Chapter 23

"Wherein Kendrick dies."

Okay guys. I know I'm late. I promised I would release a chapter every two weeks, and it's been three weeks. So sorry. I've been busy, and I forgot.

Also, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna do the Spider-Bus story. bc7788 gave me his blessing to use Connor. The story will center around the team flying through different dimensions solving problems. Fighting bad guys. It's mostly gonna be a story about a group of spider powered teenagers who are friends and just want to hang out. Lots of opportunities here.

Speaking of bc7788, thanks for the review. Yes, epic was exactly what I was going for! As for stepping your game up, man you're great. Don't worry about that.

Thanks to WolfDragon for the review. Yeah, humans suck.

Thanks to Exile037 for the review. Yep. Ken and Jen are officially a thing. Well, unofficially official. And yes, Ken shall become an uncle. Whether he's a good one or not, remains to be seen. And every spider does have to have a goblin. It's a rule.

Thanks to Weskron for favoriting and following this series. Go read his stuff guys.

Thanks to Lunbolm for favoriting Deadpool: New World.

Thanks to Weskron (really good writer, I recommend his stuff) for following me, favoriting me, following Spider-Man: New World, reviewing Spider-Man: New World, and reviewing and favoriting Spider-Man: Father's Day.

Thanks to Kira Sema for favoriting Red Hood: Requiem

Thanks to jasminetiger for following Red Hood: Requiem

Thanks to FoxLife for following Red Hood: Requiem.

Thanks to Mireilles3 for following Red Hood: Requiem.

Thanks to PuppyProngs for favoriting Red Hood: Requiem.

Thanks to nopepope (great name) for following Red Hood: Requiem.

And lastly (thank God, I'm tired of writing this) thanks to spiderman1fan for reviewing Red Hood: Requiem.

And now: Goblin Nation!

"Director Nolan!" the voice of a woman called out.

Vince Nolan sat in his office, a bottle of scotch in hand. He was the Director of SHIELD, or the Strategic Homegrown something or another, who gave a shit? It was all noise anyway.

He was a man in his late twenties, short blond hair, and was almost never seen without a drink in his hand. He could be considered an alcoholic, but he was adamant he could stop whenever he wanted. Heh. Adamant. He didn't even know he knew that word.

"Yeah, I know," Victor said to the SHIELD agent who ran in. She was about twenty three, brunette, flat butt but cute face. "Curtis Lance is going on a rampage. It interrupted my Crunchyroll."

"Sir, the damage...the lives lost...its unimaginable," the agent said. "The White House..."

"A satellite landed on The White House?" Victor asked surprised, earning a nod from the agent. "Is the president..."

"Dead sir," the agent said, lowering her head. "Along with his wife and three daughters."

"Dammit," Victor said as he stood up.

"DAMMIT!" Victor yelled as he threw his drink into a wall, shattering it, causing the agent to jump.

"S...sir?" the agent asked. "Are you...?"

"I will be, once you get me another drink," Victor said. "We have any way to locate Lance?"

"None sir. We have no idea what he's planning. We're...we're at his mercy, sir."

"Don't you say that," Victor said as he put his finger in the agent's face. "This is America goddammit! We're nobody's bitch! We don't get knocked down, and when we do, we get the hell back up!"

"S...sir, that doesn't make any sense," the agent said. "If we don't get knocked down then..."

"It doesn't have to make sense!" Victor yelled. "This is America!"

"Ye...yes, sir."

"I want every agent to drop what they're doing and find Curtis Lance! And when they do, put a bullet in his fucking head. Judicial system be damned."

"But the judicial system is one of the building blocks of what makes America..."

"(Can you let me have my badass moment please?)"

Riiiiiiiiinnnngggggg

That was all Kendrick heard. A constant ringing.

He was lying in the middle of the street, cracks and holes all over his exoskeleton. When he saw the satellites falling from the sky, he had grabbed the hurt police officer he had saved and jumped out the window. A satellite didn't land on them, thank God, but one landed a few blocks away, and the shockwave had sent everything flying, windows breaking, things being destroyed.

All around him, people were running around, scared, as debris from the skyscrapers above rained down on them. Everything was fuzzy to Ken. What happened to the cop he had saved? Ken looked around...

Oh. Oh God...

