Meanwhile across the world Harry Osborn, was currently with his mother in Paris to stay away from Central City for a while. They were waiting for the press to die down on the realization to learn that Norman Osborn, their family, was the Green Goblin.

At least, that was the plan.

One night, Harry was awake and walking around the penthouse when he heard something down the hall. He was worried about what was happening and quickly started to make his way around the house to find out what was happening.

"Hello?" Harry called as he quickly looked around the room. "Someone here?"

Then he couldn't help but hear chuckling. It was sounding like it was coming from a...old monster. He was starting to worry and walked over to the desk and pulled a pistol out from underneath it and cocked it.

"Who are you? Come out." Harry demanded as he kept aiming ahead of him. "Now!"

"As you wish." A sinister voice called out.

But instead of a person as he was hoping, he heard clunking and something hitting multiple objects. Then he froze in fear and shock when he watched as a spherical device came rolling into the room. And it wasn't like it was an ordinary device, there was a familiarity to what he was seeing.

It was a small device that was rolling in and it was in the shape of a pumpkin. It even had a devious face carved into the front of it, giving a green glow underneath it. Shaking off what was happening to him, Harry quickly ran for cover as he knew what was coming next.

The explosion went off and took a whole portion of the building with it. Harry was able to shield himself from the explosion, but he also ended up taking a lot of smoke when he heard the noise of a similar glider that came flying out of the cloud of smoke.

Harry froze in fear when he saw a figure coming from the darkness. The smile, the teeth, the grin. Everything. It brought back the horrible memories of his father as the Goblin. This couldn't be him, could it?

"No...no..." Harry started to whimper in fear when he saw that face. "It can't be. It just can't be."

"Thanks for the gear." The monster stated as he laughed maniacally and flew out of the building. "Now, for Spider-Man! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Harry started to hyperventilate as he was putting together what had just occurred. But one thing was clear, he needed to go back to Central City and warn Peter.

The Goblin was back.


Back in Central City, the Watcher continued to watch as the crew of Team Flash were looking ahead of them. They were currently looking at a gigantic portal that seemed to be in their basement and was bewildered by the fact.

"There are 52 breaches in Central City, and the biggest one just happens to be in our basement," Barry commented dryly, joining the others in the bunker where they were all staring in slight awe at the giant, swirling blue breach.

"We need a name for it," Cisco stated as he looked it over.

"It's not a pet." Caitlin rolled her eyes in Barry's direction, and he laughed.

The voice she heard in response did not make her happy. "No, it's a wormhole!" Professor Stein walked into the room, holding the cane that Caitlin had forced on him as soon as he had woken up.

"Professor Stein! What are you doing?!" Caitlin asked in a panic. "Your blood pressure is 147 over 82- you could pass out again."

"It's merely a few points of the 140 average for someone my age." Stein contradicted. "Besides, I have some ideas I would like to contribute to this discussion, Dr. Snow." He sent her his stern schoolteacher look. She glared right back.

"And I want to hear them." Jay put in. Caitlin turned to glare at him now. He wasn't helping her situation. "This isn't just a wormhole." His eyes grew a little distant as he gazed at the breach. "It's my way home."

"Back to Earth 2." Caitlin agreed quietly. She felt really bad for Jay- stranded on this probably strange earth, with no way to return to his.

"You really think that we can use this," Barry poked his chin towards the breach, moving to stand next to Caitlin and Dr. Stein. "As some sort of bridge to connect your world to ours?"

"Zoom uses the breaches." Jay countered with a shrug. "Why can't we?"

"We don't know how." Cisco countered back. "I mean, everything I put through just bounces back." He bopped his hand back and forth a few times, demonstrating.

Barry crossed his arms, staring thoughtfully at the wormhole. "If Zoom's using these breaches to transfer people from Earth-2, maybe it takes a speedster."

Before anyone could contradict him, Barry flashed up to the top of the stairs. "He's not gonna.." Cisco muttered.

Jay sighed and knew what he was thinking. "Yeah, he is."

Barry threw himself at the breach and was immediately tossed backward. Caitlin jumped as he rolled past her feet. She gave him a condescending look but helped him back up.

"Maybe I'm not fast enough." Barry smiled, obviously embarrassed.

Caitlin whacked him on the back of his head and rolled her eyes. "You are a complete idiot."

"I don't think that your speed is the issue, Barry," Stein assured him. "It could be the breaches stability. Or lack thereof."

"Think of it like a door, and on the second earth, there is a second door. Between that is a hallway that is constantly shifting between other worlds, collapsing in on itself." Jay tries to explain so that they could all understand.

"And the doors keep on moving." Barry understood what he was saying.

"So stabilize the door, stabilize the hallway," Cisco commented.

"And then I can jump through it." Barry followed along."

"Exactly, it would serve as a kind of cannon. A Speed Cannon." Jay added on.

Cisco hummed as he saw that was a good name for it. "We should hang out more."

"Alright." Stein quickly got in the middle. "No more tests today. All of you are leaving now. As am I. Cherish the gift of youth as I will go cherish my much-needed nap. Clarissa's already on her way to pick me up."

Deciding to just do as their elder has told them, they started to make their way out of the labs. They made it off towards Jitters as Peter said he had someone he wanted to introduce to them. Jay however stayed back and wanted to work further on the portal to try and get it open for them.


The Watcher then moved on as he moved to the previous night to show a certain change. He was at the Central City races and was looking down as he noticed Captain Cold and the crew were trying to break inside. Mick was currently burning down the door to not set off the alarms, courtesy of Snart finding an opening for them.

