“That’s right.
I’m Peter Parker.”
Tobey Spider-Man slowly raised a hand and pulled off his mask.
The face revealed before Harry Osborn was one he knew all too well.
Peter Parker, his best friend since their freshman year of high school, was Spider-Man?
That meant his best friend…
had killed his father.
The emotional shock was so overwhelming that Harry Osborn’s hand went slack.
The dagger he had just concealed in his palm fell to the floor with a harsh clang.
Harry Osborn slid down the wall, his head bowed as both hands clutched tightly at his hair.
Tobey Spider-Man sighed, walked over, and sat beside him.
“I came here today because there’s something even more important you need to know.”
“Your father…
isn’t dead.
Two years ago, he deceived everyone, including you.”
Harry Osborn jerked his head up.
The emotional blows he had suffered tonight were even more devastating than the night his father died.
“That’s impossible!
I watched him being buried with my own eyes!
The doctors officially declared him brain-dead!”
“I couldn’t believe it at first either, but…
someone convinced me with solid evidence.”
“What evidence?
Show me!”
Harry Osborn looked like a wounded animal, his eyes bloodshot.
“Harry Osborn, the evidence you want is right here.”
An unfamiliar voice came from the balcony.
It sounded nothing like Tobey Spider-Man, and Harry Osborn had never heard it before.
Harry Osborn instinctively turned toward the balcony and saw the second Spider-Man standing there.
His heartbeat, which had only just begun to settle, started racing again.
He had not forgotten that only a few minutes earlier, he had placed a ten-million-dollar bounty on the second Spider-Man.
Peter walked straight over to Harry Osborn and handed him an investigative report.
“I asked Dr.
Connors to borrow a ground-penetrating radar from Columbia University’s Department of Geology.
I also had a few geology students help operate it.”
“This report contains the results of the survey conducted on your father’s grave…
Norman Osborn’s grave.”
“The results show no trace of human remains inside.
In other words, Norman Osborn’s death was most likely a hoax he staged himself.”
Harry Osborn took the report and flipped through it as quickly as he could.
His gaze stopped on the final page.
It contained a ground-penetrating radar scan, and the space beneath the grave was completely empty.
The air seemed to freeze.
Both Spider-Men watched Harry Osborn with concern.
Fortunately, at this point, Harry Osborn had not yet injected himself with the “Green Goblin serum.” Otherwise, such a devastating emotional shock might very well have given rise to an evil personality even more terrifying than the original Green Goblin.
At last, after a long silence, Harry Osborn moved.
He suddenly turned and wrapped both arms tightly around Tobey Spider-Man.
Tobey Spider-Man froze for a moment, then returned the embrace, his eyes turning red.
No explanation was needed.
Their actions alone showed that every misunderstanding and barrier between them had vanished completely.
Peter quietly withdrew to the balcony, leaving the two reunited brothers some space.
However, the Green Goblin’s faked death still lingered like a thorn in Peter’s mind, impossible to ignore.
“I have a bad feeling about this.
I doubt we’ll have to wait long before we see Mr.
Osborn again.”
Peter raised a hand and rubbed between his eyebrows, where a faint stinging sensation had begun to surface.
His Spider-Sense had remained active ever since that moment.
This time, it had not identified any specific source of danger, and the warning was extremely faint, little more than a vague sensation.
That was why Peter suspected that the Green Goblin, hidden in the shadows behind his supposed death, would soon reveal his sinister grin to the world once more.
After all, two full years in hiding had given the Green Goblin more than enough time to accomplish a great many things.
Peter even began to suspect that the simultaneous appearance of so many supervillains against Spider-Man in the Tobey Maguire version of Spider-Man 3 might have been orchestrated by the Green Goblin from behind the scenes.
…
…
After resolving the problems involving Doctor Octopus and Harry Osborn, Peter temporarily found himself without another objective.
However, the Web of Life and Destiny still showed no reaction, which was proof enough that the time had not yet come for him to return.
With nowhere else to stay, Peter decided to become Tobey Spider-Man’s neighbor.
He rented the studio apartment next door at a very reasonable price.
Life settled back into a routine, and Peter began conducting a deeper investigation into this universe.
After a week of thorough research, Peter finally confirmed one thing.
In this universe, Tobey Spider-Man truly was the only superhero.
Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Stephen Strange, Reed Richards, and all the other classic superheroes were nowhere to be found.
Peter had originally hoped to locate any superheroes who might exist here and form an Avengers team to deal with whatever disaster the Green Goblin might unleash.
Now, he had no choice but to abandon that plan entirely.
Fortunately, just as Peter had said before…
Spider-Man always had a backup plan.
Next, Peter asked Tobey Spider-Man to help him take several sets of impressive Spider-Man photos among New York City’s skyscrapers.
In several of them, Spider-Man even struck deliberately provocative fighting poses.
When Tobey Spider-Man asked what Peter intended to do with the photos, Peter explained the plan he was about to carry out.
Tobey Spider-Man was visibly surprised when he heard it.
Could something like that really work?
But after thinking it over, he realized it might actually be remarkably effective.
…
Another day began.
In the editor-in-chief’s office at the Daily Bugle, Jonah Jameson was preparing to start work.
He puffed on a cigar while reviewing the articles submitted the previous day.
He was sorely disappointed.
Ever since a second Spider-Man had appeared in New York City, the city’s crime rate had fallen to an unprecedented low.
Aside from finding new ways to attack the two Spider-Men, the Daily Bugle could not find any interesting news worth reporting.
Just as Jonah Jameson was growing increasingly irritated, a crisp tapping sound came from outside the window.
Jonah Jameson turned toward it but saw nothing.
When he looked back, however, he nearly jumped out of his chair.
Spider-Man was sitting across from him on the other side of the desk, rapidly twirling Jameson’s pen between his fingers.
“You’re Spider-Man II?”
Jonah Jameson’s surprise vanished almost immediately, replaced by excitement.
The huge story he had been waiting for had just delivered itself straight to his office.
Whatever Spider-Man wanted from him, Jonah Jameson was confident he could turn it into a sensational article.
“Mr.
Jameson, I need your help with something.”
Peter slid a letter across the desk.
Jonah Jameson quickly opened it and skimmed through the contents.
Once he finished reading, he drew in a sharp breath.
“What the hell?
The Green Goblin, the man who caused that massive disturbance in New York two years ago, is still alive?
And Spider-Man II is challenging him to a showdown in Times Square?”
Jonah Jameson immediately knew what tomorrow’s Daily Bugle front-page headline would be.
[The Battle of the Century at Times Square!!!]
Peter nodded.
Jonah Jameson was every bit as excited as he had expected, but that alone was not enough.
To ensure that the Green Goblin accepted the challenge, Peter needed the full power of the Daily Bugle.
“That’s right, Mr.
Jameson.
If the Green Goblin refuses to show up, the people of New York will be terribly disappointed.
So use everything you’ve got to ‘encourage’ him to accept the challenge.
In return, I’ll have Peter Parker send you several sets of truly iconic photos.”
It was time for Spider-Man’s enemies to experience the power of Jonah Jameson’s big mouth for themselves.