Later that night, in the bunker beneath the Hobgoblin's Long Island mansion, Roderick Kingsley stood in a large vat with green vapor surrounding him. He took it all in, balling his hands into fists to withstand the process. He impulsively knelt down to the cold, metal ground. He clenched his teeth as every muscle in his body tensed up.

He held in every impulse to scream, as to not disturb his special guest upstairs. Then, when the gas finally dissipated, he stood back up. Stepping out from the chamber, his veins throbbed and his pulse rapidly pounded. He took a deep inhale to recompose himself. In short time, he felt normal again.

In fact, he felt better than normal. He felt rejuvenated! Like a new man!

He put back on his Hobgoblin costume. Whereas it once felt slightly too baggy, it now fit him like a glove. His transformation was complete. Before, he felt like he was just a man wearing the Hobgoblin's costume. Now, he truly WAS the Hobgoblin. A sickly grin formed on his rubbery, masked face.

As a test, he slammed his fist into a nearby wooden desk. His hand cleanly went through it, like it was made out styrofoam. Hobgoblin pulled his hand out from hole and stared at it in sheer awe, "This power...! It's incredible! I'm now as strong as the Green Goblin! Perhaps even stronger."

Hobgoblin stepped onto his glider and a hatch opened. There was only one way he could think to prove himself, and that was to go after Spider-Man. He flew up into the open hatch, emerging in the mansion's backyard. He departed for Manhattan, all too excited to go against Spider-Man now that they were more evenly matched.

Watching him depart from the second floor of the mansion was Quentin Beck. Quentin tapped his fingers on the window sill, his head resting in his other hand. Now that he knew the Hobgoblin was gone for the night, this could be his moment to do some investigating on his mysterious partner in crime.

Back at Peter Parker's apartment, Peter was sitting on the sofa and watching TV. He sank into the cushy seat and kicked his feet up with a relaxed smile on his face.

"Oh, that Carlton," he said to himself with a quiet joy. "When will he ever learn?"

That's when he heard the door to his room creak open. He turned his head over the back of the seat, seeing Tomoko standing in the doorway. She was on her phone.

Peter was tempted to talk to her, but chose not to interrupt her discussion with whoever it was on the other end. Tomoko lumbered over to the love seat and plopped down next to Peter. She held her phone up to him with a groggy look on her face. She gestured down to it with her head.

Peter looked down at the phone with a cocked eyebrow, then back to her an even more confused expression.

"My friend wants to talk to you," Tomoko finally clarified.

Peter nodded in response, "Ohhhhhh. Alright."

He snapped the phone up and spoke into it, "Hello?"

"Hi! I am Yuu!" an incredibly enthusiastic, thickly accented voice spoke out.

"What? How can you be me? I'm me!" Peter responded while chuckling.

Tomoko looked at him with a slightly disgusted look over such a horrible pun.

Yuu didn't respond at all. Instead, she just blanky stared at her phone in confusion.

"Huh?" she responded after a solid minute.

Peter scratched the back of his neck, realizing that his joke fell completely flat.

"I...it's nothing, just a bit of English humor. My apologies."

"What about them?" she blithely asked.

Tomoko whispered to him, "English isn't a class she excels at."

Peter inhaled, the situation officially crossing over to uncomfortable. He stumbled his words before he said, "Anyway, I'm Peter."

"Yes! Mokocchi's fuckbuddy!"

Peter lowered the phone to look Tomoko in the eyes. He was trying to maintain a serious glare, but that quickly faultered as his face contorted into wobbly smile. He stifled his laughter to the best of his ability.

Tomoko blushed with a wily grin and wide eyes as she tapped her index fingers together, "I-I, uhhh, I don't know where she p-picked that u-up!"

Peter raised the phone back up to correct her, "Well, I'm her boyfriend, yes."

"Mokocchi told me that fuckbuddy is American term for that."

"Well, I guess in some ways, it is. However, it's not a term most people use in polite company."

"Ooooooooh, I now see. Thank you, Parker-chan."

"So, what else has she told you about us?"

Before Yuu could even speak, Tomoko attempted to snatch the phone out of Peter's hand to prevent Yuu from going on. Unfortunately for her, Peter's grip on that phone was super tight thanks to both his super strength and sticking abilities.

