At a police station, someone is approaching the front desk sergeant, who had opened up a box of donuts.
"Excuse me, I'm here to see my client, Mr. Ned Lee."
"Ah, the Hobgoblin," the sergeant says, as he closes the box, holding a sprinkle donut, before looking ahead, surprised and drops the donut.
"We'll see."
In an interrogation room, Betty and Ned are sitting at a table.
"Try not to worry, Ned," Betty tells him. "Jameston hired a lawyer for you."
"Try not to worry?" Ned looks at Betty, before grins slightly. "Knowing Jameson, it's someone fresh out of law school."
The door opens, as someone enters the room, surprising Ned and Betty, "I assure you, I'm not."
"You… I'm sorry, but you are my lawyer?" Ned asks.
"It's fine, get it all the time," the man stops walking, with a red cane, before adjusting his dark glasses, then offers a handshake. "My name is Matt Murdock."
"Judgment"
At Midtown Manhattan Magnet High, Harry slams his locker closed, while holding up a newspaper, "Ned Lee's hearing is coming up at the end of the week." He looks over his shoulder at Peter. "That's more than my dad got."
"Harry…" Peter starts.
"I don't want to talk about it," Harry says, walking away.
"I hadn't realized this whole Hobgoblin business could bring up bad memories for Harry," Peter watches Harry walking away. "Wish there's something I could do to help…"
Peter then turns to see Mary Jane and Liz are passing a corner.
"I went to see my brother again," Liz tells Mary Jane. "Mark seems to be doing very well."
"That's great, Liz," Mary Jane responds.
"I just… I'm ashamed that I was about to give up on him," Liz looks down slightly.
"That is nothing to be ashamed about," Mary Jane stands in front of Liz. "Considering everything that had happened."
Peter watches them, before looking to the side.
Peter is walking out the school's front entrance, "I gave up on him, Ned… I didn't even give up on Eddie at first, or Harry when I thought he was the Green Goblin."
Peter stops walking and looks up at the sky, "The Green Goblin… A Goblin had framed someone for their crimes before, could it have happened again…"
Peter tightens his grip on his backpack strap, "I do know one thing…" Peter starts walking. "I'm not gonna go another six months playing 'Guessing the Goblin'."
In the interrogation room, Matt is sitting across from Ned and Betty. Matt's cane is folded and laid on the table, next to an opened folder filled with papers written in braille.
"Do you really believe I was framed?" Ned asks.
"I don't believe you're lying about not remembering how you got into that costume," Matt says, running his fingers over some braille. "So either you had a psychological break, or you were framed."
Ned sighs, "Just promise you won't say 'if the mask doesn't fit, then you must acquit'."
"How could you joke at a time like this?" Betty asks.
"It's actually good you are able to keep your sense of humor," Matt says. "Being stressed won't help you."
"If you say so," Ned says.
"Now, Mr. Lee, if you could start at the beginning," Matt says.
"Okay…" Ned takes in a breath. "I had an anonymous tip that the Hobgoblin was sighted at an abandoned church on the 5th…"
Spider-Man swings through a broken window in the church, landing on a wall and looks down at the mess.
Spider-Man looks around, "I came back, hoping there could be something here, but it looks just the same as it did after I fought 'Ned-Goblin'... which was an odd fight, what with Hobgoblin calling his attacks like an anime."
Spider-Man then notices some dust falling down.
Spider-Man looks up, "There's dust all over the place, although some disturbed due to the fight." He fires a webline and pulls himself to the wall next to the broken window, then looks at a crossbeam, coated in dust except for two spots. "These two spots are nearly clean, like the dust was clear off until recently… and they're roughly the size of hands."
Spider-Man then notices above the crossbeam is a loose skylight, then looks at the broken window, below the crossbeam and skylight, then back at the ground, "Could it be…?"
Spider-Man images Hobgoblin crashing through the window on his goblin glider, grabs the crossbeam, allowing the goblin glider to crash onto the ground, as Hobgoblin swings from the crossbeam and through an opened skylight.
"No way," Spider-Man's eyes widened. "There could be a second Hobgoblin."
Matt gets up from the table in the interrogation room, unfolding his cane.
"What are we gonna do?" Betty asks.
"We have to be honest with ourselves," Ned starts. "My story is flaky at best. I don't blame anyone for not believing me."
"I believe you," Matt says, picking up his closed folder.
"You do?" Ned asks.
Matt smiles, holding the folder underarm, "Don't worry, I'll figure everything out."
Matt turns to leave, as Ned and Betty look at each other.
