Season 4 Chapter One: Another One
"Waaahooo!" Spider-man exclaimed as he swung around Manhattan like a graceful bungee-jumping daredevil.
It's been three fun days since the graduation ceremony and summer vacation starts rolling in. Everyone's got different things to do for the summer that make crime-fighting a second priority. Everyone's busy except for one…
'Looks like I get to work solo this time around again while everyone's started their own plans. Hobie's out to make funds for his tuition working at his brother's shop and other jobs; Gwen's off to the ESU lab helping out the Connors; Kitty and Bobby are undergoing some "training regiment" under their grumpy instructor and guardian; while Liz says she's learning some management skills and experience around her place under her parents,' Spider-man thought to himself before landing on a pedestal to look over a wide area around the city. 'Well, not like I'm complaining about that. Can't help it, after all. Maybe I've just gotten lonely after fighting alongside them for a while...'
Coming around his field of vision, he watches the families and the children playing in the park before noticing a pair of children recklessly play with a kite, not knowing that they're about to cross the pedestrian lane on a busy road while the traffic lights are still on the green. Like acting upon muscle memory, Spider-man quickly swings down to swoop the two kids off their feet just seconds away from being rammed over by a truck before putting them down safely.
"Kids, remember to watch where you're playing, alright? Stay in the park, where it is safe, mind doing that for me?" Spider-man kindly requested.
"Yes, Mr. Spider-man," the two kids responded.
"Great! Well, see ya," Spider-man bids with a playful salute before swinging away.
"Bye Mr. Spider-man!" The children waved goodbye before being escorted by their parents.
However, unbeknownst to the Webhead, standing in midair atop a glider…
"Hmph, you shall feel the power I've obtained, bug-eyed pest!"
—
'Sorry for not being able to go on patrol again today, Peter. Dr. Martha Connors called me to lend a hand around the lab, and I gotta admit, the experience of being an actual assistant is cool!' Gwen geeked out over the phone.
"Glad you enjoyed following your dad to work! I also got much on my plate, other than patrolling around and getting scoops for the Bugle," Spider-man replied over the phone while sitting on the ledge of a rooftop.
'Mmmm yeah, I can 'sense' that,' Gwen playfully responded. 'Say, wanna try visiting and helping out the Connors at ESU some time?'
"A fine idea! I'll add that to my to-do list when I get ba–guhaugh!" Spider-man grunted, having air forced out of his lungs from a strong push against a wall and dropping his phone to the floor of the rooftop.
'Peter? Are you there? Peter!' Gwen hysterically called, not hearing his response from his cell phone.
Out of nowhere, Spider-man's roughly pinned against the wall by a strange figure piloting a glider that's similar to the glider of the Green Goblin.
"Urgh, agh! No...way, N-Norman!? Is that...you!?" Spider-man screamed while choking from his neck being gripped hard and struggling to get free from the stranger's grasp.
His attacker dons a bright orange cloak along with orange greaves and gauntlets; wearing a blue armored suit with a utility belt while hiding his identity behind a monstrous mask that is almost like a steel-plated tiki mask, a tad scarier compared to the Green Goblin.
"Hah! Don't make me laugh, Spider," the stranger huffed confidently with a smirk behind the mask, clearly using a built-in voice disguiser. "I am your new worst nightmare compared to that green fool! Fear the power of the newest and strongest Goblin in Manhattan! The Hobgoblin!"
The third mysterious Goblin-themed villain, calling himself the Hobgoblin, carries the Wall-crawler inches above the ground before slamming him to the rooftop floor, making a shallow cracking pit on the floor and forcing the air out of his lungs again.
'Shoot, he's probably stronger than the other two Goblins,' Spider-man groaned in his O, struggling to break free before trying to shake his hand off with a takedown submission technique he learnt from Prowler, using the weight of his body and spider strength to bring down the Hobgoblin and his glider before hand-springing to a far distance from the downed villain and getting into a passive-aggressive stance. "Aw man, thank you Prowler!"
"Rrrrrrrgghh!" Hobgoblin growled as he prepared to throw pumpkin bombs at the Webhead. "The Hobgoblin's anything but unprepared for any situation!"
