"Okay, Okay, I need photos….photos of Spider-Girl, along with some pictures, pictures of Superwoman…..the two of them have been rumored to be together, has Spider-Girl corrupted Superwoman into being her evil minion, or is there some other nefarious scheme at root?" Mary Jane asked, exiting from the Daily Bugle and doing her best impression of one J. Jonah Jameson as she did so.
Jonah amused her a lot of the time to be honest and the redhead kept walking forward, with a long sigh escaping her lips.
"Okay, he might amuse me and a lot of people, but dealing with him, it could give you a headache," Mary Jane said, brushing her red hair away from her eyes and she decided to walk across the street to get herself a bite to eat. Then she would figure out what to do. Gwen told her that there was a gang war about to brew and things had gotten kind of personal.
How personal did they get, well Mary Jane didn't know? That was the problem with the mob in this city. There was a rumor that one of the reporters in the Bugle might have been working with the mob but it was just a rumor.
Rumors did have some degree of truth to them and Mary Jane sighed, two years ago today, one of her friends had died in a tragic accident. Despite the fact that Gwen blamed herself for the accident, Mary Jane assured her that it was not her fault. There were others who might have blamed her from what happened.
'The guilty of a super heroine…..then again, I wouldn't really blame her all that much to be honest, and Gwen really wouldn't say what happened on that day at the bridge, only saying that it was the worst day of her life,' Mary Jane thought.
"Taking a trip down memory lane, aren't with, Miss Watson?"
Mary Jane looked up and she backed off half of a step. She could see him, she heard the rumors of the Goblin returning.
"You can't be, you're dead!" Mary Jane yelled and the Goblin hovered over her head, circling her like an angry bee buzzing over her head.
"I know, people say that the Goblin is dead but the Goblin lives on forever and a day," the Goblin cackled, he was wearing black armor that looked to be military grade and his mask was tanned and deformed.
"What…"
"Long after Norman Osborn's body burns, the Green Goblin returns from the ashes and you will fall, being scorched by the fire," the Goblin whispered and there was a great deal of harshness dripping from his voice when he continued to circle her.
"No," Mary Jane whispered, and she managed to pull the trigger on her own version of web shooters that Gwen fixed up for her. If the Goblin thought that she was going to lie back and play some kind of Damsel in Distress, he had another thing coming.
"YES!" The Goblin snapped and the madman cackled, circling Mary Jane once again but the redhead was ready and she fired.
The stun webbing caught the Goblin and for a brief moment, she thought that she had wounded him.
"You know, if I had the ability to feel pain, that might hurt, but unfortunately that barely stung," The Goblin whispered and Mary Jane backed off, seeing the Goblin dive bomb once again.
She threw herself on the ground and she could see the metal blade retract from the glider. The redhead closed her eyes and her heart nearly stopped.
"No, not yet, not….."
She webbed onto the bottom of the glider, but she didn't have the strength to pull off what she wanted to do. The Redhead was pulled up off of the ground.
"Two years ago today, two years ago today, you know what happened, don't you, Red?" The Goblin asked, grabbing Mary Jane but she stared back at him defiantly, refusing to play into his sick game. Her eyes flashed with anger and she bit down on her lip.
"I know, I know, and I know that I'm not going to give into your sick games, Goblin," she whispered and the Goblin's grin twisted even greater.
"Do you think that this is a game, with your life on the line?" The Goblin asked. "Spider-Girl is a menace, but not to the comical fashion that J. Jonah Jameson overblows her as such…..no her menace is quite terrifying…..this is not a game, MJ, this is not a game."
"Just who are you?"
"I am the Goblin, that's all you need to know," The Goblin said and he injected something in the side of the redhead's neck, because the fact that she was thrashing around was causing a great deal of inconvenience to his plans. "We'll call your little girlfriend and see if she wants to play but not yet, I have a few plans for you, and the Goblin is not done playing."
