I. Reunion

A new year! …Yeah, I know, I know. It's cliché at times like these to talk about fresh starts and new beginnings, but even still, I can't help it. Everything is different now. The world is a different place. When that bell rings again and we're all back in school—our junior year already, can you believe it?—there's only going to be one thing on everybody's mind. One thing that the entire school won't be able to stop talking about. And honestly? I'm kind of relieved that (for once) it won't be me—or should I say, my wall-crawling, web-slinging alter-ego.

Okay, maybe I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself here. Yep, this is Peter Parker telling the story. The Amazing, Spectacular, Friendly Neighborhood… well, you know. Or else you wouldn't be here, am I right? Unless you didn't know, in which case… uh, maybe I'd better explain anyway.

You see, last year, our science class went on a field-trip to Dr. Curt Connors' lab over at ESU. I got bit by a… well, the point is, I wound up with spider powers. And I had to learn the hard way that great power comes with great responsibility. So, ever since, I've put on a costume, a mask, and I've been Spider-Man.

At first, it was just petty thugs and common criminals. Muggers, stick-ups, the occasional heist. Against the likes of me, ordinary crooks didn't stand a chance—even longtime professionals like that creep Flint Marko and his dopey partner Alex O'Hirn. Okay, so maybe the Enforcers gave me a run for my money, but that was to be expected. After all, they worked for New York City's top crime-lords, guys like Hammerhead and Tombstone, mooks I would have given just about anything to pin down and haul in.

Then the bad guys started upping the ante. In retrospect, I really should have seen it coming.

Oh, sure, it was kind of cute to begin with. I mean, what was little Herman Schultz thinking? The "Shocker"? Pretty pathetic, right? But that was just the start of it. Super-villains started coming out of the woodwork after that. Marko got himself powers, uh, somehow, and now he's the Sandman. O'Hirn went and grafted himself into this big mechanical battle-suit-type-thingy (again, somehow… I mean, who is paying for all of this to happen?) and goes by "Rhino" these days. Vulture, Doc Ock, Mysterio, Electro, Kraven, Black Cat… okay, well maybe Black Cat doesn't really count as a super-villain, I mean we even team up sometimes, and just because she can lay one kiss on me and I forget that she's trying to make off with whatever loot she's… ahem… where was I? Right. Super-villains.

One by one, they've shown up on the New York crime scene, as if out of nowhere. And one-by-one, I put 'em all away. Even when they all broke out together and teamed up as the "Sinister Six" (ooh, scary name), they couldn't stand up to yours truly and my web-slinging kung-fu action!

No, the only two villains that ever really terrified me were Venom and the Green Goblin. Venom because he knew who I was under the mask, knew who my loved ones were; and the Goblin because nobody could figure out who he was under his mask. At least, not for a long, long time.

Who would have ever imagined that the Green Goblin was Norman Osborn? I mean, okay, sure, he always gave me the heebie-jeebies whenever we were in the same room together, but still… he was Harry's dad. We fought, and he just sort of… what I mean is, I'm pretty sure he was trying to kill me. I'm pretty sure I wasn't trying to kill him. But Osborn… he got blasted to bits by one of his own pumpkin grenades, and now… ah, jeez. Harry, I'm so sorry, and I can't even tell you the truth about what happened.

Harry, you have every right to blame Spider-Man. To blame me.

Crap, that turned dark pretty quick. What was I going to…? Oh, right, right. So anyway, that's all kind of… old news since the summer. While school was out… you're just never going to believe it… I mean, I was in the thick of everything and sometimes I don't.

While school was on summer break, aliens invaded New York.

I mean, how cool is that, right? This funky portal thing opens up over Stark Tower, and all of the sudden these Chitauri, uh, things start pouring out of the sky. Waves and waves of them. I tried to help out where I could, to keep people safe. The Fantastic Four were around somewhere, doing the same thing. But everybody's talking about the new heroes in New York. Well, most of them are new; I mean, Captain America is what you'd politely call a "classic" super-hero. But the rest of them: Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, those other two without the powers… I think they're SHIELD agents maybe? Anyway, it was the team-up of the century. They really knocked it out of the park, especially Iron Man for closing that portal thingy down.

