Here we go again! The world's strangest super-hero gears up to take on his nemesis, the devil lady with the face of an angel! But this time, the stakes are raised as the fate of the whole Jasper pack is in the balance! To make matters even more confusing, Lilly has decided to stand beside her maniacal mentor the whole way! But things aren't going to be so easy, especially when Kate gets wind of what's going on. How will she react when she realizes just what her sister is about to do? It's all in this issue, "Fears and Lamentations"!

Author's Note: If you've read my story "Kate's Lament," you'll probably be able to tell that it was based on this chapter. I couldn't help but wonder during the movie what was going through Kate's head when the war broke out around her so I added this in based on that Then I figured that I should do a general version that didn't require you to make it all the way through this story before you could read it. But I'm not thrilled with how "Kate's Lament" came out and I think I did much better here, so I hope it won't feel like a repeat to anyone who did read that story. And if you do read both, thank you for your interest anyway.

It was now past nightfall. Kate ran back toward her den, having explored the whole valley with the other Alphas looking for the bombs. They had managed to find two and unload them in a nearby lake, but they knew that many more were hidden away from them. What was worse, the two they had found were near the borders, in peripheral areas that few wolves bothered to tread. That meant that all the bombs that could actually do damage to the wolf population were still hidden. And Kate was running out of places to look.

Then, as she ran past the formerly abandoned den, she saw Lilly wandering toward the entrance. She knew that Lilly was probably there to talk to Philip, but she didn't like the idea of her sister being out so late when danger was all around.

"Lilly, what are you doing here?" she said.

Lilly looked shocked. She had not been expecting Kate. "I, um, I was just coming to say something to… to Philip. Nothing much, really."

Kate shook her head. "Lilly, I can tell when you're lying. I'm your sister, remember?"

Lilly smiled sheepishly. "What… what makes you think I'm lying? I really am just coming to see Philip. Since Garth is busy trying to find those bombs, I don't have any other company."

"I just don't think you should be out of your den right now. It could be very dangerous around here."

Something changed in Lilly. Kate couldn't say what it was, but she knew that Lilly was different somehow. Lilly said, "Like it wouldn't be dangerous in my den? You don't know that they didn't put a bomb there. Besides, those won't go off until tomorrow."

"We don't know that for sure! And even if it's true, they might still go off accidentally! You could trip one of them off!"

"Because I'm just so clumsy?"

Kate realized she had made a mistake. "Lilly, I didn't mean it like that."

"Yeah, you did."

"No, it's just that… I told Humphrey to stay inside, too, you know. It's not just you. I'm… I'm just more trained for this sort of thing."

Lilly shook her head. "No, you're not, sis. I don't think they taught bomb location in Alpha School."

"No, but I think it's definitely going to be in the curriculum after this."

Both sisters chuckled.

"But really," Kate said, "I don't like you being out of doors. Especially not with him."

"There you go again," Lilly responded. "Treating me like a child."

Kate smiled, trying to apologize that way. "I know, but it's just so hard. You are my little sister, after all. I guess I'm just protective. But I don't think you're in good hands with Phil. I really don't."

Lilly grinned, though it seemed to waver a bit at the sides of her mouth. "You don't know him like I do. Phil would never get me into anything dangerous. He would never put my life at risk."

Now Kate thought that she was definitely lying. Lying either to Kate or to herself. Lilly knew that she wasn't.

But Kate saw that there was no more point in arguing. "Okay, Lilly. Go see Phil. But be careful. That's not me acting like you're a child. That's advice from one sister to another. Be careful."

"Don't worry, I will," Lilly said as she began to enter Philip's cave.

"On second thought, I might just follow you in," Kate said, "just to be safe."

Lilly gave her a harsh look, one that chastised her for thinking Lilly couldn't walk two feet on her own, but something was bothering Kate. She didn't like this, she didn't like any of it. She knew that something was up.

Lilly continued and, much to her annoyance, Kate followed on her heels. Lilly had just finished securing everything for the night's adventure and had been so proud not to have let any of her family know what was going on. And now it seemed as though everything was about to go down the drain.

Philip was standing in there, half-dressed in his Goblin gear. He had his green pants and purple loincloth on, but from the waist up he was naked. He noticed Lilly out of the corner of his eye.

"Phil…" Lilly said, trying to warn him, though she knew that Kate already had seen what she saw.

"Lilly, please," Philip said. "I'm, like, half-naked here. Can't a guy get a little privacy?" And he turned away from her, apparently not noticing Kate was right behind her.