The cop was on the ground next to him.

With a large gash in his stomach.

A rock from the hospital had fallen and crushed his insides. His eyes were looking off to the distance, and a trail of blood was leaking from the side of his mouth. Ken felt his pulse.

Dead

Goddammit, Ken thought as he punched the ground. Lance will fucking pay for this.

But that was the last of his problems. The people running around. They were scared. He could...he had to help them. Somehow.

"Excuse me...?" a small voice said next to Ken. "Are...are you Spider-Man?"

Ken looked to his left and saw a little girl, no older than six, with brown eyes and short auburn hair. She was covered in dirt, probably from all the soot floating around from the destruction. She looked at Ken with eyes of fear...but not at him. No, she was scared of everything. Ken couldn't imagine being that young and having to live through...through this.

"Yes," Ken said to the girl. "Yes, I'm Spider-Man."

"I...I can't find my mom," the little girl said. "She...she told me to wait for her, then the bad man came on the tv, and..."

Her eye looked off. She stopped. Ken followed her gaze. Lying up against a car was a middle aged woman, with her head leaning to the side. Her neck had been broken.

Please...no...

"M...m..m...," the little girl stammered as tears formed at the edges of her eyes.

"Mommy!" she yelled and tried to run towards her, but Ken wrapped his arms around her, holding her back. She continued to yell and kick and scream, until she stopped and buried her crying face into Ken's chest. Ken hugged her, not knowing what to do anymore. People were dying left and right, and there...there was nothing he could do. With all his powers, with all his goddamned responsibility, he was powerless. He couldn't stop this.

His spider-sense tingled.

Looking up, he saw that the hospital that he was just in was worse off than he thought. The shockwave had left many cracks in the structure and all the windows were shattered. But that's not what the danger was...

The building was falling down. In a matter of seconds, it would be on top of them.

"Hey! Get off the street!" Ken yelled at the people to no avail. They couldn't hear him over their own panicking. There was no way he could save them all in time before the building came crashing down. He looked down at the little girl by his side. She looked up at the falling building, trembling. She saw it was falling, but she stayed close to Ken's side. She trusted him. Ken picked her up.

And he ran.

He ignored the surrounding people. He ignored the cries. He ignored the corpses. He ignored everything. The only the he knew in his mind was that he would be damned if he let this girl die.

He eventually got out of the danger zone, and watched as the building crashed. It hit a nearby building that was across from it and they both hit the ground. Ken saw the people on the street being crushed under it. The girl cried. She screamed, tears forming from her eyes, streaming down like a waterfall. She screamed with such pain in her voice, it made Ken want to scream too. But he couldn't. He had to be strong. For her.

"Hey..," Ken said as he kneeled in front of her putting his hands on her shoulders. He could feel her trembling. He willed his mask to recede, and looked her in her eyes with the most forced smile he could've made. "Hey, it's okay. I promise."

She said nothing.

"Hey, what's your name?" Ken asked.

"Kathryn Hyde," the girl said. "My friends call me Kat."

"Hi Kat. I'm Ken," Kendrick said. "I'm...I'm so, so sorry about your mom. And...I wish there was something I could do, some way I could bring her back. But I can't. But...I swear to you, nothing bad will happen to you. I swear it. If anyone wants to mess with you, they'll have to kill me first."

"O...okay."

"Okay," Ken said. "Where's your dad? Do you know where he is, Kat?"

"I don't have a daddy anymore," Kat said, wiping her eyes for tears.

"I'm...I'm sorry," Ken said. "Do you have any other family? Someone I can take you to?"

Kat shook her head.

"Are you sure Kat? I need you to think really hard."

"My...my grandma died, and my mom said my grandfather is no good abusive pussy douchebag who..."

"Okay! Okay," Ken said. "Jeez, how old are you?"

"This many," Kat said as she held up five fingers on her right hand and one finger on her left.

Six years old...

Ken picked Kat up.

"Hold on tight," Ken said as he leaped into the air, spraying a web line, hoping to God it held.

It wasn't long until Ken and Kat landed by the apartment of Nicki and Nathan Ross. Ken knocked on their balcony window. Soon, the window opened, revealing Nicki and Nathan in their X-Men costumes.

"Ken!" Nicki exclaimed as she wrapped him in a hug.