He then throws five pumpkin bombs towards Spider-man, purposely hurling them at different directions that can potentially injure nearby citizens. As fast as his reflexes can take him, he manages to web four of them easily before hurling them back to Hobgoblin.
"Back at ya!" Spider-man quipped as he hurled the pumpkin bombs back towards their sender, who took on the full blast as he charged forth shielding his face with his arms while hovering and moving atop his glider to grab Spider-man's neck and emerge unscathed.
"How disappointing," Hobgoblin mocked before preparing to land a strong jab to Spider-man's face.
By a stroke of sheer luck, he webs a line to catch the last pumpkin bomb and quickly reels it into his palm.
"Try an exploding pumpkin to the face!" Spider-man quipped as he tried to punch the pumpkin bomb in his hand close to the Hobgoblin's face, only to have it explode close between his hand and the villain's face.
Both of them fall off of the building and down to the streets from the strong closed-distance impact, with Spider-man landing hard on a steel truck and the Hobgoblin still maintaining his balance atop his glider holding his slightly burned face behind his damaged mask.
"Oooggh, mental note, never...do that...again…!" Spider-man groaned while trying to get back up and off the truck before looking at his left handed web shooter damaged from the pumpkin bomb's explosion. "Ughh, not sweet…!"
"Now you've done it, Webhead. Playtime's over!" Hobgoblin roared as he attempted to charge at Spider-man, activating the retractable pronged blade on his glider while firing concussive rounds with the glider's built-in sidearms.
"Crud crud crud crud crud!" Spider-man screamed as he dodges and runs from the berserked Hobgoblin before swinging away with his right-handed web shooter. 'Gotta lead him out of the city! Hopefully while keeping my head intact!'
"C'mon, Spider! Man up and face me!" Hobgoblin taunted while chasing him down with his guns blazing.
"Not today, Hobby!" Spider-man quipped, running and swinging away like his life depends on it.
—
"Um, Dr. Connors, is it alright if I could take a break for now?" Gwen asked while rearranging and organizing vials of gene cleanser in their proper racks.
"Seems fair enough, you have been working hard lately. Feel free to get a snack around the university, but try to be back in ten minutes or so. You are here for the summer job experience, after all, right?" Dr. Martha permitted while tabulating data on the spider specimens in their cases.
"Thank you! I promise to be back quickly!" Gwen thanks before seeing herself out of the laboratory through the back door and quickly puts on her Ghost Spider symbiote suit. "You ready, Mania?"
'Always,' Mania smirked.
"Good, let's roll! Spidey's in trouble!" Ghost Spider rallied as they quickly swing around the city to assist Spider-man in his current predicament.
—
Later, in the same theater where St. John Devereaux staged his plays…
"MJ, are you okay?" Sha Shan wondered out of concern, wearing some sort of English-themed costume.
"Oh, me? Yeah, never better. Why so?" Mary Jane smoothly answered.
"I'm sorry about what happened between you and Liz's brother, Mark. I thought you two would look good together too," Sha Shan awkwardly answered.
"No worries, it's okay. It was all my fault. I was fooling around with him and myself. Being a free agent and all, I can mess up...a lot. Should've thought through things further instead of becoming a heartbreaker in the end," Mary Jane replied with a downcast frowning face.
"You girls alright?"
Checking on the two girls from a side of the backstage was a young brunet with blue eyes, wearing an English-themed suit.
"Uh yeah, we're good. Just chatting, thanks Jonathan," Sha Shan replied.
"No prob, Sir St. John's just worried about his star pupils getting on edge or something," Jonathan replied.
"Mr. Powers, I am in need of your assistance," Mr. Devereaux called from backstage.
"Oh, duty calls. See you girls inside!" Jonathan bade before leaving the stage.
"Shall we get ready?" Sha Shan asked the alluring redhead.
"We shall," Mary Jane responded as she was about to follow Sha Shan inside.
But before the two girls could leave the stage, an explosion occurs at the entrance of the theater room and startles them to their knees, where Spider-man suddenly appears and crashes into the audience seats after an impacting blow from the Hobgoblin's glider. Despite being bruised and covered in wounds, he was able to stand back up on his feet to face off against the maniac.
"Well Spider, had enough yet?" Hobgoblin taunted as he descended close to Spider-man from midair atop his glider.