"One timeline, Snart was forced to work for his father." The Watcher narrated as he looked downward. "But in another..."

"Can't you go any faster?" Lisa Snart asks the man, agitated with how long it was taking.

"Cool it, sis," Snart warns her. "We'll be in and out before anyone even notices."

But that's when Mick got through the wall and he then got a look at someone who was inside. "Huh?"

Before he could even react, he was blasted with a tranquilizer and taken down with ease. Snart and Lisa powered up their guns and aimed them at whoever it was that attacked them.

"I'd put those guns down if I were you." The strong demanding voice warned as he marched out, revealing he was Nick Fury. "Because I can promise you, you don't wanna be on my enemy list."

"Who do you think you are?" Lisa asked him.

"Names Nick Fury." Nick introduced himself and quickly shot the two, taking them down. "And we have a lot to discuss."


Meanwhile, Peter never got to go to STAR Labs and see the portal, no matter how much Bobby had pleaded with him to go. He wanted to get the group together and discuss with Gwen everything that has changed. Seems she has been keeping up with the heroic news, but she was never aware that Barry Allen, his comatose brother, was the Flash.

"Where is the irony you and your brother both became heroes?" Gwen asks in surprise. "Because I don't know which level it should go in."

"Yeah." Peter had to agree with her on that one. "It was strange to learn we both spent our time apart to fight criminals."

"And this whole Green Goblin thing..." Gwen looked between the three of them. "He was a metahuman?"

"Metahuman, experiment coming from a mad scientist, a psychotic maniac." Bobby listed off as he took a slip from his Iceman Frostee.

"Where are you staying?" MJ was a bit curious to know.

"Oh, my uncle offered to take me in to help my mom," Gwen explains to them.

"You don't think that's a bit on the nose?" Mary Jane asks Bobby as she took her bite off a Spider-Man popsicle.

"Pot calling the kettle black, here," Bobby stated as he gestured to the popsicle.

"Hey, it's tasty," MJ replied as she took another bite. "Besides, it doesn't even look anything like him."

"A lot has certainly changed since I left." Gwen chuckled as she looked among them. "I kinda feel like an outsider here."

"Oh, just wait until he tells you about the Spider-Girl who had your face." Bobby chuckled as he recalled the BRANCHES incident.

"I'm sorry, what?" Gwen asks and looked at Peter. "A Spider...Gwen?"

"We call her Ghost-Spider," Peter informs her, laughing at her face of shock. "Just wait until we get to Peter Supreme."

Before Gwen could get to the millions of questions going through her head, the group noticed Barry and the STAR Labs crew coming in.

"Hey, Peter." Barry greeted his brother as he walked over to him. He then noticed the blonde in the group and took a quick guess. "This must be Gwen Stacy."

"Hey, Barry. Glad to finally meet you while you're conscious." Gwen greeted him and shook his hand.

Barry was confused, but then figured they'd met while he was in a coma. "Oh, right. Well, nice to see you." He then gestured to the counter. "I'll go get our drinks."

"It's nice to see you again, Gwen." Caitlin greeted her again, meeting her when she was visiting STAR Labs with Peter. "How have you been?"

"Well, I wasn't really adjusting. Part of the reason mom sent me back here."

Peter then felt his phone ring and he looked to see it was Harry. "Uh, I gotta take this." He walked away from the group and answered the phone. "Hey, Harry, what's going on?"

"Pete. I'm at the airport right now, I'm about to be on my way back to Central City soon." Harry informed him, and Peter could hear the worry in his voice.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Peter asks in worry.

"The Goblin. He's back."


And the hits just kept coming that day.

Stein's condition seemed to be getting worse, so the two of the teams had to return to STAR Labs to figure out what was going on. Peter and his friends were watching on the monitors in the other labs as the Goblin blew up Harry's place and flew out. Stein was having his condition looked over by the others in the other room as they were trying to put together what was happening.

"Oh, my god," MJ said in horror as she watched the footage. "Not again."

"I am starting to understand what that Dr. Fate guy meant," Bobby stated as he crossed his arms.

"Who?" Gwen asks in confusion.

"Oh, yeah, we forgot to mention him." Peter only just now remembered that. "We'll explain it later."

"So, who was the Goblin?" Gwen asks in confusion.

Peter quickly pulled up the Green Goblin file for Gwen to see. "Norman Osborn."

"The Green Goblin," MJ added.

"Psychopath billionaire." Bobby continued.

"He was wanted for kidnapping..." Peter started the list.

"Murder..." MJ added off.

"Attempted murder." Bobby continued.

"Robbery." Peter kept going.

"Assault." MJ kept going.

"Assassination."

"Arsen."

"Okay, I get it." Gwen stopped them from continuing any further. "And how'd you stop it?"

"We blew him up," Peter said with a sigh, recalling how he wished he could have helped Norman rather than blow him sky high. "It wasn't a good day for anyone."

"So, how is he back?" Gwen asks as she gestured to the looping explosion.

"I don't think this is the same Green Goblin," Peter admitted as he quickly walked over to the computers. "Listen to the laughs."

Peter then pulled up some footage of the Green Goblin, during their rescue of the warehouse during the Cold and Heatwave moment. During the time Peter and Goblin were fighting, he started to laugh and Peter quickly cut off the background noises.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"That is Green Goblin," Peter informed them. He then clicked a few buttons and pulled up the laughter of the new Goblin. "This...is the new Goblin."

