Chapter 3-4

With Roderick

It was still nighttime but there were enough Christmas lights from outside to light up the building from the outside. Roderick walked into his brother's office with a suitcase in hand. He didn't have to knock on his brother's door because he knew that his brother would recognize the sounds of his footsteps and the way he turned the knob a few times before opening it.

Roderick walked into his brother's office with a smile on his face and a lick on his lips as he realized that two men were in the room. He stared at his brother, sitting behind his cluttered desk with the window shutters closed behind him. Roderick absentmindedly touched the vase of blue flowers on his brother's desk before addressing his identical twin brother. The other man standing in front of Daniel's desk was a tall man with a strong build and wavy blonde hair that almost looked white. He had a square jaw and blue eyes and looked at Roderick with a tough look on his face.

"What are you doing here?" Daniel Kingsley asked. "Didn't you just go home like three hours ago?"

"What are you still doing here?" Roderick countered. "Don't you ever take the night off?"

"I'm working the night shift so the guy working the night shift doesn't have to work the night shift."

Roderick chuckled humorlessly. "Ha, how selfless of you. Almost pathetic."

Daniel turned to the other man. "We'll finish our business later Mr. Macendale."

"I understand," the man said. He shook Daniel's hand. "See you later, Daniel."

"Likewise, Jason."

Roderick moved out of the way, allowing Jason Macendale to leave the room to give the twins some privacy.

"Get lost, Roderick."

"What, you don't like me? Mom would approve of me coming to visit you at work. I mean, we started this company after all."

Daniel shook his head. "We both know that's a fucking lie; you never started this company, you stole this company from a man who had been running this company for sixty years."

"But we're still successful. And to be fair, the original guy was running it for thirty-one years to be exact."

"Shut up. And let's not forget how you plagiarize every single wardrobe in this building. Do you know how many lawsuits we've gotten?"

"None because they all suddenly decided to drop the cases." Roderick smiled. "Guess they realize we're doing a better job than them."

"I know exactly why you're working here at this company, Roderick. You knew you could never make it as an esteemed scientist and engineer because it's hard to plagiarize science formulas and whatnot and engineer ideas but wardrobes, yes, you can steal anyone's wardrobe idea."

"I don't steal, I just take their idea and improve on it. That's all I do, little brother, improve on it." He looked at the notes on his brother's desk. "Whatcha flipping through?"

"None of your business."

"Since when has that ever discouraged me from snooping? We're twins, we share half a brain so your business is my business."

"You're a thief and you're a snake. I wish you went to jail, you insane bastard."

Roderick walked up to his brother's desk and leaned on it. "You want me to rot in jail for the rest of my life? If Mom was still alive, I'd snitch on you." He leaned into his brother's face, so close Daniel could feel the warmth of his breath. "And if you ever call me insane again, I will FUCKING kill you. You weasel."

"Is that why you did it? Huh?" Daniel knew that Roderick knew what he was referring to. "Our sister, Sarah, is that why you did it, huh? Because she called you names? Said that you're insane?"

"Careful, Danny boy," Roderick hissed, "you're treading on some mighty thin ice, buddy. I am not insane."

Daniel leaned back in his leather chair. "You're right. You're not insane, you're evil."

Roderick felt a lump in his throat that made his heart stop. He sighed softly and slowly and backed away from his brother's desk. He kept his lips pursed together as a string of emotions flared up within him that threatened to break out.

"You must be evil… you drowned our sister in the pool. And not once did you ever apologize to Mom. They said you were insane for killing your own sister but I know the truth: you're not insane, you're just evil."

Roderick slowly lowered his head in shame. He lifted his head up a few seconds later, tears flowing down his face.

"What's wrong, the cold-hearted truth too sad for you? Well, fuck you. I don't know why that psychologist of yours pleaded your case but he shouldn't have because we both know the truth. I said it once, I'll say it again: you're not insane, you're pure evil."