"Hey! Just what are you going to do to him!?"
Getting the villain and the hero's attention was the nervous and brave Mary Jane, watching the horrific scene from the stage area with the petrified Sha Shan surprised and hysterical from her response.
"MJ! What are you doing!?" Sha Shan tried to pull Mary Jane away from the scene.
"Both of you! Get out! Now!" Spider-man ordered before being uppercutted by the Hobgoblin and fell on a nearby audience seat, watching the evil maniac hover over to the two frightened girls.
"Greetings, fair ladies! Care to grace me with your company, for now?" Hobgoblin barked as he tried to grab both Mary Jane and Sha Shan.
"Look out!" Mary Jane warned as she pushes Sha Shan away from her to avoid being caught along with her due to her stupid bravery.
"Wanna go for a little trip around the city?" Hobgoblin quipped while catching the redhead by her waist.
"MJ!" Sha Shan cried out, getting Spider-man's attention in the process as they watched Mary Jane get abducted.
"Catch me if you can, Spider-man!" Hobgoblin taunted, leaving the theater with Mary Jane caught under his arm, screaming as she got taken away.
"No...No!" Spider-man yelled as he tried to swing in pursuit aftering them.
"Be careful, Spidey!" Sha Shan warned as she watched him leave the theater.
'It appears we have to cancel again for another time,' Mr. Devereaux thought to himself, depressed after witnessing most of what just happened back there.
—
"Let me go! Let me go!" Mary Jane screamed in a demanding tone while struggling to break free from Hobgoblin's grip.
'Boy, I must thank Osborn for all these tech,' Hobgoblin thought to himself while gliding in the air and ignoring the redhead's pleas.
"Gooobliiin!"
Coming straight like a pebble slingshotted, Spider-man was able to nearly close the distance after launching himself like a human slingshot before swinging after them with his one working web shooter while enduring the pain and fatigue.
"Spider-man!" Mary Jane cried out.
"Good persistence, hero! Almost there!" Hobgoblin taunted.
"How about now!"
Catching the Hobgoblin's attention out of nowhere, he only saw a pair of neon-pink soles kicking him in the face, dazing him in midair so hard that he released his hold on the redhead damsel.
"Mary Jane!" Spider-man yelled as he immediately dives straight towards her direction and catches her before swinging and landing onto a nearby building. "You alright, miss?"
"I am, but how do you know me?" Mary Jane asked, surprised how could a hero like him know her name.
"Uhhhh…" Spider-man trailed off, acting dumb.
"You alright, Spidey?" Ghost Spider asked out of concern, landing on the ledge nearby.
"Yeah, thanks," Spider-man thanked. "Wait, I thought you were–"
"Busy? I took a break, and I wanted to lend a hand. You seemed to be roughed up pretty badly, again," Ghost Spider pointed out.
"Two Spiders!? I should have prepared more pesticide in my arsenal!" Hobgoblin yelled as he retreated away. "We'll meet again! Spider-men!"
"Hey! I'm clearly a woman! A Spider-woman! Okay!?" Ghost Spider hysterically protested, which made Spider-man snort and hide his laughter in response.
—
Back at Oscorp, Hobgoblin enters a secret passage that leads to the hidden laboratory and then slowly descends onto a certain automatic repair station before dismounting off the glider and takes off the mask and hood to gasp for air, all the while revealing his identity as Roderick Kingsley.
"Haaagh, wheew, wow! Not bad for a test run," Roderick panted while breaking a smile, laughing and enjoying the exhilarating adrenaline from his battle against Spider-man, to get back at him for meddling in his affairs from the auction a very long time ago. "I should be more careful with how I fight and appear in public now, thanks to this scar from that annoying pest!"
However, it just came to him that he is not much of a genius when it comes to tinkering with tech as advanced as Oscorp's and may need to enlist the help of experts in the future to assist him when the needs arise, especially now that he knows that Spider-man is not alone and what his 'friends' may be capable of.
—
"Peter dear? Are you alright?" May asked Peter from outside his room.
As the next day started, and Peter refused to get out of his bed, his aunt grew a bit anxious from him lazing off in the first few days of summer vacation.