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"I don't get it," Bobby commented as he looked over to Peter. "What...what are we hearing?"

"Listen," Peter stated as he played them both simultaneously.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

That's when they finally hear the subtle differences between the two of them. One was louder, the other was more psychotic. One sounded like a man, the other sounded like he was gargling water.

"So, it's a new Goblin?" MJ was surprised to hear.

"You think that he could have come from Earth-2?" Bobby asks Peter.

Gwen was surprised when she heard that and looked around. "I'm sorry, Earth-2?"

"Okay, we gotta catch her up," Bobby stated in annoyance. "I'm gonna go crazy until we do."


Once the others had finally gotten Stein back to STAR Labs and into Cortex, Caitlin ran about 12 tests on him and hooked him up to vitals, blood, and oxygen. Everything that she could think of that worked to stabilize normal patients.

"He's getting worse." Barry breathed, staring at the vitals, and then at Caitlin. She nodded.

"Look," Cisco spoke up. He had worked some extra tech mumbo jumbo on Stein, something with the quantum splicer, energy, and Firestorm... "I did what I could to reengineer Dr. Wells' original stabilizer, to quo the reaction, but I don't know what he used as a power source. What I've got him on is already running out of power."

"How long do we have?" Caitlin asked quietly. "Until it runs out?"

"I think we've got a few days, tops," Cisco said in reply, standing up to run his fingers through his hair.

"And he's stuck in bed?" Barry confirmed.

"Yeah." Cisco agreed. "Then I'm going to transfer the stabilizer to this. Power cane. Get him moving."

"We gotta figure out a way to save him," Barry stated firmly.

Caitlin nodded, face drawn. "I think I might know how to do that." She led them back over to Stein's bed, explaining on the way. "When the Particle Accelerator exploded, the Dark Matter that collided with Professor Stein fused with the Firestorm Matrix and altered the normal molecular process that occurs within his body."

Barry and Cisco both hovered over her shoulder, staring at one of the many screens hanging in the Cortex. "Those highly reactive molecules needed something to bond with to stabilize."

"And that's where Ronnie came in." Cisco finished.

"Yes." Caitlin nodded. "And now that Ronnie is no longer... a part of Professor Stein..."

"Those molecules don't have anything to bond to." Barry sighed heavily.

"The longer he goes without merging, the more unstable he becomes." Caitlin finished up.

"Hm." Cisco turned back to the desk, and Barry and Caitlin followed his surprisingly un-panicked movements with their eyes. "Alright, so. What do we do?"

Caitlin shrugged. There was really only one solution, in her eyes. "Find another 'participant'."

"Oh." Cisco nodded. "Cool. So... how do we do that? Are we going to make a tinder app for potential metahumans? Because I'm sure merging with Stein and bursting into flames is the biggest white left of all time."

"Even if we could find someone willing," Barry added. "Stein can't merge with whoever he wants."

Caitlin pinched her lips. Boys were so difficult sometimes. "No, he can't but I've done some research, and I've picked out two potential candidates that might be compatible with him. They both were affected by the Dark Matter, and they both were admitted to the hospital showing signs of gene rearrangement mutation. And they both share the same blood type as Professor Stein and Ronnie."

Barry and Cisco walked around the desk, following her to the computer display as she pulled up the two young men's profiles. "Alright," Barry said. "I mean, this is more than an organ donation, we'll need more than tissue typing to see if their bodies are compatible."

She had an answer for that, too. "If I can isolate the genetic locus of the two candidates, and cross-reference it with the mutation in Professor Stein's I might be able to find a match and... save his life."

Barry shook his head in awe, once again being reminded of how amazingly brilliant his girlfriend was. "What do you need to do that?" He asked.

Caitlin bit her lip. "Um... I'm kind of going to need you to take some blood-"

He was out the door before she could finish her sentence, and then back with two vials of dark red blood. He handed one to each of his friends. "Alright. Blood samples from each of the candidates."

"Man." Cisco blinked. "That was fast- even for you."

"... I may have skipped the asking for permission part..." Barry muttered.

Caitlin tried to hold it in, but a small giggle escaped her. Barry grinned. She took the blood from Cisco and inspected the two glass containers. "Let's see if we can't get a match."


Peter and the others were still working on the trajectory and speed of where this New Goblin would be coming along. He was watching the algorithm do its thing as his friends were searching for anything on the media.

As he stared at the screens, Peter couldn't help but zone out as he recalled everything he went through with Norman.

Peter recalled when they first met Norman and Goblin shot out blasts from his fingers.

That time during his date with MJ when Goblin created that black hole generator with Spot's research.

When the Goblin kidnapped Leonard Snart to bring him the Cold Gun.

Then he recalled when he broke the Sinister Six out of prison.

When the Goblin first learned of his identity. Or at least when Peter learned Goblin learned his identity.

Fighting Goblin throughout the city with Grodd and Wonder Woman attacking people.

Then there was his final battle that almost killed Gwen on the bridge.

"Can the Spider-Man come out to play?!"

"Peter?" Gwen's voice echoed him back to reality. "Peter!"

Peter shook himself free of his trance and turned to face her. "Oh, sorry, what?"

"Wow, this guy really got to you, didn't he?" Gwen asks as she has never seen Peter this scared.

Peter sighed and looked over at the data. "Yeah, he's... basically a literal monster. No remorse. No conscious."

Gwen looked over at the data and was sorry for him. "I am sorry."

"For what?" Peter wonders.