In the police evidence room, Matt is closing a drawer, "Mmh." He turns his head slightly to a window, before turning and using his cane to make his way to the exit and leave the room.
Immediately afterward, the window opens, with Spider-Man climbing in, closing the window behind him, "Better hurry before someone else comes."
Spider-Man picks up a clipboard, reading through several pieces of papers, while walking next to several cabinets, "Let see, evidence for the Hobgoblin case is…" He looks at the drawer that Matt was at, and tabs a finger at it. "Here."
Spider-Man lays the clipboard on top of the cabinet, opens the drawer, and shifts through a couple bags, before taking out one containing the Hobgoblin costume. He opens the bag and quickly checks the costume.
"My tracker isn't here," Spider-Man thinks to himself. "And I couldn't find it at the church. Since I can't get a signal, it must either be destroyed or be out of range." He holds up the mask, before noticing a small device inside of the mask. "An earpiece? But what could it mean?"
Spider-Man sniffs the mask, "What that smell. It's familiar… a perfume?" His eyes widened. "It's belladonna!"
Spider-Man is web swinging through the city, "Good thing Robbie was able to find me the hotel that Narda Ravanna is staying at, I just hope this isn't a wild Goblin hunt."
Spider-Man lands on a balcony at a hotel, before looking in through a window, seeing Narda approaching the door and opens it, letting in Matt.
Spider-Man hides behind a wall, still looking through the window, "Who that?"
"I'm Matt Murdock, lawyer for Ned Lee," Mat introduces himself to Narda.
"The man arrested as the Hobgoblin?" Narda asks.
"That would be the case," Matt says. "But I can't help but find traces of belladonna on the Hobgoblin gear. Perhaps you could explain that."
"Not bad," Spider-Man thinks to himself.
"How could I know anything about an American supervillain?" Narda asks, annoyed.
In the interrogation room, Betty places a hand on Ned's hand.
"I have to leave soon, but everything's gonna be okay, Ned," Betty.
"Betty, I…" Ned starts.
Suddenly, an explosion rips through the side wall, knocking over Betty, Ned, and the table, filling the room with smoke.
With her ears temporarily ringing, Betty starts to push herself up, coughing, "Ned… Ned…"
Betty looks around as she gets up, then turns to see a figure in the smoke, before disappearing, with the smoke dissipating, leaving behind a large hole in the wall, followed by a maniacal laugh.
Betty reaches the hole, as Carter and DeWolff rush into the room.
"What happened here?!" Carter calls out.
"The Hobgoblin had escaped!" DeWolff realizes.
Betty looks out the hole, "Ned…"
Matt walks past Narda slightly, "Can't say why, but when you said you have nothing to do with American superheroes, I believe you…" He turns to her. "Have nothing to do with Hobgoblin."
Narda is taken aback slightly, before collecting herself.
"But I still wonder why there would be traces of belladonna on the Hobgoblin gear," Matt says.
"I don't know," Narda starts. "It's true, belladonna is the main ingredient in my cosmetics…"
Narda looks down slightly, with Matt standing in front of her.
"Is belladonna dangerous?" Matt asks.
Narda looks back ahead, "If one is not careful, but in small doses, and not diluted like I do in my cosmetics, it could act as a sedative."
"The papers mentioned you had accused Roderick Kingsley of stealing your chemical formulas," Matt says, with Narda raising an eyebrow. "My newspapers have braille."
"Robbie did mention that, and I saw her confront Kingsley about it," Spider-Man thinks to himself. "Kingsley also brought the Rhino specs drive, so he's involved in illegal activity."
"I also did some of my own research on Mr. Kingsley, and discovered an interesting tidbit," Matt says.
"Which is?" Narda crosses her arms.
Matt's smartphone then rings, before he pulls it out of his pocket, "Excuse me." He answers the phone. "Hello? Ms. Brent?"
"Mr. Murdock, the police station was attacked and Ned disappeared," Betty says over the phone. "The police think he's escaped as the Hobgoblin."
"So Mr. Lee is gone…" Matt says.
Spider-Man looks down, "Was I wrong about Ned all along…?"
Matt "glances" at the balcony, before turning back, "Ms. Brent, don't lose faith in Ned. I still believed in his innocence."
Spider-Man looks back at the window.
"Now, Ms. Brent, do you know what direction whoever attacked the station went?" Matt asks.
"Everything happened so fast, but something went flying to the west," Betty says.
"West of the police station?" Matt says, clearly, to Narda's confusion.
"The police have already left, trying to give chase," Betty says.
"Don't worry, Ms. Brent," Matt turns to the empty balcony. "I believe help is already on the way."