"Don't call me that," Roderick choked. "I'm not evil. I'm not…"

"You are."

Roderick pulled his lips back over his teeth and growled. He walked around his brother's desk and grabbed him by the back of the head and slammed him face-first into the desk. Daniel tried to resist and struggled to reach for the emergency button on his desk but Roderick stopped him and knocked him out by slamming his fist into the side of Daniel's neck, hitting his jugular in the right spot.

"I'm not evil…" Roderick whispered to himself. "I'm not evil." Roderick held up his briefcase and set it down. "I'm not evil…" He opened it up to reveal two things inside. "I'm not evil." The shot glass with the symbiote and a collar with a blue light. "I'm insane, I'm insane, not evil. I'd rather be insane than evil." He took out the collar and wrapped it around his brother's neck.

"Dr. Hamilton was right: I am insane, not evil. I shouldn't have gone to jail if I was insane. He proved that I am insane." He wiped some of the tears away but they just kept falling and there was nothing he could do to rebuild the broken dam.

"Don't worry, Daniel. Sarah is in Heaven, with Mom and Dad. She's an angel, flying in the sky, watching over us." He pushed a button on the collar and the blue light turned red. "Shit, I put it on wrong." He removed the collar and wrapped it around his brother's head. The red light turned green. After it turned green, Roderick put it around his brother's neck once more.

"You're a good person, Daniel, you should go to Heaven when you die. Me, I'm a monster. I deserve to go to Hell. It's okay though, I'll fit in."

He removed the shot glass and touched it to the back of Daniel's neck, where the symbiote seeped into his brother's skin.

With David

"Excuse me, sir, but what in god's name were you doing in my strip club?"

David waited for his mother to finish taking off her jacket before answering. "Doing some detective work. And how did you know it was me?"

"You can grow a beard or put on a fake beard all you want but you can't fool your own mother. Now explain this detective work you're doing."

"That redheaded guy that I was talking to, you know him?"

She shook her head. "Nope. We don't ask for our customers' names. We strip and dance the night away, nothing more. Why?"

"Because I believe that redheaded man is the Hobgoblin."

Her eyes widened. "What?"

"Yep. I put a tracker on him during one of our fights and the tracker led me to him. Congratulations, Mom; the Hobgoblin is in love with you. We can use that to our advantage."

"What is going on?" she demanded.

David glared at her. "How many times do I have to explain myself?" He slaps his forehead. "You better pay attention because I'm only going to say this once: seduce the Hobgoblin for me."

Misa shook her head. "I'm not going to seduce anyone. Especially the Hobgoblin."

"I didn't ask you. I'm going to murder the Hobgoblin for what he's done to me and you're going to help me. He's obviously in love with you, or at least your body, and with this, we can manipulate him. I know his area of residence thanks to the tracker I put on him. You manipulate him in his civilian identity, I'll infiltrate his place and base of operations and set up a trap to kill him and eat him." He narrowed his eyes. "Maybe not eat him but I will kill him."

"That black-suited Spider-Man," Misa said, "you?"

He shook his head. "That wasn't me. He's another person I got to look out for, forcing the police to go back on the Spider Act Truce. I'll kill him for stealing my immunity from the police. But first, the Hobgoblin and his gang, then Scarlet Spider and his gang. Then the black-suited Spider-Man."

And Walter Hardy and Jefferson Davis.

"If you asked politely, I might help you out, Davey."

"I don't have an iota in my body to ask you for help politely. Help me, period."

Misa folded her arms. "What's wrong with you, Davey; you're far more aggressive than usual."

"Nope, I'm the same old David. Good old Dangerous David."

"He's my best customer. After all, he pays me generously to strip in his direction."