"Hmmm, give a minute? I need to think."

Tomoko tried her HARDEST to get the phone out of Peter's hand, but he didn't even budge. Couldn't even call it a struggle.

After a couple seconds, Yuu responded, "Maybe, it is best to not say."

Tomoko breathed a sigh of relief after that. Peter gave a disappointed glance at the phone.

"Alright, that's fair."

"Actually, I must ask, if you do not mind."

"Shoot."

"Shoot what?"

"Right, right, I keep forgetting you're not up on English slang. Ask your question."

"What does, 'doing it,' mean and how does one 'do it' on the ceiling?"

Peter froze, his eyes darting from the phone to Tomoko. She nervously shrugged.

"I don't know," he answered in a deadpan voice.

"Okay! I have another question. What made you interested in Mokocchi?"

"She's funny, for one thing. I just, honestly, it's hard to describe. I hate to default to the whole, 'she's different,' thing, but she is! Very different. Why do you ask?"

"I want to make sure my friend will be happy," Yuu answered sincerely

"I'll try to make that happen."

"Thank you, Parker-chan. I would like to talk to Mokocchi again."

Peter obliged, handing the phone back Tomoko, who was currently flustered like mad over their conversation. Tomoko sheepishly took the phone and scurried back into Peter's room.

Peter reclined back into his seat, continuing to watch the television. That was, until he got a call himself. It was from an unknown number. Hesitantly, Peter answered. He was certain it was a scam.

"Parker! It's Brock!"

Now he wished it WAS a scam.

"What is it, Eddie?" Peter asked in a frustrated voice, slumping back in his seat. "I'm in the middle of watching something."

Eddie answered, "I saw that new goblin flying above the city. It looked like he was heading towards the Bugle."

Peter shot up from the sofa, quickly charging into his room. As he barged in, Tomoko turned to him in a panicked fashion, dropping her phone onto the bed. Without saying a single word, Peter started taking his clothes off haphazardly.

Tomoko gasped, "Huh?! Wh-what are you d-d-d-doing?!"

"Changing into my costume, what do you think I'm doing?"

Tomoko disappointedly sighed, shutting her eyes in dismay. Meanwhile, Yuu was still on the other end of the phone. She called out to Tomoko, "[Mokocchi, what's going on? Are you okay?]"

"[Oh! Yes, yes! Just fine, Yuu-chan,]" Tomoko answered as she scrambled to pick her phone back up.

"[Are you sure? It sounds like something is happening.]"

Tomoko tried to play it off by answering as calmly as she could, "[Ohhh, yeah. Everything's going smoothly. Nothing to worry about here.]"

"[Hmm, I suppose if you're sure...]"

Peter finally changed into his Spider-Man costume. A spare one, since his other costume was still being cleaned. He gave a two finger salute to Tomoko, "Gotta go! Sorry to startle you!"

With that, he dove out the window and swung off into the night.

At the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson was sorting through some papers at his desk with a sour grimace on his face. So, it was pretty much a standard night for him. That was, until he heard something off in the distance. He cocked his eyebrow and swiveled his chair towards the large window pane just behind him.

"What is that noise? Some kind of airplane? Sounds awfully close..." he muttered to himself, getting up from his seat to take a closer look outside. He didn't see anything at first, except an orange blur with a smoke trail behind it.

He squinted in an attempt to get a closer look.

His eyes widened when he saw how quickly it was approaching,"What in the Sam Hill is that?!"

Thinking quickly, ran over to his desk and slammed the buzzer.

"Attention, staff! Evacuate the building immediately!"

When Jameson looked back at the window, he saw whatever was approaching much more closely. It was the Hobgoblin! Scarily enough, Jameson couldn't see the face beneath his hood whatsoever. All he saw was pitch blackness, with only Hobgoblin's bulbous, glowing red eyes peeking out.

Even worse is that he was revving his arm back, pumpkin bomb in hand. It looked like he was getting ready to throw it.

Jameson dove beneath his desk, bracing for impact by curling up into a ball with his arms over his head.