"For leaving. Who knows, maybe I could have helped." Gwen explains.

"No." Peter quickly rejected that statement. "No, no, no. If you stuck around, then Goblin would have just used that against me."

Gwen was surprised even more the more that Peter talks about this man. "Okay. I can understand that."

"Besides, I promised your dad that I would keep you out of this life." Peter reminded her and crossed his arms. "At least I tried."


For once, luck was with them. Both of the candidates that Caitlin had found were compatible, as she explained eagerly to a now-awake Martin Stein.

"So who do we go with?" Barry asked.

She had an answer to that, too. "Well, my first choice is Henry Huet. He graduated from Hudson University, with a double major in applied physics and bioengineering."

Stein looked interested. "A Hudson boy; I like him already." She beamed.

Barry stepped closer to the screen. "So, what about this other guy, Jefferson Jackson? High school quarterback, 4.0 student... he's got the physical attributes." Barry scanned the rest. "And it looks like he's more of a match than Huet- doesn't that mean that he's more compatible?"

Caitlin bit her lip. She had been kind of hoping Barry wouldn't notice that bit. "On paper, perhaps. But Huet is a scientist. Clearly, he's trying to make something of his life. I think he'd be open to something like this."

"I think we should meet with both of them before we make a decision," Barry said.

"That is an excellent idea." Martin agreed with Barry.

"Whew," Cisco whispered. "Couple fight averted skillfully. Nice job, professor."

"I'll see if I can get Huet here!" Caitlin smiled.

"And in the meantime, we'll go meet with Jefferson Jackson." Barry gestured to Stein to follow him out the door.

Cisco set off in his own direction. "And I will find something else to help you keep stable."

"Where's Peter?" Barry stopped and turned to the team.


Peter was currently staring at the screens and was still trying to find some sort of information he can about the new Goblin. He was alone as it seems everyone else left him to keep up the work.

"Hey," Caitlin called, causing Peter to stop and turn to face her. "What are you doing down here?"

"Looking for the Goblin." Peter gestured to the screens. "How's Professor Stein?"

"We're working on a way to help him," Caitlin said as she sat down next to him. "Where are your friends?"

"They...left. On patrol." Peter replied, as he then looked around and wasn't even sure himself. Then he saw Caitlin's face and saw she knew he was lying. "Okay, yeah, I don't know."

"Are you avoiding them now?" Caitlin asks, feeling she just went over this with Barry the other day.

"No, it's..." Peter looked over to the door and sighed. "It's complicated."

"You're trying to avoid MJ and Gwen, aren't you?" Caitlin could easily figure it out.

Peter looked back in shock and should have known that she would have figured it out. "No..." Then he just gave up and sighed. "Okay, yeah."

"Why are you avoiding them?" Caitlin wonders.

"Well, when I and Gwen broke things off, it was because I basically got her father killed, and I promised to keep her out of harm's way," Peter recalled what happened with the Lizard. "Then a few weeks after we broke up, I started to date MJ."

"Peter, there's no need to feel guilty about that," Caitlin promises him. "I mean, they don't seem to have a problem with it."

"Yeah, but that's not where it ends." Peter reminded her as he gestured to the screen. "Now, Goblin's back. And you of all people know what he's capable of."

Caitlin then had a small flashback to when she was kidnapped and held hostage by the Goblin. "Okay, I start to understand. But try not to push your friends away. They need you. Especially with the Goblin out there."

Peter then watched as Caitlin got up and left Peter, who then looked over to the screen and sighed. Shutting down the screens to give his eyes a break, he got up and grabbed his phone. He wasn't going to let Goblin rule his life like he already did with the original.


The meeting with Henry had gone extremely well. He was even more eager than Caitlin had expected and came immediately back with her to STAR Labs. He was looking around at all of the equipment, a delightful look of awe on his face when Barry and Stein walked in.

"Caitlin?" Barry asked, glancing at Huet. "What's going on...?"

She grinned in pleasure. "Hi! I'm glad you are back. This is Dr. Henry Huet." She turned to the young man. "This is Barry Allen and Dr. Martin Stein."

The two met fell into conversation immediately, and Barry walked over to where Caitlin and Cisco were standing. "Isn't he great?" Caitlin chirped. Barry sent a jealous glare over his shoulder.

Cisco made a face. "He's got an ego the size of Texas, but, yeah, he's alright."

"So..." Caitlin searched Barry's surroundings. "Where's Jefferson Jackson?"

"We just need more time-"

"We don't have more time." Cisco cut him off. "I couldn't find another power source for the cane. That thing's running out."

Caitlin nodded. "Then let's do the merge. Huet's in."

Barry's eyes shot back to her in surprise. "Wait, you told him the details of the Firestorm Matrix?"

"Absolutely," Caitlin said, offended that he would even think she wouldn't say something. "Becoming Firestorm is a huge life decision- he needs to know what he's getting himself into."

Over by the other desk, Stein and Huet were both geeking out about something with protons and neutrons. Cisco grinned. "Oh, look at that, that's so cute: We'll have two Professor Steins if this works!"

"It's going to work." Caitlin insisted.

Cisco's smile was now more of a pained grimace. "Yep."

"Okay." Barry nodded.

Caitlin bounced on her toes in excitement, and he gave her one of those soft, adoring looks that he did when she was being cute.

A few minutes later, Cisco arrived with the splicer and stood in front of Henry, who was towering above him.

