The Final Chapter Part 3 of 4. Continued from Spider-Man #97. Continued in Spider-Man #98.

So it's Aunt May that was found still alive and not baby May, at the end of the second part of "The Final Chapter" in Spider-Man #97. Spider-Man is in shock, Mary Jane will be in shock, Peter's friends will be shocked, and most importantly, the readers will be in shock. The events that occurred in the great Amazing Spider-Man #400 are now all for naught, but we shall make lemonade out of lemons. The old woman is back, arguably the most important supporting character in the Spider-Verse. How did this all happen?, you are sure to ask, and the answers are coming soon, as you can bet that the Green Goblin/ Norman Osborn had something to do with it!

We left the last part of the storyline (Spider-Man #97) as Spider-Man has just webbed up the Green Goblin and then when looking for "May". He thought that his baby, thought dead, was somewhere in the Osborn Hunting Lodge. he arrived at a door where he sensed "May" was behind. As he entered the room, he was hit over the head with a vase from a surprised Aunt May, who Spider-Man though long dead since Amazing Spider-Man #400. Spider-Man's world has been turned upside down again by Norman Osborn, and Spider-Man plans on not letting him do it again, but he has to act soon because the Goblin has gotten himself free from the webbing that Spider-Man laid on him earlier. Spider-Man at this point, does not believe that this is the true Aunt May, thinking maybe that she is a clone. Also at this point, Spider-Man senses that the Goblin has somehow "lost it", saying strange things. Spider-Man takes his Aunt, still thinking that she is an ordinary woman, and asks Norman what he was going to do with her. Norman does not want to answer questions at this point, and eventually throws a pumpkin bomb at him, and then flies away on his goblin glider.

Spider-Man takes his Aunt to she exactly who she is. What better place to go then to the home of the Fantastic Four, where the great mind Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic) is? Reed takes a look at the old lady in his extensive laboratory, and after running many tests on her, concludes that she is a human (and not a clone). Reed also learns that May's hospital records have been tampered with, and also states that he could be definite that is the THE May Parker if only he has a sample of her DNA. Spider-Man leaves to get the sample, and goes home where Mary Jane is having a party. Peter sneaks in the attic and after Mary Jane finds him there, he tells her that Aunt May is back. Peter takes a simple of his Aunt from an old science experiment kit then heads off back to Mister Fantastic. After a dozen tests on the DNA, Reed concludes that the woman is definitely the true May Parker. When asked about her health, Reed explains that she has an implanted device at the base of her skull that is giving off a series of pulses that are interfering with the functioning of her central nervous system. If the object isn't removed soon, she may easily die, and Reed contacts the top surgeons in the country. They plan on removing the device that night, and Spider-Man swings away to find the Green Goblin.

At Osborn headquarters, Norman Osborn sits waiting for the inevitable: Spider-Man crashing through his window! Peter goes berserk, throwing a huge desk aside to get at Osborn, who is in costume but without his masks at this point. Norman puts on his goblin mask, then states that the time has come for the world to learn the true power of the Green Goblin, or as he puts it: "The power of a God!". Anyway, Norman puts on a display for Peter where he shows the effects of his DNA bomb on a room full of people, who slowly disintegrate before their eyes. At this point, Peter has seen enough, and takes a whack at the Goblin to no effect at all. The Goblin then picks him up by the neck, and throws him through a window, where he begins to fall to the ground. The Goblin comes out of nowhere with his goblin glider and catches Spider-Man, so that they can have their final battle in a more public forum. Norman wants the world to witness Spider-Man's crushing defeat at the hands of the new god-like (at least in Norman's mind) Green Goblin.

The Goblin takes Spider-Man with him as he glides across the city, and as he does, he informs Peter of his plans to distribute the DNA bombs around the world. The only thing is, is that the bombs need a trigger to detonate throughout the world, and the key to setting off the trigger is inside Peter's Aunt May's skull! As soon as the device in her head is exposed to oxygen, the bombs will go off. The Goblin was counting on Peter doing what was necessary to save his Aunt, and that meant having the implant in her skull removed. After the Goblin is through with revealing his well laid-out plans, he drops Spider-Man to the streets below. He then picks him back up, glides back up into the air, and then drops him again! While he plays "yo-yo" with Spider-Man, the Goblin explains that he had a plan to add to Peter's troubles when his Aunt suffered a stroke. He then explains that he utilized the cloning technology from Miles Warren to infuse his Aunt's genetic matrix into another woman, who turned out to be an elderly actress. She studied May for months, and was even informed that Peter was Spider-Man, thus wiping away the "revelation" that Peter's Aunt May knew he was Spider-Man for a long time (from Amazing Spider-Man #400). The switch then took place, with Peter mourning over a woman he never truly knew.

With Spider-Man now on the street again, it truly looks like this is the end of Spider-Man. The Goblin throws some pumpkin bombs at him, glides down toward him, then removes his mask exposing Spider-Man's identity as Peter Parker to the world. The Goblin then throws one more devastating pumpkin bomb at Peter, which seemingly puts him out of his misery. The Green Goblin now stands triumphant, with his haunting laughter filling the ears of the many bystanders that now fill the streets. "After all these years! I Did It! I Killed Spider-Man!"

Or did he? It certainly looks like it on the two-page spread that ends the issue. J. Jonah Jameson, Flash Thompson, Betty Brant, Ben Urich, and many more look on in terror and amazement as the Green Goblin takes away a lifeless Spider-Man. The cat's out of the bag in the next and final part of "The Final Chapter" storyline in Spider-Man #98.