Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Spectacular Spider-Man Characters or Marvel Characters included in this fanfic, I do this for fun :)
THE VAULT - RYKERS ISLAND
An hour after she and Rand Robertson vented to each other, Liz Allan went to visit her one and only brother, Mark. She's been there, either by herself, or with her parents, every four weeks. Some of the prison guards consider her a regular. As much as Liz gotten used to seeing her brother in that dreaded orange jumpsuit, it still stung. But she put that in the back-burner, so she could appreciate every valuable second she had with Markito. They spent most of their hour catching up with each other, especially about how Mark was fitting in with the crowd, or about their parents, and how crazy they could get sometimes. Also, she told him about her plans for college, and her struggle to get her driver's license—it's Manhattan—she's going to be relying more on the train.
Then Liz gushed her eyes out, as they reflected on her best friend since pre-school, as her brother comforted her through the glass. All of that madness happened in front of her, and she doesn't know what to do with it. All that trauma, the utter shock she felt, reliving the moment, over and over, kept her up at night. She didn't know how to put that into words, but her brother understood. It's scary how much he understood.
Later she mentioned how great it felt to get that all off her chest, since her boyfriend, Peter, was too preoccupied to listen. The moment Mark heard Peter was still her boyfriend, his eyes fired up.
He unloaded, "Lizzy, c'mon this relationship with Peter ain't going to last! It's a bad bet. Why do you keep on trying if it's not going nowhere?!"
She fired back, "Cuz it doesn't hurt to try… like how you tried with Mary Jane."
"MJ and I were different—but fine. He's still no good for you Lizzy."
"How do you know that, huh? Petey is good for me!"
"You sure? You remember all those times you'd wait up in bed, waiting for his call that never came? Or that time he left you on Valentine's day–"
"That was back then, okay? He cares about me deep down, Mark. I can tell he wants to be there for me. He's just busy with alot of things"
"Busy with what?"
"Y'know… his job at the Bugle"
"He's a photographer… he can definitely make the time."
Liz looked at him in disbelief. She knew her brother cared about her, but she wishfully knew her Petey loved her…
Mark took a deep breath and placed his hand on the glass. Liz followed, placing her right hand right on the glass next to his.
"Listen to me Lizzy, you're young and you have so much time on your hands, so don't waste your youth on someone who can't give you their all. Find someone else. Trust me, there's so many other people out there, who'd be a better fit"
Liz took a minute to soak in what Mark said.
'Maybe he's right. Petey's not gonna stop being Spider-Man soon, which is still admirable. But I can't keep being alone, to where I have to vent to Rand. Although I should've told him when I had the chance but he's gone all the time and-'
"Hey Liz, you still there?" Mark snapped her attention back.
"Oh yeah, I zoned out, didn't I?"
"You do that a lot," he chuckled. "Welp, our hour is running out, I guess," he noticed.
"Yeah," she sighed. "Please stay safe. Don't let these guys scare you," she added.
Before she put the phone back, Mark snarky pointed out, "Please… I've been around worse people."
"Love you Markito!"
She gave a light wave before stepping away from the glass.
…
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE
Hell's kitchen was an outdated nickname for a rough and somewhat dangerous part of Manhattan, depending on unique experiences. It stretched from 37th Street to 57th Street, to where there was nothing but the Hudson river. However nickname was never supposed to be taken literally… until that very night.
Right across from Josie's Bar, was a corpse in a burning car, which caught the eye of several people passing by. And was alarming to those investigating the case: Officer Dewolff, Carter, and Davis.
"Wait till Chief hears about this!"
Those cops had their hands full.
Not that far off, there was a reported disturbance on a rooftop of another building. It kept some residents up during the night. So some went up to see what all the ruckus was about… to disturbingly discovered the corpse of the crime-lord, Hammerhead.
The news spread like wildfire, spreading to the Bugle to Bulletin. Every news site was covering it, with plenty of people tuning in at night. Even Aunt May tuned in, which Peter couldn't help but overhear the constant headline from upstairs.
Then there was Peter, laying on his bed, unable to sleep while he vividly remembered the whole confrontation on that dreaded rooftop. He tried to wrap his head around the fact that his childhood friend, Harry Osborn, had murdered someone right in front of him.
"You know the cops are after us now, right? Right?!"
An unfazed Harry could only shake his head, and remained absolutely speechless. It's like those words went in one ear and left through the other. He even tried walking away and signaled for his glider to come to him.