Mary Jane's legs suddenly went limp, dangling from her side and the Goblin leaned into her, whispering in her ears.
"Go to sleep, and let yourself go."
The Goblin prepared to make history repeat itself but on this day, Spider-Girl would be the one who was going to die.
X-X-X
'Well, you think that he might be stuck between the two worlds?' Kara suggested, to be honest right now she was just bouncing things off the wall and seeing if anything would stick. Helena and Barbara were the latest beneficiaries of him.
'If he did, he might have to find a doorway on his own,' Helena said, the fact was as the World's Greatest Detective, she couldn't figure out exactly what had happened and that much worried her.
'Oh that's great,' Kara said, she really hoped that Kal would be okay. 'So, is it a slow night in Gotham City?'
'Depends, are you talking about the same Gotham City that we are?' Barbara asked and her and Helena were waiting for them to make their move. 'It's just Black Mask and Penguin, either going to make a deal or get into some kind of fight.'
'Or make a deal and one double crosses the other,' Helena thought, there was a moment where she stood, shifting her hair back instantly.
'That's not really good, but….'
'No honor amongst thieves, especially in Gotham City,' Helena commented and she shifted her position once again. 'If Lara and Alura could not bring Kal home, I don't think…..'
'Here's the thing, there's this mob boss who calls himself the Goblin, I think that he might have something to do with this,' Kara thought with a frown.
'Well, it might be a good idea to track him down and see what he knows,' Barbara suggested and Kara frowned.
'He's very difficult to find any kind of forewarding address for,' Kara thought, and she had ran into Spider-Girl, who was on the hunt for the Goblin as well. 'And Stark and Richards…..and really all of the big scientific hitters, they haven't been able to follow the road to find him.'
Kara closed her eyes, there were times where she could almost feel Kal, but then he pulled away.
'If you think that you can almost feel him, don't worry, I feel the same thing,' Chloe thought, jumping in on the call and Kara sighed, leaning back and stretching.
'It's like some kind of faint echo, where I find a glimpse of him, but he pulls away, if I didn't normally hear voices in my head, I would think that I could be going insane,' Lois thought and Chloe was about ready to jump in with the obvious response. 'And Chloe, I swear, if I hear one word from you…..'
'I wasn't going to say anything,' Chloe thought and she placed her hands on the top of her head and gave a lengthy sigh in response. 'Why is it that everyone is so defensive these days?'
'I think it's because we're all on edge with what happened, and there's something else brewing, something deeper,' Tess said and she gave them a good news. 'A few scientists have disappeared looking at an energy disturbance, the same way that Clark did.'
'But the scientists don't have the super powers that he does,' Kara thought but if this was happening over two dimensions or maybe more, there is an isolated incident.
'And if I didn't know better, there is some kind of Crisis on Infinite Earths,' Chloe thought and she sighed. 'Yeah, that sounds like some comic book crossover from the eighties, but that's the best way th describe it.'
'You know, Chloe, you might have a point,' Kara thought, looking rather thoughtful but she wasn't too sure yet. That being said, she was going to have to find out one way or another. 'So, I'm going to try something once again.'
'Let us know how it goes,' Lara said, she really hoped that Kara could have a break through on her head.
There was a girl at ESU named Gwen Stacy who was supposed to be smarter than Reed Richards and Tony Stark, and if Kara could get in touch with her, maybe she could help. She really needed to exercise all of the options that she could.
And Gwen was always writing positive pieces about Spider-Girl and her best friend Mary Jane took pictures of her.
It suddenly struck Kara, maybe she was putting two and two together and getting five, but you didn't have to be a 12th level intellect to figure that something might be going on.
That being said, Kara knew where she could find this Gwen girl, Spider-Girl or not, she would be a big help all things considered.
X-X-X
"You've been of a lot of help," Illyana said, barely keeping the smile off of her face and looking down at the battered form of Kal-El when he tried to shift himself back to his feet, but he collapsed. "And you lasted for as long as I needed you to, well done."