"When I put this splicer on your chest, you're going to feel a rush. That's a molecular primer being released into your body." Cisco explained as he held the splicer out. "You can make physical contact with Professor Stein and... we'll see if the bond works."

Cisco stepped back to his friends, Caitlin, grinning, Barry with a frown on his face. The two scientists raised their open palms, facing each other, and slowly brought them together. Caitlin grabbed Barry's hand and squeezed it.

When their hands met, there was a flash of swirling golden light. Then it faded. Caitlin's face fell.

"Try again," Stein instructed.

Once more, they pressed their hands together. Still nothing. "Why isn't it working?" Huet exclaimed angrily.

"I don't know." Caitlin bit her lip.

Henry glared at her. "You were the one that brought me in here. You should have known it wouldn't work!" He stalked foreword, and Cisco straightened up.

Barry got there first, though, putting himself between the two of them. "Hey, watch it. It's not her fault that you two aren't compatible." He sent a rivaling glare back at the other man. "Just, chill, okay?"

Huet turned and stomped out of the room with a huff. Cisco rolled his eyes, then placed a hand on Caitlin's shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine, thanks," Caitlin murmured. "I shouldn't have thought that he was- never mind."

Barry rubbed her arm and turned to Stein. "We've got to keep trying to convince Jax to merge with you."

"Agreed, Mr. Allen." Stein nodded. "Shall I join you in going to talk to our young mechanic again?"

Barry nodded, leading the older man out of the room after quickly kissing Caitlin's cheek. She sighed and leaned against the desk. "I was so sure that Huet would be our next Firestorm partner."

"To tell you the truth, I'm glad he's not," Cisco said. "That guy was annoying."


"Remind me to call Richard tomorrow about the shareholder's meeting." Tina McGee says while she was walking around Mercury Labs the alarms blazing.

"Applied sciences," Tina whispered and rushes to meet the intruder before anyone got hurt.

Tina makes it and sees someone walking down a hallway and the security rushes to stop him. As he got closer, the intruder starts running and Tina was able to get a look at him.

"Dr. Wells?" Tina asks, shocked to see the man who died last year still alive somehow.

Later the CCPD show up to report what happened. She has asked for Joe West specifically to come around to handle this matter.

"Detective West, thank you for coming," Tina tells Joe as she leads them to the scene.

"Dr. McGee, this is my new partner, Detective Watanabe." Joe introduces them.

"I was saddened by Detective Thawne's passing, please pass it along to your daughter," McGee asks of him.

"On the phone, you mentioned this was a sensitive matter." Joe wanted to get back to the topic.

"It is. And I called you directly because I've always appreciated your discretion in the past. The person who broke into by facilities was... Harrison Wells."

"Harrison Wells is dead," Yuri informs McGee.

"Yes, I know he is, but I know that face. It was Harrison Wells." Peter explains to them and that's surprising to hear.

"I seem to recall the circumstances around his passing were a bit inconclusive," Tina tells them since nobody could tell everyone he was erased from existence. "Is there any possibility he could be alive?"

"Nope, he's dead." Joe proclaimed.

"I knew the man for over 20 years, I knew who I saw. The only difference... he's walking again." Tina informed them, only confusing the two of them further. "I trust your discretion. You have full access to the facility if needed. Thank you again, Detective." Tina says and leaves them.

"First a giant metal man, now a dead man walking." Yuri recaps their day. "We should call Barry, and get him in here first, he deals with the weird, right?"

"Maybe keep this between us for now and see what you can find out," Joe asks Yuri.

"Why?" Yuri asks and followed Joe to the doorway. "I mean, I know he murdered his mother, but that should be more of a reason."

"And I'd agree, but right now, he has a friend who is sick," Joe explained to her the best he could. "It's best to keep this off his plate and mind right now."

Yuri sighed and shrugged. "Alright, I understand. Let's see if we can learn anything here."


Back with Peter, he decided to avoid anything to do with the Goblin for the day and wait for Harry to make it to town. He met up with his friends and found Gwen was talking with someone.

"Hey, guys." Peter greeted them as he met back up with them.

"Oh, hey, Peter, this is my Uncle Warren." Gwen gestured to her uncle.

Her uncle was seemingly tall compared to the teens, which isn't saying much, considering everyone is either equal to slightly taller. "Pleasure to finally meet you, Peter. I wanted to meet you last year, but I was out of the city."

"Wait, Warren?" Peter asks in shock and looked at Warren. "As in Miles Warren? The head researcher of biochemistry and human cloning?"

"Oh, great! More babble." Bobby groaned as he walked away. "I'm going for ice cream."

"We'll let you two geek, I'll go with him." MJ offered as she walked off with Bobby.

"How come you never told me Miles Warren was your uncle?" Peter asked Gwen in shock.

"Well, if I knew you were such a big fan, I would have." Gwen shrugged and looked at Warren.

"And I was happy to help my family to work through this difficult time with her father's passing. I couldn't make the funeral due to not being able to make it in." Warren explains and pats Gwen on the shoulder. "Well, I'll be going. I just had time to stop by for a quick second. I love you, dear."

"Love you, too," Gwen said as her uncle left the two.

And for the first time in a year, Peter and Gwen were finally left alone with nothing but themselves.

"So..." Gwen sighed and swung around in place.

"I owe you an apology." Both of them said at once. That was surprising to both of them as they got confused. "What?"

"Please." Gwen started first. "I came back, and I was excited to see you, I just forgot that you had better luck than me with friends. It was weird that you also tried to ditch us all day."

