Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Vol. 2

Chapter 17

Peter's eyes locked with those of the man behind the mask. He was seeing him plain as day, yet he still couldn't believe it. His best friend, the young man who'd stuck by him ever since they were college freshmen, was now the newest figure to hide behind a Goblin mask.

"Harry... wha... what did..."

In his shock and stammering, he hadn't realized how little he'd loosened his position, allowing Harry to free his arms and dish out a hard punch across Peter's left cheek. He tumbled to the side only mildly but was slow to get up. He'd certainly felt the blow, but this new revelation seemed to have the greater impact, becoming almost like a weight that he could feel bearing down on him, keeping him on his hands and knees. This opened the door for Harry to renew his attack, Peter's best friend laying into him with blow after blow from his fists.

Yet, despite the renewed urgency of the situation, Peter did not even attempt to fight back, his eyes trained on his friend's face in between blows to it. His mind was still too in shock to even try and tell his body to resist, instead trying to compute what was happening. He observed as Harry's face was twisted into a bizarre grin that seemed to convey an anger about it as well. Gone was the happy, carefree young man who'd returned earlier this year seemingly stronger and more determined than ever. In his place was someone Peter couldn't recognize, a villain who almost seemed to take joy in every strike he landed against an opponent, which in this case was him.

Finally, Harry seemed to relent, getting up off Peter. This reprieve proved temporary however, as he grabbed Peter by the shoulder and flung him so that he nearly tumbled off the building, his head hanging off the edge. His best friend then walked up to him, unsheathing another blade, this time from the arm of his costume.

"Harry..." he muttered. No other words came.

The young man then lifted his blade, seemingly preparing to strike a final blow when suddenly something else seemed to steal his attention away. He glanced back and muttered something in what seemed to be a frustrated tone.

"Who's he talking to?" Peter wondered privately. "His dad? Did Norman really do this to him?"

Then, out of nowhere, Harry was suddenly struck by another figure who flew in for a kick, sending the younger Osborn tumbling across the way. Peter turned back, finding none other than Matt in full Daredevil attire. He glanced back to Harry, who seemed braced to charge them both, only to be suddenly grabbed from behind and tossed by another figure, this time revealing themself to be Thomas Fireheart, who was back in full Puma mode. Harry glared at them as he got up, locking eyes with Peter one more time before turning and leaping off the building. Next thing he knew, Peter's best friend was zooming off into the sky on his glider.

For a moment, he just sat there, his mind wondering before he happened to see a red-gloved hand reaching down towards him. He then took it, his horn-headed ally assisting him to his feet.

"Are you okay?" Matt asked.

"I... that's a bit of a loaded question right now," Peter managed to fumble out.

"I can imagine," Matt said before turning to their new ally. "Oh, and who are you, exactly?"

"It's a lot to explain," Fireheart replied; Peter had forgotten how much deeper his voice was when he was in this form.

"Well, thank you both," he said.

"What happened?" Fireheart questioned, drawing nearer to him as well so that the three formed a circle. "Because that looked an awful lot like Harry Osborn."

"Yeah," Peter muttered. He then moved around Matt, but Fireheart stepped in his way.

"If that's true, that's something that affects us all," the man replied. "What's really going on here?"