Spiderman 3 (40 page)

Peter's eyes widened in shock. Whatever the symbiote had done to him, it didn't compare with what it had done to Brock.

It slithered off him, in response to the sound assault…
but it left nothing behind
.

All that remained of Eddie Brock was a smoking skeleton, and Spider-Man couldn't help but wonder in horror if Brock had even been present at all. It might well have been the alien creature all along, talking and acting the way it believed Eddie Brock was supposed to.

The gelatinous black goo reared up, forming a hideous face with gleaming fangs and serpentlike tongue.

It had absorbed the materials of Eddie's form and fashioned it into its own rudimentary body. An arm or tentacle or some sort of appendage emerged from its amorphous structure as it snarled, "Never wound what you can't kill."

It snared Spider-Man by the leg and started to draw him forward. It opened its mouth impossibly wide, ready to swallow Spider-Man whole.

At that moment, a desperate Peter spotted a sling suspended from a crane. The sling was holding what appeared to be hundreds of steel rods. He fired a webline, snagged it, and yanked with all his might.

The sling tilted wildly, dumping out steel rods, which, in turn, struck against the girders as they fell.

A virtual hailstorm of eighty ringing rods pierced the creature in rapid succession, the sonic vibrations ripping it apart, bit by bit.

The symbiote sizzled, evaporated, and Peter was sure he heard the creature screaming in protest as the last of the black goo burned off into an inky smoke.

Immediately he gave the creature no further thought, for his attention was entirely on Harry. He fired a webline and swung over toward the platform where Harry had crash-landed. Mary Jane, whom he had brought to safety a short distance away, had already run to Harry, and now she was kneeling by his side. MJ was shaking her head in disbelief, saying, "Oh, no… no, no, no," over and over.

Harry grimaced, weak, clutching his chest where an ugly red splotch was spreading quickly. "He got me pretty good."

"I'll get help."

"No." Harry clutched Mary Jane's hand before she could move. "Stay with me."

She cradled his head in her lap. He smiled sadly up at her and said, "Sorry. About everything."

"But in the end you came. For Pete and me."

"I was kind of brave back there, wasn't I."

She stroked his hair. "I'm so proud of you. I could never be that brave. Like Peter or you."

"No." Harry shook his head, although the movement dearly pained him. "It's there inside you. And Peter's only strong because you're there." He coughed weakly, then said, "Hold my hand."

Mary Jane took his hand and kissed it gently. Harry's fluttered, but he fought to keep them open as Peter showed up and knelt next to him, pulling his mask off so Harry could see his face. "Don't leave us, pal," Peter urged.

"We need you. MJ needs you."

"It's you she loves," Harry said. "It's only, ever, been you."

He fought for breath as Peter touched the side of his face that had been terribly mangled. "I… should never have hurt you," Peter said. "Said those things."

"I forgive you, Pete."

Peter looked at him in amazement. "How could you forgive me?"

To Harry, the answer was so simple that he was surprised Peter even needed to ask. "You're… my friend."

Peter was smiling through his tears as Harry took his hand and grasped it firmly one last time. Harry returned the smile, and with that on his lips, with the rays of a rising sun stretching over the horizon, Harry Osborn passed away.

Peter Parker is now more open to the idea of one's life flashing before one's eyes when death is imminent. But his own death is not imminent, and it is not the entirety of his existence that he is experiencing now. It is simply the most recent days.

He sees himself, Mary Jane, Aunt May, and the Stacy family surrounding Harry's gravesite. His casket is in the ground. Peter and Mary Jane drop in some flowers.

Gwen is standing there, now an austere, more thoughtful, no-nonsense young woman. She stands next to her father, across the lawn from Peter and MJ and Aunt May. Gwen and Peter eye each other. She moves toward him. Peter moves away from Mary Jane, toward Gwen. Mary Jane and Gwen exchange a look and smile. Peter and Gwen, facing one another, speak not a word between them. There is forgiveness and understanding between them. They embrace. Then Gwen looks again toward Mary Jane. She moves to MJ and hugs her as well. As all parties at the cemetery affirm their affection and support to each other, Peter muses to himself

The air is clear today. The lessons have been learned, but not easily… and they will be taught again… they are those things we know but often
get
forgotten along the way. That all we have that truly matters in this world is the love of our friends and our family, and that they are worthy of the highest trait that we can aspire to: our forgiveness. That is the gift my friend Harry gave me.

Peter's world spins forward once more, and he hears a jazz band's playing of a torch song. It grows louder, and Mary Jane is singing, standing in front of the band, bathed in a soft spotlight, wearing a rather simple but divine gown.

A sparse number of patrons are at a few tables, a couple at the bar. Everyone is captured by the song and the soft mood of the room. In the front window of the Jazz Room is a poster showing Mary Jane's attractive, enchanting photograph. Above it, on a small marquee, are the words: featuring mary jane watson, and beneath it is a clipping from a newspaper review giving her performance three stars, describing her as a "new enchanting songbird who has flown into town."

Peter sees himself gazing at the picture, reading the review, then moving to the doorway. He enters. Mary Jane keeps singing…

As she sings, she smiles, surprised and pleased, upon seeing Peter standing in the doorway.

She stops singing, and the band continues behind her. Peter steps toward the dance floor and mouths the word
Dance?

She waits and then moves away from the microphone and onto the dance floor. They meet and slowly come together to dance as the band moves into its rendition of "Falling in Love."

The lounge's manager and bouncer eye Peter warily. MJ had told them, pleaded with them, that Peter's mayhem had been the result of clashing prescription drugs, an aberration that would

never recur. Still, they never take their eyes off him. Well, let them stare. The last thing on Peter's mind is causing trouble.

And Peter suddenly understands why his life or at least recent events are flashing before his eyes. It isn't because he is on the edge of death. It is because he is on the edge of finally living.

After a few moments he brings his cheek close to hers and whispers
, We have a lot to talk about.

Let's not talk about the relationship. Just shut up and dance.

And so they do. And in his mind's eye, Peter sees Spider-Man swinging across the city, through its cavernous streets, and Mary Jane is in his arms, laughing in delight.

And all is as it should be.

About the Author

PETER DAVID is the
New York Times
best-selling author of numerous
Star Trek
novels, including
Imzadi, A Rock and a Hard Place
, and the incredibly popular
New Frontier
series. He is also the author of the best-selling movie novelizations for
Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, The Hulk
, and
Fantastic Four
and has written dozens of other books, including his acclaimed original novel
Sir Apropos of Nothing
, and its sequels,
The Woad to Wuin
and
Tong Lashing
.

David is also well-known for his comic-book work, particularly his award-winning run on
The Incredible Hulk
, and has written for just about every famous comic-book super hero.

He lives in New York with his wife and daughters.