"Phil…"

"You know, kid, the more I think about it, the more I like this idea. You and me together, roughing it, putting the hurting on Angel Face and her thugs. That's gonna show everybody what we're worth!"

Lilly looked nervously toward Kate, who was glaring at her with an "I-knew-you-were-lying" look in her eye. But Kate didn't want to say anything. She wanted to give Philip enough rope to more fully hang himself. Kate was nothing if not generous that way.

Philip continued, "I know that it's a good idea. Hey, it might be the best idea I ever had! I may be getting the hang of this super-hero thing after all!"

"Not likely," Kate whispered through clenched teeth.

But then, Philip suddenly seemed to become depressed, dejected. "Then why can't I get rid of this feeling like I'm going to get myself killed tonight? Why can't I get that to go away? I just… I just feel so afraid of what could happen…"

"Phil, I think you should–" Lilly began to say but Philip cut her off as he continued to dress.

"I know, Lilly, you're scared too. But this is, like, your first time doing something like this. I've done it countless times before. And you'd think that by now I would have gotten used to risking my life. But somehow, this feeling, this fear, never goes away. I just don't know why."

Lilly looked to Kate, who seemed impatient, waiting for Philip to get to the point. But perhaps Kate's gaze was not as harsh as it had once been. Perhaps there was something more in her eyes now.

"I don't know… I just don't know. I mean, I love being the Green Goblin. I can't deny it. I love this. But… every time I have to do this, I just want to curl up somewhere and hide. I'm just so terrified, I don't even feel like I can get back on that glider tonight. Man, if only your sister was here."

Lilly gulped as Kate guffawed.

"If Kate was here, you know she wouldn't be afraid. She's not afraid of anything. She can go into battle cool as a cucumber. There's no such thing as fear in her."

Kate thought about this for a moment, but Philip continued speaking.

"Me, on the other hand, I'm all nerves. I could never be like that. I could never be Kate. I'm always going to be terrified, always going to be afraid. It's easy for someone like Kate to do this stuff. Me, not so much.

"But, no matter how much I just want to pretend like this stuff isn't happening, no matter how much I just want to run and hide so that Angel Face never finds me, I know that I'm going to get back on that glider tonight. I can't let you or your family and pack suffer for me. I just can't. I won't let anybody else be hurt because of Angel's sick game. No, I know what I've got to do. No matter how scared I am, and I'm, like, nearly shaking, I know I'm going to go down to that warehouse and I'm going to give Angel Face the fight of her life. I can't stop being afraid, but I can't let that fear rule over me. There are more important things than being afraid."

Philip had finished dressing. He slowly picked up his Goblin mask and lowered it over his head, pulling the hood up over it as he did so. "Tonight, I'm going to face my fear. We're going to face our fears together. No matter what happens, this is what we have to do. This is the only way we're going to fix this. It's okay to be afraid, Lilly, but there comes a time when you can't let it control you anymore. And that time is now. The Green Goblin will not be controlled by fear! Hahahahaha!"

And then he turned around. "Whoa, Kate, how long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough," Kate said slyly.

"Kate, don't be upset…" Lilly said, though she knew it was in vain.

"Why would I be upset?" Kate said with mock sweetness. "Just because this madman is leading my sister to her doom? Why should that upset me?"

"Hold on, Kate," the Green Goblin said. "It's not like that!"

"Isn't it, though? My sister's crazy about you, and she'd do whatever you told her. You know that as well as I do."

"It's reaalllyyy not like that!"

"It is!"

"It isn't!" Lilly exclaimed. "I'm the one who chose to go. Philip tried to stop me, but I wouldn't let him. He's not the only one who needs to face his fears, Kate."

Kate shook her head angrily. "Lilly, you can't do this. I won't let you do this!"

"Who said you could tell me what to do?" Lilly said, raising her voice.

"I am an Alpha and your older sister!" Kate's voice was rising as well.

"And I'm as much a future pack leader as you are! You don't have the right to tell me what to do!"

"How dare you yell at your own sister!"

"How dare you treat me like a child all the time!"

"Ladies!" the Goblin said. "There's not need to let this escalate… Really, it's all just a big misunderstanding."

"Wait till I tell mom and dad!" Kate barked.

"Yeah, go tattle on your little sister, just like when we were pups," Lilly barked back. "By the time they get back down here, I'll be long gone."

Kate now turned toward Philip. "This is all your fault! Why can't you just leave her alone!"

