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chapter fifteen
let the devil out
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LENA HAD THOUGHT she knew what fear feels like. It turns out she has never felt terror quite like this.

The freezing wind screams past her as she falls, searing through her suit and chilling her to the bone. It's still not as cold as the fear that has her heart pumping erratically in her chest until it feels like it might be bruising her ribs. Her surroundings are mere streaks of color on both sides, but she can still see the open night sky above her as her stomach plummets and then rises in her throat.

Lena thrashes in the corner of her mind she's been trapped in. She has no control over her body, so even though she begs for her energy to expel from her skin and save her, or for her hands to claw at something, anything, as they seek purchase, she remains perfectly still. She has become a puppet whose master is toying with her strings. Maybe the worst part of all is that she can't turn her head to see how long she has until she hits the ground, so she's stuck in a fearful state of prepping for a sudden death that could strike at any moment.

No, that's not the worst part after all, she realizes. It's how Peter makes a desperate lunge from the statue, his hands outstretched to save her, eyes wide and fearful as they realize why Lena isn't trying to save herself. But then the Green Goblin slams him aside with his glider. His triumphant cackle fills the air, sounding even over the wind whistling in Lena's working ear. It's Peter 3 releasing a scream and diving off of the scaffolding to catch her instead. And it all culminates with the nauseating horror Lena feels as she watches her arm raise itself without her consent, her palm aimed up at him, energy swirling around her fingers in preparation to blast her salvation away.

Then the spell breaks and Lena comes crash-landing back into her body. She sucks in a gasp as power sparks from her hands and feet in an attempt to re-orient herself. But it's not enough, and surely she should be about to hit the ground by now—

Peter 3 shoots a web on the underside of a ledge and grabs Lena in his arms, yanking her into his chest as he tucks them into a flip to decelerate their speed. He lands on his feet with Lena shaking in his grip and staring at him with wide eyes. Her thunderous heartbeat causes blood to roar in her ears like a freight train.

It seems to take him a moment to realize that she's all right. Peter blinks, feeling her pulse with his fingertips when she continues to merely stare at him, paralyzed with fear. Both of their minds are slow to catch up to the successful rescue.

"Are you alright?" he asks, his voice brittle.

Lena is still trying to reassure herself that her body belongs to her again. She sucks in her breaths a little too quickly, making black spots dance in her vision.

She nods. "Yeah. You?"

Peter hesitates, drawing his quivering bottom lip into his mouth before nodding. Lena recognizes the expression on his face— he's being tormented by flashbacks of a time when he wasn't fast enough, when he reached to catch someone and didn't find them breathing afterward.

He sets her on the ground. Lena's legs wobble so intensely she can hardly hold herself up, and the combination of the fall in the scaffolding and being grabbed mid-air had aggravated her bruised ribs. Sharp pain shoots up her ankle when she applies pressure on it. She winds up leaning into Peter so she doesn't collapse.

Graham appears out of the shadows a second later, his face terror-stricken. "Lee!"

"I'm okay," she manages to assure him before he scoops her up into a tight yet painful hug that presses on all of her bruises. She relishes being in her best friend's arms for a moment before it becomes too much. "Ow."

"Sorry," Graham says. He pulls away instantly, allowing Lena to steady herself with a hand on his shoulder so she can balance on one foot.

She glances up at the top of the tower. Where Farah had been is blank sky peppered with clouds growing brighter as the sun rises. Orange floods the horizon, streaming across the water and tinting their surroundings with warm pastels. It's a scene that would be breathtakingly beautiful if not for the situation at hand.

"He gave her the cure," Graham explains, noticing where Lena's gaze has landed. "Keanu. Arced across the sky in a bolt of lightning while she was focused on controlling you and jabbed the serum into her neck. We got Max Dillon, too, and Dr. Connors."

Lena can't quite believe it. Their job is almost done. It leaves only one more villain to go... and speaking of that, where is Peter? She'd been so preoccupied with tumbling to her death that she hadn't seen where the glider had taken him.