Tony Stark is so cool. He's like… my hero. Imagine that, Spider-Man's hero.

Ever since the Avengers came together, crime in New York has been way, way down. Yeah, okay, so they're pretty much the big leagues and only really interested in saving the world. Let's face it, you'd never see Thor show up and stop a mugger, right? But now the regular crooks are scared witless, which makes my job that much easier. There just haven't been all that many attempted robberies lately.

On the downside, it means fewer Spidey photos for me to sell to Jameson at the Bugle. But on the plus side, I might just make it to a date on time.

You know, hypothetically. If I had a girlfriend. Which I do not. Because I'm a chicken. A super-powered chicken with the proportional strength of a spider. But I can't ever let on about that. I have to keep letting nitwits like Flash and Kong pick on me, even though I could clean their respective clocks in two milliseconds flat. Speaking of which…

• • •

Peter's spider-sense was tingling. Since he was, at present, leaning into his unkempt mess of a locker and looking for his chemistry book, that could only mean one thing. Not super-villains. Not danger. Just a couple of plain old-fashioned jerks.

The kick connected solidly with his backside. It wasn't swift, but it was powerful. Thus, before the bully behind him even uttered the cry, "Gooooaaaallll!", Peter knew who it was: Kenny "King Kong" McFarlane, pliable sidekick to the big man on Midtown High's campus, Eugene "Flash" Thompson. Inwardly, Peter sighed. A kick from Kenny couldn't really hurt him, not anymore. But he had to play the victim. So, spinning to the floor as awkwardly as he could manage, Peter screamed in "surprise", grabbed his butt, and made pitiful noises of pain. "Ow, jeez, why did you do that?" he griped. Looking up, he saw Flash and Kong standing over him, on the verge of hysterics.

"Duh," said Kong. "You were right there. Made it way too tempting."

"Welcome back to Midtown," jeered Flash, "Puny Parker."

The pair of jocks sauntered off, laughing loudly together the whole way down the hall. Peter, largely ignored by the other students in the hallway, collected his books and stood up, glaring after them. Tah-dah… acting! Nobody who sees that on a regular basis would ever suspect that "Puny" Parker has powers. It could almost make a guy with a secret identity to hide thankful for all the bullying. …On second thought, nah.

"Hey Peter… look who's back!"

Peter spun around and saw his two best friends coming towards him. The one who had spoken was no surprise: after all, they were next-door neighbors. They'd spent plenty of time together over the summer, hanging out (much to Peter's chagrin) as "just friends". Mary Jane Watson. Gorgeous redhead, aspiring actress, good student and yet somehow still in with the cheerleaders and the rest of the popular clique… funny how none of that popularity had ever managed to rub off onto Peter. But then again, MJ caught plenty of flak from the likes of Liz Allan and Sally Avril for even deigning to speak with Peter. In spite of that, she remained friends with… well, just about everybody, now that Peter thought about it; it was just one more thing that he admired in her.

It was MJ's companion who was the sight for sore eyes. "Harry," said Peter with a mile-wide grin. "You never write, you never call…"

Harry Osborn shrugged sheepishly and said, "Yeah, yeah, I know. I just sort of disappeared on you guys all summer. But after my dad… I mean… with the whole… uh, the…"

Peter recognized that Harry was leaving the words unsaid. The world now knew that the late Norman Osborn had been a super-villain. The Green Goblin. Peter didn't think he could bring himself to say it out loud. "After the funeral," he supplied.

"Yeah," mumbled Harry. "After that… my dad's personal assistant—you remember Donald Menken? Sure you do—he's in charge of my trust fund until I turn eighteen. Which means he's also running Oscorp, at least for now. But anyway, Menken said that it might be best if I stayed out of sight for a little while, you know, until everything died down in the press."

"So where did you go?" asked Peter. He glanced over at MJ. The way she was grinning, Harry must have already told her. So it was something good, then. That made Peter feel a little better, for Harry's sake.

