Bursting through the door, Peter's head was on a swivel as he scoured the area.
"Peter, help me!"
His girlfriend's call coming from overhead, he fired a web, pulling himself up to the next rooftop. From there, he could see Mary Jane, who was being carried by the Goblin on his glider. His nemesis smiled a broad, twisted smile, as if it was that of evil itself.
"Better hurry, Spider-Man!" he taunted. "You don't want to be too late again, do you?"
The Goblin then turned and then flew upwards, cackling away like the maniac he was. Peter leapt into the air, firing a web in the hopes of snagging it onto the back of the glider. His efforts proved too little however, and next thing he knew, he was plummeting towards the ground. He tried again firing a web line, but now nothing was coming out. He was so careful; how could he have run out!?
Hitting the ground with a hard thud, Peter took a moment to regain himself, shaking his head. He managed to get his elbows under him and glance up... and what he did shocked him to his core. In front of him now was none other than Robbie Robertson. The area around them had grown dark and misty, but Peter was sure he was seeing his old friend clear as day despite the impossible nature of the circumstance.
"Robbie?" he asked, daring to take gradual steps in the direction of his friend.
"I believed in you," Robbie said. "I always stood up for you against Jonah, told him the city was a better place with you in it. Yet, the one time I really needed you, the one time we all did, you let us down."
"I... I know," Peter stammered out. Robbie's tone had had its usual softness to it, yet it just hit him harder than anything Jonah had ever shouted at him.
"Ned and I were expecting a child..."
Peter turned sharply to the right, finding none other than Betty and Ned, the former suddenly looking significantly more pregnant than she ever had. Her hands were over her stomach and Peter swore he could hear the child's heartbeat.
"... we were your friends, all of us," Betty continued. "Why didn't you save us?"
"I'm sorry," Peter replied, all his grief seemingly coming out in those two words. "I should have been better..."
"Oh, it's too late for that, Peter," Robbie said, "and now, you're about to lose your aunt and the woman you love too. Why does this keep happening to you, Peter? You're a hero; you're not supposed to let the bad guys win, yet that's all that seems to keep happening these days!"
The drastic and vitriolic change in Robbie's tone caused Peter to stagger back, his knees suddenly threatening to buckle. He glanced back and forth between Robbie and the Leeds family, trying to find something, anything to say to them to convey how sorry he was. He wouldn't get the chance though as he suddenly was being lifted high into the air. Why hadn't his spider sense gone off?
He glanced towards his captor, finding Harry, who was sneering in his face.
"Harry! I'll save you!" he vowed. "I'm going to save you!"
"No, you won't," his friend growled. "Did you not just see all those other people you failed even before me!? Face it, Pete, your uncle would be ashamed of you!"
Finally snapping, Peter struggled violently, eventually managing to kick himself out of the grip of his old friend. However, before he could fire a web, his body met the ground again, as if it had just rushed up to meet him. He forced himself to his feet much quicker this time, only to find the Goblin staring at him. He saw M.J. and May tied up behind him, their eyes pleading desperately with him to save them. He tried to get up, but he soon found himself being restrained by Harry.
"Oh, Spider-Man," the Green Goblin spoke up; Peter now realized he was holding a detonator device in his right hand. "It's been quite a ride, but what do you say your friends and you all go out together..."
"No!" Peter shouted; he struggled mightily against Harry's restraining grip, but it was useless. "Norman, stop! You're insane!"
"Maybe so," the Goblin replied with another one of his demented smiles, "but you never did get me the help I needed, so guess what, Pete: this is on you!"
Peter's spider sense rang out as the Goblin placed his thumb on the button.
"NOO!"
His eyes suddenly shooting open, Peter turned and lunged out the window, webbing his mask to him just as a pumpkin bomb flew over him and into his apartment. Immediately, an explosion set his home ablaze, smoke and flame lifting skyward as he landed on a nearby building. Hearing the familiar noise of the glider, he turned to see Norman Osborn zooming onto the scene. Peter quickly slipped on his mask, preparing himself for battle. The Goblin stopped in front of him, hovering on his glider.
"Tonight is the night, Spider-Man!" he said, another pumpkin bomb ejecting from his glider straight into his hand. "Hope you're ready!"
