The door opening before him, the Goblin entered the laboratory, coming straight up to a window. Peering inside it, he observed as what he hoped to be his greatest masterpiece was being forged. Right now, the subject was lying still, sedated and being monitored closely by his head scientist. Speaking of the man, upon making eye contact with the Goblin, he glanced over a couple more things before leaving the room, coming out to meet him.

"Well, doctor?" he questioned. "How proceeds our work?"

"He's still resisting, but he can't hold out much longer," the man replied. "The serum you gave me is doing its work, and in a few days, the fruits of your labor should finally be coming to fruition."

"Excellent," the Goblin replied. "Keep me updated." He then turned and headed out, intent on making his way to his armory when a surprising voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Please, don't do this."

The Goblin turned, glancing to his right at the window, which was met with not his reflection, but that of Norman Osborn.

"I'm making him better," he snarled. "Better than you ever could!"

"You already have me," Norman tried to barter, his eyes pleading. "Please, this is too far. Let him go!"

The Goblin simply shook his head in disgust.

"You see, this is why I needed to be in charge," he said. "You were never willing to do what was best even for yourself, much less for him! Soon, I will have accomplished more than you ever could have dreamed of, starting with..."

"Boss?"

"WHAT!?" the Goblin yelled, turning and getting right in his henchman's face. The man shrunk back, clearly caught off guard.

"Nothing," the man said. "I, you know, was just wondering who you were talking to..."

"NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, THAT'S WHO!?" the Goblin yelled as he grabbed his thug by the shirt, pulling him up to his face, "and you do not speak of this to anyone, got it!?"

"Y-yes sir!" the man scrambled out. "Promise!"

The Goblin, still breathing heavily in anger, relented his grip on his subordinate, the man moving quickly on to another destination. He then clenched his fist in frustration, making a resolution then and there that he would never again allow such a distraction to occur. He was in command; he was in charge now, and there was nothing that could stop him.

Soon, the whole city would realize that too.

Peter shot up, the sharp nature of his spider sense's alert causing him to regain his concentration and then some.

"Easy," his boss said, holding out his hands as a gesture of peace. Peter glanced around, realizing that he was still in the lab. His brain scrambled to put the pieces together as Mr. Fireheart spoke up again.

"Are you okay, Peter?"

"Y-yes sir," he replied, finally accepting the reality of his situation. "I'm sorry, I guess I must have dozed off. Anyway, was there something you needed? I didn't miss a meeting or something, did I?"

"No, you didn't miss anything," his boss replied. "I just wanted to check on you. Some of the others have been talking, saying you've hardly been in over the last couple of weeks, and when you are, you seem as though your mind is somewhere else."

"I'm here," Peter said, trying not to let his frustration show too much in his tone. Admittedly, it was difficult to do when one wasn't resting properly, evidenced by his apparent cat nap. "I'm just a little tired."

"Peter, I've seen the news," his boss said. "You don't think I know what's really going on here?"

Peter sighed.

"I guess I am a little distracted," he conceded.

"And clearly not resting well either," Fireheart added. "Look, Peter, I'm going to ask you something, and I want you to be completely honestly with me in your answer."

"Okay..." Peter hesitantly replied, unsure of exactly where this was going.

"Do you need to take a leave of absence while you deal with this?" his boss questioned. "It's clearly taking a lot of your time and energy, and I don't want your work to suffer because of it."

Peter glanced to the side, taking a moment to ponder the man's question. His boss was handing him a convenient excuse to focus full time on catching the Goblin and finding Harry, two things he'd had trouble balancing with what little time he'd made for his work at the lab. At the same time, his enemy seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth once again, with no clues left in his wake. Plus, he knew that if nothing else, the Goblin would find him again; he'd hoped to find him before the encounter his nemesis had promised, but he knew at least that he would see him again and get his chance.

"Thank you, sir," Peter said, finally making up his mind, "but I'm alright."

"Are you sure?" the man questioned.

"Yes sir," he assured him. "Frankly, a little something to keep my routine feeling relatively normal is probably what I need right now."

"Alright," Fireheart replied. "Just don't let your work suffer as a result."

"Yes sir," Peter said. His boss then took his leave, walking down the hall and out of view. Peter then gripped the edges of the table with his hands, letting out a breath. How could he have allowed himself to fall asleep on the job like that? Even though he was fortunate enough to have his boss know the truth of what he did off the clock, there was still the manner of his working reputation among his colleagues to consider. They weren't privy to his evening activities and he wanted to maintain a professional appearance around them, regardless of how much he cared about what they had to say sometimes.

"Come on, Pete, you're alright," he muttered to himself. "The Goblin will turn up, he always does. Right now, you're here to work; you know, to change the world, just like you always dreamed you would."

"And cut!" the director yelled. "Alright, I'd say that's enough for now; be back here at 5:00 sharp!"

Mary Jane then turned and made her exit down the stairs on the right side of the stage. As she did, one of her co-stars hurried up and came alongside her.

"Oh, hey Mallory," she greeted the woman.

"Hey!" her castmate greeted her cheerfully. "I was going to say that a few of us are going out after the show tonight to celebrate its success so far. We figured it only made sense to make sure the star was asked to come along!"

"That's very nice of you," M.J. affirmed, "and any other time, I would love to, but I'm afraid I can't tonight."

"Really?" the woman questioned as they continued along. "That's the third time you've refused one of our invitations; you know Mary Jane, some people are starting to talk."

Oh boy.

"Really?" she questioned, stopping and turning to face the woman as she did.

"Mhm," the woman replied. "They say that you think your success has gotten to your head and you think you're better than the rest of us."

"That's ridiculous!" she insisted.