"I'll steal all his money after I kill him." He checked his watch. "Tomorrow's Friday, December 16th, and the last day of school before winter break. Tomorrow, after the redhead comes to your place, seduce him. Do whatever it takes to make him stay as long as possible. After I do some digging on Mr. Jolly Yellow Elf, I'll let you know. Then… I'll kill him… with my bare hands." David smiles. "I can already see Hobgoblin begging for his life and it's making me…" he licked his lips, "ecstatic."

I have so many plans, and so little time to act. I'm going to be doing multiple things at once and if things play out as I expect them to, then I'll have defeated everyone.

David walked away before locking himself in his room and pulling out his phone. He dialed a number and waited patiently. The person he was calling picked up after the first ring.

"It's too early for this to be a booty call, Davey."

David smiles. "Hey, Party-Hardy, how are you doing? Good shape?"

"You know it, Davey."

"Goodey. I'm curious about something, Party-Hardy, do you have any time on your hands to make me a black suit?"

"You mean… a black 'party' suit? What happened to your suit?"

David suddenly ground his teeth. "Irrelevant, make me a black suit."

Elicia tsked her tongue. "You know, Davey, if you just said please, I could-"

"Felicia, shut up and do what I tell you!"

Without giving her a thought to respond, he hangs up the phone. "Bitch, do I have to repeat everything around her?"

The Next Night

Elevator

Ben pressed the call button on the elevator before the doors opened. Miles and Cindy stepped in after him and pressed their backs to the wall.

"I can't believe it," Miles stretched. "School is finally out. Now we can focus on our… extracurricular activities."

"Yeah," Cindy said, "extracurricular. Community service, helping the homeless, buying presents for our families." Cindy took out her phone. "I hope you two have a good time tonight because I'm hanging out with David today." She pocketed her phone.

"Ooh, Davey, you guys going out? You know he has a girlfriend."

"Felicia invited me." Cindy shoves her hands in her pockets. "We're just going Christmas shopping. I'm going to buy my little brother a video game."

"What kind of video game?"

"I don't know. What do thirteen-year-olds play nowadays?"

Ben shrugged. "Even I don't know and I'm the eyes and ears of school."

The elevator doors opened once more and an old man with gray hair and black sunglasses (Stan Lee) stepped into the elevator. He turned his back to the three before he looked over his shoulder.

The four of them stood in silence in the elevator and listened as the music played from the speakers.

'Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad, Prospero Ano y Felicidad.'

Miles began bopping his head to the beat of the song. Cindy began whistling and shaking her head from left to right. Ben tapped his foot against the elevator in tune with the beat. The old man began shaking his hands.

"Feliz Navidad," Miles and the old man sang in a soft voice that rose with each lyric.

"I WANNA WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS!" the four of them sang at the top of their lungs. "I WANNA WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I WANNA WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!"

After a while, the elevator doors opened to the third floor. "This is my stop. See ya later. Excelsior."

Miles waved to the retreating old man. "Excelsior." The doors closed. "Nice old man."

"Have we seen that guy before?" Ben asked. "Nah, doubt it."

They finally reached the bottom floor and stepped out. Ben and Miles walked in one direction while Cindy walked in the opposite direction.

"See ya guys later. Stay out of trouble and remember to clean up cobwebs." She waved them goodbye before taking out her phone and dialing a number.

"Hello, little Cindy Lou Who, who is no more than two."

She rolled her eyes. "I hate being called Little Cindy Lou Who."

"That's what you get for having parents that name you Cindy."

"Not like I had a choice." She put her hand on her hip. "Where do you want to meet up?"

"Empire State University. We'll meet at the front and then after that, we'll be a dynamic duo, Batman and Girl Wonder." David clicked his tongue. "I take it you haven't told Tweedledee and Tweedledum about us?"

"Don't you dare insult my friends like that and no."

"Good." His smile radiated through the phone. "Good good good good good!"

Cindy narrowed her eyes.

Outside Empire State University

Cindy shrugged and tugged on her winter jacket. She had been standing out in the cold in front of ESU, waiting for David to show up for the better part of thirty minutes. She started getting antsy and was about to leave when David strolled up.