"And I'm sorry. I was avoiding you guys because I thought it would be odd to see me and MJ together after we broke off." Peter explains.

"Pete." Gwen rolled her eyes at how sweet he was. "I don't care if you moved on. I pushed you guys together." She then pulled him close and held his hand. "So, instead of pushing each other away, how about we just be glad to be friends again?"

"I'd like that." Peter was happy to hear that.

"What's being described as a spontaneous energy malfunction erupted last night at Eikmeir Technologies." That got their attention as they spun around and faced the TVs in the window. "Wanted for questioning is scientist Henry Hewitt."

"Uh-oh." Peter and Gwen said in worry.

"So...what did we miss?" Bobby asks as he and MJ came over, both holding one and an extra ice cream.

Then they looked over to the televisions and were shocked. "Uh-oh."


"One day," Peter stated as he made his way into the cortex where he found everyone else. "I was gone for one day! And it wasn't even a full day!"

"I'm guessing you saw the news." Barry took a guess.

"Wow." This was Gwen's first time noticing the setup in STAR Labs. "This is pretty cool."

"Guys, you remember Gwen." Bobby gestured to the girl and then the team.

"How did this happen?" Peter asks his friends and family.

"Hewitt's dormant abilities must have been triggered when we attempted the merger." Caitlin took a guess.

"This could be catastrophic," Stein states. "If they're anything like mine, he requires a grounding mechanism to stabilize his volatility. Otherwise..."

"He's gonna go big boom," Cisco added.

"Yeah, and he's got a long history of violence, according to his police records," Cisco informs them and Peter didn't find any of those.

"Police record?" Caitlin frowned and walked around the desk. "I didn't find anything on a record."

"Yeah." Cisco twisted back to his computer. "Of course not, it was sealed. But guess what? Your boy hacked in, and, hold on, wait for it... 1 count battery, 2 counts aggravated assault, anger management therapy?"

"He seemed like such a nice guy." Caitlin sighed. Barry rolled his eyes. "He even knew your Hudson nerd song."

Before Stein could respond, he took a gasping breath and lurched towards the desk. Luckily Gwen as fast as she was managed to run and grab his arm.

"Whoa, you okay?"

"It seems that Mr. Huet's stability isn't the only one in question." Stein joked, obviously trying to make light of the situation. "I think I need to lie down."

"Stein is getting worse, and Hewitt is like this because of me," Caitlin says, getting angry at herself. "And now Jefferson Jackson will never come back because of what I said."

I-" Caitlin felt tears burning in her eyes. "I just didn't think he has what it takes."

Barry gave her a small smile, sitting down beside her and wiping his thumb against her cheekbone. "This isn't because you didn't believe in him. Sometimes, great possibilities are right in front of us, and we don't see them, because we choose not to." Barry reached out and grasped her hand lightly. "I think that we need to be open to exploring something new."

Caitlin nodded, and, without warning, started to cry. Barry startled upward and pulled her into a hug. "Hey..." He whispered. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"What if- what if we can't find someone to take Ronnie's place?" Caitlin sniffled. "What if Professor Stein- I can't lose someone else, Barry."

Barry guided her head to his shoulder with his hand, and her eyes slid shut as he ran his fingers soothingly through her hair. "What's this really about, Cait? What's going on?"

She took a deep, shaky breath, trying to control her voice. "This never would have happened if Ronnie hadn't died, Barry." More tears flooded her eyes, and Barry sat down, pulling her into his lap.

Deciding to give the adults some space, the kids made themselves scarce and walked over to try and help Cisco with Stein. Not wanting to be third wheeling the two of them.

"Take a deep breath." He instructed gently. "Look at me, Caitlin."

She moved her wet face away from his shirt and stared at him. He reached out a thumb to wipe her cheeks. "You have to believe me when I say that this isn't your fault. In fact, it's thanks to you and Cisco that Stein has stayed alive as long as he has. You need to stop blaming yourself, and, instead, use your energy to make the situation better."

She took another shaky breath, and he leaned down and kissed her forehead. "It's okay, Cait. We're going to figure this out."

Caitlin curled back into his lap and pressed her face into his chest, letting his warmth seep into her and calm her down. "You okay now?" Barry whispered in her ear.

She nodded, closing her eyes, suddenly feeling exhausted. After a little bit, though, she pushed herself back. "I'll see you later okay? I- I've got to go do something."

"Okay." Barry pressed his lips to hers. "Good luck."

I'll need it. Caitlin thought. But she just thanked him and left the room.


When Caitlin got back to STAR Labs, she was in considerably better spirits and had none other than Jefferson Jackson tagging along at her heels. Barry met her as she got halfway into the Cortex, and even before he said her name, she knew something had happened.

"What's wrong?" Caitlin asked in worry.

"Good, you're here." Cisco breathed out a sigh of relief and tapped his machine. "This thing, it ran out, like, thirty minutes ago."

Caitlin turned back to Barry, horror etched on her features. Barry nodded. "His temperature is 142 degrees, and rising fast."

"I think that he's going into rapid oxidation," Bobby said, immediately getting everyone looking over at him in complete confusion. "What? I live with a doctor, think I wouldn't memorize a few things?"

"No, he's right." Caitlin actually agreed with him. "We need a coolant."

Cisco shook his head. "I think it's too late for that."

"I'll do it." Everyone turned their gazes away from Stein to stare at Jax. "I'll merge with him."

The situation was too life-or-death for anyone to question whether Jax was ready or not. Caitlin leaned over the man on the bed. "Professor Stein?"

