MRS. HARDY.: And this could prove to be...
one of the most dramatic developments...
in the history of medical technology.
The Hardy Foundation is now pleased to present...
Dr. Michael Pingree and his argon matrix laser.
[Applause]
DR. PINGREE.: The argon matrix laser...
works on a submolecular level...
which allows us to control...
the type of atomic nuclei the laser will affect.
In this case, I have designated...
that the laser cut only inorganic matter--the meca....
leaving the organic matter, the pumpkin, untouched.
This laser could save millions of lives...
by targeting certain types of tumors and tissues.
The laser can be programmed with pinpoint accuracy.
DR. OC TOPUS.: Fools!
You are applauding the wrong person.
[Boom] [Panicked shouting]
[Rumbling]
PETER.: I have a feeling this isn't going to be termites.
Doc Ock!
MRS. HARD Y: Not him again!
We better get out of here!
Not you, Parker. You stay and get pictures.
PETER.: I'm staying, all right...
but I might be too busy to take pictures.
DR. OC TOPUS.: I can't let you and Mrs. Hardy...
take all the credit for my invention!
We both worked on it, Otto!
Pingree, you were merely my assistant...
and as for Mrs. Hardy...
she owes me a debt that I've come to collect.
SPIDER-MAN.: Sorry, Ock.
This time your reach exceeds your grasp.
[Groans]
This laser will heal one problem...
I've had for much too long--
the scourge of Spider-Man.
Uhh!
No!
Huh?
Well, what do you know?
I forgot that it was set...
so it wouldn't cut organic matter.
Too bad Doc Ock's tentacles are inorganic!
-Aah! -Uhh!
Uhh!
[Panicked shouting]
Out of my way!
[Screams]
Uhh!
Spider-Man!
Are you all right?
Yes, but he-- he's out of his mind!
Ock, you've really made me mad.
You're not getting away-- not this time.
That's the medical lab!
If they damage any of the research material in there...
it'll take years to replace.
Why couldn't Spider-Man just let Octavius escape?
Because Spider-Man's a glory hog...
who never thinks of the consequences...
of what he's doing!
No! It's going to explode!
Great. Now I have to save this clown and myself.
[Boom]
[Groaning]
OFFICER.: Freeze, creep!
Hold it right there, Spider-Man.
DR. OC TOPUS.: Sorry, gentlemen...
but even with my present handicap...
I have all the hands I need.
[Sirens]
What have I done?
How could I have been so irresponsible?
PETER.: I let my temper get the best of me.
I didn't consider the risk.
This town is finally going to see that wall-crawling...
slime bucket for what he really is--a menace.
He's wrecked everything from sewers to subways...
and now a medical facility.
But, Jonah, he was only trying to catch Doc Ock.
And who hired him to do that, Robbie?
You, me, anyone?
It's the job of the police.
I'm gonna use all my resources...
to ruin Spider-Man for this.
PETER.: How does this always happen?
I mean well, but in the process...
I mess up everything.
The world needs Spider-Man about as much as I need him.
I'm through. I quit.
Peter. Peter!
Huh?
Will you be seeing Spider-Man soon?
I don't think so, Mr. Robertson.
If I were Spider-Man...
I wouldn't show my face in this town again.
Well, if you do see him...
give him this fan letter.
Some little girl's parents sent it to the paper.
I figure he can use...
all the support he can find about now.
PETER.: ''Dear Mr. Robertson...
"your newspaper always prints...
''those wonderful pictures of Spider-Man.
''Could you please ask him to come...
''and visit our little daughter?
''She's his biggest fan in all the world...
''and we would love for her to meet--''
Yeah, yeah.
I don't need fan mail at a time like this.
At last--this is it.
My life as Spider-Man is over.
All I need is a superhero retirement pension...
and everything would be perfect.
-My dear boy... -What?
Who ever said that everything...
was supposed to be perfect?
-Who said that? -I did.
Who's there? Who are you?
MADAME WEB.: Isn't the real question... who are you?
[Laughing]
PETER.: What's this, some phony fortune teller?
MADAME WEB.: Phony? Moi? Hah!
You are the phony!
PETER.: How did you know what I was thinking?
I know much more than your trivial thoughts, Spider-Man.
I'm not Spider-Man!
You are a terrible liar.
Please, don't waste my time.
What?
I am not your enemy, Peter Parker--you are.
Isn't it strange...
that with all the power you have...
you've hurt so many of those close to you--
your Uncle Ben, Felicia Hardy, Mary Jane.
How do you know about them?
MADAME WEB.: Come see me and find out.
[Laughs]
PETER.: My costume! How'd it get on me?
Good going, Spidey.
You walked right into a trap.
MADAME WEB.: You are wrong, Mr. Parker, as usual.
How do you know who I am?
And how do you know so much about me?