"Yeaaaah? Just a bit tired today, Aunt May!" Peter groaned, paralyzed from the sores on his body, slowly recovering fast from his superhuman capacity to heal faster than the average person.
"Okay dear," May responded before hearing the doorbell ring twice. "Oh my who could that be?"
The old lady then walks down the stairs and opens the front door, meeting Gwen Stacy and Liz Allan by the door and porch, the latter being someone quite new to meet.
"Good morning Aunt May," Gwen and Liz greeted by the door, wearing their casual outdoor attire that they wore in school.
"Why Gwen! So nice to see you! Hello young lady, may I know your name?" May kindly asked.
"Ah, my name is Liz, Liz Allan. I'm uh, close with your nephew, Peter too," Liz nervously answered.
"Oh goodie! Please, make yourselves at home. I'm sorry, but Peter's currently resting in his room right now," May apologized as she welcomed the two girls into the house.
"Oh it's fine," Gwen assured.
"That is why we're here! We heard he's kinda worn out, and we just want to help him recover, even just a little," Liz modestly answered.
"Oh such lovely ladies you both are! Feel free to visit him. I shall prepare some refreshments," May permitted before entering the kitchen.
Heeding her advice, they exchanged excited looks before heading upstairs to Peter's room and knocking on his door.
"Petey?" Liz called.
"Aunt May, I'm tired, lemme sleep…" Peter groggily groaned, mistaking Liz's voice for his aunt's.
"Ugh! Gwen, do I sound like that?" Liz huffed, stomping her foot in response to Peter's remark.
"Nah, he's just roughed up badly. Trust me," Gwen assured before enveloping her hand in Mania's symbiote and using the symbiote to gently pick the lock to the door of his room.
"Open sesame," Liz excitedly quipped as she opened the door after Gwen's successful attempt, allowing the both of them to quietly enter his room.
"Aunt May, I already said I'm...tired…?!" Peter stammered, suddenly awakened from Liz and Gwen's unannounced visit, in his room no less. "G-Gwen!? Liz!?"
"Ehehehe, hiya, Petey," Liz cutely responded. "I heard from Gwen about yesterday, and I brought some of my soothing ointment to help out."
"Same for me," Gwen responded, pulling out her own ointment before exchanging competitive smirking looks with Liz.
"Uhhhh, thanks again for dropping by, but I can handle things from here on out," Peter nervously assured, taking their ointments that are offered to help him recover.
"Peter, mind telling us what just happened back there?" Gwen asked out of concern.
"Petey, just who could've done this to you?" Liz asked, worried for Peter and anxious because she wasn't able to help.
"Let's just say I have a psychotic fan that's posing as another Goblin, calling himself as the Hobgoblin. Glider and everything," Peter plainly answered while applying the ointment around his body, unintentionally revealing parts of his ripped body and making Liz and Gwen avert their gazes and hide their flustered cheeks.
'Okay, that was spicy,' Liz commented in her thoughts.
'Come to think of it, he's changed a lot physically when we reached high school,' Gwen thought to herself, embarrassed from Peter's well-toned body.
'Careful girl, watch what you're thinking,' Mania warned, startling Gwen in her thoughts.
"And I think I know already who it is behind that mask," Peter answered, astounding the two girls from his response.
"What?! Really?! Who then?" Gwen asked.
"It's that guy named Roderick Kingsley. You know, the new CEO and manager of Oscorp's properties in New York? Ever read the news?" Peter responded.
"What? Why? What makes you so sure of that?" Gwen asked. "Doesn't he own a popular perfume brand?"
"Yeah. Except the part where I once kinda meddled in his plan at an auction where he got specs to make the Rhino armor, in which I was able to stop him, all by myself," Peter bragged and lied, omitting the part where he asked the one and only Rhino for help to smash the specs.
"Well, I never liked the guy. He was a client at our hotel and my mom loves his perfume, but I get uneasy feelings around the guy. Thanks for confirming my suspicions," Liz pointed out.
"Still, I don't think he's backing down from that fight last time, and I may need your help just in case. Sorry to interrupt your summer plans," Peter apologized.
"I'll try to help if I catch enough breaks," Gwen answered.
"Actually, my folks said that I can relax for today and tomorrow. I had fun learning the workings around the restaurants, but I miss fighting baddies again more," Liz laughed.