Hobgoblin threw the bomb, shattering the window AND everything surrounding it. While Jameson could only hear the vaguely muffled noise before, now he could hear the Hobgoblin's mad cackling in full force. Hobgoblin knelt down and picked Jameson up by the scruff of his vest with a deranged, toothy grin on his face.

"Let's get something straightened out, JJ, I'm not the Orange Goblin!" Hobgoblin clarified. "I'm the Hobgoblin. Now that you're properly informed, you're going to print out a correction!"

Jameson could now get a look at the Hobgoblin's horrifying visage. Everything from the yellow skin to the ridged brows made it look so creepy and uncanny. Even still, Jameson did not back down, "What if I don't? The Bugle doesn't bow to the demands of masked creeps like you! I'll call you what I like, and you'll like it!"

"Do you know what I'll do to you if you don't meet my demands?"

"What? You'll kill me? I'd rather you do that then sell out my integrity!"

Hobgoblin turned around and slammed Jameson on his back. JJ's head was just over the edge of the hole Hobgoblin left. If he could look down, he could see the streets of NYC just below him. Even worse, the flames left by Hobgoblin's bombs were scarily close. He could feel the rising temperature.

"You haven't got any integrity, Jameson!" Hobgoblin snarled. "I know your dirty little secret. If you don't issue a redaction AND keep your papers out of my business, I'll ruin your reputation."

Jameson smirked, "Dirty little secret? That so, eh? Go on then, what is it?"

Hobgoblin leaned in close to him as he said, "You commissioned the Spider-Slayers and are responsible for the creation of the Scorpion. You've put this city at risk multiple times over your hatred with Spider-Man."

"H-how did you know?! I never told anybody except...!"

"Let's just say I know many things, Jameson." Hobgoblin pulled Jameson closer, yanking him by the tie, "What say you, then? Have we got a deal or would you like everybody to know your pettiness has cost this city greatly?"

A pit formed in Jonah's stomach. Like he was going to be sick. Not a day went by that he didn't regret his actions on those days. He couldn't even live with himself knowing he was responsible for both the Spider-Slayers and the Scorpion, how could others react about it?

Jameson frowned and closed his eyes. As much as he hated to, he conceded, "Alright, alright, you win. I'll issue a redaction and tell all my reporters and photographers to avoid any stories involving you."

Hobgoblin tossed Jameson across the room into a corner, "Good. I'm glad we see eye-to-eye now, JJ."

Their conversation was interrupted by Jameson's door being ripped out from the wall and tossed at the Hobgoblin. Hobgoblin ducked beneath it, turning back to doorway with an irritated look on his face.

Standing in the doorway was a massive figure. It vaguely resembled Spider-Man, but the jagged eyes, gaping maw with razorsharp teeth, and long tongue made it all too clear this wasn't the webslinger. It was, instead, Venom.

Venom casually strode into Jameson's office, cracking his neck and knuckles, "Well, well, well, look what we found. Been a long time since we been in the Bugle..."

Jameson huddled into the corner at the mere sight of this hideous monster, "What kind of demon are you?!"

"I was going to ask the same thing," Hobgoblin added.

"Ahh, allow us to introduce ourselves. We are Venom," Venom explained while sarcastically bowing, "You are the Orange Goblin, we presume?"

Hobgoblin balled his hands into fists, "That's the Hobgoblin! Not that you'll live long enough for it to matter!"

Venom charged at Hobgoblin, shoulder first. Hobgoblin leapt up above him and lobbed an array of pumpkin bombs at his backside. Venom turned back, snatching the bomb trio and wrapping them up into a symbiote-made sack. He tossed the sack at Hobgoblin. Hobgoblin caught the sack, twirling them around in his hand. He tossed it back at Venom and remotely activated the bombs before impact for good measure.

Fire spewed out from the sack as it was torn asunder from the intense heat. Venom rolled out of the way of the incoming fireball. He crawled towards Hobgoblin on all fours as fast as he possible could. Hobgoblin escaped by jumping up onto his glider and flying around the office in circles.