"Hey kiddo," Ken said, before turning to Nathan.

"I'm...glad you're not dead Durham," Nathan said.

"Who...who's this...?" Nick asked as she bent down to meet Kat.

"I'm Kathryn," Kat said.

"Um...Ken...?" Nicki started.

"She was...her mother died...right in front of her..."

"Oh my God.."

"She doesn't really have anyone else, or at least not that she knows of. I was...wondering if you could protect her, while I go after Lance."

"Ken, you know I'd do just about anything for you," Nicki started.

"Gross," Nathan and Kat said at the same time, before smiling at each other.

"But we're gonna do something too. We were going after The Goblin..."

"And that's great Nicki," Ken said. "Look...I know your family has a mansion out in Westchester..."

"What?!" the siblings asked incredulously.

"I googled your parents and I know I was wrong for that, but could you please let her stay there, at least until this whole thing is over?"

Nicki and Nathan looked at him with a look of anger. Then they looked a each other. Finally they turned to him.

"We'll talk about you invading our privacy later," Nathan said.

"But, for now, she can stay in our mansion," Nicki finished.

"Oh my God, thank..."

"Thank us later. I'm taking her now," Nicki said.

"Ken, I don't want to," Kat said. "I want to go with you."

"You can't go with me Kat," Ken said. "I have...people I have to check on. And I have to stop the bad man. The one who killed...you know."

Kat didn't say anything as tears formed in her eye again.

"Hey...," Ken said, holding her chin up to him. "You trust me don't you?"

"I...I think so," Kat said.

"Good," Ken said. "Well, I trust these guys. I swear that they'll take care of you. And I will come back to get you. I swear to you, I will not forget you. This isn't goodbye...it's see you later, okay?"

"Okay," Kat said, wiping her tears. "See you later."

"See you later Kat," Ken said as he stood back up. He looked towards Nicki and Nathan. "Take care of her. Please."

They nodded. Ken jumped off the roof, and swung.

"Hey Kathryn," Nicki said. "You afraid of heights?"

Ken swung through the city. Fires were everywhere, people were crying. It was carnage. Sometimes his webs didn't stick to the building because the loose bricks wouldn't support his weight. But it was the fastest way, so it was the only way.

Come on, come on pick up... Ken thought.

Ken cursed when the phone went to voicemail. Marshall still wasn't picking up. He typed on his phone again. Jen didn't answer either. He decided to swing to the school and see if he could find anyone.

"Hello?" he called as he landed on the school grounds. He was happy to see it was pretty much the same, with hardly any damage to it. "Is anyone here?!"

"Help me!" Spider-Man heard a voice call.

He ran towards the sound of a voice, and suddenly saw a man fly backwards from out a window. The man landed in front of Ken and saw he was wearing a mask. A green mask. With horns on it.

This guy worked for Lance.

"Help!" the voice called again, snapping Ken back into reality.

"Hold on!" Ken yelled as he jumped into the window the guy had just flew through.

He landed in the hallway in the school and saw five more men wearing green masks. They were holding large assault rifles and had knifes and large swords in pouches that decorated their bodies like a superhero from the 90's.

"Uh...hi," Ken said as they all looked at him. "Welcome to my parlor."

Instantly, they all turned their guns to him. Almost as instantaneous, Spider-Man sprayed web shots that clogged all their weapons. They all dropped their guns and surrounded him, swords in their hands.

"No guys," Ken said. "I'm sure there's a better way to go about this."

"Nope," the goblin in the front said. "This seems fine to me."

"Now see, I can tell you're one of those glass is half empty kind of guys."

"And I can see your trying to distract us," the goblin said. "Come on! Attack at once!"

Goddammit.

They all swarmed him, swords ready. His spider-sense went into overdrive.