"Clarissa..." He muttered deliriously. "Just 5 more minutes."

Barry came over and rubbed his shoulder. "No, Professor. You have to get up. Jax is here."

Stein blinked a few times, and Barry gently placed his glasses on his face, before the two of them helped him sit up. The old man leaned on the heavily as they walked into the main room of the Cortex.

"You came back, Jefferson," Stein murmured, blearily looking at him. "Thank you."

Jax smiled. "Well, as my coach always said, Our of yourself, and into the team." He turned to Cisco. "So, how does this work?"

"Okay." Cisco nodded a couple of times, clearing his head. "All you've gotta do is touch him."

"Then what happens?" Jax asked.

"You become Firestorm," Caitlin said.

Jax nodded. "Okay." Caitlin left Stein to stand on his own, and Barry pulled her father away, and then into his arms.

The two men clapped hands. There was a blinding explosion of light, and everyone not taking part in the merge shielded their eyes and looked away. When it became dimmer, there was only one man, haloed in the fire.

"Whoa." Gwen was amazed as this was her first time meeting the Burning Man.

"Jax?" Caitlin breathed. He turned around and let out a breath. "Is Professor Stein..."

"How will I know?" The Jax-Firestorm asked. He blinked, and then looked at the ceiling. "Oh. So I've got Grey as my co-pilot." Another pause, like he was listening. "So when do we get to take this for a test spin?"

As if in response, one of Cisco's many alarms began to beep. He then ran over to his desk. "Uh, how about now? It looks like Huet's recharging at Central City high school football stadium."

"That's where I had my accident," Jax commented.

"The one thing you'll learn about this life: it is full of irony." Peter proclaimed as he ripped open his shirt, showing off his Spider-Man suit. Jax was shocked when he saw this and looked over at the boy. "Welcome to the club."

Bobby then morphed into Iceman and smiled. "Want a cool guy to help with a hot head?"

"Let's go," Barry stated.

Barry flashed off immediately, carrying Spider-Man and Iceman, and it didn't take long for Firestorm to follow. Caitlin seated herself beside her friend and watched as he quickly pulled up the traffic cameras surrounding the stadium.


At the stadium, seems there was a game going on when Hewit decided to go on his rampage and the players were still trying to run to get away. Barry managed to save a handful of the players just in time, Peter was able to help out by webbing a few of them before they could get hurt. A few of them were even stuck behind a wall of fire that Bobby was able to quickly put out to help them escape.

"Cisco, cut the power so he can't draw any more energy," Barry tells them and he's on it and all energy goes out.

"Hewitt! You need to stop!" Peter tells him when Firestorm shows up, making Hewitt angry.

"Stein? You chose him over me? That's who I'm supposed to be!" Hewitt states to them. "I deserve the Firestorm matrix!"

He then shoots at Jax and he goes flying and Stein starts talking him through it. He stumbled a bit, but he managed to land on the seats. Bobby started to stroll up to Hewit and prepared to blast him.

"I've got this one," Bobby stated with a smile. "Just like with Molten Man." But just as he shot Hewit, he was left with shock when his blast of mist didn't even hit him. "I don't got this!"

Hewit screamed and shot fire toward Bobby, who didn't even know where to go. Peter quickly swung over and grabbed his friend and made their way over to the seats to get some distance.

"Hey, guys, cutting the power didn't work. It's like the more we anger him, the stronger he gets." Barry states and that gives them an idea.

"That's it, it's like one of those controlled fusion devices," Caitlin stated, trying to find the right words.

"Tokamak?" Cisco was following her.

"Exactly. The more powerful they become, the more unstable they become. All you guys have to do him angry and he'll blow his fuse." Caitlin tells them.

"A villain where all we have to do to defeat them is to make them angry?" Gwen couldn't help but smile and looked at MJ.

"I think this is it, Tiger." MJ almost read her mind.

Peter stood tall with pride and honor as he looked to the stars. "My time has finally come." Then he pulled out a notepad where they saw he had a dozen insults written. "Let's see..."

"You had those written down!?" Bobby asked in shock.

"Well, I thought it'd be best to write down my best quips. Some I couldn't use in battle-" Peter's senses then went off. "Duck!"

They all dodged an incoming attack from Hewit and saw he was still mad. Peter then started to keep going back and forth so he couldn't touch him.

"Who's up to a game of catching me if you can?" Barry asks as Peter swings off, Barry flashes away, Firestorm flies away, and Bobby

"Da-na-na-na, can't touch this!" Peter screamed as he just landed on top of one of the lights. He then stood up and spins around playfully. "Hey, you almost hit me! If it helps, I could stand in front of you with a target to make things easier. But I'm sure you'll manage to miss it!"

"You need a hug, Doctor?" Barry asks from behind him and speeds off as Hewitt tries blasting him, but Barry sped away.

"Paging doctor Hewit!" Bobby cried as he started to make a blast of ice and hits him.

Hewit tried to hit him, but Bobby just slid out of the way and made a dance move in the process. "You see just not good at this."

"Come on, Hewitt, give me your best shot!" Jax mocks and they shoot at each other, the flames canceling each other out.

"Is that all you got, Hewitt?" Barry asks him.

"I mean, it's no wonder you didn't cut if this is how you fight." Jax quips again.

That was getting him angry and he sends a shockwave at them, but it misses all of them Jax goes in for the final blow and knocks him out. Hewit was sent toppling, falling unconscious in the middle of the field. The four heroes then strolled over and smiled as they saw he was down for the count.