"There!" Peter 3 exclaims, pointing to their left. Graham moves aside so they can see the Cap's shield addition overturned at the edge of the water, both the Goblin and her Peter on top of the disk. Their figures are tiny from their vantage point on the other side of the statue.

Lena starts to take a hobbled step closer, only for Graham to stop her.

"Um, no." He dissolves them both into the shadows. They emerge at the scaffolding's base, facing the inverted shield, unsure if they should interrupt this fight or let Peter handle it. None of them knows where the cure is. If they stepped in now, the battle would be futile because of that.

Lena hears footsteps approaching from the right and notices Cindy sprinting toward them, her hair windblown and melted mascara smudged beneath her eyes. She throws her arms around Lena in a side hug with her gaze locked on the brewing confrontation ahead.

"Can we do something?" she asks.

Lena shakes her head, which throbs at the action. "Not yet."

The Goblin removes his protective goggles and throws them aside, standing tall in comparison to Peter's fighting stance, ducked low into a crouch. The glider rests in the middle of the shield.

At first, Lena thinks that it might be Osborn she's looking at. Then she realizes that it's merely the Goblin twisting his face into a mocking expression of pity. She can hear his voice being carried toward her by the wind. "Poor Peter. Too weak to send me home to die."

"No." Peter's responding tone is dark, laced with hatred and vengeance, unlike anything she's ever heard from him before. His glare is unyielding as he stares at the goblin from beneath his brows. "I just wanna kill you myself."

His words and tone send chills down Lena's spine. She tries to find traces of the Peter she knows and loves in the boy before her, but all she can see is a broken kid controlled by grief. His heart thirsts for the sweet taste of revenge. It may not be satisfied until the Goblin's blood drips down his hands, until his skull is fractured at his feet, until there is nothing behind unseeing eyes that stare at the sky.

Instead of being fearful, the Goblin's mouth stretches into a smile. "Attaboy."

The response sends realization slamming into Lena. The Goblin is far too pleased to be receiving a death threat, his face shining with revolting delight— an expression Lena has seen before on villains they have faced. She hadn't recognized it during their final showdown with Mysterio, but now it's engrained into her brain and has shown up in her nightmares.

It's the look of someone who has Peter right where they want him.

Peter and Lena, from the time of their debuts as Spider-Man and Havoc on the streets of Queens, have always stuck by their strict no-killing moral code. It reminds them that, no matter how heinous a crime is, it was still committed by another human being, and they cannot bear the weight of taking another person's life.

The Goblin wants to take that fundamental piece of Peter and break it. In turn, it will break him.

Back at Lena's lab, Peter 2 had mentioned saving Osborn because "it's what we do." Maybe Lena's Peter had agreed to that in the moment and put his desire for revenge on the back burner. But his restraint had evidently been hanging on by a thin thread— one that was snapped by the Goblin shoving him out of the way and forbidding him from saving Lena. The fact that he was going to make him watch another person he loves die is enough to snap that tether stringing him to humanity.

They charge at each other. Peter shoots a web that the Goblin dodges, ducking low to aim a punch at Peter's midsection. The blow lands right on his still-healing ribs. It makes Lena cringe as she watches him press a hand to the point of impact, then whirl around and secure the Goblin's foot to the ground with a web.

The Goblin tries to twist out of the hold but remains trapped in place. His fearful eyes look up in just enough time to see Peter's fist flying at his face, landing so hard it knocks him to the ground. Peter leaps into the air. The Goblin rolls out of the way milliseconds before Peter's super-powered punch makes a crater in the copper shield.

"Shit," Graham breathes.

Lena concurs.

They've known, on some level, that Peter has advanced strength. But they have never witnessed just how strong he is because he has always pulled his punches, refusing to reach into that bottomless well because of that moral code. But now there is nothing holding him back from using the full force of his power.