"Man, thanks guys. Ah-I mean, thanks girls," Peter thanked, correcting himself and making the girls giggle.
They then start chatting and hanging out for a while after Aunt May made some snacks and refreshments for the three of them, which kinda worries Peter for her health. Suddenly, his cell phone rang and surprised him to find out that the caller's name is Ned Leeds, the young journalist who is tasked to know Spider-man's secret identity. He asks for a moment to be excused and turns his back on the two chatting girls before answering the call.
"Hello? Ned? Is that you?" Peter responded to the call over the phone.
'Peter! Are you busy tomorrow?' Ned asks from the other side of the line.
"Tomorrow? Not really sure, maybe? I'm kinda free tomorrow, why?" Peter nervously answered, piquing the girls' interest and attention from overhearing his response.
'Great! I just have a favor to ask: would you mind taking pictures of my planned interview tomorrow with the CEO Roderick Kingsley?' Ned asks. 'Please man, you're the only guy I trust to help me take an awesome picture, like how you take Spidey's pics.'
"A-Alright then, when will we start tomorrow?" Peter accepts the favor.
'Somewhere in the afternoon, 2 or 3 'o clock tops, but we'll first meet here in the Daily Bugle, thanks again man!' Ned thanked.
'So, did he answer?' Betty wondered, being heard over Ned's phone.
'Yeah Baby, he's going to help me out. I just hope I could nail the interview without a hitch,' Ned thought out loud, leaking them over the phone call before being conscious of it. 'Uhhhh, sorry 'bout that Peter, thanks again and see you tomorrow!'
"Y-yeah, bye," Peter awkwardly bade before ending the call, surprised to hear Betty and the pet name Ned called her. 'Oookay, didn't see that one coming, but good for him.'
"So, how was it?" Liz asked.
"A call from a colleague. He asked for my photography skills to take shots for the paper, an interview. With...Roderick Kingsley…" Peter nervously answered.
"Wait, are you even prepared for this?" Gwen asked out of concern.
"Uhhh hehe, about that…" Peter trailed off with a nervous smile as he pulled out a damaged web shooter from under his bed. "Kinda wrecked one of my web shooters, and I'm too tired to fix 'em. And the interview's tomorrow!"
"Oh boy, quite the situation we got on our hands," Gwen sighed while holding and examining the damaged web shooter. "Got any schematics or printed plans on these things?"
"Uhhh, maybe?" Peter sheepishly shrugged, handing Gwen a notebook filled with sketches, equations, list of items, and other things written down. "Everything's written down here. I trust you guys."
"No problem, your secret's safe with us. I'll try to finish fixing it by tomorrow noon, hopefully," Gwen assures with a playful salute.
"I can try to be recon for a while, just to keep a close eye on you on your job," Liz suggests.
"O-Okay then. Thanks, but be careful out there tomorrow," Peter suggested with worry and concern in his tone.
—
In the Daily Bugle, after the fiery scuffle Spider-man encountered with the mysterious new villain self-proclaiming himself to be the Hobgoblin about two days ago, pictures and stories of the news were made and circulated quickly, thanks to the creative words of the young journalist Ned Leeds.
"So, Baby, where else would you like for our next date?" Ned smirked. "After I score this interview, I'm sure to probably get bonus points out of it."
"Ummm, dates should be put on hold for now; refrain from calling me that while I'm working out here; and I'm not sure about getting those bonus points later," Betty begged to differ, pointing to an annoyed J. Jonah Jameson, standing behind her boyfriend with a professional smile and a raised eyebrow.
"Uhhh, hehehe, hi sir?" Ned embarrassingly greeted.
"Hello, Ned…!? Got your stuff ready for your big scoop?" Jameson kindly inquired, stiffly keeping a professional smile.
"Y-yes sir! All that's left is just–"
"Hey Ned! I made it!"
Coming out of the elevator and running to Ned was Peter Parker, just in the nick of time.
"Am I late for work?" Peter laughed.
"Nope, but you're just on time!" Ned sighed with relief, playfully slapping Peter's back.
"Perfect! Parker! Today, you gotta work with Nick and get us a huge scoop, and fast before anybody else gets their grubby mitts on it!" Jameson ordered.
