containers and stores them in the fridge for tomorrow to eat again, Anna Maria waved everyone goodbye as she's the first one to leave as Peter and Gwen said their goodbyes too, Aunt May and Anna Watson are putting on their coats as Mary Jane puts on her jacket and puts a leash on Ms. Lion's collar, they're about to leave the apartment and head on home.
"Thank you both for having us over, saves us the trouble of cooking this year." Anna Watson said.
"We should head on home, Happy Thanksgiving." May said.
"Let me take you home Aunt Anna, keep you company." Mary Jane said.
"That's sweet of you, you're sure?" Anna Watson said.
"Yeah, besides... these two could use some time alone together." Mary Jane winked at Gwen smiled back.
"Well, let's get going, bye bye!" May waved to the couple.
"Bye Aunt May." Peter smiled and waved.
May and Anna are leaving out the door along with Mary Jane and Ms. Lion as she gave the couple one last look before they go, she closed the door behind, now Peter and Gwen are completely alone in their apartment for the night as they have so much to catch on, they're standing so close in front of one another with the same feeling they've had before the 'breakup.'
"Now that MJ and Ms. Lion aren't here, we're all alone." Peter flirted.
Gwen smiled as she likes where this is going but she frowned upon something that's been eating her up since Peter came back into her life again, she can't keep it to herself anymore, Peter sensed something with Gwen by her expression alone.
"What's wrong?" Peter said.
"Peter... there's something I need to tell, something I've been keeping from you... I just hope this doesn't change things between us." Gwen being nervous.
"Of course not, Gwen, I love you and nothing could ever change that, whatever it is you need to tell me, I'll be there for you no matter what, trust that." Peter said.
Gwen sighs as she's about to confess everything. "Okay... when you and me broke up, before I learned about Otto, I was... dealing with pain of you breaking my heart, it was too much for me to handle... that's when I met someone... his name is Darius LeClerc..."
Peter is stunned upon hearing that name, it's the same guy he met today who told him to be good to Gwen, but he didn't know the whole story about them, he continues to listen to Gwen confessing everything.
"Darius and I talked and... I felt relieved being around him, he seemed like a nice guy, guess that's what drawn me to him in my vulnerable state... I... brought him back here and... we've..." Gwen confessing the shameful truth.
Peter's eyes saddened. "I see... you felt for him as something more, didn't you?"
"Yes... I'm so sorry Peter... I'm truly sorry Pete." Gwen apologize sincerely.
"Gwen... I'm the one who should be sorry, I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything to prevent your suffering, I would never do anything to hurt you." Peter felt guilty for what Otto did as him.
"I know that Peter and I'm not blaming you, I didn't know that it was Otto who kissed Anna Maria in front of me as you, I couldn't have know, I know now that none of this was your fault." Gwen understands Peter's situation.
"Still, I couldn't do anything to stop it, you thought I was unfaithful to you and you had every right to move on, to find solace with Darius... he seemed like a good guy, he cares so much about you, Gwen." Peter said.
"He is a good guy Pete, but... Darius and I... we haven't... we never..." Gwen wants to say more.
"You never what?" Peter then figured out what she meant to say. "Gwen... are you saying that you two... you both didn't..."
Gwen smiled warmly. "No... I tried... but I couldn't love Darius because... I still love you Peter... despite all the heartbreaks, I could never stop loving you."
"Gwen... I never stopped loving you too and I still love you, even now." Peter said.
"I haven't been faithful to you Pete... I don't deserve you." Gwen still felt bad for everything.
"Don't ever say that Gwen." Peter said.
"Can you forgive me?" Gwen said.
"Of course, I've never blamed you for anything Gwen, you thought it was me who was unfaithful, it's not the same thing. When I was trapped inside my own mind, unable to do anything, I felt completely hopeless and I was close to giving up, but... the only thing that keep me going through my toughest times was the thought of coming back to you Gwen... I love you Gwen Stacy, I'll always love you." Peter profess his love for Gwen.
Gwen smiled with tears in her eyes as Peter still loves her despite everything, she and Peter leaned in closer and kisses each other again passionately, their love for one another still remains strong, even stronger than ever, they've stopped kissing and look at each other's eyes.
"I love you too, Peter." Gwen smiled tearing as she wipes them from her eyes, she then realized something else on her mind. "Oh, I forgot... Otto told me that you have a surprise to me."
Peter is stunned. "He did?"
"He told me that you love me more than I could imagine and that I was in for a surprise when I see you again, what was he talking about?" Gwen is curious.
"Oh... ah... well... What I meant to say... I'm so happy having you in my life, Gwen Stacy, you've always been the greatest love of my life, then, now, and always... I love you so much Gwen." Peter being sincere.
Gwen smiled with happiness as she starts to flirt. "You know... we still have a lot of... catching up to do."
Peter flirts back. "What do you have in mind?"
Gwen took a hold of Peter's hand and leads him straight to their bedroom, Peter smiled as Gwen pulled him in, they went straight to kissing each other again passionately for a bit, Peter then stopped and pulled up his t-shirt, tossing it aside, Gwen did the same with her black turtleneck top, they got back to kissing as they've went on the bed together with Gwen laying her back on the mattress, both of them are still kissing with so much passion as they know where this is going to lead, Peter then kisses down her neck as Gwen smiled and moans, his hands strolls down to her jeans as she wakes up from the passion.
"Peter, wait!" Gwen said.
Peter stopped himself. "What is it, Gwen?"
"Safety first!" Gwen teasing.
Peter smiled warmly as he felt relieved, he reached out to the drawer next to their bed, Peter is looking around to find a box containing certain protection he'll need for this, but what caught his eyes are the wedding rings he got from Aunt May, one of them he plans to give to Gwen to propose, that was the surprise Otto told Gwen about, the one Peter wanted to tell Gwen on the same night he got abducted by Otto.
"Peter?" Gwen calling out.
"Huh?" Peter snapped out of his thoughts.
"Did you lose something?" Gwen smiled.
"No, I got it." Peter smiled.
Peter took the box from the drawer and closes it, leaving the wedding rings undiscovered for now, he still loves the idea of proposing to Gwen and marrying her one day, but he felt like the timing isn't right, at least for now given everything that's happened, for now he's just happy to be together with Gwen again as they went back to the way they were, their love still remained strong and unbreakable, they went back to being intimate again and consummating their love for each other.
Time is 11:34 PM at Oscorp Towers as Dr. Mendel Stromm is doing inventory on all the prototypes here that remained untouched by the explosion, including the Living Brain that was recently stolen by the Web-Warriors, but they've returned it in time and assemble everything back to its rightful place, Dr. Stromm just assumes everything is in place.
"Okay, looks like everything is in order... time for me to head on home for the night" Dr. Stromm holding the tablet.
Dr. Stromm then leaves the inventory hub of the R & D department and closes the door behind him, unknown to him or anyone, the yellow lens on the Living Brain glowed as it turns itself online for some strange reason, what could this mean? Only time will tell in the near future.
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