The shield begins to tip due to the weight imbalance exacerbated by their fight. Water splashes over the edge, coming dangerously close to the pair's feet as the battle rages on.

A metallic sound slices through the air as two blades shoot out from the Goblin's wrist armor. They glint in the light of dawn, making Lena's stomach dip in fear. The Goblin whistles dramatically, pulling his lips up into another sickening grin as Peter takes in the sight of them.

Peter's limbs windmill while he dodges the weapons. Their fight turns into a sort of dance, with a steady beat of dodge, swing, hit, dodge, swing, slice on both sides. Every blow landed only serves to enrage the person injured. The Goblin's blade slices down Peter's biceps and all it does is make him angrier. Peter's fist smashes into the Goblin's nose. It would have shattered on contact if he had been any other person, but he merely sniffles and prepares himself for his next move.

Peter doesn't let him have it. He elbows the compartment where the blades had shot out, sending them flying. Then he webs both of the Goblin's shoulders and yanks his head down, bashing it into his knee. The Goblin reels back with blood spurting from his face. Peter gives him no time to gather his bearings. He launches himself over the Goblin, attaches webs to his back, and sends him soaring overhead until he slams headfirst onto the ground and grazes the edge of the water.

Lena's mouth pinches together as Peter forces the Goblin onto his knees and lands blow after blow, sending blood and spittle flying. Each movement is contorted with unfettered rage. His punches are relentless, one after the other, bones cracking and flesh splitting. Every time the Goblin slumps over, Peter hauls him back up and starts the process over again.

"He's really gonna do it," she breathes. "He's gonna kill him."

Lena can't live to see him broken. Deep down, she knows that ending the Goblin's life will not quell the fury within Peter. It won't bring May back. And even if it did, how would she feel knowing that her nephew had killed someone in order to do so?

May had always encouraged Peter to be the best version of himself, even before she knew he was Spider-Man. She would not want this to happen. If Peter were thinking clearly, he would be able to see it, too.

Lena shakes herself out of Cindy's loose embrace and removes her hand from Graham's shoulders. She shoots energy out of her hands, flying toward the shield, and tries to ignore how close it is to tipping fully into the bay. Once she lands, she leans her weight on her good ankle and tries to figure out the best way to stop this.

She starts out by not getting physically involved. "Peter!"

His name falls on deaf ears. Peter grabs the glider, his shoulders heaving from exertion, and aims it so the needle-sharp points of the front are facing the ground.

A moment's pause as the universe hangs still, holding its breath. Then Peter picks up the glider and swings it toward the Goblin with an enraged yell.

Lena shoots both arms out, sending a shield of energy speeding toward them. It lands just as Peter 2 appears out of nowhere to intercept the killing blow. He seizes the glider in his hands, his persistent stare locked on Peter's.

Though her Peter tries to shove it forward, his muscles straining against the only true match for his strength, Lena's wall of energy prevents Peter 2 from inching backward. It sends a clear message. If you want to kill him, you have to go through us.

Both Peters remain at an impasse for several long moments. Then, reluctantly, her Peter backs down, allowing the glider to fall to the ground. Lena relaxes and lowers her shield.

The moment after she does, the Goblin reaches forward and stabs Peter 2 through the midsection with a knife.

Lena cries out in protest. She uses her power to push her faster as she runs toward where he'd fallen, ignoring the shooting pain that travels up from her ankle and causes her leg to spasm. Eventually the pain makes her collapse to the copper surface of the shield, where she hauls herself closer to Peter 2. She forms a protective force field around him with one hand. With the other, she applies pressure to the wound, which already causes blood to stain the front of his suit.

"She was there because of you," the Goblin taunts. "I may have struck the blow, but you..." He smiles. "You are the one that killed her."

He cackles maniacally, his eyes wild with amusement. He's so distracted by his own delight that he isn't prepared when Peter 3 throws the serum from the shoreline. Peter jumps to catch it, using the leftover momentum to swing his arm down and jab the needle into the Goblin's neck.