"Glad, to help," Kal groaned and it took a couple of seconds for him to find his way to his feet. He felt like he had run a marathon from all of the intense sex he had.
"Well, the good news is that you don't rely on your powers completely for all aspects of life," Illyana said and she handed in a bottle. "It will hydrate you."
Kal looked at the bottle, while he figured that would be about his luck that she would poison him after using him as her own personal interactive dildo, the fact of the matter was he was thirty. Common sense lost out to need and Kal placed the ice cold bottle of water on his lips, downing it in one fluid motion.
He felt better or really he felt better than he was going to be all this time. At any rate, he didn't drop down to the ground.
"Are you good now?" Illyana asked him and Kal turned towards her, and nodded swiftly.
"I'm fine," he said and he knew that he had a lot of sex. The blonde turned around and she was checking something.
"Just as I feared," she replied and she drew breath because this was going to be an extremely involved and long explanation.
"What did you fear?" Kal asked, and Illyana turned her attention towards him, placing her hadn on his.
"You're trapped here, because someone wants you here, and he'll only let both of us out, once he is ready for you," Illyana said, and Kal turned towards her. "That's not very helpful, I realize that."
Kal didn't say anything, he was just glad that she came back with some kind of tangible explanation. That was greater than the confusion that he was feeling all this time.
"It's more helpful than you might think it is," Kal said and Illyana turned around to look him in the eyes.
"I'm glad," she told him and she meant that. She was glad that he had some sense of that they were in a dangerous situation. "But, until we find a way out of here, you are in danger…and…anyone who is with you are in danger…"
She paused and waited for the answer.
"Then maybe you should…"
"Anyone who comes in Limbo will learn that I'm the Queen here," Illyana said and she didn't mean to sound so haughty, but that was just the way that it came out of her mouth. Kal opened his mouth and closed it, nodding. He was kind of impressed by how determined that she seemed despite this entire mess. "Don't forget that."
"I won't," Kal replied to her, firmly crossing his arms and standing like a statue.
"Let's precede, I should be able to find a way out of here," Illyana said, she hoped at the very least, but there was one thing that was certain, they were running out of time.
There was a loud primal roar and that was not like any of the creatures that found themselves in Limbo. The blonde's fists clenched together, the sword magically appearing in her hand when she stared down the latest intruder.
"What is that?" Kal asked her and Illyana's eyes blinked, when she slowly took in the rather large and gruesome intruder when it approached her.
"No, surely not," Illyana whispered and Kal looked at her, once again raising his eyebrow up in surprise.
"What….."
'It is a Frost Giant, from Asgard," Illyana said and that caught Kal completely off guard. The big question was, what was a Frost Giant from Asgard was doing in Limbo.
And the answer became extremely obvious to the point where it was depressing. To keep them form getting out of Limbo.
Illyana began to suspect who the person was that was behind this and the blonde braced herself, swinging the sword. It glowed with powerful energy that could have blinded anything that was in its path.
The sword clung against the chest of the enemy and doubled it over, but it's roar was powerful and Illyana backed off, her mouth hanging open.
To say that this wasn't going as planned, that would be the understatement to end all understatements. She turned towards Kal and she let out the breath that she had been holding in.
"Let me guess, you need my help," Kal said and she nodded, and they would have to work together to knock this overgrown Frost Giant back down to size.
X-X-X
Gwen Stacy returned after a hard day work, the rumors of the Goblin was causing her to get really worried. It was like some kind of ghost that kept taunting her and the fact that today's date and it's significance did not escape from her.
Two years ago, two years ago, that battle on the Bridge, that day that ruined so many lives. And now the Goblin was back, despite the fact that she watched Norman Osborn be cremated before her very eyes. That meant that there was another that was trying to carry on the Demented Goblin Legacy and as much as she hated to admit that, she had a clear idea of who it was.
She didn't like who it might be and the thought of who it might be terrified her beyond all belief but she knew who it was, and she cringed at the thought of that particular person coming out as the Goblin.
