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A massive chunk of concrete broke free from the damaged balcony.
Below, two people stood frozen in the stampede, unable to move fast enough to escape.
"Help! Someone—"
Peter didn't think. His hands shot out, firing webs at both of them.
THWIP THWIP!
The white strands hit their backs and stuck. Peter yanked hard.
Both people jerked backward like they'd been grabbed by an invisible hand, pulled out of danger just as—
CRASH!
The concrete slab hit the ground where they'd been standing, shattering into smaller pieces, throwing up clouds of dust.
The two rescued people landed hard on the pavement, groaning but alive. They looked around for their savior but saw only panicking crowds.
Nobody noticed what Peter had done.
Nobody except Marcus.
Peter ran against the flow of people, heading for a dark alley where he could change into his costume.
Above, on what remained of the balcony, Mary Jane clung desperately to a piece of broken railing.
"Harry! Help me!"
Harry stretched toward her but couldn't reach. She was too far away, balanced precariously on a section of floor that could give way at any moment.
"Mary! Hold on!"
"HAHAHAHA!"
The Green Goblin swept past on his glider, cackling.
He circled back to the balcony where the terrified board members huddled.
"Did you think you could get rid of me?" the Goblin's voice was distorted through his mask. "Did you think I'd just... disappear?"
He pulled another pumpkin bomb from his belt.
Norman saw Harry not far away. This bomb had a smaller blast radius—enough to kill the board members without catching his son.
He threw it.
BOOM!
The explosion tore through the executives. Directors from both Oscorp and Quest Aerospace died instantly, bodies thrown by the blast.
Harry, further away, was knocked unconscious by falling debris.
The Green Goblin flew closer, seeing his son lying still on the ground. Then his eyes shifted to Mary Jane.
He didn't like her. Didn't want Harry involved with her. In fact, eliminating her might be doing his son a favor.
Mary Jane stared up at the approaching monster in pure terror.
Then—
"LOOK! IT'S SPIDER-MAN!"
Marcus's shout cut through the chaos, pointing upward.
Everyone looked.
Spider-Man swung down on a web, moving fast. He slammed into the Green Goblin with a flying kick before the villain could react.
WHAM!
The Goblin tumbled off his glider, screaming in surprise as he fell—
—and landed on a canvas tent stretched below, the fabric catching him like a safety net.
The unmanned glider spiraled out of control and crashed into a massive parade balloon. The balloon burst, deflating rapidly as it collapsed toward the ground.
Directly beneath it, a small boy stood paralyzed with fear.
Spider-Man saw. Shot a web. Swung down.
He grabbed the child and rolled clear just as the balloon and its metal frame crashed down.
BOOM!
Spider-Man handed the boy to his crying parents, then turned toward another commotion.
Security guards surrounded the Green Goblin, weapons drawn.
"Freeze! Hands where we can see them!"
The Goblin raised his hands in apparent surrender.
The guards approached cautiously—
The Goblin attacked.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Three punches. Three guards down. The enhanced strength made it effortless.
Spider-Man charged forward, engaging the Goblin directly.
They exchanged blows. Spider-Man's fist connected with the Goblin's face—
The Goblin caught it. Held it. Then kicked Spider-Man backward with brutal force.
Spider-Man flew fifteen feet and crashed into a vendor's cart, scattering merchandise everywhere.
Marcus watched from a distance, shaking his head.
Peter was holding back. Way back. With his current strength—at least ten tons—he could've seriously hurt the Green Goblin. But Peter was afraid of killing someone, so he pulled his punches.
The Goblin had no such hesitation.
The glider swooped down, responding to the Goblin's commands. He jumped on and took flight.
"HAHAHA!"
He aimed directly at Spider-Man and activated the glider's weapons.
RATATATATAT!
Bullets tore up the pavement. Spider-Man dodged—his spider-sense giving him split-second warnings—but he was being driven back.
A missile launcher popped out from the glider.
WHOOSH!
Spider-Man shot a web at an overhead balloon, pulling himself up just as the missile streaked past below him and exploded harmlessly in the distance.
He landed on top of the balloon.
"HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!"
Mary Jane's scream cut through everything else.
Spider-Man's head snapped toward her. The broken balcony was giving way.
He ignored the Green Goblin entirely and started jumping between balloons, closing the distance.
The Goblin saw an opening. He accelerated and slammed into Spider-Man mid-jump, driving him into a building's brick wall.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
The Goblin grabbed Spider-Man's head and smashed it against the bricks repeatedly.
