Part Seven
Ben, Peter and MJ left the courthouse after exchanging thanks with Mr. Erickson. Peter looked at his uncle with a fair amount of pride. "I'm really glad things worked out." Ben said happily.
"I'll say." MJ added, "Are we going to be taking a cab back or are we walking?" She asked looking at the traffic outside the courthouse.
"I'm in the mood for a nice walk." Ben stated, "It feels so good to have that off my shoulders."
Peter who had been listening intently while thanking God that he still had these two people in his life suddenly stopped, paralyzed by fear. He raised his head and looked at the sky. "No."
MJ turned around noticing he was no longer keeping up with them, "Peter, what's wrong?"
"You both have to start running, now!" He spotted a dark alley across the street, "Keep moving!"
The Green Goblin soared through the city streets atop his screaming glider. He could see the courthouse in the distance and kept his eyes open for the old man on the streets below.
He snickered, "What the hell was I thinking, trying to play this nice and fair. I should have just taken him out when I had the chance." His yellow eyes glowed brightly as he closed in on his target.
Norman spotted the redhead and next to him he saw an old man who he concluded was Ben. "Glider: Arm missile one." He might as well kill the redhead too; she had cheated on Harry after-all. They were running, they must have seen him. It was too late anyway; they'd need a guardian angel to stop him now.
An all-too familiar fist came crashing against the side of his jaw. Norman spun out of control and nearly slammed against the side of a building, "You." He regained control of his glider and turned to face his attacker, "Spider-Man."
The hero dangled in the air on a web-line, "Hey, Gobby, long-time no-see." Peter said despite the fear that had gripped his heart in its grip.
"What the hell are you doing here? I would've thought you'd be keeping your distance after the last time I kicked your butt and handed it too you." Norman said mockingly.
"Well, let's just say I've got a soft spot for you in particular."
Norman pulled a pumpkin bomb from his satchel, "Messing with the Parker kid was a mistake, I'll make sure you pay for that."
Peter grimaced, "He knows me." There was no time to think; already a pumpkin bomb was being hurtled through the air. He fired off another web-line and escaped the resulting explosion in time.
The people below were stunned by the explosion and looked up to see Spider-Man and the Green Goblin battling one another.
"We can't just leave him there!" MJ screamed while Ben pulled her away from the battle. "Please stop! What about Peter?"
Ben looked at her sympathetically, "There is nothing we can do. This is his battle."
Norman grabbed Peter's head as he made a pass on his glider, "You must be stupid Spider-Man!" He spotted a ledge full of gargoyles nearby and accelerated towards them, "You can't beat me!" He flung Peter into the gargoyles with all his force and veered off returning to his original target.
Peter smashed through the stone figures, smashing into the side of the building and creating a crater. He groaned slowly rising to his feet, "Where'd he go?" He asked noticing that the Goblin wasn't already on him. The sound of the glider's engine roaring in the distance sent a chill down his bones. He fired a web-line and went off in pursuit.
"He's gunning for us!" Ben exclaimed as the ground around them was littered with machine gun shots.
MJ covered her head, "What are we going to do!" The crowd around them scattered at the sight of the maniac coming down like some sort of dive bomber.
Ben gazed at his surroundings, looking for anything that could help them. They were a sitting duck out in the open like this. They came to an intersection with the Goblin nipping at their heels. They jumped into the crowd already panicking.
"You go this way, I'll go the other. At least it'll force him to separate." Ben said breaking away from MJ, taking the left street while she took the right.
Norman came to the intersection and looked both ways unable to stop his prey in the dense crowd. "Blast." He turned right and soared down the street. The people ran from him like a bunch of rats that had just been flushed out.
He spotted the redhead in the crowd and pushed his glider at full speed. He flew over and grabbed her up from the streets, "Hello, pretty."
MJ screamed for help while the Goblin tightened his grip around her neck. He slowed down, almost to a stop. "Where's the old man?"
"What do you want from us?" MJ exclaimed struggling in his grip.
Norman grimaced, "I don't have time to go into a long speech about my motivations, so just tell me where the old man is hiding?"
MJ struggled against him, "Let go of me you creep!"
Goblin grimaced and closed his fist, "Well, maybe, today won't be a total failure."
Spider-Man appeared from the sky and swung straight into the Green Goblin with his feet outstretched. " Let go of her!"
The Goblin loosed his grip and MJ fell down onto the street, luckily some members of the crowd caught her and she was safely put down on the street.
"Why are you meddling in my affairs?" Norman asked angrily, "Go back to whatever whole it is you came from. I don't have time for you today."
Peter pushed off the side of a building and zipped past Norman landing a blow his face, "Allow me to clear up your day."
Norman snarled, "That's it, Spider-freak, you want to do this here and now, I'm more than ready." He charged straight for the hero the gun ports on his glider blazing.
Peter somersaulted through the air and landed a kick straight on Norman's chest.
"Ack!" Norman clutched his heart and shook off the pain. He reached for a pumpkin, "I'll make you a smear on the street you meddlesome little punk."
He fired a line that connected with a light-pole. He tugged on the line and swung around slamming himself into the Goblin again.
Peter landed on the top of a car, while Norman slowly backed away with blood dripping from his lips.
