Peter's eyes locked with those of the man behind the mask. He was seeing him plain as day, yet he still couldn't believe it. His best friend, the young man who'd stuck by him ever since they were college freshmen, was now the newest figure to hide behind a Goblin mask.

"Harry... wha... what did..."

In his shock and stammering, he hadn't realized how little he'd loosened his position, allowing Harry to free his arms and dish out a hard punch across Peter's left cheek. He tumbled to the side only mildly but was slow to get up. He'd certainly felt the blow, but this new revelation seemed to have the greater impact, becoming almost like a weight that he could feel bearing down on him, keeping him on his hands and knees. This opened the door for Harry to renew his attack, Peter's best friend laying into him with blow after blow from his fists.

Yet, despite the renewed urgency of the situation, Peter did not even attempt to fight back, his eyes trained on his friend's face in between blows to it. His mind was still too in shock to even try and tell his body to resist, instead trying to compute what was happening. He observed as Harry's face was twisted into a bizarre grin that seemed to convey an anger about it as well. Gone was the happy, carefree young man who'd returned earlier this year seemingly stronger and more determined than ever. In his place was someone Peter couldn't recognize, a villain who almost seemed to take joy in every strike he landed against an opponent, which in this case was him.

Finally, Harry seemed to relent, getting up off Peter. This reprieve proved temporary however, as he grabbed Peter by the shoulder and flung him so that he nearly tumbled off the building, his head hanging off the edge. His best friend then walked up to him, unsheathing another blade, this time from the arm of his costume.

"Harry..." he muttered. No other words came.

The young man then lifted his blade, seemingly preparing to strike a final blow when suddenly something else seemed to steal his attention away. He glanced back and muttered something in what seemed to be a frustrated tone.

"Who's he talking to?" Peter wondered privately. "His dad? Did Norman really do this to him?"

Then, out of nowhere, Harry was suddenly struck by another figure who flew in for a kick, sending the younger Osborn tumbling across the way. Peter turned back, finding none other than Matt in full Daredevil attire. He glanced back to Harry, who seemed braced to charge them both, only to be suddenly grabbed from behind and tossed by another figure, this time revealing themself to be Thomas Fireheart, who was back in full Puma mode. Harry glared at them as he got up, locking eyes with Peter one more time before turning and leaping off the building. Next thing he knew, Peter's best friend was zooming off into the sky on his glider.

For a moment, he just sat there, his mind wondering before he happened to see a red-gloved hand reaching down towards him. He then took it, his horn-headed ally assisting him to his feet.

"Are you okay?" Matt asked.

"I... that's a bit of a loaded question right now," Peter managed to fumble out.

"I can imagine," Matt said before turning to their new ally. "Oh, and who are you, exactly?"

"It's a lot to explain," Fireheart replied; Peter had forgotten how much deeper his voice was when he was in this form.

"Well, thank you both," he said.

"What happened?" Fireheart questioned, drawing nearer to him as well so that the three formed a circle. "Because that looked an awful lot like Harry Osborn."

"Yeah," Peter muttered. He then moved around Matt, but Fireheart stepped in his way.

"If that's true, that's something that affects us all," the man replied. "What's really going on here?"

"You're out of your depth here, pal," Matt spoke up. "Ease off."

"Are you sure it's not you who's out of your depth?" Fireheart questioned. He started to move towards Matt, but Peter put a firm hand to his chest, stopping him.

"That's enough, both of you," he said. He then turned to Matt. "Just for the record, he knows who I really am too."

"I see," Matt replied; he was still zoned in on Fireheart out of suspicion but otherwise seemed to back down. Peter then addressed them both again.

"Look, whatever happened to him, he's... it's not his fault. The Green Goblin must have done something to him; I don't know exactly what, but he's clearly messed with his head. I need to handle this my way."

"And where did that get you just now?" Fireheart pointed out.

"I was caught off guard," Peter reasoned. "It won't happen again."

"You're right," Matt said, "because I'm going to be there to make sure it doesn't."

