There are preachers who kill!

There are killers who preach.

There are teachers who lie,

There are liars who teach.

Take yer pick, dear.

Cuz it's all a facade!

"Thank you all for coming," a man said as he stepped up to the microphone, quieting the crowd that had gathered at the site. "My name is Bryce Cogan, and I'll be directing things today. Despite recent events surrounding OSCORP, Mr. Osborn wanted us to continue with the groundbreaking for this new wing to Empire State University, though he is currently unable to attend," Cogan informed everyone.

Peter shifted from one foot to the other, glancing over at Harry. The young Osborn was really the only reason Peter was here, and not out patrolling the streets like he usually was after school. His suit was slightly stifling under his normal clothes, but he was wearing it so that once the ceremony was over, he'd be able to get out on the streets for a little while at least.

Harry had asked him to come with him to the groundbreaking ceremony for the new section of the university that his father had funded, and while the actual event of sticking the shovel in the ground didn't sound super appealing, Peter had to admit that he got rather excited when Cogan announced what would be going on in the new wing. Osborn had funded the new science building at the University, and they were talking about cutting-edge discoveries, like cross-species genetics, neogenic recombinant testing, as well as a few other studies and experiments; Peter couldn't wait to see the results.

Harry looked over at his friend, a knowing smirk plastered on his face. "Told ya you'd like it," he whispered. Peter couldn't help the dorky grin that spread as he looked back at Harry while the emcee continued speaking.

Unfortunately, the elation didn't last for as long as Peter would have liked. His senses went on high alert, and the emcee's voice faded into background noise. The high schooler whirled around, looking anywhere and everywhere to find what triggered his spider-senses, but he couldn't see anything. He felt Harry giving him a quizzical stare, but Peter ignored his friend for the moment, needing to figure out what was going on.

His confusion was soon cleared up as everyone suddenly began muttering and whispering to each other, and the announcer actually stopped talking. Peter followed the fingers that were pointing towards the sky, and Peter knew exactly what everyone was staring at even before he looked up. Even though he knew what it was, Peter squinted his eyes and stared up into the sun where the figure had appeared, not wanting to seem more unfazed than anyone else. His heart rate accelerated and his stomach plummeted to the bottoms of his feet as he confirmed his suspicion that it was indeed the Green Goblin flying towards the group of people.

"What is that?" Harry asked as he shadowed his eyes with his hand, trying to get a better look at whatever was coming their way.

"Nothing good," Peter replied, slowly reaching for Harry's arm, then grabbing it faster when Peter realized the Goblin seemed to be picking up speed. "Come on Harry, we gotta go!" Peter said, his voice getting more urgent with each word.

Suddenly, as if a dam had burst, the crowd around them began moving and yelling, as if they all of a sudden realized that whatever was coming towards them at such a rapid pace probably wasn't friendly. Everyone began pushing others aside and shoving their way through the crowd as they tried to get out of the way, and the two young men were buffeted back and forth in the chaos. Finally, they were able to get themselves to a thinner part of the crowd, though Peter knew if they waited much longer, they'd be back in the same crowded situation.

Taking a second to glance back as he continued to pull Harry away from the approaching menace, Peter's eyes widened when he saw the Goblin pull back his arm and throw something into the crowd. "Harry, get down!" the high schooler yelled, tackling his friend to the ground mere seconds before the small device exploded, sending gray smoke through the air. Everyone in the path of the smoke began coughing, doubling over as their coughs became worse and worse; thankfully, Peter and Harry had gotten themselves far enough away from whatever had been thrown that neither of them felt the effects of the smoke grenade.

As the two high school students pushed themselves back into a standing position, Peter looked around, trying to figure out a way to get away from Harry so he could get his Spider-Man game on. A huge stampede of people rushed over to where Peter and Harry were standing, which was exactly the distraction Peter needed. He let himself be washed away in the sudden crowd of people, though when he heard Harry yell his name in panic, he felt a little guilty. He pushed those feelings aside though; his main focus for the moment was the Goblin. The madman needed to be stopped, and though Peter felt guilty about leaving his friend, he knew would have to deal with Harry later.

After letting himself be swept out by the crowds for a few seconds, Peter spotted an alleyway that was tucked away in a more secluded spot. He forced his way out of the massive crowd that he'd thrown himself in with, and finally he broke free of the teeming mass of people.

