Harry stared at middle-aged Peter in stunned disbelief. He pointed at himself, then at middle-aged Peter, then at Mayday in his arms. His mouth opened and closed, then opened again.
Peter hurried forward to explain. "That happened in another universe. In their universe, Gwen and I..."
"Gwen died." Middle-aged Peter lowered his eyes. "Harry Osborn did too. So did Uncle Ben. They all died because of me, right in front of me."
Harry froze with his mouth hanging open. All the words he had meant to argue were swallowed back, and he could not say anything at all. Finally, he could only stammer, "I... I'm sorry..."
Middle-aged Peter shrugged. "You don't need to apologize. And what may surprise you even more is that Mary Jane and I got divorced. We were apart for a long time."
Sure enough, Harry's eyes widened in shock. He could not help asking middle-aged Peter, "You... Well, if Gwen and I both died, then it's not impossible for you two to get together. But you were already married, so why did you get divorced?"
"Why did you and Mary break up?" middle-aged Peter asked instead.
"Uh, we... My father really shouldn't have..."
"I'm asking about you, not your father. Do you think that without old Osborn interfering, you and Mary Jane could have stayed together forever?"
"Of course..." Harry said immediately, but his voice grew weaker and weaker, lacking conviction. After a pause, he said dejectedly, "Fine, maybe not. Mary is always pursuing independence. I don't think she needs me."
"But that's exactly what drew us to her." Middle-aged Peter hit the nail on the head. "Her independence attracted you because you had never truly been independent. Her strength and confidence attracted me when I was at my lowest, because the deaths of the important