"No offense, but the Goblin is in a much higher class of villain than Wilson Fisk," Peter replied.

"Which is an even greater reason for us to work together to stop him," Fireheart countered. "Especially since there's more than one of him now."

Peter turned to the side; his head was still reeling from everything that had happened in just the last few minutes, even more so the past twenty-four hours. He just really didn't have the emotional energy to invest in this conversation right now.

Matt then came up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I know you're hurting for several reasons right now," he said, "but now is not the time to push your allies away, even if I'm still not sure how much I trust furball over here."

Peter glanced over to Fireheart who, other than a quick narrow-eyed stare in Matt's direction otherwise seemed to be in agreement. He let out a thin breath through his nose, warming the inside of his mask.

"Just let me have some time to myself to sort through all of this," he said. "I'll reach back out afterwards."

"I'm going to hold you to that," Matt replied.

"Trust me, I know," he said, turning to Fireheart as well. "Thank you both again."

Turning away, Peter then fired a web and swung off, quickly clearing several blocks from his allies. He eventually landed on the edge of a building, stumbling a bit on entry before collecting himself. Now alone, he took a moment to allow himself to really process what had just happened. The Green Goblin, who was also Norman's Osborn, had kidnapped his son, Peter's best friend, and transformed him into seemingly a carbon copy of his evil self, complete with a similar outfit and arsenal. In all this at least, Peter recognized that there was one good thing about the situation: he at least knew for sure now that Harry was alive, even if he wasn't even a shell of himself. It was certainly far from an ideal circumstance, but as long as that was the case, that meant that he had a chance to save him.

Admittedly, this was just as concerning as it was relieving, because this was a huge step for the Goblin. In the past, Harry seemed to have been completely off limits, perhaps even protected by Norman's evil persona out of some twisted sense of familial loyalty, or at least a desire to make Norman's life easier. Now, however, it seemed that the Goblin persona had truly taken over every single aspect of Norman's life... which meant that there was no way of knowing how great his window of opportunity was to save his best friend from his father's machinations.

"Harry, I'll save you," Peter vowed. "I'll save you... no matter what it takes."

The Goblin paused, the sound of a glider coming from a short distance away catching his ear. Sure enough, the sound was soon followed by the arrival of the winged transport, as well as its rider. His son landed it before promptly dismounting, quickly coming up to him.

"Why did you call me back?" he questioned. "I had him!"

"I called you back because you had done your job," the Goblin replied. "Now isn't his time."

"You trained me for this," his son asserted. "Who knows when we'll get another opportunity like this!?"

His blood suddenly hot with anger at this questioning, the Goblin turned and struck his son with a powerful backhand, sending him to the ground, the young man clutching at his cheek. He then went and stood over him, picking him up by the chest of his costume.

"Do not forget your place," he said. "You've gotten it in your head that he's yours for the taking, but Spider-Man will die ONLY WHEN I say and WHERE I say! Is that understood!?"

His son nodded, his demeanor greatly changed from when he'd first approached him. The Goblin then stood him up properly, brushing him off.

"Don't worry, my boy," he said. "Our time will come."

"When?" the boy questioned.

"Soon," he replied. "First, we must let everything that has transpired stir within him for a while. He will grow restless, then tired, then sloppy. Once he has reached this point, only then will we strike. Now go; I have other matters to attend to."

Mary Jane swallowed the last bite of her food, barely managing to avoid gagging it. She'd hated everything she'd been served so far, and she'd been tempted not to eat just out of spite. After considering the notion however, she realized it would be foolish to not at least keep up her strength somewhat once it became clear her captivity might last longer than she'd expected.

When she'd first woke up in this strange room, her wrists chained to the wall as they currently were, she'd nearly had a full-on panic attack. All the worst-case scenarios hit her, and it had taken her several minutes to regain her breath and compose herself. She'd reasoned at the time that Peter would likely catch on to that she was missing as well as whatever the plan of the one who'd kidnapped her was... which she still technically didn't know, but she had a pretty good guess. However, over the course of the last day or two, it had become clear that her boyfriend was likely up against more than she'd realized, which caused her to fear not only for her own life, but even more so for Peter's.