"Hello, Cindy."

Cindy looked at her companion. "Hello, David."

"You enjoy your free time standing out in the snow?" David chuckled. "Aren't you cold out here? If you want, I can warm you up."

Cindy held her hand up. "Not so fast, Dave-o."

David's smile vanished. "I hate that name."

"All the more reason for me to use it." She put her hand down. "Now tell me why we're here?"

David put his hands in his pocket and sighed, his breath visible. "We're going to be doing some investigative work. I thought we could work together to take care of our 'yellow garden gnome on flying skateboard problem'."

"I'm listening."

"I've been doing some thinking and I've been using my forensic psychology skills." He looks around to make sure none of the civilians walking past them were overhearing their conversation. "For the guy in purple pajamas, he's a man, obviously, roundabout in his early thirties. He is passive-aggressive but he is still able to fight. However, unlike the other two, he does not want to cause ever-lasting harm. I'd say that out of the three of them, he's the Token Good Teammate. As for the green arachnid, he is a man in his forties who, based on his fighting abilities, had a job or background involved in the fighting. He's aggressive and dangerous, especially with that dangerous tail of his. Given that he has no problem using various poisons or acids from the tip of his tail, he is willing to kill but that is obvious."

He looked at Cindy before he spoke his next thought. "Then there's the yellow guy on the flying skateboard." He licked his lips. "He's young, given how reckless he is. He's aggressive, the most vicious one of the lot. He's highly intelligent, and calculating, and knows how to use people like pawns. I suspect he has a background in ordering people around, maybe as a CEO or supervisor or maybe even an officer in the military. He's extremely agile and knows how to use all his weapons to their fullest extent. However, he is not interested in anything except money, showing that he is greedy however, I suspect other motives at hand. He could've used his brains to steal money in a sneaky way but he chose to be a supervillain. I believe that the yellow hoverboard surfer is an attention whore and a narcissist."

Cindy replayed David's analysis in her head. "So… prognosis?"

"Jolly Yellow Elf is a young man who works a profession in which he is in charge, or at the very least, has authority over others. We should look for people in their twenties who had leadership experience."

Cindy stroked her chin. "Oh, well doesn't that sound easy enough? All we got to do is find someone in an eight million plus city population who are young men in their twenties with leadership experience."

"This person is also skilled in multiple fields. I couldn't help but notice that the flying skateboard he had is a significant upgrade from the Green Goblin's. Since there are no YouTube videos on how to make Green Goblin's glider, we must assume he built the glider himself and all the toxins he also wields were produced by him. That means we're looking for a young man with leadership experience who also has experience in the chemistry and mechanical engineering fields."

"Is that supposed to be an easy job?"

"No of course not, are you fucking dumb?!" he snapped.

Cindy recoils. "Don't talk to me like that."

"Then don't waste my time with these senseless questions." David turned away. "You're going to help me, whether you want me to or not."

"Someone's getting aggressive," she mocked. "Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something?"

David considered her sentence. "Well, I woke up on the wrong side of something in bed."

"Don't take your anger out on me." Cindy scoffs. "I didn't know you were capable of lashing out over the slightest things in the past; you're definitely different from before, Davey."

"Who gives a fuck?"

"See, like that, right there," she pointed at him. "What's going on with you, Davey?"

"I'm trying to fucking destroy someone and a bitch is beside me asking useless questions."

Cindy recoiled. "Don't call me a bitch. Please don't, I don't like it."

David was about to snap before he managed to compose himself. He sighed and dropped his head before running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, Cindy, it's just been a really stressful month. With everything that's been going on, it's enough to make even the heartless of people crack under pressure."

Cindy turned away from him. "I see but still, don't ever talk to me like that. You just can't and I don't care what emotional state you're in. You can call me a lot of names but the word 'bitch' is off-limits, understand?"

