Chapter 6: Green Goblin
"I'm too short for this ride!" Spider-Man complained as he held onto Goblin, who flew through the city.
"Shut up!" Goblin shouted as he grabbed Spider-Man and threw him towards a building.
Spider-Man swung towards the top of the building and landed on the roof. The Goblin took some bombs out of his glider and threw them at the webslinger. Spider-Man jumped and dodged them, evading the explosions. Parts of the building started falling towards the ground.
"No, not again!" Spider-Man cried, recalling Valeria's death.
Spider-Man jumped and grabbed some of the debris with his webbing, preventing it from hitting civilians. Goblin flew towards Spider-Man, who threw the debris towards him.
"You fool," the Goblin growled, punching through the debris.
Goblin jumped onto the roof, and they engaged in combat. Goblin dodged and blocked most of Spider-Man's punches and kicked him down. Grabbing Spider-Man, Goblin slammed him repeatedly against the roof. In pain, Spider-Man shot webbing at Goblin's face, causing him to drop the hero in confusion.
"Can't see anything now, can you?" Spider-Man taunted as he delivered a roundhouse kick to Goblin, sending him across the roof.
The glider flew right at Spider-Man who stepped aside to dodge it. It flew back at Spider-Man, and he jumped over it this time. Unfortunately, Goblin got up to punch Spider-Man in the face and ignite blades from his arms.
"Oh, God!" Spider-Man yelled as he dodged the blades.
"Is that all you got, Spider-Man?" the Goblin taunted.
Spider-Man grabbed Goblin's arm and threw him across the roof, but Goblin managed to land swiftly. Goblin swung at Spider-Man with his arms, only for the hero to grab Goblin's face and smash him into the ground. He stomped on Goblin's back and punched him in the face, knocking him down.
Not even a minute after all that ensued, helicopters were heard. That was a familiar sound to Spider-Man.
"Oh, great," Spider-Man groaned.
"NYPD!"
"Put your hands up now!"
"Surrender, or we will open fire!"
Spider-Man swung away, avoiding heavy gunfire. Unfortunately, one of the bullets shot the web, causing the hero to fall down.
"Gah!" Spider-Man exclaimed as he shot another web towards a building and swung to it so he could crawl away to safety.
Spider-Man looked around and saw no signs of the Goblin in sight.
"Where did he go?" Spider-Man wondered before swinging away.
Peter walked in the front door of his house before Aunt May ran up to him in fear.
"Peter, are you okay? I heard about what happened at the dance. Are you hurt?" Aunt May asked.
"I'm fine, Aunt May. Don't worry about me."
"I always have to worry about you, especially with your uncle gone. I can't let the same thing happen to you. I can't. I don't know what I would do with myself," Aunt May confessed.
"Aunt May, I promise you I'm fine. I can take care of myself."
"But it's my job to take care of you. Your job is to stick through school and graduate, and then you can take care of yourself."
"I'm already doing that. I might as well take care of myself now so I don't have to worry so much about the future. I know how hard everything has been for you since Uncle Ben died. That's why I need to take care of myself so I can take care of you," Peter said.
"You really are like your uncle. Always thinking about others," Aunt May said before hugging Peter. "I love you, Peter."
"I love you, too," Peter said before holding her tighter.
Laying in bed, Peter was feeling a mixture of exhaustion and pain. After that brutal fight and comforting Aunt May, it felt good to be under a blanket. Before he could go to sleep, his phone started ringing.
"Hello?" Peter asked, picking the phone up.
"Peter, Peter! Are you...you're okay, right?!" Gwen's worried voice blurted out.
"Yeah, I got home safe. Before then, I tried looking for you, but I got separated."
"It's alright. I'm so glad you're okay. I haven't heard from them, but I know that Harry, Liz, and everyone else are doing good, too."
"Good to hear. Look, I'm so sorry we didn't get-" Peter started.
"Don't blame yourself, Pete. When there's a psychopath dressed like a demon attacking, what else can you do?"
"True. I hope to see you again soon," Peter said.
"Without a doubt."
It was a typical Sunday night for Gwen. Instead of hanging with her friends, she went to the library to get some studying done, especially with the large amounts of quizzes she had in the coming week. She'd spent four hours there, and now it was time to relax.
After taking the bus home, Gwen stepped inside her house and threw her backpack aside. Taking her jacket, shoes, and socks off, Gwen sat on the couch and turned on the TV. A few minutes later, her dad came home.
"Hey, Gwen. How did the studying go?" George asked his daughter.
"Alright. Boring as hell, but I should be able to pass all my exams this week."
"That's good," George responded before taking out some popcorn.
"Anything interesting go on at the station?" Gwen asked.
"Always. But today, we were discussing that whole chaos at your Homecoming dance that was caused by Spider-Man and that Goblin creature."