Still, she'd been determined to remain strong, if for no other reason so as not to give her captors the satisfaction of seeing her as this frail, weak woman that they could manipulate as they saw fit. The lover of a superhero didn't cower before his enemies any more than he would. She was Spider-Man's girlfriend, and she needed to act like a woman worthy of the title.

The sound of footsteps drawing closer from outside the room gave her the impression that her resolve was about to be tested. Sure enough, the door opened, and her captor stepped through... the Green Goblin. Almost immediately, the cruel, sinister yellow eyes of his mask locked with her own; it was a look that sent a shudder down Mary Jane's spine, but she remained stoic in her expression, using every bit of her acting training to maintain her composure.

The Goblin came up to her, squatting down to a knee so that his face was level with hers.

"Hello, my dear," he said, reaching up and touching her face with his right hand. M.J. jerked away almost instantly, as if the touch itself were literal poison to her body.

"Ooh, feisty thing!" the Goblin quipped, apparently quite pleased.

"Why am I here?" M.J. practically growled at him; she was somehow equally angry and terrified, and she was already having a harder time maintaining a grip on her emotions.

"You mean you haven't figured it out yet?" the Goblin questioned. "Or could it be that he didn't trust you as much as you thought he did?"

Wrestling her internal turmoil back to at least somewhat under control, M.J. narrowed her eyes towards her captor as she spoke up.

"He's going to stop you. He always does."

The Goblin simply smiled the most devilish smile Mary Jane had ever seen, letting out a light chuckle.

"He'll certainly try," he replied, standing back to his feet. "That's always been the trouble with that boyfriend of yours: he's one bug that refuses to be squashed. He's resilient, less like a spider and more like a cockroach that just invades your home, taking whatever it wants, never allowing you a moment's peace..."

M.J. observed the change in the Goblin's tone as well as the sudden clenching of his fists in anger. Peter hadn't talked a ton about his many encounters with Norman Osborn's evil other half, but even from the little he had shared, it was clear the two had a much deeper, harsher and more violent relationship compared to most of his other villains. Now, she was seeing the other end of it, and it scared her even more.

Nevertheless, the Goblin appeared to compose himself before turning back to her, continuing.

"But every bug is squashed eventually. One just needs the right tools for the job, and that, my dear, is where you will come in."

"Me?" Mary Jane questioned, confused as to his meaning.

"Oh yes," the Goblin said. "You are the bait that will lure him into my trap; you, as well as that frail old aunt of his..."

No...

"Let her go," she said. "You have me; isn't that enough?"

"To get him here, definitely," the Goblin remarked, once again squatting down by her. "But you see, I don't just want to settle for only one of you. No, I want him to see the frightened eyes of ALL his loved ones before the end. I won't settle for anything less than the final confrontation Spider-Man deserves!"

Suddenly, the Goblin picked her up by her chin, his gloved hand squeezing her cheekbones as he hoisted her clean off the ground, Mary Jane struggling pointlessly against his vice-like grip.

"You know, I came here because I wanted to see what he saw in you... well, besides the obvious, that is," the Goblin spoke up. "I must say, I'm quite pleased with what I see. You're a fighter, just like he is, but don't worry. When all this is over, you two will both be broken in every way..."

He then tossed her down to the ground, with M.J. landing especially hard on her left arm.

"... then you will join him in death."

The Goblin then hurried out, slamming the door behind him. M.J. tried to at least get up, though the pain in her arm was making that difficult. More than that though, she felt a new weight on her body she had to fight against now: the weight of hopelessness, of utter despair that there was no way anything could possibly get better. All the resolve she had when the Goblin first entered the room had seemingly vanished from her heart, leaving only fear and dread manifesting in the form of rapidly growing tears.

"Peter," she muttered. "Please... save us..."

Hope you're still enjoying it! Thoughts are always appreciated!

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

"Do not forsake a friend or a friend of your family..." Proverbs 27:10