I want some answers!
You will get them. Now, sit down.
I'll stand, thanks.
It is usually a good idea to have a seat...
when your world is about to be turned upside-down.
SPIDER-MAN: Whoa!
Huh?!
You are about to embark...
on a period of training for a mission...
I will soon require of you.
The only thing I'm embarking on is a trip out of here.
Parker, this is one situation you cannot crawl away from.
[Groans]
MADAME WEB.: In order to succeed in this mission...
you must first overcome the self-pity...
that threatens to end your career.
Uhh! What do you need me for?
You obviously have powers of your own.
MADAME WEB.: Powers are nothing.
More important is your tendency...
to question yourself.
That is an interesting quality.
Tedious, but interesting.
Whoa!
MADAME WEB.: This is your card.
No, thanks.
I'm not what you'd call a believer.
MADAME WEB.: Not so easy, is it?
It is telling you that you must believe in me...
and you must have the faith of a child.
What's that supposed to mean?
No, wait!
Did I just take a trip through the Twilight Zone, or what?
This kind of weird stuff is why I'm quitting.
Hey, it's that letter Robbie gave me!
How did it get here?
Huh.
Madame Web did say something about the faith of a child.
There, Spider-Man.
This is your best picture ever.
SPIDER-MAN.: Thank you, Maria Taina Elizando.
[Gasps] Who's there?
Just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Spider-Man, is this a dream?
No, I'm really here...
just as your parents asked for in their letter.
They what?!
Wow! It really is you!
Can you do something for me, please?
Sure, Maria, what is it?
Don't call me Maria.
Only my mom calls me Maria.
Everybody else calls me Taina.
OK, Taina.
Now that I'm here, what did you want to tell me?
That I'm your greatest fan ever...
and I wanted to show you this--
my Spider-Man collection.
Look, I even have the first story...
"The Bugle" ever ran about you.
You didn't believe it, did you?
Nah, they say a lot of silly things in there.
But the pictures are good.
Like this one by that Peter Parker guy.
Do you know him?
Sometimes too well.
I cut out this ad from when you were on TV.
Oh, this takes me back.
That's when I thought...
I could use my powers to make lots of money.
Where did you get your powers?
Timmy says that you're from a dying planet...
and your parents sent you here in a little spaceship.
I think Timmy has me confused with someone else.
I'm actually an accident.
An accident?
Yes. It all started when I was in high school.
I was actually kind of a nobody.
Who were you?
I'm gonna have to keep my name to myself.
But I can tell you what my life was like.
Hi, Liz.
I was wondering if you'd like to go downtown...
to a science demonstration with me.
Now, let me see, Peter.
Should I go to the big party with Flash Thompson...
and have a really great time...
or go to the science demonstration with you...
and be bored to tears? I just don't know.
PETER.: Well, actually...
this is going to be a demonstration...
of an exciting new technology called Neogenics.
FLASH.: No contest, bookworm.
Liz and I have some partying to do.
PETER.: Whoa! Uhh!
LIZ.: See you around, Peter.
But--but... [Laughter]
TAINA.: This is pitiful, Spider-Man.
You really let them get away with that?
Hey, I wasn't quite as strong back then...
as I am now.
DR. OC TOPUS.: The long and irritating saga...
of Spider-Man is about to end.
He will meet defeat at the hands of my new Octobot.
Its arms are powerful...
agile, and controlled by my very thoughts.
Two Octopi for the price of one.
So, did you go to the demonstration?
Oh, I went, all right.
It was at Empire State University.
It was being given by a famous professor.
PETER.: Wow, Professor Stillwell!
Can you actually harness radioactivity...
for genetic experiments with this device?
Of course. I'll demonstrate.
SPIDER-MAN.: But unbeknownst to us...
just as he activated the device...
a small spider dropped down...
right in the path of the radioactive blast.
PETER.: Ouch, it bit me! Why is it glowing that way?
Is it radioactive? I feel so strange.
TAINA: Yikes! Did you go to the hospital?
No. I probably should have, but I didn't know what to do.
What's the matter, Parker?
Did our little demonstration upset you?
[Laughter]
SPIDER-MAN.: I ran out as fast as I could.
PETER.: What's happening to me?
I've been poisoned by that spider!
I'm turning into a spider myself!
Oh, dear! A spider!
Aunt May, it's me--Peter!
Oh! I hate spiders!
PETER.: Can't you hear me?
I know how to get rid of you.
PETER.: No! Aah!
PETER.: Where--where am I?
[Gasps] Aah!
[Men yelling]
[Missiles firing]
PETER.: No! You don't understand!
PETER.: It was just a dream, a hallucination!
But my head was still throbbing--
so much so that I didn't notice...
a car coming right at me.
I jumped out of the way.
PETER.: I'm sticking to the wall.
I can climb straight up.
