Into the Dawn!

Then

Young Edward Whelan stands before the family video camera. After waving at the camera, he is joined by his mother who kneels down and kisses him on the forehead. They are joined by Whelan's father who jokingly appears on one side of the video fame then, walking around behind the camera, appears on the other side of the frame. The video concludes with the trio laughing and waving at the camera.

Now

A storm has begun to rage over the Whelan mansion, everyone watches in shock as the Green Goblin had arrived to interfere with the battle between Spider-Man and the Vermin in order to kill the wall-crawler himself. The Goblin throws a pumpkin bomb at the two combatants, sending Vermin landing on the lawn below. There he is surrounded by the authorities. Having had enough of being constantly hunted and hurt, Vermin has decided to end his life via suicide by cop. Seeing the creature about to charge at the police, Spider-Man begs him to stop. When the Green Goblin tells Spider-Man to be more concerned with their battle. Spider-Man strikes the Goblin and leaps down off the roof. He manages to get a web-shield up to deflect the bullets fired at Vermin by the authorities. The wall-crawler then webs up the Vermin so he can't harm himself or those around. He calls for Doctor Ashley Kafka to help, as he doesn't know who he is anymore. That's when his mother approaches and assures Vermin that he is her son Edward. Still fearing his safety, Vermin's mother assures him that his father can't hurt him again.

As the authorities are taking Vermin into custody, the Green Goblin swoops in to resume his attack on Spider-Man. As the Goblin buzzes past on his glider, the wall-crawler leaps up and grabs ahold of it. Once they are out of earshot, the Goblin begins to mock the tragedies in the hero's mind. Sick of talking referring to each other by their costumed identities, Spider-Man rips off both their masks, reminding Harry that he wanted this battle to be between two men. However, by this time, Harry Osborn has renounced his civilian identity and completely embraced the Green Goblin. He blasts Peter in the face and sends him crashing to the ground. Harry has convinced himself that he has known that Peter has been evil ever since they first met in college.[1] When Peter tries to remind him that they are friends, Harry accuses him for killing both Gwen Stacy and his father Norman.[2] Dodging a barrage of pumpkin bombs, Peter tries to talk sense into Harry but he is unwilling to listen.

When Peter asks Harry what he wants, his friend tells him that he wants to die. After barely avoiding another pumpkin bomb blast, Peter decides to give Harry what he wants and stand still. Harry begins to hallucinate the ghost of his father, who tells Harry to be careful as Parker might be playing a trick on him. Peter assures Harry that this is no trick and stands his ground. Harry charges at him on his goblin glider, however, he pulls away at the last moment unable to bring himself to murder his friend. The sudden movement causes Harry to crash, and when he hits the mud, the specter of his father fades away. Peter knew that Harry could get control again and rushes to his aid. However, Harry tells Peter to get away from him. He tells Parker that he hates him for everything that has happened in his life, and is furious that he cannot bring himself to kill Parker. After a moment of silence, Harry tells Peter that he needs to get away from everything. Putting his Goblin mask back on, he will always hate Peter and that one day the Goblin will return, and until then, Peter will have to worry about when that day might be. As the Green Goblin flies away, Peter can only stand there in stunned silence. He likens this to the time he letting a burglar getaway, a burglar that later went on to muder his Uncle Ben.[3] Peter believes that Harry will never commit murder, and hopes that in letting him go, he hasn't made a horrible mistake.

At that moment, Edward Whelan's father watches an old family film of them playing in the pool together.[4] Seeing their happiness together, the elder Whelan breaks down in tears over what he has done to his son. Soon after, the Green Goblin stops at his apartment to see his son one last time before flying off into the night. Just before dawn, Spider-Man pays a visit to his parents grave site. He tells them all of what happened and everything he has been through. Now that he no longer blames himself for their deaths, he can move on with his life and grieve their passing and swings off.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Ashley Kafka, Green Goblin, Vermin, Normie Osborn

Continuity Notes

1. Harry first met Peter Parker when they were both attending Empire State University in Amazing Spider-Man #31. At the time, Peter was so preoccupied with his problems he unintentionally snubbed Harry and his friends, causing a rocky start to what ultimately became a long-lasting friendship.

2. This is a distorted view, Norman Osborn was actually responsible for the death of Gwen Stacy, and seemingly died himself battling Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #121-122. However, unknown to everyone at this time, Norman had survived as revealed in Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal #1. He will resurface again in Amazing Spider-Man #412.

3. Peter's Uncle Ben was murdered in Amazing Fantasy #15.

4. Whelan is depicted as watching this home movie on an old film projector. This technology displayed here should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.