It couldn't be, could it?
"I need your help."
Gwen spun around, and came face to face with a familiar blonde. She was on hair's edge right now, especially since her spider sense didn't get triggered by this person showing up and her mouth hung open, practically gawking at her.
"Superwoman?" she asked.
"Exactly," she said and Gwen blinked a little bit.
"Why do you need my help?" Gwen asked suddenly, she heard about the disappearance of the death of Superman.
"Well, someone said that you were smarter than Reed Richards and Tony Stark and…."
"Wait, who said that?" Gwen asked, don't get her wrong, she was flattered by the compliment, especially when it was coming out of the mouth of someone as gorgeous of Superwoman.
"Emma Frost did….she's….."
"The White Queen of the Hellfire Club, I know," Gwen said, she had clashed with the Hellfire Club under its previous incarnation, but from what she could find out, they were under new management. "Glad to see that she thought so highly of me…..or is it that she thinks so lowly of Richards or Stark?"
"You were there when the Spot was there…..you saw Superman disappear," Superwoman said and Gwen blinked.
"Wait a minute, you're Clark's cousin, aren't you?" Gwen asked, she had seen Kara's face, even though she was wearing a wig and a pair of glasses, she recognized it.
"Um, I guess there's no point in hiding things, especially considering you're Spider-Girl," Kara said without any tact, but then again she wasn't the master of tact to begin with and Gwen stared back at her, throwing her hands up.
"So, I guess that makes Clark Superman…I'm pretty sure that Mary Jane and Betty figured that out, you'd have to be pretty dense to not be able to see through a pair of glasses," Gwen said but she sighed. "So, what do you need anyway….
"I was hoping that you could help me track down Clark…because I'm running out of ideas, and I was hoping….."
"Well, I've been looking into that technology that Spot has been using, so maybe we can find something there," Gwen said with a smile, and she invited Kara to sit down next to her, holding her notes out in front of her. "Trying to destabilize the frequency of how the time-space continuum vibrates caused the problem…Superman throwing his body there might not have been the smartest thing in the world for him to do but it worked."
"He is more of a fights with his heart and not with his head kind of person," Kara said and Gwen nodded.
"Somehow I figured that," Gwen said and then she had a phone ring. "Do you think that you could wait a minute…"
"Sure, take your time," Kara said, deciding to sink down on the bed and allowed Gwen to answer the phone. She didn't mean to listen in with her super hearing but there were just some times where no matter how hard she tried, he really couldn't be helped.
"Mary Jane," Gwen said, brightening up but there was something that caused her tone to deflate.
"Guess again, " the voice cackled on the phone.
"You," Gwen hissed and she was filled with absolute mortal dread. "What…"
"Don't worry, dear Miss Watson is safe for the moment, for the moment at least, but you see, you should go outside, and get the rest of my message, it's going to be playing on the Jumbo Tron in New York City, I want the entire world to hear this," the Goblin said and Gwen was this close to yelling at him.
"Look, if you want to say anything to me, you better say it to my fucking face and don't put it up on the Jumbo Tron!" Gwen yelled but the phone message disconnected someone and the blonde gave a groan in response.
She suited up as quickly as she could manage, throwing her webs and her costume on and she made her way out towards the window.
"What are you doing?" Kara asked and Gwen frowned.
"I'm going to take care of this mess as soon as possible," Gwen stated and she wasn't screwing around in the slightest.
She swung out and sure enough, the Goblin was on the Jumbo Tron, having hi-jacked one of Jameson's usual Spider-Girl bashing sessions.
"Sorry to interrupt your regularly schedule blowhard programming but I have a message and it has to be heard, especially by Spider-Girl!" the Goblin cackled on the screen. "You see, our friendly neighborhood heroine is someone not friendly and neighborhood. Her superheroine career started off by the death of Ben Parker, when she neglected to stop a thief, but perhaps we should cut her some slack, because we all make mistakes."
