I will be finishing up "Nature Versus Nurture" shortly, so I will have even more time to devote to Austin! So: On to the reviewers!
To Lady Kayoss: Hit the nail on the head, there.
To Agent Silver: Yes, it's best to avoid trouble when using school computers. Once I got busted by the high school librarian for browsing Spider-man sites. I weaseled my way out by telling him that I was doing an extra-credit biology project exploring the practical use and manufacture of Octopus tentacles in real life! Fortunately, he was a great movie and comic book buff himself, so he swallowed it! p-i-c-f? Ah, I get it! Partners in crime fighting!
To Lord of Shadows: Firstly, I do not know you, ergo, I do not know what the names of your friends are. Secondly, Smith is one of, if not the, most common surnames in the United States. Thirdly, I have been using Austin Smith as my original character for three stories now, even before you joined by the looks of your profile, and therefore I feel entitled to keep using him. Fourthly, I advise you to refrain from cussing in your reviews before I report you to whoever's in charge of this website.
On to the story! In this chapter, the identities of the members of the New Sinister Six are revealed! Read, and if you like what you read, review! And if you don't like what you read, review anyway and tell me why! Now get to it!
Chapter 4: Third in the Goblin Line
Noreen Osborn wore a skintight green and purple suit. In her arms, she cradled a goblin mask. She sat in front of the mirror, wondering when he would come.
Finally, the spirit of her long dead grandfather, Norman, appeared.
"How shall I defeat her?" she asked. "I have tried and tried. She keeps whipping my ass every time."
"You're not trying hard enough."
"Are too." Her voice was petulant.
"Have you ever heard of the Sinister Six, Noreen?"
"The six supervillians that once assembled to defeat Spider-man?"
"You think correctly. Six of their children have inherited their fathers' powers. You are one of them. You must gather the other five. Together, the six of you will be an unstoppable force of evil, the likes of which New York City has never seen."
"Who are they?"
"You know them. Philomela Toomes. Alexei Thorne. Miranda Dillon. Flint Marko, Junior. Austin Octavius Smith."
"Fat chance on Austin joining in." Noreen added rather ruefully.
"But he is one of the Six."
"Heard he's still joined at the hip with May Parker."
"You have a lot to learn about being a villain, Noreen. And a lot more to learn about being a Green Goblin. The Goblins always get what they want. Always. No matter how they do it."
"Austin would never ally with me."
"He is stubborn—like his father. But his destiny is marked in his genes. You said it right that time. It's in his blood, and it's on his back. You let him get away the first time."
"I couldn't fight both Spider-girl and Doctor Octopus. Not at the same time."
"You ran away. You were a coward."
"I've learned my lesson, Grandpa."
"I very much hope so."
Noreen was the type of person who was never satisfied with her lot in life. While certain other pretty, young, rich heiresses were content to party, date, and circulate their sex tapes on the Internet, Noreen wanted something more than that. She craved action, excitement, and power.
She remembered how she found a way to get all three. Her cat had unexpectedly led her to the lair that her grandfather and father had used while they were the Green Goblins. Some people had skeletons in their closets; Noreen had purple gliders, green suits, and pumpkin bombs in hers.
She had drunk the Green Goblin formula, and collapsed on the floor. Noreen clenched her fists as she remembered the changes the stuff had effected on her body. She suddenly became superhumanly smarter, more cunning, more devious. She found she was stronger than ten grown men, and she found that when she injured herself, she healed within a few minutes, practically before her eyes.
She also remembered why she had taken that step, besides her own desires. It was to impress a boy.
Noreen remembered meeting that boy on the college steps. Austin Smith was breathtakingly handsome, with messy chestnut brown hair and huge brown eyes. He always wore a large black trench coat and dark sunglasses that hid his eyes and the tortured soul within. His IQ was off the charts, and the first time she'd gone out as the Girl Goblin, she'd discovered his strength and power—and the skeletons that were hiding in his family's closet.
And it only made her love him more.
She had the first claim to him. But the girl she had once called her best friend, who was like a sister to her, May Parker, gifted and cursed with powers of her own, had failed to take a hint. May had stolen from Noreen the only man she had ever loved—and ever would.
But Austin was going to come back to her.
Because a Goblin always gets what she wants. Always. No matter what.