Spider-Man is web swinging through the city, holding his Osberry in one hand.
"Okay, head west of the police station," Spider-Man says, mid-swinging. "Wish I had more to go on. The odds that I can find…" His Osberry then beeps, with him glances at it while still web swinging. "Very good. I got a lock on my tracker's signal. So it's not broken and it's in range."
Spider-Man swings toward a building with two smokestacks, "Well, well, a Kingsley chemical facility."
Spider-Man starts to exit a ventilation shaft, using a webline to catch and lower the shaft's cover, finding a large room, with a giant vat, a barrel hanging from a track attached to the ceiling, and Roderick, tied to a chair, next to a long table.
Spider-Man fires a webline, swings down, and lands in front of Roderick, surprising him.
"Roderick Kingsley? What's going on here?" Spider-Man.
"T-The Hobgoblin forced me to let him use my facilities," Roderick says. "I-I-I had no choice."
"That would explain the belladonna traces, but something still seems off," Spider-Man watches Roderick. "And what did the lawyer learn about Kingsley?"
"What are you doing?" Roderick asks. "Are you supposed to be a hero? Untie me."
"Hold on, where's Ned Lee?" Spider-Man asks.
"Who?" Roderick asks, before realizing something. "Oh, right, he's the Hobgoblin."
"I don't know about this… how many times has Norman tricked me?" Spider-Man thinks to himself, before he holds up his Osberry, which shows a red blip at the bottom of the screen. "My tracker?"
Spider-Man turns, before his spider sense goes off and he jumps back, dodging a razor bat which flies past Roderick, who looks terrified, before looking over his shoulder to see the razor bat sticking out of the table behind him.
Spider-Man, sticking against a column, looks to see Hobgoblin slowly lowering himself on his goblin glider.
"So you have a tracker on me?" Hobgoblin is holding up a razor bat. "I guess I wasn't paranoid that you were following me last week."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure to stick to you," Spider-Man fires a webline and pulls himself toward Hobgoblin, who throws a razor bat, cutting the line.
Spider-Man flips in midair and fires another webline, connecting to Hobgoblin's goblin glider.
"I prefer a long distance relationship," Hobgoblin turns his goblin glider and throws a pumpkin bomb, with Spider-Man lets go of the webline to dodge. "Then again, if I knew you would just come to me, I would've entered the supervillain game when I was doing my story on your identity." Hobgoblin throws two more pumpkin bombs.
"That could prove he's Ned," Spider-Man fires a webline to one of the pumpkin bombs, then tosses it into the air, where it explodes. "Except Ned's story was never a secret." Spider-Man fires another webline to the other pumpkin bomb. "Especially with everyone he questioned."
Spider-Man swings the webline, tossing the pumpkin bomb toward the giant vat.
Then his spider sense goes off, "What?!"
Spider-man fires a webline to the ceiling, pulling himself toward the pumpkin bomb, which he kicks to far pass the vat, where it explodes harmless.
Spider-Man lands on the edge of the vat and looks down to see Ned, tied and gagged, "Ned Lee?!"
As Spider-Man jumps into the vat, Hobgoblin flies to the opposite end of the room, smashing through windows into a control room, before, still on his goblin glider, turns to the controls.
"Distracting a hero with a 'damsel' in distress," Hobgoblin pulls a lever. "Classic."
Spider-Man unties Ned, who had his gag removed, before noticing the barrel moving across the track.
Spider-Man grabs Ned, fires a webline and pulls them out of the vat, just before the barrel turns and starts to pour chemicals into the vat.
Spider-Man swings around Ned, before landing near the tied up Roderick, "There's just one more problem…"
"What about me?" Roderick asks. "Are you gonna free me too?"
Spider-Man watches Roderick, "That lawyer said he discovered something about Roderick…"
Roderick turns around to face her, with him looking concerned, "W-What are you talking about?"
Narda pulls a small perfume bottle out of her pocket.
"What are you doing…?" Roderick asks, softly, and sweating.
The first Roderick looks at the other Roderick then backs up at Hobgoblin, "What's going…"
"What've we got here?!" Hobgoblin interrupts, as he lowers slightly on his goblin glider. "Gotta admit, I was not expecting to see doubles."
"At that party, Roderick was acting differently," Spider-Man's thinking. "Maybe… it seemed out there, but it is also the only possible possibility."
"I got you," Ned starts to approach Roderick.
"Hold it," Spider-Man holds out an arm to stop Ned.
"What?" Roderick asks.
"If I'm right, I'll need you here, and if I'm wrong, I can always apologize later," Spider-Man says.
