Peter and Megan got home, not even realizing how fast the time had gone by today. The days went by quickly almost always, so they weren't all too shocked that it was already nighttime.

"Well, that was a day, huh?" Megan laughed as they entered the apartment. She plopped onto the couch, then Peter followed, sitting down next to her and letting out a groan since he was still in pain from earlier.

"I'd call it more than a day." Peter chuckled. "Today felt like a week."

"I know. This shit makes me mental." She giggled, then took her boyfriends hand. "In all seriousness, are you okay? Do I have to nurse you back to health?"

"Don't worry about me." He smiled. "I'll be fine by tomorrow."

"I do worry about you, you know." Megan frowned. "You need a break."

"I'll have my break once this is all over." Peter sighed. At this point, he couldn't rest knowing that the Green Goblin was still out there. He had to know who it was, and so did Megan. They would do all that they could to find who, even it required risking their lives.

"You always say you'll take a break but never do it." She said, calling him out.

"Trust me, this time I definitely will." He replied, grabbing her hand tightly. Peter knew that one day he would settle and marry Megan, but now was just not the same. She knew that as well, and she was willing to wait for it despite how impatient she gets with pretty much everything, but he was worth it.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Megan questioned.

"Of course." Peter nodded.

"Since Norman is basically on all of our minds right now, do you think about Harry a lot?" She asked. The mention of Harry brought up memories for everyone, but Peter never forgot about him.

"I think about him all the time." He sighed. "All the shit we did in college, trying and failing to set him up with MJ, you name it. I really miss him."

"He'll come back to us one day. I know it." Megan assured him, although like everyone else, she slowly lost hope for their friend.

"I replay the explosion in my mind almost everyday." Peter said. "It's like a horror movie."

•••

Flashback, One Year Ago

Peter was used to fighting enemies. It was his day job, after all, but today was unlike the others. His former professor, Doctor Otto Octavius, now Doctor Octopus, or Doc Ock if you will, was now considered an enemy. Once creating mechanical arms that could take him anywhere, his mind altered for the worse, turning him into a villain, and he could never turn back. Peter thought he could prevent it, but fate is a pain in the ass, and this was living proof.

"Otto, come on! Let me help you!" Peter begged, blocking all of Otto's hits but just barely.

"Silence!" Otto yelled at the top of his lungs, swinging one of his mechanical arms and breaking through glass buildings. Right now a timer was ticking for a bomb to go off at one of the main Oscorp facilities, and Peter was trying his very best to stop both the timer and Otto.

Otto hated Oscorp with a passion, having used to work there but then later let go and ridiculed, which developed a hatred for Norman Osborn. The man had many enemies, so Otto hating him was no different.

It just so happened to be that Harry Osborn was at that facility that day, trying to get everyone to safety before he could do the same for himself. He always put others first, but today he should've thought about himself as well.

As the timer neared zero seconds, Peter was doing all that he could before time ran out. "There are innocent people in there!"

"I don't care! They-" Otto was interrupted by the bomb going off, causing part of the building to explode and be set on fire. While the fire was burning, Harry was trying to help every worker that could make it get out of there. As he did, the smoke got to him, making him struggle to breathe, but he didn't care.

The explosion got to both Otto and Peter, who were flown back many feet, which made Otto unable to move as his mechanical arms were broken by the fall. Peter forced himself up though, running towards the burning building to save anyone he could.

When he got inside, he found Harry unconscious, and little did he know in that moment that he wouldn't wake up after that. It hurt him knowing that he couldn't save someone he considered one of his best friends. Peter kicked himself for failing to save him, and he would continue to do so for a very long time.

•••

Peter leaned his head on Megan's shoulder, not wanting to cry as he thought about the explosion for the millionth time. The only thing that would make him not feel guilty is if Harry would wake up again, but that wouldn't happen anytime soon. Something had to be done, but nobody knew what exactly.

"It's okay to feel sad, Peter." Megan said softly.

"I know." He whispered.

"I miss him too, everyone does." She said. "Everything's gonna be fine."

As they sat beside each other, Peter began to fall asleep, feeling comfortable with Megan next to him. The day has been very long, so Megan let him, also beginning to fall asleep as well. He closed his eyes shut, and so did she, then the two eventually fell into a well deserved slumber.