Though injured, Peter 2 has a faint smile on his face as the cure empties into the Goblin's veins.

Lena is not taking any chances this time. She keeps the force field up even though her arm shakes with strain, the fingers of her other hand stained with blood where it covers the wound. Her eyes carefully watch as the Goblin sinks to his knees.

He blinks. Tilts his head to the side. The Goblin is gone, and now Norman Osborn is in his place.

He regards the boy standing above him with confusion. "Peter?"

Osborn looks at his surroundings, seeing them for the first time through his own eyes. He regards the scene of Lena pressing her hand against Peter 2's stomach, her eyes blazing and a force field still held firmly between them, with horror.

His face drops into an expression of remorse. "What have I done?"

Water sloshes over Lena's feet. She only realizes now that she is on the far side of the shield, her back to the bay, its waves slowly soaking through the boots built into her suit.

Peter 3 runs toward them. Lena retracts the force field to let him through, watching as he crouches down next to her.

"You okay?"

"Ugh. Yeah, I'm good," Peter 2 replies, peeling Lena's bloodstained fingers away from his wound, which is slowly beginning to heal. "I've... I've been stabbed before."

"Oh, good, good..."

Lena wipes her hand on her suit. Though she's right by the water, she would rather not touch it, and thus begins to crawl to Peter's other side so she's a safe distance away. Her Peter puts an arm around her as he joins them. She notices the rivulets of dried blood staining the side of his head for the first time and yearns to wipe them away. But for now, she revels in the fact that he had literally listened to himself and decided not to kill.

"Hey," he greets them, sounding lighter than he has since the beginning of the battle.

"Hey," Peter 3 says. "Nice catch."

"Nice throw."

"I'm sorry that you got stabbed," Lena tells Peter 2.

He shrugs. "It's okay. It happens."

Stephen Strange descends upon the shield with his cape flowing behind him. Lena swallows as she looks up at him.

"We gotta go," Peter says to the other versions of himself.

"Yeah, I've got him," Peter 3 assures them.

Lena's Peter holds out a hand. She accepts it, allowing him to haul her up so her weight remains on her good ankle. He slings her arm around his shoulders and helps her walk toward the sorcerer, whose expression is strangely contemplative.

Her friends are starting to gather there, too. Cindy, Abe, MJ, Ned, and the Seager brothers all stand battered, yet tall, and alive. It's more than Lena could ask for, that they're all okay.

MJ is the first to speak up. "Well, they did it," she says, her eyes defiant and her expression hard as she regards Strange.

He appears slightly bewildered by her tone, but nods anyways. "I see that they did. But that still doesn't solve... this." He gestures toward all of the versions of Peter, Lena's brother, and the cured villains recovering in the scaffolding of the Statue of Liberty.

Lena's eyes drift to Keanu, who silently descends onto the shield as well. A pang sears through her heart. "Do we have to?"

"They can't stay here," Strange says.

Part of Lena knew that all along, but she's still disappointed. She would have loved to work with a newly-fixed Osborn and Dr. Octavius.

"What if..." she trails off for a moment, her mind whirling for a way to fix this. "What if we cut this back to when everything went wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean when Mysterio's video was released. Can we make it so that never existed?"

Strange thinks this over. Then he nods, albeit hesitantly, as though he's not a hundred percent sure. "It could."

"That works for me," Graham says. "Better than nothing."

"I'll see what I can do," Strange says. "No promises. But in the meantime, say your goodbyes."

Lena isn't sure who to go to first. Her mind says she should seek out her brother, but her heart isn't sure if she's ready for that kind of pain quite yet. Instead, she notices Dr. Octavius on the edge of the shield and hobbles toward him.

She hugs him, finding it almost laughable how much their dynamic has changed since they met on the interstate and he had tried to kill them all. He is himself again. She hopes that he remains that way and continues to be better now that he's not under the influence of his AI.

"It wasn't his fault," she finds herself saying. "I asked. She told him to run."