"That wasn't bad for your first go," Barry comments on Jax, and Peter agrees he can do some good.

"Well, I had a great coach to help me through it," Jax stated as he looked up at his head. "Right, Grey?"

"Welcome aboard, Firestorm." Peter shook the hero's hand.

But then Peter felt something was wrong and was looking around, trying to pinpoint it. Jax was a little confused, but the others were starting to worry as they knew that motion.

"What's going on?" Jax wonders and Stein tried to explain it. "Oh, that's useful."

"What's coming?" Barry asks as he looked around and saw nothing coming.

"Where is it coming from?" Bobby wonders.

"Guys, I'm working on it. I'm looking for a screeching baby in the dark." Peter stated that was the best definition of his spider senses he could use at the moment. "Come on, where are you?"

Then when they weren't looking, they missed a pumpkin falling and landing on the ground. They heard laughter and turned to where the bomb was. All of the heroes were frozen in fear when they saw the bomb and didn't even react when it finally blew up. Then they were sent flying around and a green goo of sorts was sent flying right at Barry.

Once it landed on his leg, Barry cried in pain and agony which was followed by Bobby quickly freezing the liquid. "What the hell?!"

Peter stumbled up and started to look around to try and find him. "Where are you, you freak!?"

"Follow the cold shiver down your spine!" A menacing voice called, followed by laughter.

Peter then indeed felt a complete chill going down his spine and spun to watch several razor bats coming at him. Quickly jumping to dodge the attack, Peter saw a glider flying down and to their surprise, went for Hewitt. He grabbed the unconscious man and flew up into the air and started to float.

"What's he doing?" Jax wonders.

They then watched as something was going on with his hands, showing what the man looked like. They see a man with a monstrous orange face, an light orange hood, and a matching shirt. That was partnered with blue armored pants that looked like they were built on scales. As well as a belt with a bag that most likely had more pumpkin bombs inside.

They watched as he was doing something to Hewitt, essentially draining the energy and power from him and giving them to himself. They watched the man start to light himself on fire and laugh maniacally. Then he dropped the lifeless body and sent him plummeting to the ground.

"Not to worry, Spider-Man, the Hobgoblin will soon be back!" The now newly self-proclaimed Hobgoblin stated as he flew off into the night.


They had all gone to see Professor Stein and Jax off. After a few last hugs and farewells, Stein turned to his new partner. In the same process, they were discussing the new appearance of the new enemy.

"Hobgoblin." Cisco scoffed at the name. "I hate it when they name themselves."

"You're just upset because you couldn't think of anything better." Caitlin mocked with a smile.

"Fair." Cisco had to agree there.

"Whatever he did to Hewitt, he completely drained him," Barry said in worry.

"And that's definitely something that the old Goblin could never do," Peter muttered in fear.

"Not to worry, I am sure that you will prevail, Mr. Parker," Stein assured him. "Now I believe it is time to take this show on the road- or to the sky if I am to be literal."

"Ha!" Joe laughed, he was the only one who actually found it funny.

Cisco, Barry, and Caitlin all backed up a few steps as Stein and Jax stood facing each other. Jax placed the splicer on his chest, and Stein nodded.

"Are you ready, Jefferson?" Stein asks.

They merged seamlessly, not even having to touch to complete the transfusion. Jax lit up and blasted into the sky. Caitlin raised her hand and waved gently at the steadily vanishing dot of brightness in the sky.

Barry smiled at her. "Alright."

"See you later." She smiled.

He leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips. "Yup."

Cisco groaned. "You guys really find the need to do that when we are around?"

Peter lightly smacked his friend on the arm. "Hey, cool it. He does it to us, we can do it to him."

Caitlin smiled, patting Bobby's shoulder. "Let's go."

Barry watched her go with a faraway look on his face, and Joe clapped him on the shoulder, leading him down the path. "That was one crazy leap of faith that kid took, merging with Stein like that. Maybe you can learn a little something from him." He nodded his chin behind him, at Caitlin's back. "You can see in her eyes she loves you, but I don't know if she knows that you love her."

"Maybe you're right." Barry nodded, looking back, too, just in time to see Caitlin's long hair disappear around the corner. "Maybe I should take a leap."


That night, the kids were walking the streets and all had ice cream. Making their way home after a long day, Peter wasn't worried about this Goblin coming for them. Wherever this monster came from, it didn't seem that he was aware of who Peter was and wouldn't attack him.

"So, is this how it usually works for you guys now?" Gwen asks the group. "I mean, if I'm hanging out with you again, I'd like to know what I'm getting into."

"What, best the bad guy, learn there's a new threat, followed by ice cream?" Bobby recapped their routine and raised his cone. "Not always. Ice cream is a special occasion."

Peter chuckled and rolled his eyes. "You'll learn to understand it all."

But then his senses went off and he immediately looked around. That was when a gigantic man grabbed him and smacked his friends around the area.

"What the hell?" Peter asks in shock when he saw the gigantic man wearing a metal mask over his mouth.

"Spider-Man! Zoom wants you dead!" He proclaimed.

But before Peter could even attempt to fight back, the man was shot in the back and taken down. Peter landed on his feet like it was nothing and rubbed his neck in pain. He looked to see a hooded figure who was standing above the downed man.

"Now who the hell are you?" Peter asks in complete confusion.

Then the hooded figure ripped open his hood to show his face. Who he saw was someone he never expected to see again.

Harrison Wells.