Spider-Man finally recovered enough to drive an elbow backward into the Goblin's ribs. They grappled briefly before Spider-Man was knocked down to the remains of the balcony.
He landed near Mary Jane.
"Look out!" she warned.
Spider-Man turned. The Goblin was coming at him again.
No time. He shot webbing directly at the Goblin's mask, covering his eyes.
Then Spider-Man grabbed the glider's turbine housing and ripped it apart with his bare hands.
The glider immediately became unstable, smoke pouring from the damaged engine.
"This isn't over, Spider-Man!" the Goblin snarled as he struggled to control the failing glider. "We'll meet again!"
He flew away, trailing smoke.
Spider-Man started to relax—
"AAAAHHH!"
Mary Jane fell.
The railing had finally given way.
Spider-Man dove after her without thinking.
He caught her mid-fall, wrapped his arm around her waist, then fired a web back toward the building.
The elastic strand caught them, swung them wide. At the apex of the swing, Spider-Man fired another web and carried them away from the chaos.
Marcus watched them disappear into the cityscape.
"Interesting choice," he murmured.
In the first Spider-Man movie, Tobey's Spider-Man had done the same—caught Mary Jane personally rather than webbing her. In the second series, Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man had used webs to catch Gwen—and her spine had snapped from the sudden stop.
Poor second Spider-Man. That timeline was rough.
Click.
Marcus raised his camera and captured the moment—Spider-Man swinging through the air with Mary Jane in his arms, looking almost romantic despite the destruction around them.
"This'll be a nice gift for Peter someday."
His camera was full of shots from today. Spider-Man saving civilians. Spider-Man fighting the Green Goblin. Perfect angles, perfect lighting, perfect clarity.
Jameson would pay handsomely for these.
The carnival attack dominated the news for days.
Quest Aerospace's acquisition of Oscorp was suspended indefinitely. Multiple executives from both companies were dead. Stock prices plummeted.
Marcus's shell company bought the crash, making hundreds of millions in profit.
The mysterious "Green Goblin" became a household name—a terrorist in a horrifying mask who'd killed innocent people in broad daylight.
And Spider-Man's fame skyrocketed. The hero who'd fought the Green Goblin and saved lives.
The Daily Bugle had the best photos of the entire incident, courtesy of Marcus Reed. Jameson gave him a raise, a promotion, and a private office.
A few days later, Peter came to the Daily Bugle.
He'd been avoiding Marcus. The problem was obvious: Marcus had been at the carnival. Marcus had seen Peter shoot webs to save those people. And Marcus's photos showed angles that suggested he'd been watching Peter very closely the whole time.
Peter was terrified that Marcus knew.
But days passed, and nothing happened. No confrontation. No exposure. No blackmail.
Finally, Peter couldn't take the uncertainty anymore. He had to know.
He found Marcus's new office and knocked.
"Come in!"
Peter entered and closed the door behind him.
Marcus was sitting in a reclining chair, facing away from the door.
"What can I do for you?"
Peter's heart hammered. "I heard about your promotion. Congratulations on the photos. That's... that's really impressive."
"Lucky timing," Marcus said casually. "Nobody knows where Spider-Man and the Green Goblin will show up, right?"
He spun the chair around to face Peter.
"By the way, Peter—you were at the carnival too, weren't you? Where'd you go after the attack started? Haven't seen you around the office lately."
The way Marcus looked at him—like he could see right through Peter—made his skin crawl.
"I, uh... I hid. With everyone else. It was scary."
"Really?" Marcus leaned forward, elbows on his desk. "That's too bad. If you'd stuck around, you could've gotten photos. Could've gotten a promotion too."
The way he dragged out those words—too knowing, too deliberate—made Peter's anxiety spike.
Marcus pulled out a photograph and slid it across the desk.
"Tell you what, Peter. I've got one photo I haven't published yet. Want to print it? Split the money?"
Peter looked at the image.
Spider-Man holding Mary Jane. Flying through the air. Almost romantic.
Peter's blood turned cold.
If this went public, Mary Jane would be linked to Spider-Man. Anyone who wanted to hurt Spider-Man might target her.
He looked up at Marcus, who was watching him with knowing eyes.
Peter's heart pounded. After weighing everything—the risks, the evidence, the danger to Mary Jane—he made his decision.
"Fine," Peter said, his voice tight. "Fine. I'll lay my cards on the table. I'm done pretending."
He took a breath.
"Marcus, I'm Spider-Man."