David inwardly smiles.

Never tell a psychopath what is off-limits to you, bitch.

"I got it." He sighed and dusted the snow off his shoulder. "Well then, we should get to investigating. And I heard from my mother that it's always good to set yourself a goal. Our goal is this: we defeat our opponents by Christmas day, which is in nine days. Think you can handle it?"

Cindy laughed. "Do I think I can handle it? Try to keep up, David."

David smiled and nodded.

You are so fucking dead, Cindy.

Roderick Kingsley's Apartment, Two Hours Later

The black-suited Spider-Man arrived at the apartment belonging to Hobgoblin's alter-eg. It landed on the window when it was sure that the Hobgoblin was gone, thanks to the tracker it left behind on the supervillain. It was night and provided the black-suited Spider-Man with more than enough room to move in the dark while simultaneously hiding him.

The lights inside the apartment were turned off and the black-suited Spider-Man turned its hands to goo and slipped through the cracks in the window. It materialized itself on the inside before looking around.

Black Spider looked up and down the living room, checking for the slightest clue that it could find and leaving no stone unturned. Based on the movements of the symbiote tracker, the Hobgoblin would go into one of two rooms to sleep. Not only that, but he would move around in there as well.

Black Spider moved into the master bedroom Hobgoblin supposedly always slept in and opened the door. It looked around and checked the bed. Finding nothing of interest on the bed, it left the bed be. It reached over and flipped a light switch and illuminated the room so it could see easier.

A drawer with a few family photos was left behind on the dresser and drawers. Black Spider moved over to the dresser and started looking through the photos.

It picked up one of two people standing in a park, a young boy and his mother. It flipped the photo over to read the names.

'Edith and Daniel' it read. It searched through the other family photos. One photo showed the same boy and a little girl with red hair.

'Daniel and Anna' the back of the photo read. It looked through several more photos, each one with the same boy and various family members but the only one that remained consistent was Daniel.

The Black Spider set the photos down before opening up his drawers to look for anything suspicious inside. Nothing but socks and muscle shirts. It reached the bottom drawer, where there was a lack of clothes and a single journal left behind. The Black Spider grabbed the journal and looked it over.

A sand diary with a black cover with the name, 'Daniel' written over the cover.

Without wasting another second, the Black Spider opened the journal and read through it.

'March 12, 2008

Dear Diary, today's a big day for me I guess, I meet with a therapist, a fucking shrink. Mom recommended him to me because apparently, I need help maintaining my anger issues. What does Mom know about me, I have no anger issues. Mom is just being a bitch. I can't wait to kill her one day. I got to meet my shrink today at one o'clock. See you later, Daniel.

-Sincerely, Daniel.'

Black Spider flipped to the next page.

'March 13th, 2008

Dear Diary, well, I met my shrink and I have gotta say, he's an interesting guy. His name is Dr. Barton Hamiliton and I've actually gained quite a liking for him. He doesn't talk down to me or anything. He… I don't know what to think of him. He said… I'm not insane. Mom said that I'm insane, — said I was insane but I'm not. I am not insane.'

Black Spider tilted its head upon seeing a part of the sentence cut off in the writing along with an extra big space between words, big enough to fit one more word. It kept reading. The next entry continued for a page and a half.

'He said that I'm not insane, but evil. He called me evil, that fuck. Maybe it's true. I can't change what I did to Anna and… I'd rather be insane than evil. What happened to Anna, I don't know what I was thinking. I don't want to be evil nor do I want to be insane but I if given the choice, I'd rather be insane than evil.'

Black Spider flipped through several pages, skipping a few years into the future.