Venom shot a large, thick strand of symbiote goo at the Hobgoblin's lower legs, yanking as hard as he could. However, the magnets in Hobgoblin's glider were far too strong. Hobgoblin wrapped his hand around the goo and sent surge of electricity down it. Venom screeched in agony, falling down to the ground. Smoke radiated off of him as he breathed heavily. He was used to utterly destroying Spider-Man every time they fought, he simply wasn't equipped to deal with a foe who had all these gadgets at his disposal.

Still, he pulled himself back up. Venom tackled the Hobgoblin off of the glider, using all of his upper strength to do so. They both tumbled onto the ground, the glider erratically flying away for parts unknown.

Venom wrapped his hands around the Hobgoblin's face and began to squeeze. Hobgoblin gasped for air. He hadn't been prepared for such brutish strength or the sheer savagery at display. He could feel his strength leaving him and his vision fading. He had to act quick, lest he be killed by this monster.

He could throw out another electrical pulse, but the two charges were all he had. If he used another, he wouldn't have any left. However, there was something else he could use. Sneakily, he reached one of his hands to his wrist and pressed something hidden beneath his glove.

Suddenly, his glider came careening back into the room directly at Venom. Venom grabbed it JUST barely before it hit him. He pushed against the powerful jet thruster. Yet, even he struggled to withhold it. He could feel his feet slowly lift from the ground.

As his monstrous opponent was distracted, Hobgoblin pulled himself back up and took a few seconds to regain his breath. Now that he was back on his feet, he pressed another button on his wrist. The jet thruster's power increased dramatically. Venom couldn't hold it back anymore. He and the glider went flying out from Jameson's office, going across the top floor of the Bugle, wrecking anything and everything that got in their way.

Soon enough, Venom slipped out from under the glider and crashed onto the floor. The glider itself just tore through the opposite wall like it was made out of wet paper. Venom tried to pull himself back up, but try as he might, he couldn't. Spider-Man FINALLY appeared, swinging in through the window.

Venom's head groggily turned towards him, "Where have you been, little spider...?"

"I got here awhile ago, actually. I was busy evacuating the whole building," Spidey explained, his thumb motioning towards the window.

"Heh, good. Then the innocents are saved..." Venom replied, falling limp just after that.

Spidey shook his head as he thought, "He took out Venom! Someone I've struggled for months to take in a straight fight, and he beat him!"

Hobgoblin strode out from Jameson's office. At least, the scorched, torn up remains of what was once Jameson's office. He had an impossibly smug look on his face.

"Ohhh, Spidey! You'll find that we're much more evenly matched this time around."

Without second thought, Hobgoblin tenaciously charged at Spidey, his hands splayed out. Spidey countered Hobgoblin, grabbing his hands. The two grappled. As they did, Spidey could see that the Hobgoblin wasn't lying. Before, Spidey easily outclassed the Hobgoblin's strength, whereas now he struggled to push him off. Now, he was easily as strong as the Green Goblin once was. Quite possibly even stronger.

After a solid minute, Spider-Man successfully shoved Hobgoblin off and ran towards the torn up remains of Jameson's office. There, he found Jameson in the corner.

"Just one last person to get out of here," he said to himself.

Jameson peeked out from his lap and yelled at Spidey, "Spider-Man! I should've known you and this Hobgoblin were in cahoots somehow!"

"Cahoots? I don't know what's more outdated about you, JJ. Your choice in hairstyle or your vocabulary."

Spidey snapped Jameson off of the floor and hoisted him over his shoulder. He swung out from the gaping hole on the front of the building and landed on the sidewalk below with ease. He gingerly placed Jameson onto the ground, "I'd say you owe me, JJ, but I doubt you'll ever pay me back for this!"

From the ground, Jameson could see the damage that the Hobgoblin inflicted on the Bugle. The sign at the top was missing letters, window leading to his office was completely shattered, and the area surrounding the window had been burnt black.

"That bastard...!"

Spidey, meanwhile, swung back inside. Hobgoblin was waiting for him, sitting in Jameson's office chair with his hands folded. He swiveled it over to him, grinning from ear to ear.

"Ahh, Spider-Man. I knew you'd come back."

"What kind of hero would I be if I didn't?"

Hobgoblin flipped behind the chair and threw it at Spidey, "A wise one! Although, hero and wise don't tend to go hand-in-hand!"