"Uh, I kind of toured around Europe for a while. You know, the major sights: London, Paris, Rome. If the board of directors at Oscorp hadn't been in such a hurry to get rid of me, I would've invited both of you to come along, but there just wasn't time…"

"So did you have a good time?" prompted MJ.

Her grin was infectious; Harry returned it. "You know it! Went to some wild parties, met a few girls… nothing serious, of course." He trained his eyes on Mary Jane and added, little more seriously, "MJ, you would've loved Pairs—"

Peter coughed. "Ahem. Uh, so… bell's about to ring. Did you guys get the same chem period as me?"

"I think we did," said MJ. "Let's head on over." Then, of a sudden, she embraced Harry and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Good to have you back, Harry."

"Yeah," said Peter, slapping his friend lightly on the back. "I've got a feeling this is going to be a great year."

Harry looked from MJ on his right to Pete on his left and threw his arms around both of them. "God, I missed you guys!"

The trio of friends, nigh-inseparable since grade-school and now together again, made their way down the hall to the chemistry lab.

• • •

During the lunch recess at Midtown High, it was typical for students to hang out on the blacktopped yard outside, behind the school building. There were picnic tables near the door (usually dominated by the jocks and the cheerleaders), a few basketball hoops that lined the chain-link fence surrounding most of the yard, and the old bleachers and scoreboard just beyond that. This was where Pete, Harry, and MJ were inclined to hang out and eat lunch most days.

Back when they were freshmen, they'd had a fourth member in their little party: Eddie Brock, Jr. The big brother that none of them had ever really had. For that one blessed, happy year, Peter and Harry had enjoyed the protection of a senior, which kept the bullying to a minimum. When Eddie was around, Flash and Kong were powerless to torment their favorite victims. But then Eddie had graduated and gone off to ESU, and that was that. To Peter, it seemed like a lifetime ago. And that had been before the whole "Venom" thing happened… now Eddie was locked away in some mental institution somewhere, his mind torn asunder by the forcible separation from his symbiotic suit. Yet another destroyed loved-one for Pete to feel guilty about.

"Yo," said Harry. "Earth to Pete."

Peter looked up from his tray of cafeteria macaroni. "Uh… what?"

"Harry said that he wants to ask you a question," said MJ.

"Uh… okay, shoot."

"I wanted to ask," said Harry, letting his voice trail a bit, "…do you still take pictures for the Bugle? Pictures of… You-Know-Who?"

Peter blinked. "…Voldemort?"

"Spider-Man," whispered Harry.

Peter paused for a long while. There was a subtle anger in Harry's voice. So it was true then: he still blamed Spider-Man for his father's death. Finally, Peter said, "Yeah. Sometimes. He doesn't show up as much as he used to, though."

"Why do you suppose that is?" asked MJ thoughtfully.

"Well, you know, all the other super-heroes running around these days," said Peter. "Spidey probably just isn't needed as much as he used to be."

"Heroes," Harry scoffed. "A hero wouldn't have killed my dad. A hero would have found a way to help him."

Peter swallowed. He was about to say something that he didn't entirely believe, but that (he felt) Harry needed to hear. "Listen… Harry. Those of us who knew your dad… Mr. Osborn wasn't in his right mind. He was drugging himself with that stuff, so he can't really be held responsible—"

"I know," said Harry, cutting Peter off. "Oscorp Industries' Performance Enhancer, formula double-oh-zee. My dad used to brag about it. Said it would be his 'greatest invention'. But if he invented it, how can he not be responsible for it?"

"Maybe we should talk about something else—" said MJ.

"Maybe I don't want to talk about something else," snapped Harry. "I know it's out of the news now. Now everything is aliens and Norse gods and Captain America."

"Don't forget Iron Man," said Peter.

Harry and MJ both glared. Peter snapped his mouth shut.

"I just… I don't know what to believe," said Harry, his voice small and quiet now. "My dad was a crackpot. He killed people. But then Spider-Man, everybody's hero, turned around and did the same thing to him. Peter… how do you find him?"

"I… uh… I don't," said Peter. "Not really. I just follow trouble, try to take some pictures of it, and he shows up. Sometimes."

"So you don't have any idea who he is?" asked Harry.