'February 24th, 2016

Dear Diary, sorry to have been gone for so long. Good news, I'm finally out. The doctors have deemed me 'cured' and 'rehabilitated' and that I can now properly 'function' in society once more. I thought mental asylums were going to be like in horror shows but no, they're nothing like they portray in those Batman Arkham games. And I will admit, the food there didn't taste as bad. It tasted delicious in fact but what left a sour flavor in my mouth was Dr. Hamilton, the man who called me EVIL was there. He VOLUNTEERED to help treat me there to 'improve my chances of treatment. I saw through his little act though; he wasn't curing me, he was putting me down so I can stay longer in this shithole. What is his fucking problem? The man deemed me insane to go to jail and not get the death sentence but he is keeping me here in this place? I think it had something to do with the fact that I hate being called insane. But he failed, that bastard failed and I'm out.'

'August 26th, 2016'

Dear Diary, Mom said she hated me. She fucking said it to me my fucking face, screaming at the top of her lungs that she never wished I was born. She wished that I vanished in her womb and only had — child.'

Black Spider tilted its head again, another incomplete redacted sentence.

'Today is my birthday and you know what she got me; a punch to the face. She threw me to the ground and punched me in the face after pepper-spraying me. That bitch, she was crying at me, saying that she still hates me. I know that I killed our sister but it's been eight years. She said that she wished that Dr. Hamilton didn't defend me in court. I got the insanity plea and was sentenced to a mental institution but got out only after I was deemed 'rehabilitated.

I know what I did was wrong but why does everybody hate me? Why does everyone want me to die? Mom, and Dad, —, all want me to die in a ditch. Why does everyone hate me, why does no one love me?'

Black Spider flipped through the pages until it reached the current times.

'May 19th, 2020

'They call him Spider-Man and it's obvious why; a human man who has the abilities of a spider. Kinda like Batman except Spider-Man's powers are real. He's a murderer, the same as I am but people praise him. It's been at least five weeks since his first appearance and people are either praising him or appalling him. He kills people but only violent criminals during active crimes. He still goes out of his way to kill people but I suspect that saving people is secondary to his killing people.

I will admit that I envy him, I killed my sister, and everybody hates me for it but when Spider-Man kills, people have polarizing views of him. I want to be him. I want to kill people but I want people to love me as well. If I can figure out how Spider-Man got his powers, I could join him in his glory hound.'

The next page.

'May 25th, 2020

Where the FUCK did that guy come from. The Green FUCKING Goblin is what they call him, an insane mass murderer who flies around on a hoverboard dressed like a flying green garden gnome. He has these pumpkin bombs and whatnot and he's super-strong. He actually managed to give Spider-Man a run for his money. I want to know more about this Green Goblin and where he got his gear. I probably will never know how Spider-Man got his powers but Green Goblin's equipment sounds like something I can achieve. I'm going to find out everything I can about this Green Goblin.

The next page compiled a few notes the writer wrote to himself.

'Just a few notes to myself.

-Green Goblin's glider has weapons but after looking through a few screenshots, I noticed the weapons were sewn or installed after the glider's reconstruction. This means the original design of the goblin's glider was not with weapons, which means he modified it after something which means there is a source where the glider came from.

-The Green Goblin's pumpkin bombs are a unique sort of weapon but given that he has so many of them, he must make them in secret. When a grenade goes off, no trace of the grenade is left but each one leaves one hell of an explosion behind. I know a LOT about explosive ordinance so the pumpkin bomb should be easy to replicate.

-The Green Goblin's suit is an interesting one. I can tell, it is flexible and bulletproof. I've seen Spider-Man punch him in the suit and not even leave a dent. It's got multiple buttons on the wrists which I assume is connected to his glider because I saw footage of him touching a button on his wrist and a pumpkin bomb jumped out from the glider and into his hand. Flexible, bulletproof, and durable enough to withstand a superhuman punch from Spider-Man, my kind of suit.

-The Goblin's Mask is the most terrifying feature of his arsenal. A mask that covers his entire face and hides his identity. Not only that but reports say Green Goblin was emerging from a building flooded with some kind of toxic gas and all he wore was his goblin mask. Like his suit, his goblin mask is bulletproof, can withstand superhuman punches, and is equipped with something to help him breathe.'