Lilly grabbed her tail and yanked it. Kate turned around in pain, at which point Lilly jumped into her face. "It isn't his fault! I'm just tired of not doing anything to help out this pack! I'm going to be pack leader so I'm going to act like it! It's my responsibility, too!"

"But it isn't your responsibility alone!" Kate said, almost pleading with Lilly. "Nobody says you have to go out there and risk your life!"

"You don't need to say it! If you aren't going to let me do something for this pack, then you're telling me all that I need to know! If I can't be trusted by you, sis, or by mom, dad, or Garth, than this is what I have to do! Do you understand?"
Kate paused. "I… I think I do. But I don't like it."

Lilly suddenly became calm again. She put her paw on Kate's shoulder. "I know you don't. But I have to do this. And this isn't because of Philip. I mean, sure it's his plan, but he didn't want me to go with him. But I insisted. I insisted because this is what I have to do. I have to do this for me. To prove to myself that there is something more than an Omega in me. That's why I'm going."

"But don't you know the risks involved?" Kate actually seemed on the verge of tears. In fact, a little one slowly streamed down her face.

"Of course I do. I could die, Kate, I know that. Nobody has to tell me that. But I still have to do this. And I'm as terrified as Philip, but I still have to do this. I know you're just worried about me, but I have to do what's right for me for a change. I'm sorry if you can't accept that, but that's the way it has to be."

Kate nodded slowly. "Then, I guess I can't stop you. If this is something which you have to do, then I won't stop you."

She then turned suddenly toward the Goblin. "If you let anything happen to her, you'll have to answer to me and to mom. Do you understand?"

"Oh, I do," he said. "Trust me on that. I do."

"Oh, and Philip," she said, "You're right about me. I wouldn't be afraid to do what you're doing. It's not in me to have fear in the face of danger; they knock that out of you in Alpha School. And maybe that actually makes you and Lilly braver than me."

She looked the Goblin squarely in his yellow eyes. "You and me, we both have a duty to fulfill, an obligation to uphold. But what makes us different is that, whereas I don't feel any sort of anxiety about what I do, you have to face fear whenever you're called upon to do it. I never think, when I'm actually facing danger, about how it could harm or kill me – I can't do that if I want to keep my wits about me. But you, you think about all that and you still do it, you still go out there. I was wrong about you, Philip, I was really wrong. You really are something special. And if you can teach Lilly to be like that, who am I to stand in the way?"

The Goblin smiled, as did Lilly, but neither of them spoke. Kate began to walk out but stopped suddenly. She turned around. "Though, even if I don't feel fear like you do, I still know what it's like to be afraid. I know what it's like to think about how my pack could be in peril because of something I did. I remember, when me and Humphrey were heading back to Jasper, I had a dream. I dreamt of our two packs fighting each other, an all-out war, with me standing in the middle. I dreamt that I was the cause, because I didn't get back in time, and now I couldn't do anything as my pack tore itself apart.

"And then, I got back to Jasper and everything was okay. I was set to marry Garth and everything was okay. But I couldn't marry Garth… because I fell in love with an Omega, with Humphrey. I just couldn't betray my heart, no matter what happened to the pack."

"Hey, Kate, I hear you," the Goblin said. "But everything worked out, right?"

Kate shook her head, but her eyes looked off into the distance, as if she was remembering something from long ago. "And, when I said I was in love with an Omega, and that I couldn't marry Garth, war broke out. A terrible war, a war like the valley had never seen before. Wolves fighting wolves, blood everywhere, Garth barely managed to get Lilly to safety, Tony and Winston were even fighting, and it was like the whole world had been turned upside down in a single instant. And all because of me. I don't know how long it lasted, but for me it felt like years. I just stood there, thinking about how it was all my fault. I had, for once in my life, followed my own heart instead of thinking about the good of the pack. And look what it did! It caused all of the things I was afraid of to actually happen!

"I stood there, and I saw my dream play out before me, and I knew that I had indeed been the cause of it. But it wasn't because I had failed to get home in time, wasn't because of some fluke. No, I had myself caused this – I had chosen this. I had been given two choices, and I had chosen this. And I wondered, wondered whether what I did was really right. How could I have been so selfish, I thought? How could I let everything I ever knew and loved be destroyed, just because of what my silly heart told me? How could I betray my family, my pack, the ideals of an Alpha, for Humphrey? No, not for Humphrey, for myself.

"What had I done? Wolves fighting wolves? What had I done? Brother against brother, friend against friend, two packs destined to fight until not a single wolf remained alive. And I had done this. I had wanted this. At least, I must have wanted it, if I had been willing to call off the marriage to Garth. I had chosen to plunge both packs into civil war, just so I could be happy. And who am I to be happy, when the good of the pack is at stake? What could possibly make it all worth this?