Peter leapt to the side as his nemesis hurled the explosive in his hand in his direction, narrowly avoiding the blast. He fired a web, swinging off as the Goblin hurried off in pursuit. Though his spider sense had successfully saved his life by waking him in time to react, his body still felt as though it were on autopilot. Shaking his head, Peter tried to get his head in the game; he needed to, as the Goblin seemed to be playing more for keeps than ever this time.
Avoiding another explosion, Peter fired a web, arcing hard to the right. The first thing he needed to do was to take this fight to a less populated area... not an easy thing to do in a city with over eight million residents. Still, he thought he remembered there was a construction site just a few blocks away, and it was late enough that the crew should be done for the day. All he needed to do was keep himself alive until he got there, and they'd make it.
The hard ringing of his spider sense yet again and the ensuing twisting side flip he had to perform to avoid two razor bats reminded hm that this was no easy feat. Nevertheless, he managed to stay just enough ahead of the Goblin and his weapons long enough for the site to finally come within view. Sure enough, it was abandoned, just as he'd believed it would be.
"Alright, Gobby," Peter muttered softly to himself. "You want to play... let's play."
Yanking himself forward via web line, Peter landed on top of the building in development, turning to face his enemy.
"Boy, your aim sure seems off tonight, Gobby!" Peter taunted, hoping to throw his nemesis off his game. "I mean, you couldn't even finish the job when I was asleep!"
"That was simply to get you into the game, wall crawler!" the Goblin responded. "But if you think that you've created an advantage by drawing me out here..."
The Goblin then reached over and pressed a button hidden within the left sleeve of his costume. Peter's spider sense then went off again, and he leapt into the air as an explosion occurred, causing the partially constructed building to collapse into a heap of rubble as Peter swung off.
"Great," Peter thought. "He must have anticipated that I'd try and lead him here, which means he's really on it tonight, which means I need to be too!"
Opting for a new strategy, he rounded a corner sharply so as to get out of view of his opponent. Landing hard against the corner of the wall, he turned and got into position and, sure enough, the Goblin turned the same corner seconds later. Timing it just right, Peter lunged for his opponent, tackling him off his glider and onto a rooftop below, the two of them tumbling onto opposite sides of it.
"Alright," Peter said as he hurried to his feet. "Now that I've got you off that annoying flying broomstick of yours..."
Leaping into the air, he again lunged for the Goblin, who managed to roll out of the way this time. Quickly standing to his feet as well, Peter's opponent flung two razor bats, but he again managed to twist out of the way even while maintaining his momentum before landing a devastating flying kick against his opponent's midsection, sending him through the air before he tumbled hard onto the roof, sliding almost to the edge. Peter then fired several webs, pinning his opponent where he lay before leaping on top of him, jamming his knee into his opponent's midsection.
"No more games, Goblin!" he yelled. "Where are Mary Jane and May! Tell me!"
All his enemy did was laugh.
"THIS ISN'T A JOKE, OSBORN!"
"What!?" the Goblin questioned in mock confusion. "I thought everything was a joke to you, Spider-Man?"
Peter pressed harder against his opponent's midsection while also grabbing his throat, causing him to groan even through his smile.
"Oh, come on, haven't we been in position before?" the Goblin questioned. "You really think I can't get out of this a second time?"
"I asked you a question, Goblin," Peter said, his tone more composed but no less stern as he leaned in closer to his enemy. "For every second you hesitate, I will squeeze harder. Where are they?"
"Ooo, could Spider-Man finally be playing for keeps?" the Goblin taunted, practically gasping his words now. "Have you finally realized that this is the only way that it ends between us?"
Peter squeezed harder still.
"I said... where... are they?"
"Don't worry," the Goblin replied, "you'll be with them soon enough..."
The Goblin then managed to force out a whistle, which apparently caused Peter's spider sense to ring out. He quickly found out why, as the glider came roaring towards him. He leapt back out of the way just in time, landing on his feet. However, his enemy was using his newfound relative freedom to begin frying his restraints with the lasers in his gloves.
"No!" he called out, trying to fire more webs. Unfortunately, both came up empty.
