Chapter 123: Goodbye, my dearest friend.

Suddenly, Eren Parker and Harry Osborn found themselves inside one of Eren's memories in the same way that Cindy and Eren did all those years prior. The two were sitting inside a diner together after having won the grand prize for their school drone project. Since Cindy helped them, they invited her and she'd be arriving soon. However, at that point, it was just the two of them. Time was moving normally inside the memory, but in the outside world, not even a second would pass.

"You see how impressed Lily was? She for sure wants me, bro." Harry said confidently, having that cheeky smile he almost always had on his face.

"Yeah? Lily Hollister?" Eren laughed. "She is pretty cute, you should go for it."

"I just might, I do love blondes." Harry responded with his hand on his chin. However, him saying this was only meant to be a smooth transition to the next topic.

"Enough about me, what about you?" Harry spoke to Eren with a smirk as he leaned in toward him. "Any girls you're into?" He knew the answer, but he wanted to hear Eren say it himself.

"Yeah. There's one. I don't know if she's into me or not." Eren rubbed the back of his head while confessing, he still wasn't comfortable being open about that aspect of his life. However, Harry would pry the information out of him, even if it was the last thing he did.

"Does her name start with a 'C' and end in 'indy'?" Harry teased with a semi-serious expression. He wanted to know more than anything else.

"No…" Eren lied, but he could tell Harry wasn't buying it by the expression on his face.

"C'mon bro, we're buds, I won't tell her, I swear." Harry told him with sincerity as he put his hand over his chest, crossing his heart.

"Okay, fine. I do like Cindy." Before Eren could continue, he was interrupted by Harry celebrating.

"I knew it!" Harry proclaimed as he slammed the table, causing a few of the patrons to glare at them with confused looks.

"Tch. High Schoolers." one of the patrons whispered to their partner as the two boys continued their discussion.

"I've liked her since I first moved here when I was around nine or ten years old, so about eight years ago. We've been friends I guess, but we haven't really been close until recently. I always get awkward around her and mess things up. Bro… I even had her in my room once but I fumbled." Eren buried his face in his hands in frustration. Harry held back his laughter before getting serious.

"Bro, you didn't fumble, not completely. Have you not noticed how she looks at you? Especially when you start being a nerd and getting all hyper-focused. She does this thing where she bites her pen and stares up at you with puppy eyes. I gotta say, I'm jealous." Harry told him as he bit down on a straw, mimicking Cindy's innocent stare.

The two boys laughed before their expressions turned serious. They both became aware that they were experiencing a memory together. Cindy told Harry about it once, so he was able o quickly figure out what it was.

"I told you didn't fumble." Harry said with glassy eyes and a solemn grin on his face. "I guess we both got the girls in the end, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess we both did." Eren said quietly.

Harry looked around the diner, amazed at how detailed the memory was. It was as if they were truly transported back to that moment in time. "So why here? Cindy told me about how you brought her back to the moment you fell for her. Is this the moment you fell for me?" Harry was speaking jokingly despite the sad expression on his face. Humor always had been his coping mechanism.

"Close." Eren said with a bitter smile of his own. "This was the day I realized that you were my dearest friend."

Harry laughed at Eren's words, finding it so funny to see him say something so corny to him. However, he felt the same way. "Yeah, I think it was around the same time that I came to the same realization. You were my first real friend. None of that fake bullshit that most of the other kids gave me. That's why I liked being around you so much, you were so honest with yourself... I wanted to be like you, Eren."

"Like me? Why?" Eren asked. He didn't quite understand where Harry was coming from. Back when they first met, Harry was rich, a ladies' man, smart, and overall had everything going for him. However, he still wasn't happy.

"The way my dad talked about you like you were some kind of genius made me sort of jealous. I never heard him talk about me like that, I only ever heard him call me things like 'slacker' or 'lazy'. I thought maybe if we became friends, some of that genius would rub off on me, you know? And, well, it did. You and Cindy always studied in the library so I came along too. Studying wasn't really my thing, but it really did make my grades and stuff go up. I guess it was true that I wasn't really applying myself. I thought that was just something stupid kids told themselves to feel better.