Spider-Man ducked beneath the chair, shot out a web to catch it, and tossed it back at Hobgoblin, "Like a guy running around in a cheap Halloween costume has any idea of what wisdom is!"

Hobgoblin dove out of the way. When he landed, he pointed at Spidey and fired off a round of sparks. With a barrage of sparkle blasts headed his way, Spider-Man weaved his way through each of them with relative ease. All as he continued chasing the Hobgoblin. Hobby leapt back and threw out an array of four bombs at Spidey.

Spidey dove right through the bombs before they landed, tackling Hobgoblin to the ground. He grabbed the Hobgoblin's tunic and pulled him face-to-face, "End of the line, Hobby! An amateur like you never stood a chance."

Hobgoblin wrapped his hands around Spidey's wrists and cackled. Spider-Man's Spider-Sense went off as soon as he did so. Try as he might, he couldn't break free of the Hobgoblin's ironclad grip. At least, not in time, as a large volt of electricity was sent down Spider-Man's entire body. He screamed and fell off the Hobgoblin, smoke fuming off of his body.

Hobgoblin stood up, dusting himself off.

"Let it be known, the Hobgoblin has proven himself superior over the original by besting Spider-Man!"

Digging into his bag of tricks, he pulled out a razorbat and dramatically flailed it over his head.

"And so, the pièce de résistance..."

He rammed it down towards Spider-Man's chest. Yet, was met with resistance when Spider-Man clapped his hands around the blade, preventing it from penetraing. Hobgoblin's devilish grin turned to a sour snarl.

"Damned fool, die with dignity!"

"Never had much dignity in life, don't know why I'd start having it in death...!"

Hobgoblin used all of his strength in his attempt to drive the blade into Spidey's heart. Just as Spidey used all of his to prevent that from happening. The two were deadlocked. That was, until a strand of web attached itself to the razorbat and yanked it away.

Hobgoblin and Spidey turned their attention to the direction of the web. Standing there, almost completely recovered, was Venom. Spider-Man sighed in relief, shocked that he was happy to see Venom for once.

Hobby sneered, "Gah! Should've made sure you were dead! Such a cliche mistake to make..."

"A mistake you won't have the chance to make again," Venom replied, slowly stomping over to them for extra intimidation.

Hobgoblin, seeing that he was clearly outnumbered, chose to run rather than fight. He got off of Spidey and bolted back towards Jameson's office. Venom pursued him, primally running on all fours like some kind of rabid animal. Hobgoblin turned back to see the beast chasing after him and jumped out of the broken window without any hesitation. Then he flew back up, riding his glider.

Spidey too got up from the ground and gave chase. Both he and Venom leapt up into the air and swung after Hobgoblin.

Hobgoblin threw back another set of bombs. This time, however, these bombs weren't aimed at them. Rather, it was aimed at the civilians below. Venom shot out a massive net that caught them all. However, the gooey net attached itself to a nearby building. The cluster of bombs exploded, taking a massive chunk out of the building's side and lighting a massive fire.

Given the choice to save the civilians in the building or chase after Hobgoblin, both Venom and Spider-Man chose to help the people inside it. As Spider-Man put out the fires, Venom brought the people inside down. All as the Hobgoblin flew away into the night.

As the Hobgoblin escaped, he thought to himself, "I didn't know there were two of them. Gonna make my job here a lot harder. Too hard, even. New York might be more trouble than it's worth."

When all was said and done, the fire was out and everyone on the floor that had been effected were safely removed. Albeit, scared for theirs lives at the appearance of their savior.

Spider-Man and Venom looked up at the ravaged skyscraper with their arms crossed.

"What were you thinking when you wrapped those bombs up and attached them to a building?!" Spidey asked in a frustrated tone.

Venom growled at him, "And let them fall upon the innocents?! We saw no alternative. This way, everyone escaped with minimal injuries."

"Everyone including the Hobgoblin."

"Yes, but there's always another time. We'll catch him soon."

Peter lowered his head, placing it into his hands, "Who knows who else'll get hurt while he's still out there."

"Then why didn't you keep chasing after him? We could have handled that situation ourselves."

