It turned out that in a crisis, you could always trust the Levitation Charm. Gwen drifted down like a feather and landed without a scratch.
Having just escaped death, Gwen immediately screamed, "Bombs! Get clear!" She really was that calm—even with a bunch of pumpkin bombs strapped to her, her first thought was to tell Peter and the others to run.
"Skyl!" Peter cast Summon Skyl.
"With me here, what are you panicking for?" Skyl said calmly, using the magic he knew best: Transfiguration.
The Green Goblin's smug cackle echoed through the clock tower. "Goodbye, Peter!" He pressed the detonator.
Bang!
Gwen squeezed her eyes shut.
The pumpkin bombs abruptly turned into armfuls of flowers. Amid the booming blasts, her clothes whipped wildly in a storm of petals and rushing air.
Bright roses and carnations came drifting down in a riot of color.
Harry Osborn rode his glider down to inspect the results.
"Peter, how do you like the surprise I prepared for you? How are you feeling now?"
And then he saw the young couple kissing in the middle of the flower-strewn floor.
The Green Goblin's face turned even greener.
Skyl called out to him, "Hey, Harry, you can't stand these two disgusting lovebirds either, right? Why don't we step outside for a bit?"
Harry Osborn fell silent for a moment, then jumped off the glider and stood shoulder to shoulder with Skyl, watching the two of them keep making out over there.
The Green Goblin was baffled. "How long are they planning to keep this up?"
"Last time I stood next to them for a full two minutes. It was like I didn't even exist."
The Green Goblin seemed thoughtful for a second, then suddenly pulled out a dagger and prepared to stab Skyl beside him.
But before he could make his move, he realized a pistol was pressed against the back of his head.
Skyl had already been ready for that. "Don't move. I won't show mercy."
Harry Osborn's expression darkened. "Who exactly are you? Why are you helping Peter?"
"I'm a wizard," Skyl said with a smile. "I came to set an old regret right."
"Liar! You're just like Spider-Man—you're both liars!"
Skyl suddenly raised a hand and ripped the Goblin's soul out in one motion.
Under the influence of the spider venom, Harry Osborn had developed the Green Goblin personality, and even his soul had taken on a twisted shape. At its core, his consciousness had almost split into two.
"Skyl, can Harry still be saved?" Peter came over, his lips swollen up like two sausages.
"You want to save him?" Skyl understood Peter's habit of repaying malice with kindness very well. He was like Batman in that way, following a no-kill rule for villains. Spare the snake and you may suffer for it later. There was logic to that, of course, because superheroes were not public authority and could not decide who deserved death.
But Skyl had always believed that retributive justice should still exist. An eye for an eye, blood for blood. A simple truth. For super-criminals, even if they hid behind mental illness as a shield, the least that should be done was to remove their ability to keep harming others, not simply lock them away.
"The Harry I knew was a good person."
"I can extract his evil personality, but doing that would be very risky."
Any magic involving the soul could go wrong, especially a high-risk operation like splitting a soul. Even though Skyl had studied the relevant ritual magic, he still could not guarantee a perfect success rate.
Goblin Harry's soul began to beg, its voice hollow and miserable. "Peter, I'm sorry. Please let me go... I'm in so much pain... I'm begging you. Aren't you Spider-Man? You said you'd bring people hope."
"Skyl, I can't ask you for any more help. Forgive me for being so greedy," Peter said, looking at the wizard with those likable hazel eyes. "Just one last time. Please help me remove Harry's evil side."
The Goblin soul screamed, "No! You can't do this! I'm mentally ill!"
Skyl looked at the twisted soul calmly. "Before you ever split off the Goblin personality, you were already desperate enough to work with Electro and kill some of Oscorp's security staff. When you sent Electro out to commit crimes, when you watched people die right in front of you, did you ever think that one day your own life might be crushed by someone stronger?"
"I had no choice. I just wanted to live."
"And that," Skyl said, "is exactly why you're still worth saving. The Goblin persona deserves to die, but Harry Osborn is still a pitiful man struggling to survive." A deep blue magical glow lit up in his hand. "Sleep, Harry. The nightmare will pass."
Harry's soul was swallowed by brilliant light.
The Goblin consciousness was pinned in place by a precise soul spell, then peeled away and sealed, along with a small fragment of attached memory, inside a soul gem.
When Skyl shoved the rest of the soul back into Harry Osborn's body, that empty shell suddenly sucked in a sharp breath, then collapsed unconscious. Peter hurried over to check on his friend.
Off to the side, Gwen let out a sigh. She was already used to being neglected by her boyfriend.
"Stacy, is your father okay?"
"He's fine. Why?"
"Mm, good." Skyl nodded. "Then I'd say the mission was a complete success."
Curiosity flashed in Gwen's eyes. "What mission? And while we're at it, Skyl, why were you only a transfer student for one day? Also, what did you mean the other day about traveling through time?"
Skyl winked at her. "An experience this fun, and you need me to explain it? That's exactly the kind of story you two lovebirds can talk about for the rest of your lives."
Gwen's cheeks flushed red. "Peter? That idiot, that moron—I am not talking to him for the rest of my life."
Peter looked up in a panic and glanced at Gwen. He understood what she meant, then scratched his head and played dumb.
He knew Gwen had just gone through a brush with death. She was upset that Harry hadn't gotten the huge beating he deserved, but she also admired Peter's kindness and compassion, so her anger faded away.
Gwen also knew Peter had understood the look in her eyes.
And that filled her with happiness.
Skyl pressed a hand to his forehead. "I seriously can't stand this atmosphere you two create. You really don't even treat me like a person, do you?"
Peter and Gwen both started grinning foolishly. Then Harry Osborn, lying on the ground, suddenly started grinning foolishly too.
"Harry! You're awake."
"Yeah, man. It was like I had a nightmare. God, I'm so happy I woke up."
The four of them walked out of the clock tower and climbed into the food truck, chattering nonstop. Peter finally gave in under his girlfriend's relentless pestering and told the story of the food truck traveling through time, which made Gwen and Harry cry out in alarm.
"You mean I was supposed to die?!" Gwen's eyes widened, and then she suddenly smiled. "Were you sad after I died?"
"It felt like my heart had been torn to pieces," Peter said, his eyes carrying the sorrow of a soaked stray dog.
And then the two lovebirds started making out again.
Harry had still been apologizing a second ago, but now he and Skyl both pinched their noses and shouted, "Damn lovebirds!"
Skyl drove them for a while. Gwen and Harry got out one after the other, and in the end he returned to Peter's house. Uncle Ben and Aunt May were both safe and sound.
"I have to go."
After hugging every member of his family, Peter stood beside the driver's seat and looked up at Skyl. "Skyl, you're a real friend. An incredible wizard."
"I know." Skyl patted the steering wheel. "The food truck's almost out of energy. I need to leave now. Anything else you want to say?"
"Will we ever meet again?"
"If you work hard enough and learn magic, I think we will."
The sun was just about to rise. The street was still cold, but it was slowly warming. Bathed in the dawn light, the orange-painted food truck looked like a giant orange glowing with warmth.
Peter watched Skyl drive away. He slammed the gas pedal down, and in a blur of speed, the food truck turned into a rainbow streak and vanished at the end of the street.
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