The Amazing Spider-Man 3

Chapter 34

I woke up the next morning to a loud crash. Another one of our windows had shattered. I jolted upright, my sheets falling off of my bed. I sprinted into the living room groggily. My eyes were blurry, so I blinked several times to clear my vision.

Our living room window was once again broken. Shards of glass littered the floor. The cool night breeze swirled in through the holes in what was left of our window. The curtains fluttered with the wind. Then my eyes averted, to the person who was hovering several feet away from me.

Harry.

We made eye contact, and his mouth stretched into a goofy grin, revealing his goblin teeth. He gave a high-pitched laugh, then clapped his hands together several times.

"Congratulations," he said. "You have successfully destroyed my army." I just stared at him in shock.

"Peter?" Aunt May came down the hallway, stopping when she saw Harry. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. She was silent. I waved my hand at her to go back into her bedroom, but she didn't budge.

"Well hello, there." Harry laughed again. I crossed my arms, cocking my head at him accusingly.

"Well maybe you underestimated me," I said.

"Perhaps I did. Now, though, I'm ready to fight you. Just you and me. And this time, I will win."

"Fat chance."

"You are acting confident now, Peter, but you will think otherwise while I'm choking you to death," he spat. He said my name sourly.

"Harry, you're my friend..."

"Harry is DEAD!"

"No he's not. He's still in there somewhere. And, for that reason, I will not hurt you. You will always be my friend."

"Then I guess it will be an easy kill." With that, Harry accelerated. Aunt May was just standing there, frozen. I dove after her, knocking her to the floor, but also out of reach. Harry slammed into the wall, and a few pieces crumbled into the floor.

While Harry was stunned, I hurried Aunt May back into her bedroom, then closed the door, despite her complaints. Then, I ran into my room to grab my web shooters. I had just strapped them on when Harry appeared in my doorway.

"I'll get you this time, Peter!" He shouted. "I just want you to remember what you have done to me!" I lept out my window, and Harry smashed through it, breaking the wall surrounding it. The window had been too small for him and his glider.

I somersaulted into the street as Harry flew over my head. I shot a web at a lamppost and spun myself into a flip, landing on top of it. My spider senses alerted me, and I took a flying leap onto another lamppost, just avoiding the explosion.

Explosion?

Harry had thrown a pumpkin bomb at me. My heart rate increased, and then another one was flying at me. I shot a web, creating a slingshot. Right as the bomb hit the web, I flung it back at Harry. It landed on his glider, then exploded. The glider fell from his feet, shattering into hundreds of pieces.

Harry cried out. His boots had been blown off, and his feet were bloody. A pang of guilt overcame me, but I forced myself to ignore it. Not now.

Harry fell to the ground, landing on his back. I landed on top of him, and we became engaged into a fistfight. He swung at my face, and I snapped my neck to the side, then laid my arm across his throat. His eyes popped out. He gagged from the lack of air. He kicked his legs. He gripped my arms. But nothing could make me budge.

I held him there until his consciousness faded away. I gave a sigh of relief. I had not injured him badly. I closed my eyes for a minute, then opened thim, staring at Harry's blank face. The wind picked up, and chilled my bare skin.

My bare skin.

That's when I realized that I was only wearing underwear.

---

Harry was arrested again, then taken back to Ravencroft where the other three living members of the Sinister Six were being held. Gwen met me after my college classes. We were eating at her favorite restaurant again.

"So Harry came by..." Gwen stared at her food.

"Yeah. He banged up our house a bit...It's nothing we can't fix, though. Just a lot of money..." I picked at my own food.

"The city won't pay for it? Even if it wasn't your fault?" Her forehead wrinkled.

"Of course they are. Along with our insurance company...but something always comes out of the victim's pocket, you know."

"Yeah, right."

We were both silent for a minute. Neither of us really ate, despite how much we liked the restaurant.

"Hey," I said, breaking the silence. "How about we go and get some fresh air?" I forced a smile, one that Gwen returned. We left the restaurant, and I made sure to drop some cash on our table as a tip.

Gwen and I began scaling the side of a building. I always favored rooftops for private, peaceful hangout places. They were the best.

All was going well until Gwen slipped. She let out a gasp, and then she was falling. Her hands would no longer stick to the building.

"Gwen!" I screamed her name.

Her face, which was covered in shock, quickly transformed into determination. I was about to shoot a web to her when she shot one herself. Then she was beside me again, except hanging from a window. Her knuckles were white, and I could see panic in her eyes where she was struggling to hold on.

Something was seriously wrong.

"Gwen?"

"Peter, there's something I have to tell you," she said between gasps. "It would be nice if we could get up there, though. I...I can't climb this."

I nodded, then wrapped my arm around her. I was flooded with familiarity as I carried her up the building. Something at the back of my mind told me that this was the way it was supposed to be: me protecting Gwen, and her needing my protection. Spider-Woman just wasn't the Gwen Stacy I knew.

We reached the top of the building, and I carefully set her on the roof. Then it was my turn, and I climbed up, sitting beside her. Our legs were swung over the side of the building, dangling above the streets below.

"I knew this was only temporary," she said quietly, bowing her head.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"I didn't have enough research. I still needed your dad's blood...or your blood. The only way that I could make myself have these abilities was only temporary. I just had no idea how long it would last. I was hoping it would last longer than a few weeks..."

"So you're saying that you lost your powers?"

"Yes."

I wrapped my arm around Gwen, hugging her close. I buried my face into her beautiful blonde hair, inhaling the smell of her shampoo.

"Now you don't have an excuse to have to be with me anymore...now you're going to push me away again. Now you are going to try and keep me safe, because I can't protect myself!" Tears were forming in her eyes.

"It's going to be okay," I whispered into her ear. "I still love you. I'm not going to let you leave me again."

She turned her head so she could look me in the eyes.

"Do you promise?"

"I promise."

"But this promise won't be broken, right? Some promises are meant to be broken, but..."

"Not this one. I promise." I smirked. I had just promised her that I would keep my promise. Gwen smiled too.

"Okay."