"I think its time to change the rules of the game." He threw the small grenade into the crowd, "Go fetch, Fido."
"No!" Peter spotted the grenade and fired a spray of webbing that enveloped it. The pumpkin exploded and tore at the webbing. His heart skipped a beat as the fire slowly emerged from the webbing. Luckily, it didn't get farther and died out. "That was too close."
Before he knew it, the Goblin rammed him against the wall and was landing a barrage of punches. "You're too predictable!" He exclaimed working Spider-Man's ribs. "Is this becoming familiar? You manage to find bits of hope and victory scattered around only for me to dash that hope away."
Peter blocked one incoming punch only to be hit with another. He couldn't keep this up for much longer.
Police vehicles appeared on-scene zipping down the street. Norman smirked, "I'm sure you'll be good enough to give them my insurance information." He grabbed Spider-Man's collar and leg. "See you at the Christmas party!" He flung Peter into the police cars.
Peter crashed on the windshield of the lead car smashing the glass. He rolled across the hood of the car only to fall onto the street. His body ached from top to bottom.
One of the police exited the vehicle and looked at who had totaled their car. "Jesus Christ."
"Yeah, if you can get a hold of him for me, that'd be great." Peter slowly rose to his feet and scanned the area. Goblin was nowhere in sight. That didn't mean he was gone. Peter fired a line and swung back into the streets.
The Green Goblin soared through the streets. He had postulated that if the redhead went one way then the old man must have gone the way. He kept his eyes trained on the faces of the crowd.
"Where are you, old man?" Norman spotted somebody hiding under a tree with gray hair. As he came in closer he realized it was Ben. "Glider: Deploy razor bats one and two."
The small robotic attack droids closed in on their target and sliced the tree apart. Ben stumbled back as the wooden bark fell apart. He looked into the sky at the Goblin as he came to bear down on him.
"HAHAHAHA!"
A web-line grabbed the edge of the glider and Norman lost all control. "No!" The glider came crashing down on the street and slammed against a car. Norman rolled across the street and fell down a grassy hill that led to a small park. He groaned wearily and rose to his knees. The side of his body was aching.
The park had a jungle gym, a slide, swings and a sandbox. Pretty typical.
"You feel that?" Peter said landing a dozen feet from the Goblin on the other side of the park. "That's called payback."
Norman rose to his feet, "You impudent pup." He clenched his fist, "I am going to tear you apart."
The Goblin's promise was coming true. He had come after those he loved. Now it was up to him to end this, to protect them. "Not when I just got them back, I won't lose them."
Peter leaped through the air and landed two blows across Norman's chest. The Goblin stumbled back and landed a knee into Spider-Man's jaw sending the latter crashing into the slide separating it in two. He quickly jumped back to his feet.
"You're going to have to do better than that if you want to walk away from this." Norman said mockingly.
"I'll keep that in mind." Peter replied closing the distance. He tackled Norman and they both went crashing into the jungle gym, trashing the steel bars in moments. Norman managed to get on top of Peter during the scuffle. Norman ripped one of the steel bars out and began to clobber Peter with it.
Spider-Man grabbed the bar as the Goblin brought it down and smashed it into the latter's face.
It shattered into pieces and fell to the ground. Norman dug his fist into Peter's face. Peter unleashed a spray of webbing into the Goblin's eyes that blinded him. He stumbled away, tugging at the webbing. "I hate that!" He exclaimed.
Peter ran straight into Norman sending him into the left steel post of the swings. The Goblin ripped the webbing away and spit out blood, "That pissed me off."
Peter rushed forward and two battled one another. A series of kicks threw Norman off his feet but the Goblin retaliated with a barrage of punches. Peter grabbed the steel post and ripped out from the ground. "Batters up!" He swung the post straight for the Goblin who merely grabbed it before it made an impact.
"Foul." Norman replied and swung the post back hitting Peter directly in the chest.
Peter flew through the air and crashed down in the sandbox. Norman closed in, his eyes glowing brightly. Peter grabbed a handful of sand and threw it into the Goblin's eyes.
"Ah!" Norman covered his face in pain.
Peter brought the Goblin down with a roundhouse kick. "The odds are even this time. No ambushes, no tricks, just a fight between you and me."
"I'll kill you all the same." Norman vowed, "Then I'll rip off that mask and find out who you are and then I'll find your family and slaughter them! How's that sound?"
Peter picked Goblin up by his collar and raised his fist. Yet, Norman managed to fire a blast of energy from his zap-gloves into Peter's gut. The force of the attack threw Spider-Man onto the side of a car.
"You have no idea how to use hate, Spider-Man. That's why you can't win; it takes a certain kind of mind to harness it properly." Norman stepped forward and slammed Peter's head into the car, shattering the frame, "Yet another of life's challenges that you've failed."
Peter raised his leg, "You talk too much!" He kicked Norman in the gut and used his leg like a slingshot throwing him into the street. Crowds of people broke up at the sight of the two super-beings battling it out.
Norman elbowed Peter in the face, and he crashed down to his knees. "See where your heroics and arrogance have gotten you?" He pulled a pumpkin from his satchel, "Time to expire."