Till Spidey aggressively shook him, "HARRY, YOU JUST KILLED A GUY!-"
But Harry brushed his hand off like it was nothing, which left Peter in disbelief.
"H-he's a dangerous crime-boss… who wanted to hurt us… that-that-that gotta be self defense," he stammered.
"You know it wasn't self defense, Har-"
"So what was it, then?! Cold-blooded murder! Is that what it was, huh?! That I'm just a crazy madman now… You think I'm just as crazy as my dad," Harry snapped.
"NO! That's not what I'm saying at all. You just made a mistake… I-I get it. I made the same mistake," Spidey softly admitted.
Harry just shook his head, which had Spider-man in disbelief.
"Wait what?"
"For once in my life… I felt like I could shut someone up with little force. You remember how Flash would always stuff us in lockers freshman year? You always took it, unfazed, while I wished every day, I could punch him square in the face"
"Relax man. That- that's the green talking, man"
"No, it isn't Pete!"
"You weren't acting like this before"
"Things change"
There was this look in his eyes that pierced through that mask of his. It's like the mask had become a part of him.
"Plus, why are you mad that he's gone? He's a bad guy. So what, he's dead. He had it coming"
"You don't believe that. We're not supposed to be executioners. That's not okay"
"Unless when it's my scumbag dad, then it's okay?"
"NO Harry! That was my mistake… I wasn't thinking before it happened… it just happened. I was fuming after he told me he framed you. Couldn't believe a father could do that to his own child… But it was a big mistake… and this was too"
"But these people're the scum of the earth, and you still let them roam free? That makes little sense"
"Look, when you make that kill, it's satisfying for the first moment until you realize what you actually did. The thought that there's someone waiting for them at home. At least they can see them in jail. But when you take that away from them forever. It haunts you, Harry. I didn't want that for you," Spider-Man expressed.
Harry stubbornly scoffed at his words, dismissing what he said. Yet a part of him was receptive.
In the distance, he heard the echoes of the fire trucks racing to get to this area, with the police not that far behind.
So instantly, Harry lept out to his glider, ignoring his friend's words, before he suddenly gassed him with knockout gas that was built into the glider.
"No following me!"
Harry's become unrecognizable to him. All Spidey saw was a spooky hooded man flying on the gothic glider, staring at his grim red eyes before his sight went dim.
Several moments later, he felt someone intensely shake him. But his spider-sense didn't alert him at that moment, so it couldn't be a threat. Or it could be Venom… which would be the worst-case scenario.
But thankfully, a familiar deep voice confronted him.
"Did you have anything to do with this?"
The wall-crawler's vision cleared up to see Hell's Kitchen's finest, Daredevil, still sporting the horns, and that distasteful maroon-shaded tactical armor.
"Good to see you too, horns… It's been a long night-"
"Please don't lie"
"I'm not–I won't… lie, I swear… but my friend… he did something that caused this," Spider-man admitted.
"Well, there's a burning car, 2 people dead, and God-knows more injured…" the horned vigilante pointed out. "So your friend isn't getting away with what he did. You gotta bring him in soon, or else I will," he taunted.
"I will. I just need to get through to him… he's not himself. He's sick"
"Being sick doesn't excuse the fact that he hurt people, and he'll gonna hurt more. You gotta get him"
"I know, I know," Spider-Man exhaustingly acknowledged.
Although Peter had a feeling that his fellow vigilante knew what how he felt, when he moved closer to him, and softened up. Even the devil of hell's kitchen had a soft spot.
"I know this job can be hard. Especially when it involves people we care about. It feels like they're overstepping the boundaries you set. It's frustrating, but it's our responsibility to keep them out of harm, and to keep him from harming others"
Finally, Peter's memory of the night drowned into a blur, and could close his eyes and drowsed off into the night, with an enormous responsibility on his hand…
Oh, what else is new?
OSBORN MANOR
The moment Harry arrived to the manor, he quickly changed out of his armor and snuck out of the lair. He dashed to his room, going unnoticed by his mother, who wasn't in the room. Once he closed his door, he let out a relieved sigh. He didn't need anyone else to talk to or question him.
Harry slowly stepped toward his bed and took a seat at the foot of the bed.
Before laying on his bed, he took notice of his reflection in the mirror above his dresser. He kept staring at himself until something odd suddenly caught his attention.
'Wow, didn't think you had it in you… that was a massive step forward'
He saw himself talking in the mirror, but he knew he didn't say a word. But he knew who it was.