'Grubby mitts like ours perhaps?' Peter laughed in his thoughts. "No prob Mr. Jameson! You can count on us!"
"Wow, aren't you totally pumped up," Betty deadpanned with a smile.
"Uh huh! Oh yeah! Are you dating Ned now?" Peter wondered, getting a nod from her. "Man! Whoa, th-that's great! Congrats!"
"Hey Pete, she is a tough one, but dude, she finally accepted me after a long time!" Ned replied out of joy.
"Aaand how long is 'a long time'?" Peter wondered.
"Three or five months," Ned plainly answered.
"W-Wow, nice one man!" Peter stuttered, making Betty and Ned blush for a moment.
"Alright alright, enough with all the wholesome chit chat; get out there, and get me that scoop now!" Jameson ordered in his usual loud tone, making both Peter and Ned bolt out of the office and enter the elevator.
—
As Peter and Ned were about to leave the building, Gwen appeared out of a cab while holding some sort of parcel.
"Peter!" Gwen called, waving out to Peter, wearing a woman's khaki trench coat over her black long-sleeved turtle neck and fitted green cargo pants with white sneakers, catching Ned off guard from her calling out to his colleague.
"Gwen! Wait, what are you–?"
"I've finished it and it's all ready for you, don't leave without it," Gwen immediately answered, hinting that she finished repairing the web shooter with Liz's assistance.
"Oh cool! Thanks!" Peter thanked as he received the web shooter in wrapping and put it in his satchel.
"Hey, Liz helped me a bit, better thank her too. Gotta go now Pete, see ya!" Gwen smiled as she leaves and waves bye before getting in the cab and riding away.
"Peter, I think I should be the one to congratulate you," Ned quipped while looking at him with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, making Peter embarrassed.
"Sh-Shut up, Ned! C'mon, we got work to do, and fast!" Peter barked, making Ned chuckle at his reaction before finding and taking a cab to Oscorp.
'Hihihi, time to get to work!' Liz, donning her Screwball costume and equipment, muttered to herself out of excitement while watching Peter and Ned drive away through some binoculars before swinging after them with her grappling hook.
—
In the room of the humble home of Anna Watson, found in the quaint neighborhood of Queens…
"Oh MJ! I will be out to meet with May for a while, can I trust you to watch the house in my absence?" Anna requested she was about to leave the house.
"Got it covered! Be careful on your way out, Aunt Anna!" Mary Jane bade, lying across her bed in her room.
"You too dear! Goodbye!" Anna bade before leaving the house.
Looking at the ceiling and reflecting on the incident with Spider-man saving her from peril and knowing her name.
"Hmm, maybe there is a type of guy that got my attention, but a really-hard-to-get type of guy…" Mary Jane laughed to herself, feeling a strange attraction towards Spider-man.
—
Now at this point, Peter and Ned finally managed to meet with Oscorp's new CEO Roderick Kingsley, interviewing him and taking photos of the ongoing interview while exploring what Kingsley's been doing around the company and its facilities.
'Wow, deja vu,' Peter thought to himself, taking pictures around the place and sightseeing while undergoing Mr. Kingsley's touring session, quickly dialing Liz's number on his cell phone and quietly asking her over the phone. 'Hey Liz, see anything strange?'
Sitting on the ledge of a tall apartment building nearby with binoculars over her eyes and visor, Screwball playfully looks around for anything out of place while holding her cell phone in her hand.
"Nope. Nothing's out of place, yet," Screwball answered while looking around.
'Oh okay, thanks, but if things get rough, pull back and we can try to meet up. Are you alright with that?' Peter replied in a soft voice.
'Alright, but you should be careful too,' Screwball bade before ending the call.
After the call ends, Peter looks to notice that he's left out alone in the corridor, with no sign of Ned and Roderick around.
"Great," Peter groaned before trying to find them, recalling his way around the place when the Osborns kept welcoming him. "Oh well, perfect excuse to suit up!"
—
Taking advantage of the awkward situation, Peter dons his Spider-man suit and reequips his adequately repaired web shooter before equipping the other one and hides his stuff underneath the balcony.
"Alright, spying time," Spider-man quipped as he sneaked around the place while looking for Ned and Kingsley, who are almost nowhere to be found around the facility until he realizes that there is one place that he didn't look.
