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The last thing Peter remembered was shimmering golden light as he disappeared with Connors and Max, while saying goodbye to his counterparts from alternate universes and redeeming himself for saving MJ, who was alternate Peter's Gwen and he put his mask back on. Maybe he could finally let go of that rage and bitterness of losing her, once he returned home but what he didn't expect was finding himself back at the familiar surroundings back at the OsCorp power plant before…
"Holy damn. We're back."
Peter widened his eyes as he turned to see Max, who still had gotten himself better haircut and no glasses and still had the device that had drained him of his power on and then there was still the trashed power grid before he realized where did the spell pull him in.
"Spider-Man? Max?"
Peter widened his eyes, recognizing the voice as he and Max stared in disbelief and turned to see…
"Gwen?" Peter said with a lump in his throat, barely holding back tears. She was dead. It couldn't be…
"Wait. This is when…" Max trailed off, when a vicious cackle echoed in the air and Peter paled, flashback coming back to him.
"Gwen, run. Get out of here!" Peter ordered.
Gwen nodded, about to run, when a blonde man in a hi-tech armor, flying on a glider with a deformed face got in her way.
"Oh, no." Max whispered, realizing what it was.
Harry stared in surprise to see Max back to normal before turning to Gwen and then the realization hit him as he smirked, while his eyes narrowed, while looking back between Spider-Man and Gwen.
"Peter… When you said Spider-Man said 'no', you meant you said 'no.'" Harry growled in a tone that made it clear he had lost his sanity and humanity.
"Osborn. Take it easy." Max said as Harry turned to him.
"I told you to make him bleed." Harry said.
"Harry, it doesn't have to be this way. I can help you." Peter said. While he wasn't completely sure, given that he had been able to help Connors and Max and cure other villains with his counterparts too, there was some hope for Harry but Harry had given into despair and thought that Peter was robbing him of hope.
"You already refused to help me. You were my friend and you betrayed me!" Harry snarled.
"No. Harry, it doesn't have to be this way." Peter said.
"You don't give people hope. You take it away." Harry said and Peter's eyes widened, realizing what was going to happen next. "I'm gonna take away yours."
"Not this time." Peter whispered as Harry turned, about to grab Gwen but Peter webbed the glider, catching it as Harry stopped midair. "Gwen, run!"
Gwen ran off, while Harry whirled, slicing the webbing before he grabbed Gwen and flew off, while Peter felt a very eerie déjà vu. But this was not going to end like last time. Not if he could help it. Peter swung after Harry until they were at the clock tower.
"Harry, put her down. This is between you and me. You wanna fight? Fight me! Let her go!" Peter shouted.
Harry considered for a moment before nodding. "OK."
Gwen screamed as Harry let her go but Peter jumped and grabbed her before they crashed through the roof window onto one of the walkways of the clock tower and then they heard 'beep' as a pumpkin bomb appeared next to them and exploded, destroying the walkway, while Peter grabbed Gwen before she would fall and threw her to the stairs at the wall.
"Get out of here!" Peter ordered and Gwen nodded, running off.
Harry flew in and Peter made webbings on the walls to limit Harry's movement with the glider and for Peter to use his acrobatic skills as he jumped and dodged before he fired a web at Harry and pulled, grabbing him and pummeling him. Harry slammed Peter to the wall but Peter jumped and grabbed onto webbing before he spun around and kicked Harry as he fell off his glider and hit a girder before landing on another walkway. Without the pilot, the glider lost control as it began falling and smashed the walkway on which Gwen was as she began falling before Peter fired a line of webbing as Gwen caught it but then Harry lunged at Peter with a snarl and grabbed him by his throat, pinning him down on one of the gears of the clock tower, with Harry's foot on Peter's hand with the webbing.
'No. This isn't going to end like last time.' Peter vowed mentally.
Harry pulled out a dagger and tried to stab Peter in the head but Peter dodged and punched and headbutted Harry, dazing him before Peter webbed Harry's hand with the dagger to another gear and put his leg in between two other gears, so that they wouldn't cut the webbing on which Gwen was and Peter grunted, struggling.
'This can't end like last time. It mustn't.'
"Peter?" Gwen cried.
One of the gears began getting off the bar on which it was as the other gears moved and cut the line as Gwen screamed.
'No!'
The gears fell off the mechanism as Harry fell down on the walkway, knocked out. Peter saw Gwen falling and then there was only one thing on his mind at that moment.
'No! Not this time!'