•••

Avengers Tower

Not even realizing the time, Ned and Michelle were working their asses off, finding out loopholes to get into Norman's office and such. Michelle also got Felicia's address and have plans of having her and her team search her apartment, but that would have to wait until a later time.

"You know what I've always wondered?" Michelle said.

"Tell me." Ned replied.

"Villains gotta have a lair, right?" She asked, and Ned nodded. "So, do you think Felicia had a lair or something?"

Ned took the time to think about the question. The Black Cat was always slick, but was she slick enough to keep things hidden in a lair? Or did she keep everything in her apartment?

"Honestly? I have no clue." He shrugged.

"But it would make sense!" Michelle exclaimed. "Where can she hide all of her weapons and her costume?! Man, that costume-"

"Woah, were you thirsting over Black Cat?" Ned cringed. The man has nothing wrong with the gays, but thirsting over a villain? Whether male or female, that was just not it.

"What? No!" She lied. "I just find the costume to be badass. Like, I could look good in it and-"

"MJ, considering you strictly wear loose clothing, nobody could imagine you in that." He interrupted.

"Okay, maybe I was thirsting a little." Michelle admitted. "But she's dead so there's no harm."

As the two conversed, Ned noticed a random object out of nowhere, and pointed it out to Michelle. "Hey, am I hallucinating or is there a pumpkin just sitting outside of my office?"

Michelle turned around, also noticing the random pumpkin. "No, that's a pumpkin."

"But why?" Ned questioned.

"I don't know," She replied and stood up, pulling out her gun. "but I'm gonna check it out."

"It's a pumpkin-"

"Better to be safe than sorry, Scoob." Michelle interrupted then slowly walked out of the room.

Holding her gun tightly, Michelle took baby steps towards the pumpkin. She crouched down, setting her gun aside to examine whatever the hell this pumpkin was there for. It wasn't there before, so clearly someone left it there, but who?

In an instant, the pumpkin (which turned out to not be a real pumpkin) exploded right in front of Michelle, throwing her body many feet back. She instantly hit her head on the ground, wincing in pain.

Ned immediately ran out of the room, crouching down beside Michelle. He tried picking her up, but the pain she was experiencing was too unbearable. "Fuck, my arm!"

"What the hell was that?" He asked.

"I don't know!" She yelled. "Call a fucking ambulance or something, jeez!"

Or something, huh? They both knew all too well that the cost for an ambulance would cost way too much, especially in New York, but only Ned was in the right headspace right now. Luckily, he knew exactly who to call.

"Hey, uh, I- we, yes, we need your help."

•••

Megan and Peter's Apartment

Peter, who was passed out next to Megan on the couch, woke up to his cell phone ringing. It had been ringing for a solid ten minutes, but he didn't actually hear it until now.

He groaned at the sight of the caller ID, but answered anyway because he would feel bad if he didn't. "Hello?"

"Hey, Penis-"

"Flash, for the millionth time I will not make a YouTube video with you!" Peter interrupted. "What do you want?"

"Wow, rude." Flash scoffed. "Anyway, MJ is in the hospital-"

"MJ's in the hospital?" He asked.

"Yeah, Ned's here too." Flash said nonchalantly. "But I'm the only one who can actually afford an ambulance without their bank account suffering so-"

"What hospital?" Peter interrupted again. He needed details, but he also needed to wake Megan up since she was still sleeping.

"New York-Presbyterian in-"

"On my way." He said and hung up on Flash quickly. Now, Peter had to wake Megan up.

"Meg." Peter whispered, poking her lightly.

Nothing. This left him with no other choice since he knew just the thing to wake her up. "Tickle, tickle, tickle-"

"I have a black- Peter?" Megan picked up her phone to look at the time, then gave Peter a looking for waking her up at this hour. "It's three am, what's wrong?"

"MJ's in the hospital."

•••

MARIA TALKS!

😳😳😳

f's in the chat for mj (comment f here to pay respects- or don't)

if you know about pumpkin bombs you're a real one i said what i said

also shoutout to all the people who waited til NOW to vote. we in book 3 luv wyd go back to vote on the first and second book tf 🤡

continuously fed up with ghost readers and yet it never ends but thank you to all the people putting in the effort to vote! your effort does wonders to any writer that hates ghost readers aka ALL OF THEM so keep doing you! hope to see you next time xx