He crawls down to the mounted armor where Harry answered to be the wine cellar and activates the trigger that splits it open and reveals the hidden passageway.
"Sorry Harry…" Spider-man apologizes, thinking that he is trespassing for some reason before heading inside the passage and tries to contact Screwball, only to be left shocked at how the signal's jammed while inside. "No signal, great. Well, into the unknown…"
He descends down the stairs and enters the hidden room filled with wine racks containing bottled vintage wines.
"Huh, so he wasn't lying about a wine cellar being here, but then...how…?" Spider-man thought out loud as he inspected the entire place and then tried to look for a button or switch to confirm his suspicions. 'Nothing huh… great. Hm?'
Glancing at the wine rack adjacent to the wall, he sees some faint red light at the corner of his eye before going for a closer look, spotting a button on the wall behind the bottled wine and gently pushes it, which then triggers the mechanism to split the wall open and reveal a hidden laboratory that contained the same technology that the three Goblins used.
'Bingo,' Spider-man quietly quipped before walking into the lab, staying wary of his surroundings while looking around and spotted many similar gadgets and tech that the Osborns used in their alter egos. 'Okay, this is way weird, did Norman intend to do all of this and seriously just wanna punch my lights out? I'd hate that…!'
Suddenly, his Spider-sense was triggered as a presence rushed from behind and made him attempt to dodge with a backflip, only to be caught by the leg and slammed onto the ground.
"Gugh!" Spider-man grunted as he was slammed to the ground. 'Again with the leg? Seriously?!'
"Well well well, never expected the hero of New York to be an awful trespassing visitor! Gives me all the right reasons to take you out, as punishment!" Hobgoblin screamed maniacally as he lifted up the Webhead by his foot before getting his eyes webbed and blinded, throwing him to the nearby gas chamber as he tried to rip off the web on his face. "Now, time to properly squish you!"
Now, a battle ensues between Spider-man and the Hobgoblin inside the small lab, with the Hobgoblin trying to catch him or impale him with his glider and puts Spider-man on the defensive as he swings around the enclosed lab.
"Hey Hobby! Fire me up with a bang! I dare ya!" Spider-man taunts as he swings around to dodge and avoid getting caught by the Hobgoblin.
"I am no fool to fall for that! But if that is what you want!?" Hobgoblin then catches Spider-man's web line before blasting a hole on the ceiling that's big enough to fly through while carrying a swinging passenger. "Then away we go!"
—
"Oh man, I hope Petey's alright," Screwball whimpered while sitting on the ledge with her cell phone beside her, waiting for boyfriend's call.
And then suddenly, she gets startled from a loud explosion occurring at Oscorp, and immediately swings over to the area out of concern, thinking something might've happened to Peter. Stopping her catching her by surprise, Spider-man is found flying around while hanging onto a web line caught by the mysterious Hobgoblin as they both emerge from the site of the explosion.
"Spidey!" Screwball cried out before skating after them over the rooftops, following wherever the Hobgoblin goes from a distance.
"Huh? Well what do we have here? Another girl playing dress-up?" Hobgoblin mocked as he spotted Screwball and took out a pumpkin bomb from his glider.
"No!" Spider-man screamed.
"Ok! Going back!" Screwball screamed as she changed her direction to skate away and retreat while dodging the exploding bombs hurled at her before a bomb exploded behind her and pushed her off the building, making her land into a dumpster in a nearby alley that break her fall. "Uggh, owwwie…!"
"Alright pal, time for you to calm down!" Spider-man quipped out of anger as he pulled himself close with the help of the web line and brutally smashes the bottom part of the glider, causing it to go haywire and make the Hobgoblin lose his balance as they quickly crash onto a rooftop, where Screwball finally caught up to them, reeking of rotten expired food.
"Ugh! Eewwww! Man! I hate this!" Screwball screamed and groaned, feeling and smelling icky and stinky.
"Welcome to my world. First time for everything," Spider-man playfully shrugged.
"Ugh, I'll say!" Screwball deadpanned before spotting the Hobgoblin in front of them. "Whoa, this guy is Kingsley? You're kidding me!? He's spooky!"