"This isn't me, this isn't me, Pete's right…"
'Peter's soft. He's gonna have to get used to the better-you'
"Wha–no-no-no… this isn't-"
'Yes-yes-yes-it is Harry. Don't deny it. It felt so good to cowboy up'
"It did," Harry reluctantly admitted.
'See. You're becoming the man that our father always wanted you to be. He'd be proud to see us like this!'
"I can't do this, though. Not constantly. It's too cold-hearted. Peter's right, I'm not a murderer"
'Yes, you can. Anything is possible when you put your mind to it. It's just deep down there's that weak, pathetic Harry, begging for belonging with everyone. Always wanting to be with Gwen, always disappointing our father. HELL, he needed a pathetic therapist, for the sake of feelings. We need to kill that part of ourselves. Once we do, we'll be completely better'
"That doesn't sound like a good idea-"
'It's a GREAT IDEA! To become one with the Goblin… at least this time, you're committed. You know, it was a mistake for you to stop taking the green because you know you'd never stop taking it.'
"Yeah, I know"
'You never needed help. Gwen and Peter… they're absolutely wrong. This was the help. To make us better. To be as impressive as our father… before those scum, Hammerhead, and Tombstone corrupted him'
"What am I gonna do about Tombstone?"
'What you did with Hammerhead… And if a little more force is necessary, use it. He's a big guy'
Harry's eyes saw himself grow a little devious grin at the sound of it.
'But if you're gonna do that, you gotta get some sleep. We got a big, mischievous day tomorrow, Hobgoblin'
'There, that's a better name, alright'
Then his eyes set on a little container, where the rest of his stash of Gloublin Green was.
He shortly stopped staring at the mirror, and stepped outside of his room and loudly bided goodnight to his mother, who was in the living room.
"Goodnight Honey!"
Once she heard Harry's door close, she continued watching the late-night news on Channel 7.
"Good evening Folks, it's Chris Peacock. If you're just tuning in tonight, let's recap our top stories. First, there was the disastrous event that happened in Hell's Kitchen. 2 lives were taken, but none were injured. Thankfully, the firefighters arrived in time to put out the fire before it spread further. Many people are speculating it to be another event caused by a battle by Spider-Man and one of his foes. Others have said he was working with another assailant. We'll take it to Captain Stacy for more info…"
"Who would do such a thing?" she questioned with concern.
…
For what felt like an eternity stuck in the empty, soul sucking void, there was a tiny glimmer of light sprinkled peering in. Till a dark figure snatched it up.
"I thought you were different from the rest, Pete. People thought the same thing. You were their savior. You were mine… But now, Pete, people are going to see who you really are… soft and a hypocrite!"
"Harry?!"
"You should've seen this coming, Pete!" Harry's voice called out to him from the dark.
Just then, Harry launched a giant goblin pumpkin bomb, rolling near Peter's feet.
Instantly, his eyes grew up in horror, "HARRY, YOU GOTTA STOP THIS!"
'BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!' the bomb sounded and flickered
"Greet my father for me… in hell"
BOOOOOOOOM!
The startled Peter launched himself out of bed. He breathlessly sat there on the carpet of his room. His head spun faster than a street takeover, so he needed to lie back down or else it was going to spin off his neck.
Sweat trickles down his head to his neck as Peter frantically wiped it away. He turned to check the time, noticing how it's only 3 AM.
'Wait, it's only 3? Ugh it's gonna be a long night…'
Nervously, Peter lied back down and tucked himself to bed to get more sleep. He tries to close his eyes to rest, but every time he closes them, glimpses of his nightmare came back to him. Especially those sinister Goblin laughs roaring.
So he figured he'd stay up the rest of the night. Finally doing some chores in his room, cleaned and sorted his clothes out. Then he'd study for his finals, even though he knew he could ace them without studying. With the rest of his time, he got ready for school a bit earlier. The moment his alarm went off, he instantly rushed down the stairs, ready to eat breakfast.
Aunt May instantly acknowledged, "Wow, you're on time!"
Peter admitted, "Yeah–I couldn't sleep."
"Awe dear, are you stressing over your finals? I know those are coming soon."
"Well, I guess that's it—yeah. Finals are definitely gonna kill me."
"I know you're going to ace it. You just need to study"
"Thanks for the confidence boost!"
"Don't let it get to your head, okay honey?"
"Of course Aunt May, I won't"
He sat with his delicious blueberry pancakes in front of him. Usually he'd eat them the instant they flopped off the hot pan. But there was something on his mind, he couldn't shake.
"Something on your mind dear?"
