Gwen's question cut through the chaos—sharp, desperate, and loud.
Amid the explosions and screams, Joren heard it clearly.
He didn't turn.
His eyes stayed fixed on the battle raging in the distance.
His voice came flat, stripped of warmth or hesitation.
"That was his own choice."
"He chose to be Spider-Man. He chose to stand up. So he has to face the consequences."
Gwen swayed on her feet, as if the words had struck her physically.
She stared at Joren's profile—jaw set, eyes cold, unmoving—and disbelief twisted in her chest.
She'd expected comfort. An explanation. Anything but this.
But he offered only the coldest truth.
"But… but he'll die!" Her voice cracked, trembling more violently than before.
Tears welled in her eyes, blurring the red-and-blue figure darting through the smoke-choked sky.
Crying won't solve the problem.
Joren didn't look at her. His gaze never left the sky.
Yare, yare…
A woman's tears are a troublesome thing—only slightly better than a talkative mouth.
Above them, the battle was unraveling.
Spider-Man had his spider-sense—that sixth sense that screamed danger before it struck. It let him dodge the Green Goblin's attacks, twist midair, and land on sheer instinct.
But instinct wasn't enough.
His experience was raw. His gear was homemade.
And the Green Goblin? He was a madman playing a murder mystery game where the stakes were real and the rules didn't exist.
Every move was unpredictable. Every laugh, venomous. Every strike, lethal.
"Faster, little bug! Faster!"
The Green Goblin yanked his glider upward with a manic cackle, then reached into the pouch at his waist. He pulled out a strange, serrated blade shaped like a bat's wing. With a flick of his wrist, three luminous streaks shot through the air—homing, hungry, aimed straight at Spider-Man.
Peter's spider-sense shrieked like an alarm in his skull.
He fired a web-line instantly, swinging his body into a desperate arc.
Two blades whizzed past—missed.
But the third was cunning.
It banked mid-flight, veering off course like it had a mind of its own—then slammed into the glass wall of a nearby skyscraper like a missile.
BOOM—!
The explosion tore through the facade.
The entire wall collapsed in a glittering cascade—glass, steel, concrete—plummeting like a waterfall of death onto the panicked crowd below.
"NO!"
Spider-Man's cry was raw, ripped from his lungs.
He abandoned the chase.
Both hands lashed out with webs, weaving a desperate net over the fleeing civilians.
But it was too late.
The debris field was too wide. The fall too fast. His silk could only shield a fraction of them.
High above, the Green Goblin hovered, arms spread like a deranged angel.
He watched Spider-Man scramble below—useless, frantic, broken—and grinned.
"Hahahaha! Look at you! You stupid, pathetic hero!"
He savored the moment, relishing every second of Peter's helplessness.
"So tell me, bug—" His voice dripped with cruel amusement. "Do you save those little ants down there… or do you come after me?"
He leaned forward on his glider, eyes gleaming with triumph.
"This is your fate. You can never save everyone!"
Peter's mind went blank.
He watched, frozen, as a concrete slab the size of a small car plummeted from the sky.
It whistled through the air, spinning end over end, before crashing into the center of the square—
the very spot where Gwen and Joren stood.
Time slowed.
Gwen looked up.
The shadow of death loomed larger and larger in her wide, beautiful blue eyes.
She couldn't scream. Couldn't move.
The world fell silent.
All she could hear was the rush of wind slicing past the slab—like the scythe of death itself.
I'm going to die…
Just then—
The boy who'd stood as still as a statue finally moved.
Joren didn't even look up.
He merely lifted a hand and nudged his hat upward an inch.
"Oh dear… really," he sighed softly—his voice swallowed by the thunderous collapse.
"You really know how to cause trouble for others."
In the next instant—
A hazy, semi-transparent purple figure flickered into existence behind him.
It resembled a god: muscles chiseled like those of an ancient Greek statue, radiating silent, overwhelming power.
When it appeared, even the air seemed to hold its breath.
It simply was.
Then—it swung its fist.
"ORA—!!!"
A muffled, gutteral roar tore through the air—
not loud, but soul-shaking.
There was no flash.
No explosion.
No dramatic light show.
The massive concrete slab—big enough to crush a dozen people—vanished less than three meters above Gwen's head.
In an instant, it disintegrated into a skyful of powder, finer than dust.
The particles hung suspended, shimmering in the setting sun like ash from a forgotten dream.
Around them, chaos raged—screams, sirens, distant explosions—but in Gwen's world, there was only the drifting gray haze…
and the boy beside her, lowering his hand and tugging his hat back into place.
He hadn't moved an inch. Not once.
Gwen's mouth hung open, her mind utterly blank.
What just happened?
She rubbed her eyes, convinced she'd imagined it.
Did something… flash by? Was that real?
She turned to Joren—but he stood calm, as if he'd merely brushed a moth from his shoulder.
High above, two airborne figures paused mid-combat.
"JARVIS! Analyze the energy fluctuations from that event!"
"Where did that slab go?!"
"Sir… we detected nothing. No energy signature. The slab… it was annihilated out of thin air."
Green Goblin had been savoring the moment—waiting to watch Spider-Man break as Gwen died beneath rubble.
But the smile beneath his mask froze solid.
"What… the hell?"
Meanwhile, Spider-Man—swinging through the air—let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
Relief flooded him.
Gwen's okay!
He knew it was Joren. And that meant she was safe.
"Hey! Green monster!" Peter called out, voice bright with renewed energy.
"Your toy's busted!"
Fear gone, he launched a web-line and darted between buildings, swiftly rescuing civilians caught in the aftermath.
"Bastard! Bastard!" Green Goblin howled, rage twisting his voice.
He couldn't understand it—but he knew his cruelest weapon, his psychological strike, had been shattered in a way he couldn't comprehend.
Snarling, he pivoted his glider and charged Tony Stark again.
"Your opponent is me!"
BOOM!
Red-gold and emerald-green collided midair, sparks erupting like fireworks.
But Green Goblin had already lost control. Confused, off-balance, he was forced into retreat as Tony unleashed a relentless barrage.
His glider sparked under the barrage of repulsor fire.
"Stark! You wait—we'll meet again!"
With a final, defiant laugh, Green Goblin dropped smoke bombs and vanished into the city's smog-choked skyline, dragging his damaged glider behind him like a wounded beast.
The battle was over.
Once he confirmed every civilian was safe, Spider-Man alighted on a rooftop and gazed down at the square below—expression unreadable.
Down in the plaza, the wail of approaching sirens grew louder.
The panicked crowd slowly settled.
Joren turned and glanced at Gwen Stacy—still standing in stunned silence—
then began walking toward the red Ferrari parked by the curb.
"Wait—wait a minute!"
Gwen finally found her voice.
She hurried forward and stepped into his path.
Tears still clung to her cheeks, but her eyes no longer held accusation.
Only confusion… fear… and something deeper—something like awe.
"Just now… you did that, didn't you?"
She searched his calm eyes, desperate for an answer.
"Then… what are you?"
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