Peter was in Midtown, facing his counterparts, one of them a teenage boy, who was broken and devastated after just losing his Aunt May, while he tried to encourage him.
"I lost Gwen. My…" Peter swallowed. "She was my MJ. I couldn't save her. I'm never gonna be able to forgive myself for that. But I carried on, tried to, um… tried to keep going, tried to keep being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man 'cause I know that's what she would've wanted, but … at some point I just … I stopped pulling my punches. I got rageful. I got bitter. I just don't want you, to end up like … like me."
MJ was falling off the Statue of Liberty as the other Peter was trying to catch her, only for Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin to catch him before Peter jumped in. After how he had failed to save Gwen, he was not going to let another Peter Parker lose someone he loves and now Peter knew how to save her as he jumped through the falling debris and grabbed MJ before Peter fired a web up to steady them both before they landed safely and Peter held MJ in bridal style.
"Are you OK?" Peter asked in concern and relief.
"Yeah, I'm OK." MJ nodded in relief while noticing Peter on verge of tears, remembering when he had failed to save Gwen. Maybe with this he could make up for failing her. "Are you OK?" She asked, noticing his pained face as Peter nodded, finally prevailing over this inner demon.
He knew the snap-back from firing the web would kill her but he needed to catch her but she was too far for him to reach her. Peter fired two webbings on each wall and pulled for a boost as he flew quickly towards Gwen and grabbed her and flipped above, firing a webbing at the walkway above them to steady them both as they landed safely as they moved away from the falling gears and other pieces of mechanism as he held Gwen bridal style.
"You OK?" Peter asked, even though he knew he managed to do it this time.
"Yeah." Gwen said, gasping, the adrenaline still in her.
"You OK?" Peter repeated, the emotions overwhelming him.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Gwen nodded.
"Thank God… thank God…" Peter said, unable to hold it back anymore as he hugged her, sobbing. "You're OK, Gwen. You're OK."
He did it. He redeemed himself for his greatest failure.
Few weeks later, Peter as Spider-Man came to visit Harry in the Ravencroft Institute. It wasn't easy to sneak past security but he did it as he managed to steal an access card from the guards and enter Harry's cell.
When Peter looked at Harry, he only stared in front of himself contemplatively with a blank emotionless expression.
"You came here to gloat? To mock?" Harry asked bitterly.
"No. I just wanted to come and see you. Check to see how you were doing." Peter said, repeating the same words he had said to him, when they had met again after years. He knew it wasn't really Harry back then. Not in his state of mind.
"Why would you care? You took away my only hope." Harry scoffed.
"No. I was trying to protect you. But now I see that I only made it worse. But it's not too late, Harry." Peter said and Harry's eyes seemed to flicker with hope, regaining some humanity, the Goblin's influence deteriorating.
"How can you look at me after how I almost killed you and Gwen?" Harry whispered brokenly with self-loathing.
"I lost a friend recently too." Peter said cryptically. While he didn't know the other Peter's Aunt May, he knew the grief and anger that came with the loss far too well and if she was anything like his Aunt May, Peter would have been just as angry. "And I know what it's like to be rageful and bitter. To be so deep in the darkness that there seems to be no way out and it can take a long time before you find your way out of it." He said, remembering sharing stories with his counterparts. "And I gave up on you once. I'm not making the same mistake again. If there is a way to help you, I'll keep looking."
Harry was silent as Peter realized that there was no point talking to him anymore. Peter turned before Harry spoke up. "How do you it?"
Peter turned one last time to see Harry, on verge of tears.
"How do you deal with all that… rage? All that darkness? How do you go on like this? Why would you help me after what I've done?" Harry asked.
"Because my friend believed that everyone deserves a second chance. And I got mine. I'm not gonna waste it." Peter said. He had managed to save Gwen. Only time would tell if he could save Harry, both from Goblin and from himself.
Peter then disappeared as Harry stared at his own reflection contemplatively, wondering if there was still some hope for him.
Peter knocked on the door as Gwen opened it and Peter smiled, happy to see her alright. He still couldn't believe it.
"Hey." Peter said.
"Hey." Gwen said before she eyed Peter. "You look like you aged ten years or so. Are you OK?"
"Yeah. I just… can I come in?" Peter asked.
"Yeah, sure." Gwen said and Peter nodded as she let him in.
In his car, Max Dillon observed as Peter came to visit Gwen, who was alive and Max too now. Cured. Handsome. And maybe new opportunities for work, since officially, Max Dillon was dead, but he got a second chance. They all did. And they were not going to waste it.