It wasn't just that, though. You were always so true to yourself. I always tried to be someone I wasn't. We didn't really know each other before, but I was sort of a dick. I flaunted my money around, I took girls I had zero interest in romantically on dates just because that's what 'cool guys' do. I realized that pretending to be someone you aren't will never make you happy. So I changed.

And of course, I wanted to be a hero, like you. That's why I became the New Goblin. That's why I started using my money for good. It was all because of you, Eren. You changed the entire trajectory of my life. You did."

Harry saying this caused Eren to shake his head. "But it's because of me, you're going to die here. I shouldn't have left you alone at Oscorp. I thought keeping watch from a distance while giving myself my own space to think would've been enough to protect you, but I was wrong. If I stayed, all I would've had to do was look out the window and I'd have been there for you."

"Dude, you couldn't have guessed that Venom would've brought Electro back from being a burnt crisp and used him to jam the power. If that didn't happen, we'd have called you and we know you would've come running. Besides, if I were alive inside Venom right now, he'd be able to time travel and bust out the sinister seventy-five or something. And you have a plan by now, don't you?"

"I do..." Eren couldn't even look at Harry as he mumbled his words. He had a plan, but no way of being able to do it. He needed a battery, a Godspeed battery, and they didn't sell those at Autozone.

"Then it wasn't for nothing. I know what it's like to have so many things going on to the point where you need isolation in order to think straight. I was locked up in my office the whole time... Cindy was the only one actually being a hero and trying to save people.

Really, my death was my own fault. I mean, seriously, what was I doing fighting Venom all alone? If I would've waited, you would've been there and I'd be out there fighting with you. I just wanted to be a hero. That's why I fought him on my own.

So I guess I never did learn. I wanted to be something I wasn't and it cost me my life."

"No, Harry. You were being true to yourself. Winning or losing isn't what makes someone a hero, I'd know. I've lost hundreds of times in different timelines. Those Eren Parkers who fell are still heroes in my eyes.

Being a hero isn't about beating the bad guy, Harry. It's about protecting people. That's what you did, right? You were just thinking about protecting Lily, your sister, our friends, and everyone inside that building."

Harry nodded his head and looked back up at Eren with a smile on his face. "You're right. And you know what? I'm glad I went out like this. Thank you, Eren.

Thank you for changing me for the better. I'd rather die as a twenty-year-old who contributed to saving the lives of billions than a no-good billionaire like my father. I wish I could've done more like finishing reforming the police and building more schools for underprivileged kids, but I'm sure Liz can do that for me. I already made it to where if I die, Oscorp is hers. I even left her little notes on things I wanted to get done. Bernard can help her too. I trust she'll do the right thing."

"I'm sure she will, Harry." Eren told him.

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"Make sure to look out for her and Cindy now that I'm gone, alright?" Harry was still smiling as if these weren't his last moments of consciousness.

"Yeah, I'll make sure they're safe." Eren told him as tears were streaming down his face. He knew Harry would hate it if he saw him breaking down and crying, so he stayed strong.

Harry glanced over Eren's shoulder and noticed Cindy walking into the diner.

"Oh, look there's your girlfriend right there." Harry waved Cindy over as she walked into the building. Eren turned around, and sure enough, Cindy Moon was approaching him with a smile on her face. She sat down right next to him, as she always did.

As she sat down, Eren looked over at the other side of the booth and noticed that Harry was gone.

Eren then found himself back in the real world. Quickly, he backed up before the symbiote could attach itself to him as a new host. The mess of two Venoms started to wriggle around inside of each other, still fighting each other despite there not being any host for them to fight over anymore.

Lily was heartbroken, seeing the love of her life dead at his own best friend's hand. Liz had tears pouring from her eyes as she watched her only family she had left die such a horrific death. Neither of them knew that his death was actually peaceful, due to Eren's powers. Felicia barely even knew him, but even she was teary to see him go like that.