Black Spider turned the page to read more but was interrupted when a pumpkin bomb landed on the dresser and exploded. Black Spider falls to the ground after patting the fire out on its chest and turns around to face the threat.

"Interesting tale, huh?" Hobgoblin laughed, "must be if it's distracted you long enough to not see me walking into the room."

Hobgoblin now wore a blue body suit with yellow gloves, boots, and a yellow cape with the hood over. He had a utility belt carrying three pouches of pumpkin bombs and knives running up and down the strap.

"And Mom always said I lead a boring life."

Hobgoblin threw a pumpkin bomb at Black Spider.

Black Spider leaped for the doorway but barely managed to get halfway through before the bomb exploded.

"And there goes my bed," Hobgoblin complained. "I'm going to have to buy a new one; why couldn't we just fight in the guest bedroom."

The fire caught onto Black Spider's shoulder and it quickly patted it out. A loud whirring sound from behind made Black Spider go on alert.

Hobgoblin's glider flew into Black Spider's back and sent it falling to the ground. Black Spider kips up before charging for Hobgoblin.

Hobgoblin threw another grenade at Black Spider but Black Spider dodged it this time. Unfortunately, it was unable to dodge the next attack.

As soon as the grenade hit the floor, it didn't explode into the fire, but soundwaves. Soundwaves traveled all throughout the condo and made Black Spider screech in pain.

Hobgoblin did a flying double-kick to Black Spider's chest and sent the figure falling to the ground, sliding towards the grenade. Black Spider screeched in pain and cowered its ears, howling with a mouth suddenly forming before them with a large tongue sticking out.

"You've done some bad stuff, Spider-Man," Hobgoblin laughed, "now it's time for you to face the 'music'."

Hobgoblin recoiled upon seeing the creature's back arch. "Jeez Louise, what the fuck happened to you, Spider-Man? You are fucking ugly. This is why you're mask shouldn't come with a mouth." Hobgoblin took out another pumpkin bomb from his pouch and put his thumb on the primer. "Any last word-" He freezes up. "Wait a second."

He squints his eyes as he spots something. It looked like the black goo was coming off around Black Spider's face but there was something off with the skin. Hobgoblin edged closer and realized that there was morning meaning to what he would describe as 'off with the skin'.

Just enough goo had receded back until it revealed the bony skeleton of a jawbone. Hobgoblin realizes what is going on.

"What, a double?"

Hobgoblin primes the pumpkin grenade and throws it at Black Spider. "See ya later, bitch." He turns and bails out.

Instinctively, a black tendril shoots out of Black Spider's shoulder and is yanked away from the pumpkin bomb. Unfortunately, it was not out of range in time before it detonated and set Black Spider's feet on fire. Black Spider screeched like a dog and patted the fire out. It rolled on its back before pushing itself up and patting the last of the fire off.

Black Spider rests against the wall and looked over to the window to see a large hole left behind by Hobgoblin taking off on his glider. The pumpkin bomb left a hole in the floor and debris filled the room. Black Spider pushed itself off the wall and began staggering forward. The soundwaves bomb had been destroyed by the pumpkin bomb's explosion but it was still taking time to recuperate, which is why it was waiting for the goo to form around its skeletal jawbone before heading back into Kingsley's bedroom and retrieving the fallen notebook.

After that, it leaped out the window and swung away.

With David

David and Cindy were walking down Central Avenue when their spider-senses picked up on something. They stopped dead in the snow and zipped up their heavy snow jackets before they turned their heads in the direction of the danger.

The Hobgoblin is alive… and active. He's on his hoverboard right now, flying in our direction.

David closed his eyes and sighed.

Okay then symbiote, tell me what I want to know.

He felt a tingle in the back of his skull.

So it was a success. And based on trackers- wait a minute.