Somehow, when that radioactive spider bit me...
it must have transferred its powers to me.
I gained a whole new equilibrium.
The agility of a spider--
the strength, too--
and a spider's craving for dark corners...
and new heights.
TAINA.: Too cool.
Is that spider still around?
No, and it's just as well.
That spider also caused me a lot of grief.
KINGPIN: lmpressive.
Is that all you have to say?
I shall reserve further judgment until I see results.
And you shall see them, soon.
With the Spider-Seeker to guide it...
my Octobot will find and crush Spider-Man...
and anything else in its way.
[Crackling]
TAINA.: When that spider bit you...
did it give you power to make webs, too?
No, I did that myself.
I make web fluid and store it...
in small, pressurized containers...
that load into these web shooters I built.
Wow! You must be super smart to think this up.
I think when I was bitten...
the spider passed on an instinctive knowledge...
of how to combine certain enzymes...
to make this strong, sticky webbing.
The trigger is this sensitive electrode...
Iocated here in my palm.
It requires exact pressure from these two fingers...
so that I don't accidentally activate it...
when I make a fist or grab something.
By adjusting pressure at the nozzle...
I can fire a thin, strong web line--See?
Or a fine, wide spray.
This is great. Think they'll let me keep it?
SPIDER-MAN: I'm sorry, but like real spider webbing...
it's biodegradable.
It dissolves in about an hour or so.
No wonder I've never been able to find any.
So you made your web shooter...
and then went out and started catching bad guys?
Not exactly. First, I tried show biz.
Show biz?
SPIDER-MAN.: Yeah. I made this very costume...
so I wouldn't be recognized...
and I went on a television show.
[Audience gasps]
Even though I was wearing my costume...
I felt like I was showing off...
to all those creeps in my high school...
who thought I was just a nerd.
Then I met an agent who made me an offer...
I couldn't refuse.
[Audience cheering]
SECURITY GUARD.: Hey, help!
Nab him! Don't let him get away!
Hey, sorry, pal.
I'm a wrestler, not a cop.
SPIDER-MAN.: I figured, why should I get involved?
All I cared about back then...
was taking care of number one--me.
The police were at Aunt May's.
Aunt May, where's Uncle Ben?
What's happened?
I have bad news for you, son.
Your uncle tried to stop him, but he was armed.
No! Not Uncle Ben! Who did this?
The punk who did this has been chased to a warehouse.
We'll get him.
PETER.: Whoever it is, I want him first...
and nothing's going to stop Spider-Man.
[Guns click]
SPIDER-MAN.: No--not you!
It was the crook from the arena--
the one I should have stopped.
I've never forgiven myself for letting Uncle Ben down.
I had no idea.
And now I've done something just as bad.
You heard about that medical building?
That was an accident.
You'll be more careful next time.
There won't be a next time, Taina.
I'm not going to be Spider-Man anymore.
No, you can't quit! Just be more careful.
You can do that. You can do anything.
I wish I could do anything...
like rebuild the medical center...
or cure people's diseases.
I wish you could, too...
but you can't quit...
just because you did one bad thing.
You never quit. That's why you're my hero.
It's the hard choices I'm always having to make.
I just can't handle it anymore.
You're not going now, are you?
No. I just need to clear my head...
do some web-slinging.
Not without me, you're not.
No, Taina. I couldn't.
Please?
Just once I'd like to see the world...
like you see it.
Just once before--
Oh, all right.
I suppose it won't hurt...
for you to come along on a quick trip...
but you have to dress warmly.
TAINA.: All right!
TAINA.: Wow! I'm a hundred stories high!
SPIDER-MAN.: Hang on!
DR. OC TOPUS.: Now, my pet, go to your prey.
SPIDER-MAN: I want to show you something.
Remember I told you about my spider-agility?
Watch this!
Ta-da!
Spider-sense?
Ock's tentacles moving by themselves?
Taina, hide!
[Spider-Man groans]
Do you like my newest design, Spider-Man?
Autonomous telepathic tentacles.
I call it the Octobot.
What's the matter, Ock? Afraid to face me alone?
You had to call in second stringers?
You brought a little friend.
Where is she?
Let's just make this one-on-one, OK?
Delighted.
Crush him.
SPIDER-MAN.: Did he say telepathic...
as in controlled by his thoughts?
Uhh! It's too much for me, Doc.
Did you steal this from Pingree, too?
Pingree?
He had nothing to do with this--nothing!
SPIDER-MAN.: It's working! He's losing his concentration!
They're loosening!
Nobody gives me my due!
I'll give you your due!
What?!
Aah!
You never learn, do you?
On the contrary...
I've learned a great deal from our encounters.
Sleep well, Spider-Man.
It's your reward for underestimating my power.
This time, you lose.
Spider-Man! Oh, no!