Gwen Stacy was never someone who was just going to lie there and take being captured. Neither was Mary Jane Watson come to think of it. Both of the females made their attempts to free each other but neither was able to escape from where they were, at least not yet.
'The Hobgoblin's going to be back any second, he's going to kill both of us, he's insane,'
For some reason, that very point gave Gwen the focus she needed to shift her way through the bonds. They very nearly gave way but never the less, she stood back, leaning back. The chair rocked back into the ground and she found a loose spot. Gwen slipped out of the bonds.
With a thump, she landed on the ground, brushing herself up. Now, she had her hands on a knife and she cut Mary Jane loose.
"Let's find a way out of here," Gwen said and Mary Jane shrugged her shoulders, walking tensely behind Gwen.
"You won't get any arguments out of me about that," Mary Jane said, her hands shaking but sure enough, the door was locked. "A window?"
"It's worth a shot," Gwen agreed, right now, they didn't really have any other options. Mary Jane got down and started to boost Gwen towards the window.
Gwen bit down on her lip and tried to fiddle with the window latch. Much to her agitation, she could not get it open. It was rammed pretty tight and the blonde was about ready to scream. Somehow, someway, she regained her composure and did not completely flip out.
"Okay, there's got to be another way out, he got us in here, he got out of it, we could try and work with the lock."
Gwen's hairs stood up on the back of her neck and Mary Jane grabbed her as the two of them made their way into the shadows.
The Hobgoblin was coming, they were sure of it. Mary Jane picked up a fire extinguisher and Gwen picked up a piece of a pipe. The girls weren't sure how good these weapons were going to hold up in the face of their enemy but they had to try. And if they had to try, they would be able to fight anyone who came through the door.
The door opened and Gwen swung the pipe but stopped, and saw Peter standing there, in full Spider-Man attire.
"Pete….thank god," Gwen whispered and Mary Jane looked at Gwen, shaking her head.
"Are you sure you should be using secret identities with a psychotic killer on the loose?" Mary Jane asked, she did not relinquish her weapon. That would be something that would get her killed fairly easily, she was sure.
"He knows, you know," Gwen replied and despite the word games, MJ nodded and Peter agreed.
"Yes, he knows….he knows everything, all that I know is that I'm ninety percent sure that it isn't Harry."
"Only ninety percent sure?"
Gwen could not resist asking that question and Peter shrugged.
"Let's get out of here before we try and rack our brains over statistics," Peter said, following Gwen and Mary Jane closely together. The two girls stood shoulder to shoulder as they made their way out of the room.
Spider Sense went off and he cringed, he wasn't going to get out of here this easily, with the Hobgoblin here. He lost him on his way here, but getting the two girls was higher priority that fighting the super villain.
"RUN!"
Gwen and Mary Jane protested but Spider-Man grabbed them underneath his arms and swung them out of the way.
He slammed the door behind them as the pumpkin bombs landed on the ground. He just barely escaped being blown to smithereens.
"You didn't play the game right, Spider-Man, now I'm going to punish you for breaking the rules!" The Hobgoblin said, his eyes glowing as he reached forward and he wrapped his hand around the throat of Spider-Man.
The web slinger flung down to the ground hard from the impact and the Hobgoblin circled him, insidious laughter continued to kick up a few notches.
"You don't know how to play the game, let me teach you how to play! Let me teach you the destruction, the punishment, the pain, and everything that goes along with that!"
The Hobgoblin was circling around Spider-Man and then with one fluid motion, he swooped in for the kill.
The web slinger smacked his back against the wall and his head began to rattle. The Hobgoblin reached down, binding the web slinger and swinging him around.
"The bait's left but it doesn't matter, they'll all be dead like the rest of them," The Hobgoblin mused, swinging Spider-Man around like he was nothing.
Spider-Man wanted to get to the bottom of this and he broke out, to continue the fight with the Hobgoblin, ignoring the cracked shoulder and ribs.
X-X-X
Spider-Man dropped to the ground, the soreness of his body causing him problems. He had broken ribs, busted shoulder, bad body, he was beat up, battered and abused. The web slinger tried to lift his head off of the ground but he could not. The web slinger collapsed onto the ground and he stepped forward, stepping onto his chest.
"Do you understand me now, Spider-Man?"
"Yeah, I understand you're a certifiable lunatic," Spider-Man said, trying to struggle underneath the grip of the Hobgoblin. His foot was pressed down onto the chest.