David opens his eyes.

The tracker I planted on Hobgoblin is at Mom's strip club but the Hobgoblin was at his apartment; what does that mean? Are there two Hobgoblins or did he find my tracker and put it on someone else?

All those questions would have to be answered later. David turned to Cindy and nodded. "Spider-time."

They calmly and carefully walked away before they made it to an alleyway. When they were out of sight, they sprinted for it, discarding their heavy snow jackets followed by their casual clothing.

Now in their spider costumes, they leaped into the air and swung off.

As they ascended above the ground, Spidey looked down at his costume and licked his lips behind his mask. It's been a while since he wore his standard red and black costume ever since the symbiote bonded with him. But it was time for him to return to his red and black tights; the world either believes that the black-suited Spider-Man is the OG Spider-Man (which he knows is true), or they believe the black-suited Spider-Man is someone new. It was time to prove the world paradoxically wrong and right. The world only needed to know what it needed to know, David decided, nothing more, nothing less.

They swung in the direction their spider-senses alerted them and they swung as quickly as possible. They zoomed past people on rooftops with some taking pictures of them.

"Let's get this party started," Spidey said aloud. His eyes widened beneath the mask. "This is going to be one hell of a party."

The symbiote clinging to his nape danced around a bit before seeping back into his skin.

Looks like everything is going according to plan.

Spidey smiled.

Man, I am smart as fuck; after I attached a tracker to each one of the Sinister Savior Six, I got creative with my symbiote powers. If the symbiote could give me any appearance it wanted, then there's no reason it can't give me any costume appearance I want. I had the symbiote dress me up as the Scarlet Spider and after that, I infiltrated the jail holding Abraham Copeland and killed him. Then, I took his corpse to use as a puppet.

I have no chance of taking down the entire Sinister Savior Six all by myself, even with Black Cat's bad luck powers, so my plan right now is to split up the Sinister Savior Six and get myself some backup.

I called Cindy to separate her from Morales and Reilly and convince her to side with me as a temporary ally. Then, I had the alien symbiote bond to Copeland's corpse and use him as a puppet to infiltrate Hobgoblin's place of dwelling.

Unfortunately, there was a backfire. While my contingency plan of using a corpse instead of going there myself worked out, it also works OUT of my favor. Based on the signals the symbiote is sending me back, the Hobgoblin is supposed to be at my Mom's strip club, throwing singles her way; I told Mom to put on a good show for him so he wouldn't want to leave but my spider-sense and Cindy's are telling us that Hobgoblin is actually in the air.

Now it begs the question; does Hobgoblin have a double or did he put the tracker on someone else?

He growled.

Shit… oh well, I don't care if it's the real Hobgoblin or a double; I'm going to kill them regardless. Now it's time for Felicia's role in the plan. And if she can follow orders like the good little cat she is…

With Black Cat

The symbiote in her hand dances in the palm of her hand, stopping only when she made a fist.

"That's the signal."

She reaches to her right to grab a Molotov. She lights it with a match she brought before throwing it into an empty room.

"This kitty hates fire, Spider," she said before turning around. "But if it'll help you kill Hobgoblin and his crew, then this black cat wishes you good luck."

She walked away and leaped out of the soon-to-be burning building.

…then she'll set fire to the last of that Scorpion gang's places of dwelling. I wanted her to set fire to a building with civilians inside but she said that it was too extreme so I had to compromise. But this is a good thing; now I can finally be done with Copeland and his gang permanently and focus exclusively on the Sinister Savior Six.

They picked up the pace with their swinging.

With the building on fire and Cindy by my side, Scarlet Spider and Kid Arachnid are the only ones available to respond. Perfect, they won't be involved in this fight until they save every gangster in that building and Black Cat is going to stay there and make sure they stumble horribly like that one guy in Heavy Rain.

Spidey sees a bright light in the distance.

Well hello, Hobgoblin.