"I know, my dear." Octavius's returning embrace is gentle and sincere. "Thank you. For everything."

When Lena pulls away, one of his claws reaches out and pats her affectionately on the head. She manages a laugh through the sadness spilling its way into her heart.

Next, she turns toward the two Peters, now standing, with Peter 2's arm wrapped around Peter 3's shoulders like how Lena had been with her Peter. As soon as she limps up to them, Peter 2 says, "You've gotta stop walking on that ankle."

She manages a smile. "I'll see a doctor after this. I swear." Then, turning toward Peter 3, she reaches up and flicks him in the center of his forehead.

"Ow! Hey!" he exclaims even though Lena knows it didn't hurt him whatsoever. "What was that for?"

"You have a conversation to have when you get back, and you're gonna promise me that you'll do it," she says sternly, her eyes narrowed. "You will talk to your universe's Lena. Reconnect." She pokes the spider in the center of his chest between each syllable. "Un — der — stand?"

"Okay, okay! Jeez, I promise. But how's she gonna believe me if I try to tell her that another version of herself told me to do it?"

"I have a way she'll believe you."

After telling Peter what he has to say, both of them pull her into a hug. How weird is it that she's embracing two alternate versions of her boyfriend right now?

"Take care of yourself, Lena," Peter 2 tells her. "And take care of him, too." He nods toward her Peter.

"Always," she assures him.

Then comes the moment she has been dreading the most. Lena finally locks eyes with her brother, her lower lids instantly filling with tears at the thought of letting him go. It is a truly cruel fate that she has to live in a world without him, and he must return to one without her.

Keanu hugs her tightly before she can fully start crying. The siblings hold each other fiercely, both trying to grapple with the grief already tearing them apart on the inside. He smells like cedar wood and singed air.

They release each other only to press their foreheads together. Lena's heart must weigh a thousand pounds from the weight of her reluctance to say goodbye. Before she was sixteen, she hadn't even known he'd existed. But now that she's had a mere sliver of him in her life, she doesn't know how she's going to continue living the rest of it without him.

"I'm always with you," he says.

Lena sniffles. "And I'm with you."

She feels something cold settle onto her head. When she pulls back, sniffling, it slips over her forehead as well. The circlet.

"Keep it," Keanu tells her. "Something to remember me by. I don't need it anymore."

Lena's face screws up with the restraint it takes not to burst into tears. She places a hand on the side of his face and tries to press each of his features into her mind like a seal in wax. She never wants to forget a single detail.

Finally, he pats her on the shoulder and jerks his head back toward Peter, Graham, and the rest of her friends, who are talking among themselves. "Go on."

She's reluctant to leave him, but she knows she can't hang on forever. So she forces herself to walk away to where Peter is waiting for her. He stretches out a hand as she moves closer, her ankle throbbing with every step. She takes it. He pulls her into his chest.

"Strange says he doesn't know who'll remember that this all happened. From the video being released until now," Peter says. "So... if you forget, or if I do, maybe one of us will remember..." He swallows, stroking her cheekbone with his thumb. "I love you. I love you so much. I hope we at least remember that."

Lena's small, returning smile is bittersweet. "I—"

The world goes bright as the spell is cast.

________

a/n:

ONCE AGAIN PLEASE WAIT A MINUTE BEFORE YOU YELL AT ME I HAVE A FEW THINGS TO SAY

lena watching peter say "i just wanna kill you myself"

also PLEASE LOOK AT THESE HAVOC MERCH CONCEPTS CREATED BY skainatblida  KDANWNIDNSJW ???!!!! THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING AND I WANT TO WEAR ALL OF THEM !!! i will link the chapter in the comments — please check it out to see rey's INTRICATE thought processes for each piece!

https://www.wattpad.com/1312826647-skyring-portfolio-misc-book-havoc-merch

^bc wattpad won't let me paste it in the comments >:(

me:

okay you can yell at me now

— kristyn