"Typical, Dad. Always hating on Spider-Man."
"I'm telling you, Gwen. For the past year, Spider-Man hasn't made a single difference in New York. If anything, he's done more bad than good."
Gwen rolled her eyes. "So, he didn't stop that Kraven guy? Or the Vulture? Bad guys like them are in prison because Spider-Man stopped them."
"That's not the point. When has Spider-Man ever tried to save anyone? Essentially, he's killed tons of people," George said.
"Kraven and Scorpion killed tons of people," Gwen countered.
"No. Spider-Man killed tons of people. If he really tried, people wouldn't have gotten hurt in those attacks. Count the casualties from Vulture's final attack. Or when your friend died during the Scorpion attack. All those people are dead because of Spider-Man."
"He was NOT responsible. Those people are dead because of the people who committed those crimes," Gwen spat.
"Let's be honest. In the past year since Spider-Man first appeared, more criminals have been coming out of the shadows. The crime rate hasn't gone down."
"I thought you liked to think the best of people, Dad," Gwen pointed out. "Spider-Man is one of those people. He helps you do your job."
"Trust me, I want to believe the best in people. But try telling that to the relatives and friends of the ones caught in that menace's crossfire. And just yesterday, this Goblin creature attacks your school during an event where you and your classmates were supposed to have fun! And guess who else happened to be there?"
"Nobody got hurt!"
"I could've lost you, Gwen!"
Gwen shook her head and got up.
"You know what? You literally sound like that Jameson guy who trashes Spider-Man all the time. You're no better than him," Gwen said before she stormed upstairs to her bedroom.
Back at school on Monday, the school was still reeling over the Goblin's attack at prom. Because of the destruction in the gymnasium, athletic classes and programs were canceled until further notice. This gave students time to study or use their time for a free period.
Peter and Harry were studying in the school library when Peter's mind flashed back to the dance. He hadn't spoken to Harry since the incident, and he knew his friend was hurt about his fight with his father, so he felt the need to address it.
"Harry?"
"What is it, Pete?" Harry said as he wrote notes down.
"How are things with your dad now? Is everything okay?"
"Eh."
"Eh?"
"It means they're alright," Harry sighed as he closed his textbook. "He seemed a bit concerned after Homecoming, but he wasn't that worried about me. So, I spent the night at Liz's."
"Sooo…" Peter teased. "You guys-"
"Finish that sentence, and I'll skin you alive."
The two friends laughed.
"How about you and Gwen?"
"Well, I got separated from her when all that stuff happened, so I just called her when I got home," Peter lied.
"You feel any sparks with her?"
"For now, no," Peter said, unsure.
"Pete, I'm just saying, the fact that you went to Homecoming with Gwen Stacy doesn't sound like a coincidence. I mean, she's just like you. Smart, awkward-"
"Fuck you, man," Peter laughed.
"I'm serious, though."
"Look, that's not why I wanted to talk, Harry. I wanted to talk to you about your dad, not about Gwen."
"What else is there to talk about?"
"Harry, I understand what you're going through with your father. Right before my uncle died, we got into an argument, and I still regret it to this day," Peter confessed.
"What are you trying to say?" Harry asked.
"I don't want you to live your life full of regret. I don't want your relationship with your dad to get any more worse than it already is. You should try to fix it while you still can. I can't fix anything more between my uncle and I, and it kills me every day."
"I didn't know you had to go through that. I'm sorry, Pete."
Peter nodded.
"You're right. Somehow, things need to get better, and they need to get better now," Harry declared.
Peter patted his friend's back in support of his decision before they walked off to class together.
After school, Peter was walking out of the Daily Bugle, having turned more Spidey photos into Jameson. Though the pay wasn't the best, it was always better than nothing.
"Good ol' Jameson," Peter sighed, walking onto the sidewalk.
Peter's phone started ringing. He took it out to see that it was Gwen surprisingly.
"Hey, Gwen," Peter greeted.
"Hey, Pete. You doing anything this Friday?"
"Let me check." There was a pause so Peter could pretend to look at his schedule. "Nope! Why? What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking we could go hang out, just the two of us. Maybe grab some dinner?" Gwen asked.
"Are you asking me out on a date?" Peter asked in shock.
"Maybe I am," Gwen chuckled.
"I'm down," Peter confirmed.
"Awesome. I'll text you later."
"Perfect. See you at school tomorrow."
"Later," Gwen said.
Peter hung up the phone and yelled in victory. Unfortunately, his celebration was interrupted by sirens.
"Oh, great. What else is new?" Peter said before running into an alley to change into his costume.
Not even a minute later, Spider-Man was swinging through the sky towards the sound of the sirens as he continued his normal day-to-day routine.
Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Next chapter: Peter and Gwen's date.