"It's a good thing you decided to wear the suit instead of just keeping it in your backpack," Peter thought to himself as he stripped down to the red and blue suit underneath his clothes. He reached into his jacket pocket and grabbed his mask, then bundled up the discarded clothes as fast as he could, dumping them in a metal trash can and praying that no one would take the time to pick up the garbage, seeing as how there was a flying man attacking the city. As Peter pulled his hood on over his face, the lenses lit up, and he knew his suit was active and online.

"Karen," Peter said as he webbed the top of the alley he'd snuck into, pulling himself to the top of the building.

"I'm here, Peter," came his AI's calm response.

"We gotta get this guy away from the crowd," stated the young man, looking down at the chaos in the square. The Goblin had abandoned targeting the entire crowd, and was instead flying around in deliberation, as if he were searching for someone in particular.

Spotting a flagpole close to the Goblin's glider, Peter backed up and took a running leap, flying through the air before catching hold of the intended target. He swung around the metal pole a few times, trying to get rid of the rest of the momentum he'd built up from his leap. As soon as he felt that the excess momentum was gone, Spider-Man climbed to the top of the pole and hailed the masked man.

"Hey, Gobby!"

The green-clad villain whirled around as he heard the hailing. "Spider-Man!" the Goblin growled as the red-and-blue hero crouched on top of the flagpole. "Leave me alone!" he spat. "Why can't you just let me commit my crimes in peace?" he asked in a whiny voice as Spider-Man dove towards his glider, firing a web at the bottom of the device. The Goblin took off, trying to knock the annoying do-gooder loose, cackling as he did so, as if he enjoyed trying to knock Peter off.

"I mean-ah!-I definitely could," Peter agreed, having a slightly difficult time speaking as the Goblin continued to swerve from side to side. "But I-oof-think that they might-ah!-take away my-hhnngghh-superhero license if-woah!-I did that," he finally got out.

The Green Goblin cackled as he ducked and weaved, still trying to knock Spider-Man off his glider. The constant cackling of the madman was really starting to grate on Peter's nerves.

"You know, it wasn't really that funny," Peter panted as he fought to hold onto the web attaching him to the glider.

The Goblin's glider was advanced, and Peter hated to admit it, but he was having a hard time not smacking into buildings as the Goblin swerved; the thing responded to the Goblin's lightest touch, meaning he could get as close to the buildings as he wanted, but was still able to swerve away without smashing into the structures, while Peter was less fortunate. The one thing that wasn't as advanced with it was that when it sped up, black smoke emitted from the back of it, right into Peter's face, causing the young man to cough excessively.

"Dude, that thing is not environment friendly," he complained as the Goblin continued to twist and turn. The Goblin turned and snarled at the hero when his efforts to throw the high schooler off were once again in vain.

"You're getting on my nerves," he growled.

"It's one of my...many talents," Peter panted. "Listen, not that I don't enjoy...hanging out with you...but why don't we just go somewhere and talk about this, away from all these nice people?" he called up from where he was dangling, still attached to the web that was sticking to the bottom of the Goblin's glider. They were away from the crowd at the groundbreaking, but they were still in New York. People were constantly around them.

"That's one idea, but let me answer with a counter offer," the man hissed. Blades appeared out of the arms of the suit the man was wearing, and before Peter could do anything, the man had leaned over and sliced cleanly through the webbing, sending Peter careening towards the ground.

His arms reeled for a moment, but he had enough control of his upper body to shoot another web at the glider, catching himself before he hit the ground. He heard the man growl above him.

"Fine, we'll play your way for a little bit," he said, cackling as he leaned over. Once again, the glider responded to the Goblin's slightest touch, and it soared away from the crowded streets, which was all Peter had wanted.

"Cool, I like it when I get my way," Peter muttered, not loud enough for the masked man to hear him. As the glider was flying through the air, Spider-Man had to duck and dodge different buildings that the man on the glider seemed to be intent on running him into, which made sense. Peter began climbing up the web to see if he could get to the top to tackle the Goblin off of the glider, but as he was climbing, he happened to look where they were, and his heart froze in his chest.

In the distance, a familiar green statue was rapidly approaching, and Peter got a sinking feeling in his stomach. Abandoning his attempts to climb his web rope, he tugged on the strand hard, managing to make the glider wobble slightly. When the Goblin looked down, Peter could almost feel the daggers coming from behind the mask.