"Then why do you seem to want to refuse to be seen in public with your castmates?" the girl questioned.

"I... I just have a lot going on right now, alright?" she said. "It's just not something that I want to get into at this moment. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get changed."

Mary Jane then hurriedly opened her dressing room door and closed it just as fast, turning and leaning against it. She shut her eyes, sucking in and letting out a frustrated breath. In truth, she hated repeatedly blowing off her castmates like this, not because of the annoying rumor mill that seemed to now be underway, but because she really did want to celebrate with them. The show had more than exceeded expectations, so the occasion was certainly merited. Unfortunately, when one was basically hiding out in a hotel room when not in dress rehearsal or doing the show, one tended to end up alienating people.

Frankly, Mary Jane didn't know how much longer she could go on like this, hiding out and waiting for this thing to be over. It was still the better option than leaving town and jeopardizing her professional reputation, but it was getting hard. She hadn't even told her Aunt Anna what was going on, having even refused a couple visiting offers to keep her in the dark. Still, she heard and was believing more Peter's concerns about whatever Norman Osborn's alter ego was cooking up in the city's underworld, not least of which because it involved one of both her and Peter's closest friend. It had been multiple weeks now and there still had been no sign of Harry.

As if all that wasn't bad enough, her savings account was now being dipped into to keep up with hotel room payments.

Shaking her head, M.J. walked over to her dressing area, shaking off her concerns for right now. Her boyfriend's flowers he'd sent by a couple of days ago helped with that. After all, Peter Parker always got his guy in the end, and she was confident the results would be the same here. Yes, it wouldn't be long before things all got back to norm...

M.J. then turned back to the desk, observing an envelope that was lying there with her name written on it. Reaching for it, she opened it hurriedly, expecting it to be from Peter, who must have dropped it off. Unfolding it, her mind immediately began reading:

"Dear Ms. Watson,

Please deliver the following message to your boyfriend: come to the old Oscorp chemical plant on the Upper West Side at 3 P.M. sharp. If you don't, well... let's just say this will be the last performance you or your beloved castmates will ever do. Don't worry, Peter should still make it to your show... if he survives...

With Deepest Affections,

GG."

Mary Jane seemed frozen, her mind seemingly not functioning like the rest of her. The Green Goblin, her boyfriend's arch enemy and the most wanted man in the city, had somehow gotten into HER workplace and delivered this letter to her without anyone being the wiser. Granted, he likely sent an emissary in his place, but the thought was no less horrifying. She then turned her head sharply in all directions, scanning the room. Was he or whoever delivered it still here? Was she being watched right now? If she was, how long had they been at it...

M.J. took a moment, trying to settle her suddenly increased heart rate and compose herself.

"Alright," she thought to herself. "Think through your options. This guy wants Peter, the man you love, to come into a death trap. As much as you want him to be safe, Norman would probably just meet him where he's at, and it could be the same result. Plus, there are other people's lives at stake too..."

Glancing over to her phone on the table, Mary Jane slowly picked it up, pulling up Peter's contact. Her thumb hovered over the dial button, but she hesitated in pressing it, her mind scrambling to come up with any possible alternative that didn't involve sending the love of her life into a guaranteed trap. The more she thought about it though, the more she realized there was no other way, and it was better that Peter knew what was going on, so she finally hit the dial button. It rang twice before Peter finally answered.

"Hey; so, there's something you should know..."

As Peter continued his long swing, it was proving difficult to keep his blood pressure down. Try as though he might, he could practically feel his blood growing hotter within his body. It was hardly a surprise, but the Goblin still had some guts to leave a threatening letter to the woman HE LOVED and use her life as a bargaining chip to get her to do his bidding, even in such a small task. The thought of Norman's insane alter ego or someone working for him entering a place that was supposed to be safe for her like that filled him with fear, which drove him even further into anger.

At the same time, he knew that entering a fight with the Green Goblin in a rage would be foolish. He needed to maintain his composure if he expected to spring whatever trap his arch nemesis had laid for him. If he went in half-cocked and ready to tear his head off, not even his spider sense would likely rescue him from this approach in time. Plus, he needed to keep in mind that Mary Jane wasn't the only one threatened either. He'd urged her once more to leave town, but she'd maintained that if she did anything now, it might put her co-stars at risk again if they were being watched, a point he'd begrudgingly accepted.

Bottom line, this needed to end today, whatever it took.

Finally, the old industrial plant came into view. There was no reason to guess why Norman had chosen this site, as it was where the Green Goblin had been born, the result of an accident where the elder Osborn had overworked himself trying to develop some chemical performance enhancer formula. The place had been abandoned in the years since, an eyesore for anyone passing by. The unstable nature of the building only increased the danger of the scenario Peter was about to enter; he knew that he would need to trust and adhere to his spider sense's warnings more than ever before if he was going to make it out of this one.

Landing on the outside of the building, Peter crawled to a large crack that could fit him, pausing to take in and let out a breath.

"Alright, Pete, keep your cool," he said. "Norman wants you here; he thinks he has the advantage. Time to prove him wrong."

Shooting a web from each hand, he pulled himself through, landing on a partial column that allowed him to overlook the room. It was completely dark, though Peter could still see what appeared to be some old lab spaces still mostly enclosed below him on both his right and his left. With no signs of anyone though, he dared to explore further, yanking himself to the far wall and crawling through the next hole. This time, he entered a somewhat smaller room, this one much more torn apart than the last one, with fallen chunks of wall scattered across the floor.

"Come on, Norman," he whispered to himself. "Where are y..."

That was when his spider sense went crazy, and the room suddenly lit ablaze.

Hope you're still enjoying it!

Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!

"But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in our transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved." Ephesians 2:4-5