"No, no, no no no!"
He'd completely forgotten that he'd made a fresh batch before falling asleep earlier and had intended to refill both his main cartridges and his backup supply as well, but now they were destroyed with the rest of his apartment. How could he have let himself get so low in the first place though? He'd been so good with avoiding this issue for the last several years now. Things were beginning to play out just like his dream...
Peter didn't have time to contemplate the matter any further, as soon the Goblin was free and back up on his glider, careening towards him. He tried to leap out of the way, but several ensuing explosions messed with his momentum, causing him to tumble onto another rooftop. His enemy then tossed another such device, only this time instead of an explosion, it unleashed a large portion of the Goblin's knock out gas, which began taking its effect almost instantly.
"No..." Peter muttered, he tried to force himself up, barely managing to do so. Using what strength that he still had, he tried leaping to the next rooftop but found himself falling woefully short and was soon falling straight towards the alley below. However, he was suddenly wrapped in some kind of metal cord and began quickly rising into the sky. For a moment, he struggled mildly against his restraints, but soon found he had nothing left.
The sight of buildings rapidly passing him was the last thing Peter's eyes captured before darkness finally overcame him.
Slowly, Peter's eyes opened, the room around him coming into focus. There didn't appear to be much to see; aside from a tiny light that lit a small area around him, the rest of the room was as dark as a night sky. As a result, he couldn't pick up on any clues as to his location, or even if he was alone in the place.
"Ah, looks who's finally awake!"
The voice of the Goblin helped jolt his senses alive somewhat, though his they were still not quite all there. He did finally try to actually move something other than his head though but found out quickly that he was powerless to do so. He glanced down, observing the large metal restraints around his arms and legs.
"Oh, and that's adamantium, by the way," the Goblin said as he walked up to him. "Courtesy of one of what you might call Norman Osborn's 'sketchy' deals with the military. They sure come in handy right now, don't you think?"
Peter then observed as Harry came out to join him, dressed in his own full goblin attire.
"Harry... listen to me..."
Suddenly, Peter had several hard blows delivered to his midsection before a powerful right cross to the left side of his face. When he recovered in turned back, the Goblin was right upon him, with a look that was a mix of glee and a scowl.
"The friend you thought you once had is gone," he said. "The layers have been peeled away to reveal his true self now, and we are going to be a true family now."
"You can't even comprehend what a true family is, Goblin," Peter retorted. "You can't bring yourself to care enough about anyone else to actually have one. Harry is more my family than he'll ever be yours."
The Goblin then burst out a powerful laugh.
"Oh, that was a good one, Spider-Man!" he said. "But you know, speaking of family, why don't we bring out some of your loved ones to join us, shall we?"
The Goblin then performed a waving motion to the other side of the room, and a bright light suddenly lit up the entire area, causing Peter to avert his eyes at first. Once they adjusted, he looked and saw that Mary Jane, his Aunt May and his girlfriend's aunt were being brought into a room, being forced to stand on a wall about twenty feet away from him. The older women didn't look well, especially his aunt; she looked as though she'd been being starved to death.
"Let them go, Goblin," he demanded.
"But Spider-Man, this is only the biggest moment of your entire life!" his enemy insisted. "Don't you want those closest to you to be present for it? Oh, speaking of which, I believe we have a couple more guests that still need to join us!"
He then turned and gestures towards one of his men by another door on the far side of the room. The individual opened the door, bringing in two more people: Jonah Jameson and Randy Robertson, Robbie's college-age son.
"You still know how to work a camera, right Jonah?" the Goblin questioned as the head of the Bugle was brought towards the center of the room. Sure enough, a large news camera was brought in front of him. The whole thing was filling Peter's heart with a mix of frustration and dread.
"What's this all about?" he questioned.
"I want this city to see my moment of triumph," the Goblin replied. "I'm going to bring you down in front of them all, show this city how helpless its hero really is, let them know who their leader is now..."
He then came right up to Peter's face.
"Then I will kill you in front of them all... so smile, Spider-Man. You're about to be on TV!"
If you thought this chapter was nuts, wait until next week...
Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!
"The righteous person is rescued from trouble, and it falls on the wicked instead." Proverbs 11:8