"It's been fun, Gobby, but I got places to be, people to see," Peter called as he yanked on the webbing again. He pulled with enough force that it tilted the glider off balance, and the Goblin wobbled, pinwheeling his arms to try and keep himself balanced. While the masked man was distracted, Peter seized his chance to get the upper hand, swinging himself around with his feet outstretched, kicking the Goblin square in the chest. His hit did send the Goblin and his glider careening through the air, but first of all, it didn't knock the green-clad man off, like Peter had hoped it would. Second, when Peter's feet connected with the armored chest of the Goblin, it sent shocking pain through both of Peter's legs. In reaction to the pain, Peter's fingers automatically let go of the web he was holding onto, and he began plummeting down towards the pointed crown of Lovely Lady Liberty.

Before he hit though, Peter fired another web and swung to the top of the torch, watching as the Goblin regained complete control of his glider and turned around, making his way back towards Peter. The young man was preparing to jump off the torch and launch himself at the glider again, but a loud thump thump thump caught his attention, and he looked around. His eyes widened in horror as he saw a J3 helicopter coming towards the battling figures. The Goblin seemed to notice it as well, and Peter could almost see the toothy grin under the mask.

"Better catch the five o'clock news," Goblin crowed as he surged forwards, throwing a small, familiar-looking round object at the blades of the helicopter. "I hear the main story is gonna be...explosive!" he cackled. The object exploded as it made contact with the rotating blades, and the chopper immediately began falling out of the sky. Turning his sights from catching the Goblin to catching the falling chopper, Peter flung himself towards the machine and the passengers who were struggling with the door to get out.

Getting the timing right was tricky; one wrong move and Peter could lose his head, so he waited until he had fallen underneath the chopper a little ways, then he spread out the wings the suit had, letting it catch the updrift and allowing the chopper to catch up with him. As the large machine began to fall past him, Peter stuck his hand out and grabbed one of the bars on the bottom of the bird, giving him slight deja vu of just a few days ago, when he'd basically done the same thing while getting Osborn and his people out of the OSCORP building.

He pulled himself closer to the chopper and grabbed the door, yanking it open and revealing not only the pilot, but J. J. Jameson himself.

"Spider-Man!" Jameson yelled, saying the name like it was a vile curse. "What did you do to make this lunatic so mad?"

"Just being my usual charming self," Spider-Man muttered, barely loud enough for Jameson to hear him. Peter looked around as the helicopter continued to spiral out of control. They were getting closer and closer to the water, and Peter knew that he had to act fast if he wanted to save the CEO and his pilot. "Mr. Jameson, do you trust me?" he asked as he grabbed the back of the pilot's shirt, pulling him over to where he and J. J. were waiting.

"What?! No!" Jameson said incredulously.

"Well...that's a little unfortunate," Peter said, rolling his eyes under his mask. The helicopter was far enough away from the Statue of Liberty that Peter knew they wouldn't crash into it and damage the priceless symbol of America, but that did leave them with a different problem: the only place he could really stick Jameson and his pilot to was the base of the statue, but he figured they'd better there than on the ground. "Hold on!" Peter called out, placing his legs against the foot of the helicopter, much like one would see if a swimmer was getting ready to do a backstroke.

Before he pushed off, Peter made sure that he had both men securely in his grasp, and then he vaulted himself away from the helicopter, dragging the terrified pilot and screaming Jameson with him. They cleared the helicopter, and Peter had just fired a web at the base of the Statue of Liberty when he heard a cackle from above, and suddenly something grabbed his shoulders and yanked him up, forcing him to let go of the two men, who immediately began plummeting to what would most certainly be their deaths.

"NO!" Peter yelled. "Karen, web net!" he cried, struggling against the hold the Goblin had on him, firing a large net of webbing that enclosed around the two men mere feet before they splatted on the ground. The net, which was still attached to the strand of web coming from Peter's web shooter bounced; the young man could hear Jameson from down below cursing like a sailor, and if the situation hadn't been so serious, Peter would have honestly laughed out loud.

"Impressive," the Goblin said, though he sounded less than impressed with Peter's webbing abilities. He shook the young man in his arms, causing the strand of webbing holding the net above the ground to slip from Peter's hands. Thankfully, since they were only a few feet above the ground, Spider-Man knew the fall wouldn't hurt Jameson and his pilot terribly.

Peter knew that everyone would be alright as long as he was able to keep the Goblin away from them. Which apparently wasn't going to be too hard.

"Let's go for a ride, huh Spider-Man?" Goblin asked with a wicked cackle as he began flying away with Peter in his arms. Once again, the high schooler had flashbacks to his first encounter with Vulture, when he was dropped in the river. This time though, instead of water, he'd be met with an even more unforgiving piece of cement.