"Love? Is this what love causes? War? Then what good is love? What good is it if everybody has to die? That's what I asked myself. And yet, I couldn't… I couldn't stop loving Humphrey. I couldn't even think of marrying Garth. Maybe if… maybe if I had said I would marry Garth again, the war would've stopped. But I… just… couldn't! I did not love Garth, I could not spend my life married to him, so I had to… I had to let things happen. I couldn't stop myself.

"But really… what type of an Alpha am I if I couldn't control my own emotions… if I couldn't save the pack? Isn't that my purpose, saving the pack? How can I ever be happy, even with Humphrey, if that purpose breaks down? And how can I ever look at my reflection in the pools of water if I fail at that purpose… and if I fail because I chose to? What am I without that purpose? But what am I without Humphrey's love? Why did I have to be cursed with both a love of duty and a love for an Omega? Why couldn't the former be stronger than the latter? Or why couldn't the latter be strong enough that I no longer cared about the former? That was what I asked myself as I watched my whole world crumble around me."

There was a hush over the night as Kate finished speaking. Neither Lilly nor the Green Goblin knew quite what to say. Finally, the green man spoke. "Kate? How did… I mean, what answers did you come to?"

Kate looked at him, a sad, longing look in her eye. "Honestly, Philip? I didn't get a chance to. There came this caribou stampede. We caused it – I caused it. The war had frightened them into stampeding into the valley. And then I hated myself more than ever for not only causing destruction from within the pack but from outside it too. I mean, the caribou were supposed to be killed by us! They weren't supposed to kill us! But then they came down and in that instant, I knew it was all over. There would be no winners, just losers. And all because of me. Kate, the destroyer of packs, the killer of all wolves.

"And then, as everybody tried to get to safety, I found Humphrey. He had come back to me again. And everything just sort of clicked. Love, duty, honor, they all seemed like one. I didn't have to choose. Me and Humphrey, Humphrey and I, together we saved the pack from destruction. And then, I got stampeded. Literally, I got run down by the caribou. And I was sure I was going to die. The first time I had ever considered it as a personal possibility. But I wasn't afraid, you have to understand, I wasn't afraid. I wasn't being brave, either. I just knew that I deserved to die."

Lilly gasped. Kate could not bear to look at her. "It's true, sis, I knew that that was what should happen to me. I deserved it. I deserved it for betraying my pack, for nearly killing them all, I deserved it for failing to be the Alpha, the savior, of Jasper. I deserved it for falling in love with an Omega and I deserved it for not having the strength to overcome that love. I deserved it, maybe, for not letting that love save me and the packs from war. Maybe if I was better, smarter, I could have found another way to reconcile love and duty, love and honor, but it didn't occur to me until that moment, as me and Humphrey were log-sledding down to the valley floor. So, really, I had chosen death, chosen it as punishment for my sins. And I wasn't about to fight what I knew I deserved.

"And then, in the darkness, I felt Humphrey's body over mine and I felt him shake and tremble as the caribou's hooves beat into him instead of me. And then I heard, as it was all over, I heard his howl, and I heard yours, Lilly, and I heard mom's and dad's and Garth's… and then Tony's and the whole eastern pack and then all our pack. Our two packs, brought together in peace and harmony, all because of Humphrey's love for me. I couldn't believe it. Could this, everything I always wanted – everything – have really come true because of what I did? Had I, when I thought I had destroyed my purpose, actually fulfilled it? I knew that I had, somehow I had, and that gave me the strength to hold on, to fight death, and to go on living. That's what brought me back from the edge of death. And that's why I'm here today."

The silence became heavy. All three were lost in contemplation as they considered Kate's narrative. It played over and over in Kate's mind, while Lilly remembered her own feelings of absolute fear and terror for her family and for Kate, and the Green Goblin, that great goodly man all guised in green, though about all the times when he had asked what is purpose was and tried to reconcile the differing aspects of his personality.

Finally, Kate spoke again. "The thing is… I've never stopped asking myself those questions. I've never found my answers, never been able to tell myself what it is that allows me to be a wolf of both love and of honor. And they haunt me. Sometimes, when Humphrey's asleep late at night, I just get up and sit outside our den and look at the stars and ask myself those questions. I don't know if I'll ever have an answer. So, instead of satisfying myself, I make sure that a situation like that, a situation where I'd have to choose between love and duty, never comes up again. And I've succeeded so far, but that's my greatest fear. I fear for our pack when necessary, but there isn't usually that much reason; things were pretty peaceful up until a few weeks ago. But, that fear that someday, I'll have to choose again, that fear never leaves me. It's there when I get up in the morning and it's there when I go to sleep at night. And it takes all of my courage to face it each day. But I know I have to. I know that facing it, living with it, overcoming it, is the only hope I have of ever answering those questions, of ever fully understanding who I am."