"Not the time to make the crazy villain even angrier, but I get what you mean," Spider-man replied. 'Strange though, he seems weaker than last time.'
"Grrrrraaaagh!" Hobgoblin roared as he ran over to land a strong jab at Spider-man, who dodged the punch before doing a handspring to dodge a kick to his legs.
"Okay, now he's mad, and I mean both angry and crazy," Spider-man pointed out as he landed beside Screwball.
"I got an idea: shoot at me with your, whatchamacallit? Web bullets!" Screwball suggests, catching Spider-man off guard from her suggestion.
"Wait, are you telling me to web you up? Right now?" Spider-man asked for clarification, looking confused.
"Uh, no! I mean, aim your web bullets at me, trust me," Screwball assured, getting his nod in return, who also trusted her well.
From there, Spider-man jumps high in the air and then fires a couple of web bullets at Screwball, who then kicks them gracefully with force towards Hobgoblin to give the bullets a stronger punch while staggering the Hobgoblin in sticky webs.
"You're up!" Screwball called out, as Spider-man lands and then slings himself to land a swift dropkick to Hobgoblin's gut and kicks him off the building, making him fall to the hard pavement and rendering him unconscious.
"Booyah! Alright! Woohoo! High five!" Screwball cheered, with Spider-man distancing himself from her stench.
"Uhh, maybe after you get cleaned?" Spider-man nervously replied, making Screwball give him 'the look'.
Few minutes pass, and the police suddenly arrive at the scene, probably called and informed by the civilians nearby, and dismount from their vehicles before preparing their arms to arrest the Hobgoblin.
"Who… on earth… is that…?" George Stacy looked in distress from the horrid appearance of the Hobgoblin.
"I think I know who, officer!" Spider-man quipped, as he and Screwball descended down the building to meet with Captain Stacy, and officers Carter and DeWolffe.
Unexpectedly, Betty Brant comes into the scene, as she is concerned and worried for her boyfriend and colleague that are known to be nearby at the scene of the battle while interviewing.
"Everybody, stand back," Spider-man demanded, letting everyone give him and Screwball some space, only to notice the mask of the Hobgoblin split itself open, revealing his identity to not be Roderick Kingsley, but rather the young journalist Ned Leeds. 'Wait, what?! No...no! How is this possible?! No wonder he seemed weaker than before!'
"Ned?! I-Is that...you!?" Betty screamed in fear and horror, seeing Ned's face and waking him up in the process.
"Ughh, wha? What happened?" Ned groaned as he sat up and held his head in pain. "Mr. Kingsley—wait, where is–?"
"Young man, you are under arrest. Stand down, and make things easy for the both of us," George urged, making Sgt. Carter put handcuffs on him.
"What!? Why?! What did I do?!" Ned hysterically interrogated.
"Sir, this may be some misunderstanding. I recognize this guy. Something is up, I can feel it, but we need time to figure things out!" Spider-man pleaded.
"Sorry, son. This is evidence shown to our faces, we shall hold him under our custody for probation... for now," George replied, implying that he's only giving Spider-man a period of time to find out who he thinks might be the true culprit.
"Y-yes sir," Spider-man responded, sensing a gaze from up high in the higher floors of Oscorp, where Roderick Kingsley is spotted smirking while watching the entire thing happening before putting on the window shades. 'You're going to pay for this. I swear it!'
After that, Spider-man looks at the crying face of Betty Brant, as she watches her boyfriend get arrested and taken under the police's custody, despite the fact that Ned seems to be totally innocent. All he could do is just depressingly let things go…
—
In a rundown apartment that Morris Bench owns, desperately getting by through miniscule jobs as he is currently unemployed and job-hunting…
"Ugh, great, just my luck," Morris groaned from having lost the interview after someone else who was supposed to go after him was able to nail the job. "This...sucks...a lot…"
Once again, his cell phone rings with the same anonymous caller on the phone.
'Greetings, Mr. Bench. Are you willing to take up on our offer?' Miles called while using a voice-disguiser.
"Why should I? What good do you find in a guy like me?" Morris interrogated.
'Because I know you got something special that could help us help you. So...are you with me on this?' Miles slyly replied, with Norman watching behind him.
"...Where's your address…" Morris demanded, accepting the strange job offer.
—To be continued