"That's not happening again," he muttered to himself. Thanks to the extra training he'd been receiving from Tony's friends, as well as a few lessons with the billionaire himself, Peter had become more flexible than he'd ever been before, and he was able to kick his legs up over his head, once again connecting with the Goblin's chest. The Goblin still had hold of Peter's biceps though, so when he planted his feet on the glider, he wasn't able to stand up fully, and his arms were caught in between his legs.

Peter grunted, but before he could try and fight off the Goblin's hold on him, the masked villain did something unexpected; with a satisfied grunt, he let Peter go.

Peter fell off the glider with a startled yelp, desperately firing a web up at the bottom of the flying machine to avoid hitting the ground and becoming a Spider pancake. The young man began swinging back and forth on his web, trying to get momentum to get up and kick the Goblin again, but before he could, the glider veered sharply to the right, and Peter flew through the air. Once again, the webbing slipped through his fingers, and the high schooler went tumbling through the air.

The Goblin had taken them over an expanse of trees, which was directly where Peter was falling. Before he could web anything else, the branches seemed to reach up and grab the young man, and soon he was falling through the trees. He reached his hands out, trying to find anything to stop, or at least slow his fall, and finally his hands connected with a thick branch that he was able to grasp tightly, bringing him to an abrupt halt. His shoulder protested as he swung around the branch, though he knew it would have hurt a lot worse if he didn't have super strength. He pulled himself up onto the branch that he'd caught, crouching on the thick piece of wood as he stared up at the sky, trying to see through the thick canopy of leaves.

After a few seconds of looking around, the hair on the back of Peter's neck stood, and his senses told him he needed to get out of the way, pronto. He leapt off the branch he was on, swinging through the trees on his webs as fast as he could. He heard something clatter through the leaves and branches, but when he looked behind him, he couldn't see anything. His spidey senses were still telling him to get away though, and they'd never let him down before, so he kept moving. It was a good thing he did, too, because mere seconds after he heard the clanking noise, a large explosion rocked the trees, and Peter was caught in the aftershock.

The young man was flung forward, along with bits of wood and shattered tree. Every single part of him hit a bit of wood at one point or another during his flight; arms, legs, head, chest. Nothing was safe, though Peter tried covering his head with his arms as he was soaring through the air.

Suddenly, the high schooler's impromptu flight through the trees was stopped when his midsection was slammed into another thick branch, knocking the air out of him. Spider-Man let out a small groan as he hung onto the branch, letting his legs dangle freely in the air as he tried to catch his breath. Arms trembling slightly, the young man pulled himself up onto the branch after a few moments, looking around. He knew he needed to get out of the tree canopy to see if he could still catch the Goblin, even though he knew chances were slim that the man had stuck around.

Peter looked around him; he decided to head down instead of up, since he was only about a dozen feet in the air. He dropped deftly to the ground, preparing to land in a crouch. When he tried to land though, his right ankle suddenly gave out from underneath him, and instead of a crouch, he ended up forcing himself to go into a roll to get rid of his extra momentum. He only finished half of the roll before he collapsed onto his back, staring up into the green leaves of the trees above him.

As he pushed himself up into a sitting position, Peter leaned over and prodded at his ankle, which was the source of the throbbing pain. "Karen?" he ground out. Thankfully, his AI knew what he was asking for, and she immediately began scanning the joint, as well as the rest of him.

"You are suffering from a mild sprain. Your ankle is the only place that's injured though; my guess would be that it happened during the explosion, before the tree stopped you," she suggested. "Shall I alert Mr. Stark and the hospital staff that you're on your way?" she asked.

"No, no, no," Peter immediately vetoed. "It's just a sprain, and with my healing, it should be fine in the next day or two. I'll be fine."

Peter knew that AIs weren't really capable of showing emotion, but if he were asked, he would have described Karen's silence as stony, almost pouting. "Mr. Stark is busy, and he doesn't have time to drop everything and come running every time I face something a little bit bigger than a bank robbery," he explained. His AI didn't still didn't respond, and the high schooler sighed. "If something bigger happens, I'll let Mr. Stark or Happy know," he finally relented. "Deal?" he asked.

"Deal," Karen replied.

"Great. Now, the real question is: Who was that guy, and why did he attack the Osborn-" Peter paused as he suddenly remembered something. "Harry!" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet and moving as fast as his injury would allow. He webbed some of the branches above him, swinging through the forest again to give his ankle a rest, and he finally cleared the trees. As he glanced up at the skies briefly, he confirmed his hunch that Goblin hadn't stuck around for another round. Peter could only hope that the masked man had decided to go home for the day, because Spider-Man needed to get back and make sure that his friend, along with everyone else who'd been at the groundbreaking, was alright.