"Um it's kinda nothing but–what would you do if you knew your friend was sick, but he–they didn't want to get better?"
Aunt May instantly sat down with him and pondered on the question for a quick moment.
"Must admit, Peter, it's complicated. Sometimes you feel helpless, because they're so stubborn. As if you're talking to a wall. But I believe sometimes people just need a major wake-up call, and realize the situation they are in, isn't ideal… for them and for you," she answered.
"Ah okay"
"As you can tell, I've had a lot of experience with it, from your uncle," she lightly giggled.
MIDTOWN MAGNET MANHATTAN HIGH SCHOOL
Half an hour later, Peter tensely paced his way to school, with plenty weighing on his mind. His eyes constantly checking around in case there was a flying goblin behind him. Albeit, he had his spider-sense to warn of any threats, but it's reassuring to see safety with his eyes.
The first person he saw when he first entered campus was his girlfriend Liz, sitting on the edge of the fountain.
He urgently approached her, "Did you see Harry?"
"What?-"
"Did you see Harry?!"
"Not yet–why?"
Peter instantly tried brushing past Liz, but she pulled him back.
She questioned, "Hey, where are you going?"
He passively answered, "I'm gonna find Harry."
"Why? Is everything alright between you two?"
His eyes dodged hers, as he reluctantly stood there in silence.
"Petey, I know something's up, and–I don't like that you're still keeping things from me–Please just talk to me."
Peter took a big gulp, before leading her to a private place on the side of the entrance of the campus. He kept her close, being discrete with every word uttered.
"Look, here's the truth. Everything between me and Harry isn't good… at all"
"How bad is it?"
"It's bad—like real bad. He… killed a guy, Liz-"
"Wait–HARRY?!"
"Shhh…yeah–"
"So the guy, the cops found on the rooftop last night—Harry did that?"
Peter nodded, "Harry… killed Hammerhead."
Liz's eyes grew wide with her hand covering her mouth, absolutely stunned.
"It's the green… he's hooked on it again," he reasoned.
"The Green?"
"Oh yeah, you don't know. It's practically a performance enhancer Harry got hooked on last year. It's what Gobby used to–well, become–Gobby, essentially"
"Is that why he took his break from school?"
"Yep"
From the look of Liz, Peter knew she needed time to process it all, "I know, it's crazy…"
"What're you going to do?"
"I gotta find him ASAP. Or else he could've… done something unimaginable to another person by now, and I wouldn't know it"
"What about that Spider-sense thing, you got? Couldn't that help?"
"It's only for threats that are near me. Not threats that could be across the damn city!" he explained. "Sorry… I'm a little tense," he admitted.
"Clearly," she cutely smirked. "But you're venting right now, so I don't mind it," she added.
"Really?"
"Yes, really! I want you to know that you can talk to me about this stuff"
"I know I can. That's why I like what we have"
"Noted"
"Also, um… Petey, after my talk with Rand… I feel like I need to talk to you about Sally now"
"Oh yeah, of course"
"Yeah, I just need to vent to you. Let it out of my system"
"That's great Liz. I'll always be here to listen–"
Mid-sentence, something caught his attention. 'C'mon, not this early! Why couldn't this be after school?!'
"What?"
Then she turned to see plenty of NYPD cop cars dashing past the school, with their sirens and lights going berserk. From above, choppers headed the same way.
"I gotta go. That could be Harry!"
"Okay, okay… go. Be safe please!"
"Thank you," he quickly pecked her lips before he booked it. 'Finals are tomorrow. It shouldn't be too bad'
There stood Liz, by herself, walking past the chaos that dashed by her, with a single tear rolling down her cheek.
' For once in your life Mark… You're right'
…
STACY RESIDENCE
Gwen Stacy skipped school today. This would usually would be a big no-no for parents, especially for her father, Captain George Stacy, but for the day, he actually loved it. Especially after the busy night he had at Hell's Kitchen, it was nice to slow down and spend some time with his Gwendolyn. He even smiled, observing his daughter while she was on the kitchen table, scrolling through her laptop.
"So, how's it going on that college hunt?" he asked as he continued to clean the dishes.
"It's actually going well… and I think I've made up my mind, dad"
"Really?"
"I wanna stay close by"
"Like how close?"
"ESU, Columbia, those schools"
"Interesting. Why? You'd be losing alot of opportunities out there"
"Well—the only reason I want to stay is cause of you, Dad."
"What?"
"I-I just don't want to leave you alone… like how mom did. I don't wanna do that to you," she expressed.