"There's no way. Without me to put out the fire, there's no way your symbiote could have handled that heat for too long. There were too many people to save by yourself."

"Then what would you suggest we do?"

"Throw the bombs back at the Hobgoblin?" Spidey answered.

Venom shook his head, "He would have easily caught them. He wasn't aiming for us, either. He would have just thrown them back to the innocents. Then what? It's just a game of hot potato until the bombs go off."

"They would have gone off before he was able to throw them back. Their timers aren't that long."

"They could have been remotely triggered rather than timed, you never know. Best not to take the risk."

Peter couldn't bring himself to continue their squabble, rather his gaze turned to the direction the Hobgoblin went off to. The smoke trail had completely dissipated, there was no way to follow him.

Venom moved closer to Spidey's side as he asked, "Why are you so worried?"

"Why am I so worried? Why am I so worried?!" Spidey asked, his voice raised in a frantic fervor. "You know why I'm so worried! You have my memories! You know what a Goblin is capable of."

"All too well, but you've already taken care of the original. Do you think this imitator has what it takes to match him?"

Spidey couldn't give a concrete answer, "I don't know. That might be what scares me the most."

With that, Spidey took off without so much as a goodbye. Venom shrugged it off, swinging away in the opposite direction.

Returning to Peter's apartment, hours had passed. Tomoko was still laying on Peter's bed, her conversation with Yuu having ended awhile ago. It was getting really late by this point. Tomoko sighed longingly, cranking her head to the clock at the side of Peter's bed.

It was midnight. Where on Earth could he be? He was NEVER out this late. At least, not usually. Tomoko picked up her phone and scrolled through her contacts. She already talked to Yuu, but surely there was somebody else she could talk to.

That's when she saw Asuka Katō's number. Tomoko hadn't actually called Asuka since she left for New York. It's not that their previous relationship ended on a sour note or anything. It's just that, well, she was afraid that things might be awkward between them. Especially now that Tomoko was dating again.

Still, it's not like Tomoko had anything better to do. Might as well try to talk to her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Clumsily, she tapped her screen and began to call.

"[Oi, Kuroki, what do you want?]" the girl on the other line bluntly asked.

Tomoko's shut eyes shot wide open as she heard the voice on the other line. It looks like she accidentally called Yoshida instead.

"[Oh crap, I can't believe I called that delinquent instead!]" Tomoko inwardly thought, now beginning to panic.

"[Did you just call me to breathe heavily into my ear, you creep?!]" Yoshida accusingly asked.

Tomoko exploded into a full blown panic, "[No no no no no! I-it was an a-accident! I-I-I di-didn't m-mean to c-call you a-at all!]"

Yoshida took even more offense to that, "[Ohhhhh, so you don't want to talk to me at all, right? Got it."

"[Huh?! N-no! I-I'd love to talk t-to you r-right now actually!]" Tomoko said, followed by a nervous giggle. She was thankful that Yoshida wasn't physically there with her, lest she get hit.

"[That so? Well, good. Haven't heard from you since you left,]" Yoshida replied. Afterwards, a silence fell over them. Neither really knew where to take the conversation.

"[Did this delinquent guilt me into a conversation only to NOT have a conversation with me? What the hell?]" Tomoko thought, huffing in quiet anger.

"[See any uhhh, interesting sights? Hear New York City has a lot of those.]"

"[Well-]" Tomoko began before being interrupted.

"[Though, I'll bet there's nothing as cool as Chiba's Disney Land! Hah! You remember our trip there, Kuroki?]"

Tomoko sheepishly answered, "[Yeah, I do.]"

"[You better have! It ruled. When you come back, we're going there again.]"

"[W-well, it sounds fun but...]"

Yoshida interrupted Tomoko yet again, "[Nope! No buts! It'll be my treat.]"

"[Really? Sure, then.]"

Yoshida finally remembered her previous question, "[Hey! You didn't answer my question. Did you see anything interesting in New York?]"

Tomoko rolled her eyes, "[You didn't give me a chance to answer.]"

"[Ahh,]" she began before letting out a yawn, "[nothing too interesting. I did see Central Park. Didn't really get to take it all in, but it seemed nice, though. You know how many costumed freaks you see here?]"