"I understand who you are Parker, and you don't know anything about who I am," the Hobgoblin whispered, holding his foot down across the chest of his adversary. Spider-Man tried to kick and squirm his way out but no matter how hard he tried, there was no easy way out. "You don't understand what I can do to you, do you?"
"I understand….."
Spider-Man webbed onto the ceiling and gave a tug. He sent several cases down in an attempt to take the Hobgoblin out. The enemy was rather dangerous and unable to be put down right there.
The web head cracked his webbing off of the head and nailed his adversary with a huge knee smash to the head. He toppled him down.
"The mask comes off!" Spider-Man yelled but the moment he tried to rip the mask off, it shocked him. The web slinger crumpled down like a ball.
"Now, you thought that you could win the game that easily, but you can't game the system, Spider-Man," Hobgoblin said, punting him directly in the ribs as quick as possible. The web slinger was rolled over and the arm wrapped around his throat. "Tell me, do you understand what's going on now. Do you feel this? Do you feel this moment?"
Spider-Man breathed heavily underneath the grip of the Hobgoblin. He tried to forced himself away but his strength sapped the energy.
'Good thing I got a couple more tricks up my sleeve,' Spider-Man thought, hoping that this would work. The web slinger began to run up the wall and kicked off of it, trying to flip himself up and over the top of the head of his enemy.
His mask nearly ripped from the impact and he was lucky that he did not break his neck. The Hobgoblin threw a pair of sonic pumpkin bombs over his shoulder.
The web slinger dodged the attacks and kicked them off to the side. The web head followed in and several more bombs exploded once again.
Hobgoblin cracked his enemy in the face with another punch and held him down, grabbing him around the head.
"I should just crush your skull, in fact, that's what I'm going to do."
Spider-Man braced himself for the impromptu skull crushing, knowing that what was going to come next, it was not going to be pleasant.
WHIRL!
SMASH!
There was another party that had come into the mix and Spider-Man looked up. He might have a concussion but he processed this immediately. There was one word that came through his mind.
'No.'
Harry Osborn faced off against the Hobgoblin, dressed as the new and improved goblin. The two of them stared each other down, each had a pumpkin bomb in his hand.
"You succumbed to the madness of those who came before you," The Hobgoblin whispered harshly and continued to stare down Harry Osborn. The two men locked eyes with each other once more. "Well….you might have succumbed to the madness, but you will suffer for the sins of your father."
"I don't think so," Harry said, staring down the pumpkin bomb that was in the hand of the Hobgoblin. He was so close to doing something, anything. "There's only one true goblin….."
A loud explosion and the New Goblin was knocked off of his glider and thumped down onto the ground. Spider-Man got himself to his feet once more.
"There is one true goblin and that true goblin is not you, Harry Osborn!" the Hobgoblin yelled but Harry unleashed a sonic blast from his suit. That popped the ears of the Hobgoblin, doubling him over.
"We'll see, won't we?"
The two goblins collided with each other and Peter watched the battle, numb struck shock going through his body.
The other Hobgoblins entered the room. While the master was at bay, the minions would play so Spider-Man prepped himself for a battle.
X-X-X
Two of the goblin's goons rushed Spider-Man. He was finding it hard to make his usual wise crack remarks with the busted ribs that he had. He would have to try. The web slinger, despite the beating and the battering he suffered, held his head up. His breath racked through his body as he stared forward and said one more biting comment.
"Come on!" Spider-Man yelled, slumped over and clutching his ribs. The web slinger was almost down on the ground, the back of his neck was sore and agonizing but he had to fight. "You're nothing but a lot of imposters, all of you, you're imposters, and I'm going to…..come on, that mask isn't making you any less uglier."
Spider-Man staggered like he was punch drunk, the fact that he got a concussion was a point that resounded back on him. He felt that tightening that went in his chest constantly and he nearly fell down to the ground, dropping to one knee.
Blood poured from his mouth but he kicked one of the goblin's goons right in the leg. Instinct was pretty much the only think that he fought on now, it was crazy, insanity. That type of instinct where the web slinger was not going to quit fighting into every breath escaped from his body. A loud crunch resounded once again as his foot knocked his enemy down for the count.
He kicked them in the head, barely blocking the ringing in his ears.
'Must be brain damaged to try and fight now,' Spider-Man thought but then again, he had a concussion. The Hobgoblin hit him so hard that his brains felt like scrambled eggs. He wondered how many head injuries he got over the years. He must have had something wrong with them to fight super powered psychopaths like that.