The first attack came from his right. The guy tried to stab him in the side. Spider-Man elbowed him in the face, causing him to loosen his grip on the sword. He then hit it out of his hand and grabbed it. He rammed the hilt of it into the man's temple, causing him to fall unconscious. Then, someone came up behind him with a sword. Spider-Man kicked the front of his knee, breaking it, causing the man to scream and fall. Another one, who Ken saw was a woman, ran to him, sword about an inch from his body. Ken suddenly moved out the way and winced as the sword slashed his side, drawing blood. Ken kicked the woman's feet out from under her, making her fly into the air, Ken then elbowed her in the back of the head, causing her to shoot to the ground face first, probably breaking her nose. The last two attacked him at the same time. Ken sprayed a web that put the two shoes of one together, making one of them trip. While he was falling, Ken attached a web to his pants and flung it into the air, making it stick to the ceiling, which caused the man to hang upside down with his pants at his ankles. The last guy was the guy Ken was talking to.

Ken kicked him in the nuts.

As he vomited on the ground, Ken looked around at the five people he just defeated.

"Yeah!" Ken yelled as he shot his fist into the air. "I play Arkham City bitch!"

Now, who was the guy who called for help?

"Uh, hello?" Ken called out.

"Over here!" the voice called.

Ken followed the voice to a locker. He opened it. Inside...

Was Kim Gray.

"Kim!" Ken said as he hugged her. "Thank God you're alive!"

"Um, Spider-Man?" Kim asked. "How do you know my name?"

Fuck.

"Oh. Um...," Ken started before shaking his head. "Dammit."

Ken willed his exoskeleton over his head to pull back, showing his face.

"Oh...oh my God..." Kim started.

"Yeah, I know. It's a lot to take..."

Smack!

"Ow!" Ken said holding his cheek. "What was that for?!"

"That was for keeping something like this from me!" Kim said before wrapping him in a hug. "And this is for saving me. Ass."

"I'm the ass? My face is red!"

"Don't ruin the moment Ken."

"So um," Ken said after the hug broke up. "Do you know where anyone else is? I can't reach anyone on my phone."

"The whole school evacuated when that goblin guy went on the air," Kim stated. "I was in the bathroom."

"Horrible timing to be taking a shit."

"I was not taking a shit!" Kim said. "I was pissing."

"Well, I think..."

Ken looked and saw that the guy who he kicked in the nuts was walking towards them, knife in hand.

These guys just never learn.

"All right freak, round tw..." he started before he was flung into the wall by what looked like lightning.

Ken turned and saw it was Kim who had electricity dancing between her fingers.

"Sorry," Kim said. "I just really don't like that word."

Smack!

"Ow! What the hell?!" Kim yelled as she rubbed her cheek.

"You slapped me, when you were a mutant this whole time?!" Ken exclaimed.

"You hit a girl!"

"I don't discriminate," Ken said as he folded his arms. "So, what? You can produce electricity?"

"Uh, yeah," Kim said, looking kinda weary of Ken. "I'm constantly building up electricity at all times. But I'm able to release it. Sometimes it builds up so much that I have to release it."

"Like taking a shit," Ken said.

"No, not like taking a shit," Kim said.

"Is that what you were doing when the school was evacuated?" Ken asked, earning a nod from Kim. "Okay. Come with me."

Ken walked towards the unconscious people as his mask came back on. He grabbed a guy who's knee he kicked in.

"What is Lance planning? Tell me!" he demanded.

"Uh, I think that guy's unconscious."

"Oh," Ken said as he dropped the guy to the ground, and grabbed someone else. "Right."

"What is Lance...goddammit," Ken said as he dropped the one in his hand. "I really gotta remember to keep one guy conscious so I can interrogate them."

"So, um, what are we going to do?" Kim asked.

"My parents," Ken said. "I gotta check on my parents."

"I'll come with you."

"Okay, get on," Ken said.

"Um..."

"Oh jeez, don't make this weird. Just get on me."

"See, I get that part, it's just your wording that bothers me."

"Kim!"

"Okay, fine," she said as she got on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm on you."

"Heh. Heh."

"Seriously?"

Spider-Man leaped into the air, shooting a web. It wasn't long before they were in the city. Ken saw that the men in goblin masks were everywhere. They were robbing and beating on innocent civilians. Ken knew he had to do something.

But his parents.

"Hello, people of Goblin Nation!" a voice called.

Oh no..., Ken dreaded.

On a billboard above, Ken saw the smiling face of The Goblin. Ken would be lying if he said he didn't look scary all green and huge like that.

"I hope you're adjusting accordingly!" The Goblin exclaimed. "I'm sure by now you've noticed my soldiers taking to the streets. I call them my Green Goblins! Catchy, right?"