"Are you sure about this? Those other schools abroad could offer you other opportunities"
"I could make something work here… I'm just majoring in Biochemistry. I can definitely find something here. Of course, if I wanted to, I could go to Oxford in England. I got accepted there too"
"Huh, well I'm glad-"
Suddenly, he heard his phone frantically ringing and vibrating on the table.
"Sorry sweetheart, I gotta take this"
"Sir, we have a situation… with L. Thompson Lincoln. The goblin–he's here," the officer uttered while frantically coughing.
"I'll notify all units. On my way!"
He quickly grabbed his keys, and jacket before he headed for the door.
"Stay safe out there, Dad-"
Without saying another word, Captain Stacy rushed out the door and into his police car. Gwen sighed to herself once the door slammed.
TOMBSTONE'S PENTHOUSE
In the tall building that towered over the city was where Tombstone lived, being held under house arrest for nearly a year. The only time he's gotten out of the building was to go to a dinner-ball that Wilson Fisk threw, just to rub it in his face. That made him feel even worse about his failure of a criminal empire… but luckily not that long after, The Kingpin ran off, since they peeled off his covers .
Nevertheless, the free-time Tombstone had away from security cameras was VERY limited. Until that very moment, when he heard bombastic rumblings outside his room.
Gunshots bombastically sounded, but it met its match, then grew silent. That silence would last a few seconds, when the Hobgoblin menacingly flew through the door, hovering with his glider, which had a splitting image of a demon; which its red eyes, fangs, and horns were on its head.
Behind him was a thick cloud of knockout gas that was flowing through the building. Thankfully, he had a built in gas mask in his helmet.
"You should've made an appointment… although the guards and officers could've told you that," Tombstone pointed out.
"What good would that do? They're all kinda… knocked out, wouldn't you say?"
"But it will not last long, with more officers coming"
"Which is why you need to tell me something in snap or else you'll be snapped," he taunted with a smile.
"Okay. What's your question?"
"Tell me the truth. Did you offer Norman Osborn the job?"
"I did. I wanted to use his gifts with technology to create supervillains to distract Spider-Man. And he took the job immediately"
'Why would you get yourself into this, Dad? Get yourself with criminals. No-no-no'
"LIAR… you can't fool me!"
"I've been called many things, a liar isn't one of them"
Immediately, his glider came closer to the former crime-boss, and a blade sharply erupted out of it, being close to his neck. But it did not phase Tombstone at all.
"And I heard what you did with Hammerhead. Pretty cut-throat. He… always stuck to his guns, but never saw the bigger picture, especially with his own operation. Could've tried getting Ricochet and Ox… but got too fixated on Flint Marko. That's a weakness in this business, I'm afraid. But he was good at the job I gave him… and I never can take that away from him"
"So that's why you're here? Looking for the same answer… or hoping for something different? Because if you're hoping for something different, sad to say it, but Norman Osborn was a bonafide monster."
"Honestly, I want something different and I'm going to destroy this business my way! And I'm so gonna love seeing it fall," The Hobgoblin declared.
"Ah–go on then, breathe in those lies you've been saying"
Without wasting a millisecond, Hobgoblin retracted his blade on the front of his glider. Instead, unleashed a potent dose of that familiar knockout gas into Tombstone's face, to which he tried coughing it out. Which his body didn't have a great reaction to it.
His nose felt irritated and inflamed.
His eyesight got surrounded by dark spots, multiplying till he couldn't see a thing.
His hearing became slowly muffled, till a high-pitched ringing sound rung in his eardrums.
His hands had this overwhelming tingling that made him feel everything and nothing simultaneously.
His mouth went dry as the death valley.
And it drowned his consciousness out with extreme drowsiness.
The intimidating crime-boss turned into a sleeping pale giant in the matter of moments, which made his smile drop.
Once his head smacked the table, the hooded goblin aggressively gripped Tombstone's neck and choke-slammed him to the floor.
Then he pulled back his fist to deliver a meaty punch to his face.
Again…
Again…
And again…
Plenty of rageful and powerful punches to his face made the hobgoblin's hand hurt a bit. Blood stained his gloves to parts of his mask. Resulted in Tombstone's face appeared recognizable. His blood-spattered, cut up face was so unrecognizable that the Hobgoblin forgot who he was for a second, once he took a step back.
