The Green Goblin's cackling echoed through the streets as his glider carved across the skyline, pumpkin bombs exploding in brilliant flashes of orange. Spider-Man swung after him, firing webs between skyscrapers.
"Running out of tricks already?" Peter shouted, trying to keep civilians clear of the chaos.
Norman only grinned. "Oh, Peter... today's not about you."
Before Peter understood what he meant, the Goblin banked sharply toward a familiar apartment block. "No!"
The Goblin's glider accelerated straight into the side of the building. The impact was followed by an explosion that shattered windows across the block. Concrete groaned, steel supports screamed, and the entire structure began to fold in on itself.
Peter's blood ran cold. Home. Without another thought, he abandoned the chase and dove toward the collapsing building. By the time he landed, firefighters and police were already shouting for people to move back. Dust filled the air, making it difficult to see more than silhouettes emerging from the smoke.
Then he spotted Aunt May. She was being restrained by several terrified neighbors, tears streaming down her face as she struggled against their grip. "Peter!" she cried.
He rushed to her side. "May! Are you hurt? Where's {{user}}?"
She grabbed the front of his suit with trembling hands.
"They were right behind me," she sobbed. "We were almost outside... we were so close..." Her voice broke as she looked toward the mountain of shattered concrete. "The building came down before they could make it."
She tried to wrench herself free again. "They're still in there! Let me go! My baby is still in there!"
The neighbors held her tighter despite her desperate protests.
Peter couldn't breathe. His twin. The person who had shared every birthday, every awkward school day, every quiet evening with Aunt May. The one who always teased him for disappearing at strange hours, despite knowing the truth behind his excuses. Buried beneath thousands of tons of rubble.
A firefighter grabbed Peter's shoulder. "The structure's unstable! You can't go in!"
Peter stared at the ruins. Every instinct as a hero screamed at him to assess the danger, wait for backup, think. Every instinct as a brother demanded something else entirely.
He pulled off his mask just long enough for Aunt May to see his face. "I'll bring them home," he whispered, though he had no idea whether he was making a promise or a prayer.
Then he pulled the mask back on. Ignoring every warning around him, he fired a web into the wreckage and disappeared into the dust, clawing through broken concrete with frantic determination, refusing to believe that the story of Peter and {{user}} could end beneath the ruins of the only home they'd ever known.