"All hail the Goblin King!" the men in green masks yelled on the street.

"Anywho, I just wanted to check in on you. Oh, and to tell you. Soon I'll be releasing a chemical into the air. I call it Oz. Once released, it'll turn all you wonderful citizens into beautiful goblins, like me. Of course, unlike me, your minds will no longer be your own. They'll be mine. My Green Goblins are immune, of course. Sadly, I can't say the same for the rest of you. There is a cure, but you'll have to join my Goblin to get it!"

"No..." Spider-Man mumbled.

"Ken...," Kim wondered. "What the hell are we going to do?"

"I...I don't know."

"Of course, there is a way to stop me altogether!" Lance said, smiling. "Are you out there Kendrick? Spider-Man? I know you are. Let's make a wager, shall we? A little contest between friends. If you can defeat me in combat, I won't release the Oz. I'll surrender, and so will the Green Goblins. If you think you're worthy, come to City Hall in ten minutes. Not eleven. See your then, Ken!"

And then the screen went black.

"Kim," Ken said. "Get off."

Kim got off of his back. "Ken, you can't seriously be thinking about going. He's baiting you."

"I know he is," Spider-Man said. "Kim, I need you to go to my parents house. Make sure they're all right. Zap anybody who gets in your way."

"Ken..."

"And Kim?" Ken said. "No matter what happens...don't tell my parents that I'm Spider-Man. Please."

"Ken..."

Ken willed his mask to pull back. Tears were streaming down his face. He looked at her, wholeheartedly. "Please."

Kim walked to him, tears forming in her eyes.

"Kim," Ken said. "Don't try to talk me out of..."

"Shut up," Kim said as she pulled him into a kiss. She wrapped her arms around him. He put his hands on her face, in her chocolate hair. Her lips tasted like strawberries.

Eventually, she pulled away. "I promise."

Ken stepped away from her, willing his exoskeleton to come over his head, showing his mask. He jumped off the roof, and swung through the air. Unbeknownst to Spider-Man, Kim whispered to herself. "Please don't die. Please..."

Ten minutes later, Spider-Man swung down to the front of City Hall. Large groups of people, some wearing Goblin masks, some not, surrounded the area. Some were aiming their phones.

Perfect, Spider-Man thought.

Spider-Man landed, not seeing Lance anywhere. Suddenly, his spider-sense rang.

"Well well," a dark voice cackled. Spider-Man looked up to see The Goblin, muscles rippling, smoke emitting from his skin, standing on the steps of the mayor's office. "I'm actually surprised to see you here."

"This has gone too far Lance," Spider-Man said as he got into a trademark crouching position. "All those innocent people dead, and for what?!"

"For change, Kendrick," The Goblin said as he strolled down towards him. "It seems like every day there's some news on the air about some murder, some terrorist attack, the economy being in a shit. And do you know why, Kendrick?"

"Uh, Donald Trump?"

"No," The Goblin said. "Actually, I think Trump makes a lot of good points."

"Oh God," Spider-Man said. "You really are crazy."

"Not about rapist Mexicans or whatnot, I mean about the fact that this country needs a change. A reboot."

"God no," Spider-Man said. "I hate reboots."

"Regardless, this needs to happen. And if I'm being honest, I've been impressed with you. The fact hat I haven't killed you yet is alarming. So, how about this? We work together. With both of us, we could make this country into something to be proud of."

"Go to hell Goblin," Spider-Man said.

"I figured you'd say that."

"No, seriously, go to hell," Spider-Man repeated. "Yeah, this country might be screwed up. Yeah, something's need to change, but this is not the answer. You've been given power, Lance. Great power. And With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility. Instead of using your power to help people, you've used it to steal and murder. And I can't be a part of that."

"And how would I use my power responsibly, Spider-Man? By running around in tights, punching criminals?"

"By inspiring," Spider-Man said. "By teaching people not to be afraid. To not be scared of the darkness of the world. To be a beacon of hope."

"Hope?" The Goblin said before laughing. "I'm going to slaughter you on television. I'm going to squeeze the life from your body. You have no hope. How are you supposed to inspire it in others?"

"By taking you down!" Spider-Man said before charging at him. "Because you forgot one thing, Goblin."