Gwen knew that she was not about to get off the hook that easily and sure enough the Goblin was really hitting his stride.
"Two years ago, Spider-Girl fought the Green Goblin and it was madness, it was chaos, and the lives of many people were changed on that bridge," The Goblin continued to rant and he paced back and forth. "You see, Norman Osborn was a sick man and he died…..but there was Peter Parker and Liz Allan who were both trapped on that bridge. What did you do to save them, what did you do to save them, Spider-Girl?"
Gwen's hand shook and Kara grabbed it, giving the other blonde a warning squeeze and she started to breath in and out.
"You couldn't save them Spider-Girl, that's what you did," the Goblin commented and he broke into laughter. "But I suppose that you might not be cut out to be a hero…people around you tend to die, you know."
The Goblin's voice dropped lower.
"Just ask Captain Stacy."
Gwen nearly tore off to attack him and Kara had to use her super strength to hold the spider themed heroine back before she went off to do something that she would regret.
"Calm down, calm down, it's okay," Kara said, and she rubbed her shoulders and Gwen relaxed against the grip of the blonde Kryptonian.
"If you want to meet me, if you want to stop me, I'll be on the George Washington Bridge, where this entire mess started, where the lives of several people were ruined!" the Goblin yelled and he held up Mary Jane. "The water down there is nasty, but that's nothing compared to the drop…..but don't worry, you're little girlfriend is safe, for the moment, Spider-Girl. But if you don't get there soon someone else will have to get Pictures, Pictures of Spider-Girl."
Kara turned Gwen around and she whispered in the girl's ear, pulling her off into the alleyway.
"He's baiting a trap for you," Kara whispered to her and then she pulled her mask up and pressed her lips against Gwen's, to sooth her.
The other blonde relaxed into the kiss, it was extremely intense and Gwen could not really fight it, because she didn't want her. The kiss left her extremely frustrated and wanting even more.
"Let's use our brain…..and we'll find a way to beat him," Kara said but perhaps she had put a bit too much into that kiss, and said brain had to reboot.
Kara smiled, lifting her fingers and snapping them in Gwen's face, which caused her to come back to life.
"So, do you have any ideas?" Gwen asked in an oddly calm voice. Mostly because if she got upset, bad things could happen, and not necessarily to the bad guys.
X-X-X
Mary Jane felt like her head was on fire and she suddenly woke back up, coming face to face with the Goblin.
"Good, you're awake, it would be rude for you to sleeping when you're about to die."
"Just who are you…..Harry, are you Harry Osborn?" Mary Jane asked and the Goblin responded with a loud round of laughter.
"Please, don't joke, he's….either in a gutter somewhere or in rehab, don't really know, might be dead for all I know," the Goblin said in a whisper. "You see, it's been a long time coming since this happened, two years, two years to the day, and the day isn't open. The person that was supposed to die on this bridge will die on this bridge, and the city will see what kind of heroine Spider-Girl really is. She is nothing but a Fraud."
"Yeah, but you're someone who is hiding in Norman Osborn's shadow," Mary Jane said and the Goblin back handed her hard.
"The formula…..Menken found it, he said that it would cure what happened, do you realize what happened to me…..they all thought that I died on the bridge that day, but no, I was disfigured beyond belief, thanks to Spider-Girl, and Liz….oh poor Liz, she didn't need to be on that bridge, she just happened to be there, and Norman didn't mean to do the things that he did, he was pushed with his obsession with her," the Goblin said and he was practically babbling.
"Are you…..oh no….." Mary Jane whispered, ignoring the fact that her lip was split from him slapping her in the face.
"Oh yes, you see…..I have it all together, which is more than Norman could say, but in the end, all of you will understand," the Goblin said, peeling off of his mask to reveal the disfigured face of Peter Parker.
It was shocking, someone who she had went to school with, and was even friends with had turned into a monster.
To Be Continued.