Finally, the young man spotted a building that was tall enough for him to swing from, which he immediately webbed, pulling himself towards and sticking to the brick once he reached it. He didn't put much weight on his right ankle, which made climbing up the building slightly more difficult, but not impossible. Once he reached a certain height, he was able to web the next closest building, and he began swinging through the streets of New York as fast as he could.

0-0-0

When Peter finally reached the groundbreaking ceremony, he was slightly surprised to still see a decent amount of people milling about, talking to news crews and cops. Webbing the side of the building, Peter gently eased his way down into the alley where he'd left his everyday clothes. When he opened the trash can lid quietly, he was relieved to see that his clothes and backpack were still there. He quickly pulled his shirt on over his head and pulled his jeans up, leaving his suit on underneath. He wrapped his jacket around him as well, and he barely remembered to take his mask off and stick it in his jacket pocket before he exited the alleyway. He began looking around for his friend, but his friend found him before Peter could.

"Pete, where on earth did you go?" Harry cried, running towards his friend when he saw him. "I've been looking everywh-Peter, you're hurt," Harry suddenly realized as he noticed his friend limping; he immediately abandoned the berating he had planned and hurried over to Peter's side.

"I'm okay, really," Peter insisted. "It's just a sprained ankle."

"How'd you sprain your ankle?" Harry asked in confusion. Peter had to think quickly.

"I think when we got separated, I got knocked down," he explained. "I tried to get back up, but someone trampled over it."

"That makes sense," Harry agreed. "But Peter, where did you go?" he asked again. "I looked everywhere for you once things calmed down a little!"

Once again, Peter was forced to think on his feet. "I uh, think I got hit in the head pretty hard," he said, gesturing to a small knot forming on his forehead from his flight through the trees. "I just woke up a few minutes ago in an alley," he said.

"I thought I checked all the alleyways," Harry muttered, looking at Peter with a confused face. Peter merely shrugged.

"I'm sorry I made you worry," he said.

"I mean, it's not your fault," Harry said. "It's not like you invited that maniac to come crash my father's groundbreaking ceremony. Come on," he added, pulling on Peter's arm gently. "There's an ambulance over here; you should get checked out."

Peter tried protesting, but his friend wouldn't hear it. Suddenly, a cry made both teenagers stop.

"Peter!"

The high schooler looked over towards the familiar voice, spotting his Aunt May running through the crowds towards him as fast as she could. She had to duck and weave around a whole sea of people, but she finally burst through, finding a clear path towards her nephew.

"May," he said with a tired smile, holding out his arms and embracing his aunt when she reached him.

"Peter, are you okay?" she asked as they separated. She cupped his face in her hands, looking over every single detail of his face. "I saw what was happening on the news," she explained. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" she asked accusingly, pinning her nephew with a stare. Peter realized she must have seen the J3 news coverage before the Goblin had grabbed Jameson and the pilot, and he knew he had to stop her from talking and revealing who he was.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just got a little bump on the head. May, this is my friend, Harry Osborn," he introduced, grabbing her gently and leading her over to his friend. May seemed to realize what Peter was doing, and she understood.

"Hi, Harry," she said, putting on a strained smile as she shook his hand. "I'm Peter's Aunt May."

"It's nice to meet you, ma'am," Harry said, smiling back at the woman. "Pete's been a great friend," he added. "I'm sorry I got him caught up in this. If I had known something like this was going to happen, I never would have asked him to come with me," he promised.

"It's not your fault," May assured him. "But Peter, I think it's time we get home," she said, giving her nephew a knowing look. Peter nodded, turning back to Harry.

"Harry, I'm so sorry, but I gotta run," Peter said. "Is there somewhere we can take you?" he offered, not wanting to leave his friend stranded again.

"No," Harry replied, shaking his head. "Thanks, but all these people work for my father; I can catch a ride from any of them. Are you sure you don't want to get checked out before you go?" Harry asked, gesturing towards the waiting emergency vehicles.

"I'm sure," Peter assured his friend. "May's got some nursing training, and she's been taking care of me my whole life; trust me, I've gotten a lot worse injuries than a sprained ankle," he said with a grin.

"He has," May agreed with a look that could only be described as a caregiver's love mixed with annoyance.

"Okay," Harry said slowly. "I guess I'll see you in school Monday, yeah?"

