The Goblin Legacy Episode Five

This was a state of emergency the way Peter handled the letter right now. 'It's possible that the letter and the attack in the city may be correlated.' he thought. School was over which Peter was most grateful for. He had not the time for any more lecture. Lives were at stake. His best friend Harry may be in danger.

As he got out the front door and amidst the countless students walking out, Peter quickly took out his phone and dialed Harry's number again.

"Come on…where are you, man?" the dial tone kept repeating. Harry was not picking up. He hung up and tried to punch his number again.

"Peter!"

He turned around and saw Gwen walking towards him. "Hey." she said too affectionately.

"Oh hey." Peter was reluctant to talk to Gwen at the moment especially when Harry was MIA and the fact that he received a threatening letter. He had to do what he did best. Now was not the time for conversing. But at the same time though, he didn't want to give out too much to Gwen. He had to remain secretive about his Spider-Man persona.

"What was all that with Harry's dad?" she asked.

Peter frowned but eventually he remembered having a talk with Norman Osborn. It seemed like a long time ago. He had wanted to follow him due to a vibe he couldn't shake from. Eventually all he got from that whole ordeal was a terrible explosion done to the city.

"Apparently he thinks I have a quality he likes. He sees me as special. He wants to offer me a job."

"Did he?" Gwen frowned.

"Yeah. Listen I uh…I have to go home now. My aunt's not feeling well." Peter said.

"Do you want me to give you a ride? I have a car now." Gwen suggested.

"No I uhh…it's pretty urgent. Besides I run pretty fast." Peter said looking at his watch to give off the necessary effect. He proceeded in walking off when Gwen caught him again.

"Just one last thing, Peter, please." Gwen said.

"Sure, what is it?" he said as gently as he could possibly be.

"This morning when we were out here in the parking lot-" Gwen began when Peter interrupted her.

"I had a moment of weakness. Breaking down is not something I'm proud of. I'm sorry you had to see that coming from a guy, much less someone like me." Peter said.

"It's not that. You looked at me and I looked at you. I could tell that you wanted me back." Gwen raised an eyebrow.

Peter was not in the mood to talk about what might have been a possible making-out with Gwen. He was in a hurry.

"Look Gwen, I don't have time to talk about this right now. I have something important to do. Better yet, I'll call you so we can talk about it later."

"You're starting to have feelings aren't you?" A sly Gwen asked.

Peter could only look on exasperated. He didn't know what to say.

"It's OK. I'll wait. I got nothing but time." Gwen smiled.

"Good-bye Gwen." Peter frowned and rolled his eyes in response. 'She just doesn't quit, does she?' He then walked at a brisk pace leaving Gwen alone behind him. Peter rolled his eyes again when he thought he heard Gwen say 'Bye handsome!'

As he made his way down a few buildings which was the usual route the bus drove by to school, Peter had a distinct feeling he was being watched. Peter stopped walking and gave a quick thought of that note he found in his locker.

'FIND ME SPIDER-MAN OR WHAT'S HAPPENED TO YOUR FRIEND HARRY WILL SOON HAPPEN TO YOU!' the note had said. 'Oh crap!' he thought.

Whoever wrote the note was obviously going to catch Peter at some point today. Peter thought there was a possibility he was going to come in contact with the maniac who wrote the letter. 'He wrote that letter as a warning. He knew I was at school. He knew that eventually I would have to go home. He's about to strike!'

Peter was immediately on his guard and looked behind him and then to his front. Despite his spider-sense not activating, he was on alert regardless. Nothing came at him. Nothing attacked him. No one showed up. He sighed and shook his head. Peter realized one other thing about him. 'This is exactly what he wants to cause: fear and paranoia.'

"Where am I?"

A gasping Harry woke up in his hotel room and to his surprise and frustration saw on the alarm clock that it was 3:07 PM. He immediately remembered where he was and it made him even that much more miserable.

"Ah crap!" Harry groaned. He hated that he overslept. Sitting in his bed, Harry tried to put himself together and tried to get the thought out of his head that his psycho father was out to get him.

"I got to go to another place. What if dad tries to find me here?"

He had struggled to figure out how his father had contacted him in the hotel. 'Whatever he took that day, it was a formula pf some kind.' Harry thought and also came up with another crucial point. 'The serum he made was unstable...it had performance effects, appearance effects and behavior modification effects.' he realized. Harry thought so long and hard that he fell asleep last night. As soon as he got dressed, Harry was about to open his closet to get his coat when a terrible sight appeared out of nowhere.

"AAH!" he screamed.

It was the hulking green creature that his father had turned into. He was menacing and terrifying all at once. Harry couldn't form a thought as he realized how scared he had just become.

"Hello Harry…" the creature smiled. "Rise and shine!" he cackled.

That was when Harry fainted due to the immense shock.

Peter got home at last. In his room, Peter pondered and pondered and yet as he did, he had no discernible answer to the questions that alluded him each day. He sighed and went back to doing his homework.

"Peter?" Aunt May's voice echoed.

Never taking his eyes off his homework, Peter responded. "Yeah?"

"You have mail!"

He stopped typing and got up and opened his door where Aunt May handed him a manila envelope. "Do you know where it came from?" Peter asked as he looked for the return address on the envelope.

"No...it just came as it is. I found it on the doorstep."

"I'll uh...I'll open it inside."

"Alright, dinner's almost ready though, Peter." Aunt May said before she went away.

Peter ripped opened the envelope and inside it was an object along with several letters. Peter picked up the first one. The large bold, red letters practically covered up the entire paper even if was only a sentence.

'YOU HAVE 24 HOURS TO GET ME SPIDER-MAN, PARKER!' the note read and it was that instant when he knew that the maniac knew who he was. 'But he doesn't know 'I'm' Spider-Man.' he thought.

There was a second paper. He picked it up and read. 'HERE'S A PIECE OF YOUR FRIEND!"

Peter gasped as he picked up the object. It was Harry's pendant, his necklace. In his hand he picked up the jewel which Peter knew to be an amethyst. 'Harry's in trouble!' he thought.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Peter growled looking at the pendant.

He looked at the last paper in the envelope and saw the answer. 'THE GOBLIN SAYS TO COME UP WITH SPIDER-MAN AT THE CONSTRUCTION SITE DOWNTOWN.'

Peter turned the paper around and saw more. 'IF HE DOESN'T COME THEN YOU AND EVERYONE YOU LOVE WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!'

"The Goblin?" Peter whispered and eventually he remembered battling the psycho-creature in the glider the day his uncle had died.

"You haven't heard the last of me! I'll come back!" he had said before he retreated.

"Guess that freak wants a rematch. I'm afraid I'm gonna have to kick his ass again." he said and got out his Spider-Man suit he had stashed in his closet.

'I got to save Harry!' he thought. Tomorrow Peter was going to be ready.