More silence, more thought. Finally, Lilly put her foreleg around Kate and hugged her. "Sis," she said, "I didn't know. Nobody knew. You've never said anything."

"No, I've never said anything," Kate said, looking down at her paws. "Not to you, not to mom and dad, not even to Humphrey. I just never thought that anybody else could understand. Until tonight." Her head turned upward, and she looked Lilly in the eyes. "You've never felt more like my sister, Lilly, than you do right now."

"You never felt more like my sister until now," Lilly said, her eyes filling with tears.

"And that's why I won't stop you," Kate said. "I know what it means to feel like you feel. I feel that way all the time. And if you can find the answers that I never could, the answers about who you are as a wolf and a person, than I can't deny you that opportunity, not matter the risk."

"Well, thanks for your support," the Green Goblin said, startled by her approval. "It's really… appreciated."

Kate suddenly turned to him, or more like, turned on him. "But that doesn't mean I can't help! I'm not about to let Lilly risk her life alone. Neither would Garth or Humphrey! Let us come and we can help you. Together we can beat Angel Face. Together we can win."

The Goblin seemed uncertain but he nodded. "I… I really can't refuse more help. If I'm already 'endangering' Lilly's life, what's a few more gonna hurt? As long as you all understand the risks and the responsibility."

"You don't need to talk to me about responsibility," Kate answered. "And I know Garth and Humphrey will understand."

"Okay," the Goblin said. "Get them together and you guys meet me at the warehouse. I'll try not to get the party started without you. Who would have ever seen this team-up coming, the Green Goblin and his Howling Commandos! Hahaha!"

The Goblin ran over to the large metal bat in the corner and jumped on, fastening the foot clamps around his boots. And, in a moment, the glider was roaring into life, shooting out of the cave, right in between Lilly and Kate who both were whirled around and could barely keep from falling over, and coming to a halt just over the cliff outside. "Bye, guys. I'll see you there!"

And as he turned toward the sky above, Lilly called, "Wait!"

He turned back to look at her, obviously surprised.

"But, you can't go now! You'll be all alone until we get there," she said.

"But if I don't go now, If I just hang around, somebody's going to get wise," he responded. "Time is, like, of the essence."

"He has a point," Kate whispered to her.

"But you need an extra pair of eyes and ears," Lilly said. "That's why we were going together."

The Goblin considered. "Yeah, but, like, we never did figure out how we were going to get there together. I mean, other than the glider, there's no real fast way there. And I know you weren't about to be up for that. But it's the only way anybody could accompany me now."

Lilly cringed at the thought of riding the giant metal monstrosity. Even though she knew that she had ridden the prototype before, she was thankful that she had been unconscious the whole time. Now, she dreaded nothing more that riding on this thing, fully aware of what was happening to her.

But what other choice did she have?

"I… I could go with you," she choked out.

"Are you sure?" he said, searching her face to determine whether she could was fully resolved.

"Um, I want to come… but not on that thing," Lilly said.

"It is the only way."

"I know, but…"

"I think you should come," the Goblin said.

"He's right," Kate added.

Lilly turned toward her, shocked. "Did I hear you right?"

"Hey, you're the one who said you wanted to start doing things for yourself, no matter the consequences," Kate said. "Here's the perfect opportunity to start."

Lilly looked from her sister to the Green Goblin and his glider. She didn't know what to do.

"Come on, Lilly," the Goblin said. "You want to be free? Free of all the restrictions, all the presumptions, everything that constrains you? Well, you'll never know what freedom truly is until you try this. You'll never know if you don't try."

"He has a good point,' Lilly thought. But she was still hesitant. "Oh, but I am tired of being afraid! Of not facing the world because I'm too shy and too scared!"

The Goblin leaned in close and held out his hand. "Come on, Lilly, take a ride with me!"

Without any more hesitation, she put her paw in his open hand.

Well, who could have predicted this? An alliance between the pack's most headstrong Alpha and the world's strangest super-hero? Believe it, true believers! But how is this surprising team-up going to play out? As always, you'll just have to wait for our next issue to find out as "The Green Goblin Advances!"