"For sure," Peter replied. "Did you still want to study tomorrow?" he asked, turning to face his friend as he remembered that the two of them had made plans for the next day.

"I mean, I don't want to be a bother," Harry began.

"It won't be," Peter promised, looking over at his aunt for confirmation. "Is that okay, May?"

The older woman looked like she wanted to say no, but she finally nodded. "As long as you're home by ten, I'm fine with it," she said, pinning her nephew with a look that dared him to argue with her. Peter turned to his friend.

"So I'll see you at six?" he asked. Harry nodded.

"That sounds great," he said. "I'll see you then."

0-0-0

The next day, Osborn woke up in his bed again, and this time the memories returned to him much faster. His breathing got faster and faster as he grew more angry with the being inside him.

"Spider-Man is proving to be more of a problem than we originally thought," the Goblin mused. "We need to find a way to subdue him."

Osborn didn't care about Spider-Man at the moment. "How dare you!" he raged at the Goblin. "My son was at that groundbreaking! You could have hurt him, and what would that have gotten you? What did you gain by going there? Nothing!" His breathing was labored; he was more angry than he'd been in a long time.

"Exactly, Osborn," snapped the Goblin. "That was just me demonstrating to you how powerful we can be, as well as to teach you a lesson. Hard things have to be done to get what you want. You should know that more than anyone."

"Maybe that's not the life I want to live anymore," growled Osborn as he placed his hands against his head, as if he could squeeze the being out of his mind that way.

"Who said that you have control over your life anymore?" cooed the voice in his head, cackling maddeningly as Osborn growled.

"Of course I have control over my own life," he snapped.

"Do you?" the Goblin asked condescendingly. Osborn began to feel less sure of himself, and he growled, smacking his hand on the table as his head began pounding. "You see," the Goblin continued as Osborn struggled. "I like this life; people are so easy to control, so easy to use. All they need is a bit of fear, a bit of insecurity, and then suddenly, their mind is yours."

"You're not...gonna do that...to me," Osborn grunted. "I won't...let you."

"Won't let me?" cackled the menace in Norman's head. "You don't have control over your life anymore, and you know it."

"NO!" Osborn shouted. "Get out! You won't use me anymore."

He braced himself, ready for the argument with the Goblin to continue, but no retort came. He gently prodded at his mind, trying to see if he could feel the presence of his unwelcome house guest. When he was met with nothing, Osborn felt a small sliver of hope rising in his chest. While he was ecstatic that he had beaten the Goblin back for the moment, Osborn knew that it was just that: a moment. He knew he had to think of some way to permanently quash the Goblin's presence in his mind, otherwise he'd risk losing control over himself for good.

He stumbled over to his nightstand, where the Goblin had stored the files with his blood samples and tests, and for the next few hours, he poured over them, trying to find anything that suggested some sort of cure. After several hours of close examination, Osborn growled. There was nothing in the files about a cure; he needed to get to his lab to see if Tessa or Tristin had anything there that might help him.

Osborn stumbled for the door, barely remembering to grab his coat before he grabbed the knob, yanking the door open. As he hurried down the hallway, he heard voices coming from downstairs. "Harry and his friends," Osborn muttered as he made his way down the stairs.

"Sir?" the Osborn butler asked as he noticed his employer.

"I need you to bring the car around," Osborn instructed. He noticed how his butler flinched slightly, and memories swept through his mind. The Goblin was doing more damage than Osborn realized, and Norman didn't know why he hadn't expected that when he'd handed the reins over to someone who names themselves after a creature of the night.

"Dad?" he heard his son ask. Osborn looked over to the dining room, where he saw his son, Peter Parker, and another kid sitting at the large table. "Dad, are you okay?" Harry asked, standing up when he saw his father's face.

"I'm fine," Osborn tried convincing his son, though he could tell that his offspring didn't believe him. "Look. I don't have time to explain now," he said, sounding irritated. Harry backed down, but he continued to stare at his father as the older man hurried for the front door.

Norman felt jittery as he waited for the car to be pulled around. As soon as it was, the driver got out to open Norman's door, but the CEO rushed for the driver's side.

"Mr. Osborn?" the driver asked in confusion.

"I can drive myself," Osborn growled. "I just need to be alone."

He peeled out of the driveway, leaving his driver and his butler staring after him with concerned expressions, neither of them quite sure what to think of their boss's recent, erratic behavior.

"There's got to be something at the lab," Osborn muttered to himself as he drove the car. "Something there that can help me. That's the only way I'll be free of this monster."

Thoughts?