"You killed Tyler," Spider-Man stated as he lunged at The Goblin. "You killed my friend."

"Ahahahaha!" Lance cackled as he blocked a punch from Ken. "You think I killed Farroway?! Oh, that's rich!"

The Goblin hit Spider-Man across the face, sending him into a parked car with a crash.

"That's what you're angry at? That's the reason you're furious?" Goblin asked as he strolled towards him. "Not the fact that I turned your brother into Venom?"

"You...you what?" Spider-Man said as he started to get up.

"Are you telling me you never put it together?" Lance asked. "What, did you just think he became Venom out of nowhere? I changed him. I'm the one who gave your brother his powers. I'm the one who broke him out of prison."

"No...no no no...," Spider-Man stammered.

"I'm the reason your brother is dead!"

"No!" Kendrick yelled as he threw a volley of punches at Lance. He wasn't even paying attention to where he was punching. He just wanted to hurt him. He wanted to kill him, goddammit. Kill him! It wasn't long until he realized what was happening.

He's manipulating me.

Ken then realized that he was exhausted. He had put every bit of effort into punching Lance. Now, he could barely stand. The Goblin smiled down at him.

"Well," he said before spitting out some green blood. "That was exhilarating."

Lance grabbed Ken by the back of the head, and slammed it into the car. He picked Ken up and threw him into the wall of City Hall, crashing through the wall and crashing through a desk in the mayor's office. In his father's office. Lance jumped in there and grabbed Ken's foot. He flung Ken out onto the steps of City shall once again. Ken couldn't move. He looked up and saw a billboard. And he saw himself on it. He realized Lance was probably broadcasting this all over the country. And something Lance had said came to his mind.

"Don't worry, I won't reveal your last name. No, I'll save that for when I destroy you in front of the entire world."

"Oh...oh no...," Ken mumbled, trying to move, but unable to.

Kim was right.

Ken yelled as he felt Lance, and all his bulk, land on top of his chest. He heard multiply cracks. It hurt to breathe now.

The Goblin started punching Spider-Man. Multiply times. Every punch felt like his head was being run over by a truck as he felt his head smashing against the pavement. He felt something wet on the back of his head, and realized it was his own blood. Eventually the onslaught of punches stopped. Spider-Man felt light-headed. He couldn't move. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't.

"And now, the pinnacle," Lance said. He reached for Ken's face, no doubt to unmask him. Ken willed himself to move, to stop him, but he couldn't. Lance put his hand on his mask.

And felled back in pain as electricity moved through him.

"Th...thanks...Daisuke..." Ken mumbled, tasting blood.

Lance looked at him, anger over his face.

"Okay then Kendrick," Lance said as he walked to the sidewalk and grabbed a stop sign, pulling it from the earth. "Maybe I can't unmask you..."

Lance walked to where Kendrick payed, motionless.

And stabbed the end of the stop sign, right through him.

"NYEAAAHHHHHH!" Kendrick yelled out as he felt the sharp metal pierce through the other side of him, going all the way through.

Lance lifted the sign into the air, smiling as it went through his back, as Ken stayed there, motionless on the pole. "But I can kill you."

No...no... Kendrick thought faintly. Not like...this...Kim...Jen...Marshall...Mom...Dad...Drake...everyone...I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't...I couldn't...

And then Kendrick Durham's head fell, the darkness enveloping him.

And there you have it. Of course, I'm not leaving it like that. I'll be posting another story, a kind of spin off to this. It'll be called Golden Age: Goblin Nation. It'll basically be showing what happens next. How everyone reacts to what just happened. I hope you'll all read it. Here's the official description:

Goblin Nation. The man known as The Goblin King has taken over the country, and Spider-Man was powerless to stop him. With Spider-Man now missing, or dead, the world still needs heroes. The X-Men. Daredevil. Scorpion. Electra. And...Deadpool? These heroes and more must band together to take down The Goblin King, and bring an end to Goblin Nation.

Sounds cool, right? If there are any heroes who you want to see get Golden Age remakes, please tell me. I'm going to use this event to introduce some Golden Age characters, so you don't want your favorite hero to be left out.

And I think that's it. I just want to thank everyone for reading this story. Through the good, and the bad because there was a lot of bad. I hope you read the new story.

-Brad