"Come on, attack me!"
Spider-Man had an idea, it was insane but most of his plans were. The web slinger vaulted over the attacking enemies and they slammed into each other. Both connected with the other hard. The web slinger dropped down once again, the ringing in his head.
He could hear the battle between the New Goblin and the Hobgoblin. Even in his concussed state, he wondered what possessed Harry to pick up with the goblin formula and injected himself. Peter could not even begin to tell.
"It's over for you, Spider-"
A crash through the wall was the distraction that Peter Parker needed. He dodged the flying debris, the bricks nearly crashed down upon the back of his head. His hand lifted up and he coughed, ignoring the smoke that came perilously close to filling his lungs.
Smoke inhalation added to the list of many, many problems that he suffered. The web slinger could see the two goblins fighting against each other. Both of them tried to wipe the other out and the sinister ringing that got even more intense caused Peter's head to nearly explode from the torment.
"Just stand down, and the torment will be over!" The Hobgoblin howled at the top of his lungs.
"I'm not ready to give up, not yet."
A sonic exploding toad was hurled up into the air and the Hobgoblin was blown backwards. He clutched his ears in splitting agony, hurling his arms around.
"Just accept this, just….."
The Hobgoblin swiped something out of his arm and then stabbed the New Goblin in the chest with it full brunt.
Harry Osborn's eyes widened and he gasped, barely choking back the blood that oozed from him. The Goblin Formula was starting to heal his body but then his spine grew numb.
"Not going to happen, I'm the superior evolution of the Goblin!" Hobgoblin yelled, plunging the dagger in Harry's stomach once again and then backing up, getting onto the glider. "The same look on your face now is the look that your worthless father wore before he was destroyed."
At the speed of light, the Hobgoblin ran the blade of his glider into the stomach of Harry Osborn. The young man gasped with blood oozing out of his stomach. Slumping down to the ground, he collapsed, just like that.
"HARRY!" Spider-Man yelled but he could not save him in time. The windows shattered over their heads as the Hobgoblin was about ready to make a brisk get away.
Spider-Man got to his feet and he could see Harry staggering around. It was disgusting, there was a big hole in his stomach and he was sure that something got punctured.
"We'll get an ambulance, Harry…."
"Pete, I think I'm dying ,after all of this, after all I went through, this guy, I think he killed me."
Harry felt the stabbing pain through his stomach, the goblin formula failed and every single one of his organs burned as he succumbed to a fatal blood poisoning.
"No, no, you're not dead, there's still time…."
"Yes, there's still time," Harry whispered, crawling over to the glider and getting back on it. Blood splashed to the ground. Adrenaline ran through his veins but it would soon run out, much like his blood would. "Still time to kill that miserable bastard!"
X-X-X
Peter Parker was normally mild mannered and even tempered but he had his breaking point just as much as the next person. The web slinger closed his eyes, biting his lips, and he could see Harry down on the ground, staggering, trying to go after the Hobgoblin.
The laughter of the Hobgoblin was heard and then a loud crunch was heard, with Harry going down once again. His already sizeable injuries becoming even more so.
"YOU!" Spider-Man yelled as he rushed down the hallway, rage boiling through his body.
"I think I broke you friend, Parker," the Hobgoblin whispered, as he dropped Harry's body to the ground, the obvious signs of a snapped neck obvious. Harry was not moving and it was another body that was at Peter's feet.
Spider-Man dove at the Hobgoblin, hands outstretched with reckless abandon and knocked him hard into the wall. The Hobgoblin's head bounced across the wood paneling, with Spider-Mans fist sinking into his face.
"That's it, that's it!" The Hobgoblin yelled as Spider-Man pounded him with a punch so hard that the web slinger broke his own hand. The Hobgoblin spoke in a slurred tone, his teeth obviously loosened. "You're not better than me hero, you….are….not better than me."
Spider-Man could not care, Spider-Man just hammered away at his adversary with reckless abandon, hammering him with everything that he had.
He stopped, the adrenaline pumping through his body from what happened fading completely. He stopped from pummeling the Hobgoblin halfway to death and the blood splattered against his costume. The combination of his blood, the Hobgoblin's blood, and Harry's blood.
Harry, he was dead, something that struck Spider-Man and he felt like he wanted to beat the Hobgoblin to a bloody pulp.