At that, Peter laughed. It was forced, but it was the only appropriate reaction. "If I knew who Spider-Man was, would I still be freelancing for the Bugle and interning at Doc Connors' lab? Come on, Harry. If I got a scoop like that, J.J. would set me up for life!"

MJ, perceptive as always, leaned in close to Harry and asked, "What's this really about?"

"It's just that… I wasn't there. I don't really know what happened. I want to know the truth about—"

"Oof!" Harry was cut off when Peter grunted. A football had come flying from the crowd on the blacktop, right at Peter. His reflexes had allowed him to move his lunch tray out of the way, but that just let the football strike him right in the stomach.

"Pete!" shouted MJ. "Are you okay?"

Peter pretended to catch his breath. "Yeah… yeah… only thing hurt is my pride."

Seconds later, sure enough, Flash Thompson came running over to the bleachers to collect the ball. "What's the matter, Parker? Didn't hear me shout 'go long'?"

Kenny, a few other football players, and a handful of cheerleaders were soon there behind Thompson, laughing it up.

Mary Jane rolled her eyes. "Flash, when are you ever going to grow up?"

Flash grinned, put one leg up on the bleachers and said, "Maybe you can make a man out of me, beautiful."

"Aw, you're saving yourself for 'the one'," quipped Peter, "how sweet."

"Nobody asked you," said Flash, laying a hand on Pete's shoulder and shoving him down.

"Leave him alone, Thompson," said Harry, standing up, fire in his eyes.

"Uh-oh," laughed Kong over Flash's shoulder, "Little Goblin Junior's gonna get you."

The jock and cheerleader crowd broke out into raucous laughter at Kenny's joke; then, as a group, they broke away from the bleachers and went off to torment someone else. Harry Osborn remained standing, fists clenched, fuming. Before the crowd was entirely gone, though, Liz Allan paused, turned, and went up to Mary Jane. "Sorry about that. Sometimes I wonder why I hang out with them."

"Yeah, I wonder that too," said MJ. "Why do you?"

Liz shrugged. "It's just what we're… supposed to do, I guess. Say, will I see you at the mall after school? That is, if Brainy Jane isn't too busy studying tonight?"

"God," said MJ, rolling her eyes again, "I haven't been called that since middle school! Liz, it's the first day, there's nothing to study yet."

"All right, then I guess I'll see you there. Petey, Harry, are you gonna…? …Uh-oh."

All eyes turned in the direction that Liz was staring. Leaning up against the chain-link fence, cycling through songs on an .mp3 player, was a girl about their age that none of them had seen in school before. She had long, blonde hair held back by a black headband, icy blue eyes, and wore a cut-off tank-top with some death-metal band's logo sprayed onto it. In that moment, she looked up and saw the small group on the bleachers looking back on her. She grinned, placed the music player in the pocket of her torn and tattered bluejeans, and started walking over.

"Uh, Liz?" asked Peter. "What makes you say 'uh-oh'?"

"The new girl," answered Liz. "I don't know her name, but I heard she's some kind of psycho-chick. Got kicked out of her old school for trying to burn it down."

"Oh, come on," said Harry. "That's an old urban legend. We hear it every year."

"Yeah, well I ain't taking no chances," said Liz. Without another word, she scurried off after the rest of her clique.

The new girl approached the bleachers, sat down near Peter, and removed her ear-buds. "I take it that was the 'popular' crowd that just wandered by to give you some grief?"

"You could say that," said Pete. "It's not that we're exactly unpopular, it's just that… ah, who am I kidding? Yes it absolutely is."

"Good," said the new girl. "Then you're so my kind of people. And for record," she added, looking poignantly at Harry, "I wasn't trying to burn down my old school. It just sort of happened. Kind of by accident. And anyway, it wasn't the whole school, just one room. More of a closet really."

Harry swallowed and cleared his throat. "Uh… okay. Have we, uh… I mean, I'm Harry Osborn. This is Peter Parker, and Mary Jane Watson. Nice to meet you…?"

"The name's Gwen," she replied, exuding confidence. "Gwen Stacy—and I'm your new best friend."