Cindy was devastated as well, but she was able to spot Harry's smile on his face and was able to figure out what happened. Besides, it wasn't the time to mourn and cry just yet, there was much that needed to be done.

"Everyone, go to the top of Oscorp." the White Spider instructed before grabbing Cindy's hand and zipping to the top of the building.

Once at the top, he waited for everyone to arrive at their own speed. The ones still capable of using Ultimate Godspeed arrived quickly, the only two being left behind were the Phantom Spider and the Black Spider who was then wearing a red and blue costume at that point. Since he couldn't use Godspeed at all anymore, the Phantom Spider pulled him over using quick steps like in the days of old for all of the Spider-Men.

Once everyone was on top, Spider-Man removed his mask and looked at Cindy with tears in his eyes and a soft smile on his face. "It's gonna finally be over." he told her, still holding onto her tightly.

"Alright, guys. Give me all of your energy." he instructed his other selves before putting both hands on the machine that was putting out the barrier that surrounded New York City. All of the spiders put their hands on his back and began pouring Godspeed energy into him like five batteries.

"AAAGH-" immediately, he could feel his body being overwhelmed by Godspeed energy which he funneled and poured into the machine in front of him. After a few seconds, there was a bright flash and the barrier around New York imploded in on itself.

From the outside in, every single symbiote began to disintegrate and remove itself from its victim while Godspeed's warmth brought comfort to those who finally regained their humanity.

Things weren't all sunshine and rainbows as a lot of the people who were being paraded around by symbiotes were so drained of all of their nutrients, they might as well be a corpse without the symbiote. It was grim, but it was better than endless suffering.

Eventually, the implosion hit the seven spiders, removing any and all traces of symbiotes, synthetic or not. Once the implosion was finished, Eren started to fall to his knees, however, his other selves caught him and held him up.

"You did it, man." the Phantom Spider told him.

"Yeah, we did. Thank you. All of you." Eren spoke breathlessly.

Cindy then rushed over and grabbed Eren by the face, pulling him in close to lock lips with him. The other spiders smiled beneath their masks, though the Phantom Spider was still shocked. "Holy shit it is Cindy. We're dating Cindy? When?" he looked over at the other spiders and got nothing but a shrug from a few of them.

"No spoilers." the Eren of that timeline told him.

"I don't wanna be that guy, but how are we all going to get home?" the Spider-Man who used to wear the black symbiote asked.

"Oh, yeah. Let's do that first." the Eren of this timeline said with a smile on his face.

For the first time after hundreds of attempts, Eren Parker had won.

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After a month, things in New York City were back to as normal as things could get. There were no more symbiotes, not even a trace of any. The streets were somewhat filled with people, however, the concrete jungle was nowhere near as booming with civilians as it once was.

The population was cut down to about thirty percent of what it used to be due to many people have died from being eaten or being unable to survive without the symbiote that once bonded with them. This number also accounted for the people who chose to take their lives after returning to being human.

Many who survived also moved out of the city, wanting to leave the place where so much trauma was built up by many. Those who chose to stay chose to do so because of their love for their hometown.

Of course, Harry had his own funeral, giving his friends a chance to mourn his death. His corpse still had a smile on his face by the time the funeral came. For closure, Eren explained to Lily what happened and it helped her be able to continue pushing forward.

The Seven Spiders found themselves on top of Oscorp once again, the ones from different timelines wearing backpacks with Godspeed batteries, something all seven of the spiders invented together.

Cindy stood next to her Eren and smiled at the others as they stood in a line with their backpacks on. They all had blueprints on how to recreate the implosion that wiped out all of the symbiotes to use for their own timelines.

"Thank you all again for helping me. I really appreciate it." Eren told them.

"No problem." they all said simultaneously.

One by one, the Spider-Men transformed into their Ultimate Godspeed forms, even the Phantom Spider due to the battery powering him up, and took off, leaving Cindy and Eren by themselves.

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