"[What? Like, mascots?]"

"[No, no. It's hard to explain. Like, I was at the theater earlier today and suddenly it's attacked by this weirdo with a fishbowl over his head.]"

Yoshida audibly sighed over the phone, "[You're such a liar, Kuroki.]"

"[I-I'm not lying! I-I was taking a t-tour of my n-new c-college and w-was attacked b-by a g-giant lizard man!]"

"[You've been watching too many Godzilla movies,]" Masaki dismissed.

"[Okay, first of all, the lizard wasn't THAT big! He was like the size of a man! I'm not making this up.]"

"[Yeah, yeah, sure. I'll believe it when I see it.]"

Tomoko knew that there WAS photographic evidence in that plastic container with all of Peter's photos, but she was too tired to actually get up to go fetch it. Instead, she fell asleep without even hanging up.

"[Oi! Kuroki! You still there?]"

All Yoshida could hear on the other end was snoring. Afterwards, she hung up on Tomoko. While she ultimately doubted Tomoko's outlandish stories, a part of her was curiously wondering if the weird girl was telling the truth.

After another 40 minutes, Peter quietly crawled in through the window. He had spent the past few hours searching for the Hobgoblin. As might be obvious, his pursuit proved fruitless. He was ready to collapse into bed, but could see that Tomoko was already sleeping there. Not wanting to disturb her, he stripped out his costume and trudged over to the sofa in the living room. He unfolded the bed and fell onto it.

Try as he might, he struggled to fall asleep. His mind kept drifting to the Hobgoblin. When will he next strike back and how bad will it be? These thoughts occupied his mind as he tossed and turned in his bed. He could still hear the Hobgoblin's mocking laughter, which then melded into the Green Goblin's chortle.

Peter got back up and ran into the bathroom. He ran the sink and splashed water in his face in an attempt to sober his mind. Yet, when he looked in the mirror, he swore he saw what looked like the Green Goblin standing behind him. He quickly turned backwards, his head darting in multiple directions. He saw nothing.

Clearly, this was getting to him badly. He turned off the faucet and staggered back over to bed. He sat down, hunched over with his hands running through his hair. After a deep breath, he laid back down and covered up.

After recomposing himself, he quickly went to sleep, unsure of what the future might hold for him.

That will do it for Chapter 14. Before I say anything else, I would like to apologize for how long this chapter took. At least, compared to my usual output for this story so far. I have an idea where this story is going, and I have ideas on the events that take place, but I'm often unsure of how to actually implement them into the story. Right now, the story is in a transitional period. What do I mean by that? You'll find out.

Anyway, yeah. Expect future chapters to come less frequently than before. I will still try to keep things going, but I don't want to rush myself. I already fear my writing is becoming sloppier than in earlier chapters.

Still, I do like how this chapter turned out. In particular, I had a lot of fun writing the dialogue between Yuu and Peter. I'd REALLY like to write him interacting with Tomoko's other friends soon.

I also had a lot of fun writing Spider-Man & Venom vs the Hobgoblin. I hope that Venom didn't come across as some kind of jobber. I wanted to make it very clear that if it weren't for the Hobgoblin's various gadgets, Venom would have wiped the floor with him. And if the two DID properly team up, they easily could have taken on Hobgoblin. Unfortunately for them, they don't quite function together yet.

One more thing, I'm changing the rating for this particular story to M. This chapter features quite a bit of swearing. I try not to rely on swearing for humor, but the idea of Tomoko misleading Yuu into thinking fuckbuddy is some kind of regular English vernacular was too funny not to write. Also, this chapter introduces Yoshida and she definitely swears a lot.

Anyway, let's address the reviews:

Cool Doggo - Ahh, well, you know how it is. Like you said, that good ol' Parker Luck strikes again! Thankfully, it worked out in the end.

bigbroyuta - I actually DID originally plan on setting the theater on fire, but then realized that was probably a little TOO close to the Spider-Man 2 game. Also, I knew that this chapter would involve a lot of arson via the Hobgoblin, so I didn't want to seem like I was rehashing plot points so soon.

Guest -Thank you!

As always, thanks for reading and I hope I'll see you in the next chapter.