Harry stared down on the unconscious, bleeding Tombstone, with this fiery look underneath his red lenses of his mask. Time to do his little trademark. He huffed and puffed as he whipped out his sword from behind him and engulfed it in flames, about to stab Tombstone, dead center in his chest. Till he heard something crash through the window, then a familiar silky web powerfully pulled the sword away from his hands. Irritated, Hobgoblin gazed up and saw the wall-crawler lunging towards him.
But he didn't hit him, and raised his hands up, meaning no harm.
"Harry, please don't do this… What's the point of all of this, Har? It's not gonna bring your dad back!"
"He'd want me to do this. And it turns out you'd rather fight me to protect this guy? A CRIMINAL!?"
"Yeah… yeah, I would," he uttered. Those were words or thoughts he never thought he'd have… but he would save Tombstone, right here and now.
"Wow… you really are soft. Have it your way"
The Hobgoblin deviously glared at Spider-Man before his glider snappily readied another dose of the knockout gas.
'Oh not the gas, c'mon that's so predictable'
So Spidey snatched the glider mid-air, before it could release another dose, and with hurled it out of the window. Then Spidey had to do something he'd never thought he'd do… save this infamous foe. And he had to do it quickly. That glider was coming back, whether he liked it or not.
His spidey-sense tingled, and the red-eyed goblin attacked again.
Lunging at Spider-Man with his flaming sword, he spun out an array of attacks. All of them missed Spidey, except for one, which cut him across the right shoulder.
But Spidey got Hobgoblin back, when he swiftly kicked him across the face and off his feet. While he was stunned, he used half of his webbing to quickly and thickly coat Hobgoblin, to subdue him for a few moments. And to buy them a few moments, cause he and Tombstone made a run for it, frantically crashing out the window.
"Sorry I was late, Tomby. I had to change. You don't want me saving your life in street clothes, do you?" he jokingly mentioned as he swung.
He also noticed the gnarly beating on his face. 'Jeez, Harry really did him in. Man, I gotta get him help'
"Jeez, big guy, you got messed up bad in there. Don't worry… I'm just gonna drop you off at the precinct"
From above, Spider-Man scanned below, and who would've guessed? More NYPD and EMT were there, armed and ready, with Captain Stacy in the midst. But Captain Stacy meant no harm as he signalled them to lower their weapons once he saw Spidey swinging over to them. His heart was going at rapid speeds, but he put it in the back of his mind… they were so close.
"Looks like you saved the day again, Spider-Man-"
Suddenly, his spider-sense rung, so he turned to see hordes of pesky razor bats hurled toward him, Tombstone, and the officers below.
'C'mon Har, I hate those things with a passion'
"WATCH OUT!" one officer loudly urged.
"TAKE COVER!"
The panicked officers either frantically got back in their cars or attempted to find cover. Meanwhile, Spidey fluidly dodged as much as he could. He made sure the former crime-boss didn't get hit while keeping an eye out on every single officer, and their safety.
"GIVE HIM TO ME SPIDER-MAN!" Captain Stacy frantically ordered.
Spidey quickly followed and put Tombstone at the back of the cop car.
The car started up with ferocity, and it quickly got distance, till the Hobgoblin quickly and recklessly hurled more razor-bats at Captain Stacy's car. Most of them hit the windows like darts, but one of them slashed the back tire, causing it to go flat.
Spider-Man powerfully tackled the goblin. Before he could, he saw him throw a 'hail-mary' with a big round orange object heading toward the car. Spidey tried to grab it with his webs, but his web shooters were out.
'MY LUCK! Not now-not now–not now—ugh forget it!'
Instead, he dashed for it. He knew what it was… being all too familiar to him, being the Goblin's trademark, "Jack-o'-lantern Bomb!"
Suddenly, he alarmingly saw the bomb quickly stick onto the roof of the car. Spider-Man wildly reached for it. He ignored his constantly alarming spider-sense, just this once.
Spider-Man screamed, "CAPTAIN STACY!"
It started frantically blinking till–
It-
Went–
B-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-M!
'AHA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!' the jack-o'-lantern bomb shrieked as the police car exploded into orange gas and flames.
From afar, the damaged Spidey slowly limped out of the rubble and saw the car in flames. Huffing and puffing, he saw the people nearby rushing away from the area, with such a panic.
He gulped at the sight of it, and his tears clouded his sight.
'No-no-no-no–this can't be happening… not to Gwen!… Goodness Harry, why?!'
He fixated up to the menacing Hobgoblin, hovering in the distance, with a grin painted on his face. Peter couldn't even tell if that monstrous grin, on his childhood friend's was painted on or real.
The fact that he even questioned it sent shivers down his spine.
TO BE CONTINUED…