"Beat me, Spider-Man, end me ,save them, my death is the only way that you liberate them from my horror, more friends will become like Harry, and innocents, innocents will perish."
"That's the easy way out," Spider-Man said as he stepped back but his wrist was sore. He nailed him so hard.
"No, Spider-Man, that's the only way out," the Hobgoblin whispered as the mask fell from his face, to reveal the sparks of a robotic shell. "You see…..web slinger….it isn't the time where we meet face to face….not yet…..but soon….you will have to make a choice. I'm a very sick man, and this is a very sick world. Perhaps you're just as sick as the rest of us. You're deluding yourself, hero, if you think otherwise."
Spider-Man could not help but feel the rage boil through his body. His hands were sore, battered, bruised, broken, much like the rest of him.
The web slinger took half of a step back and he ripped the gloves off, seeing the blood staining his hands.
Harry was dead and Peter could feel the effects of the concussion return to him. It was a ringing sensation that went through his head. He felt like he had someone play the Bongo drums on his head.
The Hobgoblin had played this demented game with him and the result was that his friend, was an unfortunate victim.
"Spider-Man…..Spider-Man…..ARE YOU IN THERE?"
Gwen looked up and she stopped, nearly tripping over the body. The blonde was caught off guard momentarily, trying to recover quickly. Seconds passed when she realized who the body she nearly tripped over was.
"Oh, my god."
Those words might be among the most overused in the English language but never the less it underlined the situation. Mary Jane joined her, the goons had escaped the base. Both of the girls looked numb struck and Gwen opened her mouth but closed it. She was pretty sure she intended words but they failed her.
So much tragedy in her life, was it really bad that she was used to loss by now? Where she was almost numb to it? But yet at the same time it devasitated her? It was a maelstrom of emotions and she could see that Peter was feeling it as well.
"We need to call for an ambulance," Mary Jane said and Peter looked at her, nearly collapsing from the injuries he suffered.
"Too late for that, he's gone, that bastard stabbed him and snapped his neck," Peter managed, blood spilling from his mouth. His right eye also was almost swollen shut, which was a lovely bonus.
"I wasn't talking…." Mary Jane said but she collapsed. The three of them, they realized what happened and they realized that the dangerous life that they lived was not a game. It was horrific reality and with great power, there also came great responsibility.
Also with great power, there also came constant tragedy. Peter looked calmly forward and the police arrived.
"Back door, before it's too late, I'll meet you," Gwen whispered, but she was completely nervous about this entire mess.
Especially considering she didn't know what the Hobgoblin was going to do, whether or not he left this place rigged to blow or not.
Sheer instinct delivered Spider-Man, Peter Parker, from danger.
X-X-X
It was not the worst part that someone close to Peter and Gwen died once again. That was a bad thing, granted, but that was not far from the worst thing. The Goblin legacy, the one that took so many lives, that was the worst of it all.
Peter looked out, having returned home, the news of the death of Harry Osborn would have reached them all.
"He's out there still Gwen."
There was nothing else that either of them could say. The man who had screwed with their minds over the last couple of days and drove Harry to his death due to a carefully calculated gambit was dead. Why was he dead? Peter honestly didn't know and that was something that really caused him an ample amount of frustration.
"It'll be alright," Gwen whispered, wishing that she could give Peter even more than the empty reassurance that she did. The blonde blinked slowly, surely. Her heart sped up a couple more beats and Peter looked over his shoulder towards her.
"Will it Gwen, I wish it would?"
There was no question about it, Peter thought about everything that happened and thought that he had been tested before. The deaths of many people and the recent disappearances of the X-Men, things that he had grown to expect when he fought for power and responsibility.
Expecting it and accepting it were two different things.
"Pete?" Gwen asked, she could see him go really quiet and she felt uneasy when he went this quiet. There was something extremely intense about what he was doing and that caused shivers to roll dow Gwen's spine.
"Yes?"
It was hard to believe that one simple word could cause someone so much uneasiness. Gwen struggled to figure out what she needed to say. Numbness visited her.
"Do….well….do what you feel you have to do, I guess."
Silence once more and the wind was not the only think that was eerie.
"Just don't do anything that you'll regret."
Peter thanked her from the reminder as he came close from giving into the Hobgoblin's mind games. Even if it was a robotic duplicate, he had no way of knowing that right away.
With great power, there also came great responsibility and with great responsibility, there came the toughest decisions.
To Be Continued.