Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Vol. 2

Chapter 19

Bursting through the door, Peter's head was on a swivel as he scoured the area.

"Peter, help me!"

His girlfriend's call coming from overhead, he fired a web, pulling himself up to the next rooftop. From there, he could see Mary Jane, who was being carried by the Goblin on his glider. His nemesis smiled a broad, twisted smile, as if it was that of evil itself.

"Better hurry, Spider-Man!" he taunted. "You don't want to be too late again, do you?"

The Goblin then turned and then flew upwards, cackling away like the maniac he was. Peter leapt into the air, firing a web in the hopes of snagging it onto the back of the glider. His efforts proved too little however, and next thing he knew, he was plummeting towards the ground. He tried again firing a web line, but now nothing was coming out. He was so careful; how could he have run out!?

Hitting the ground with a hard thud, Peter took a moment to regain himself, shaking his head. He managed to get his elbows under him and glance up... and what he did shocked him to his core. In front of him now was none other than Robbie Robertson. The area around them had grown dark and misty, but Peter was sure he was seeing his old friend clear as day despite the impossible nature of the circumstance.

"Robbie?" he asked, daring to take gradual steps in the direction of his friend.

"I believed in you," Robbie said. "I always stood up for you against Jonah, told him the city was a better place with you in it. Yet, the one time I really needed you, the one time we all did, you let us down."

"I... I know," Peter stammered out. Robbie's tone had had its usual softness to it, yet it just hit him harder than anything Jonah had ever shouted at him.

"Ned and I were expecting a child..."

Peter turned sharply to the right, finding none other than Betty and Ned, the former suddenly looking significantly more pregnant than she ever had. Her hands were over her stomach and Peter swore he could hear the child's heartbeat.

"... we were your friends, all of us," Betty continued. "Why didn't you save us?"

"I'm sorry," Peter replied, all his grief seemingly coming out in those two words. "I should have been better..."

"Oh, it's too late for that, Peter," Robbie said, "and now, you're about to lose your aunt and the woman you love too. Why does this keep happening to you, Peter? You're a hero; you're not supposed to let the bad guys win, yet that's all that seems to keep happening these days!"

The drastic and vitriolic change in Robbie's tone caused Peter to stagger back, his knees suddenly threatening to buckle. He glanced back and forth between Robbie and the Leeds family, trying to find something, anything to say to them to convey how sorry he was. He wouldn't get the chance though as he suddenly was being lifted high into the air. Why hadn't his spider sense gone off?

He glanced towards his captor, finding Harry, who was sneering in his face.

"Harry! I'll save you!" he vowed. "I'm going to save you!"

"No, you won't," his friend growled. "Did you not just see all those other people you failed even before me!? Face it, Pete, your uncle would be ashamed of you!"

Finally snapping, Peter struggled violently, eventually managing to kick himself out of the grip of his old friend. However, before he could fire a web, his body met the ground again, as if it had just rushed up to meet him. He forced himself to his feet much quicker this time, only to find the Goblin staring at him. He saw M.J. and May tied up behind him, their eyes pleading desperately with him to save them. He tried to get up, but he soon found himself being restrained by Harry.