"Oh, there won't be a later, Spider-pest," Hobgoblin flies out of the control room. "You might escape my chemical bath, but your luck will run out."
Spider-Man fires a webline, pulling himself up, while holding his left hand behind his back, "I don't believe much in luck, Hobgobby."
"But are you a believer in high explosive?!" Hobgoblin throws a pumpkin bomb.
"Better question is," Spider-Man, in midair, fires a webline to catch the pumpkin bomb, spins in midair, then throws with his left hand. "Are you?!"
Hobgoblin watches as it is tossed to the vat of chemicals, before flying toward it, "What?! Are you trying to destroy us all?!" Hobgoblin catches it, only to find its ball made of webbings, which sticks to his hand. "What's this?"
Hobgoblin hears an explosion, turns to see the control room blowing apart, as Spider-Man launches himself at him.
Spider-Man tackles Hobgoblin off the goblin glider, lands on the ground and grabs Hobgoblin's mask.
"Get off!" Hobgoblin yells, as he fires a finger laser, forcing Spider-Man to jump off, with Hobgoblin's mask in his hand.
Ned looks over to see that the person in the Hobgoblin costume is Roderick Kinglsey, "What?" He turns to see the tied up Roderick. "What's going on here?"
"We either have a case of 'good twin, evil twin', or 'evil twin, eviler twin'," Spider-Man suggests, holding up the Hobgoblin mask.
"More like 'ambitious twin, failure twin'," Roderick/Hobgoblin sits up. "I am the real Roderick Kingsley, while my poor double is my brother, Daniel Kingsley."
"Can I be untied now?" Daniel asks.
"Hush, the grown ups are talking," Roderick says.
"You did the ol' twin switch, huh?" Spider-Man asks.
"I often send in my brother for some of the more 'potentially dangerous' situations," Roderick admits.
"Like retrieving the Rhino specs," Spider-Man realizes. "But how were you able to frame Ned Lee, and make him attack me as the Hobgoblin?"
Roderick smiles, "That required some doing…"
Ned is entering the abandoned church, "Due to some contacts, I was aware of a Daily Bugle reporter assigned to the 'Hobgoblin story', so I lured him to the old church."
Standing in the rafters is Hobgoblin, who smiles and drops a pumpkin bomb, which lands next to Ned's feet, before it starts to release a gas.
Ned starts to cough, as the gas spreads, "I then exposed him to small amounts of belladonna, making him susceptible…"
"After that, I just need some post-hypnotic suggestions that I picked up from a friend overseas, a spare costume, and some earplugs that allow me to give my commands to my unwilling puppet," Roderick finishes.
"Which is why Ned was calling his attacks," Spider-Man glances at Ned. "He was repeating his commands."
Ned rubs the back of his head, "I guess I was being too reckless." He looks at Roderick. "Why did you kidnap me today?"
"I wasn't done, and I can't very well run around as the Hobgoblin while you are locked up," Roderick says. "In you, I have the perfect, recurring scapegoat."
"You were willing to ruin an innocent man's life, a complete stranger… for what?!" Spider-Man asks.
"The world is changing, you're proof of it, and if I want power, then I must have actual power," Roderick admits. "You prevent me from having the blueprints to create an indestructible armor, which I could've sell for more power or use myself, but when I get my hands on the Green Goblin's gear and weapon, I have the means to conquer New York's criminal underworld, to have true power." Roderick starts to close a fist with his free hand. "And I'm not gonna allow a noisy reporter or an annoying superhero to get in my way." He smiles. "Speaking of which."
Roderick fires a finger laser, which Spider-Man jumps to dodge, before the goblin glider flies down to Roderick, who grabs onto it, with the glider flying up.
Ned watches as Roderick is flying past, "He's getting away."
"No, he's not," Spider-Man fires a webline at the razor bat sticking out of the table, and pulls it to him.
"For once, I agree," Roderick steady himself on top of the ascending goblin glider, as he removed the glove with the web ball stuck to it. "I'm gonna remove all witnesses, except for my perfect scapegoat, and all it's gonna cost me is one plant. But that's what insurance is for, after all."
Roderick then holds up a pumpkin bomb, before turns and throws it, "Here, catch this, hero."
"Better idea," Spider-Man throws the razor bat, which collides with the midair pumpkin bomb, setting off an explosion.
Roderick crosses his arms, shielding himself, before noticing two weblines are flying past him. Then being pulled through the smoke, Spider-Man kicks Hobgoblin, knocking him off the goblin glider against a wall, before he is webbed to the wall.
"No, no!" Roderick tries to pull himself, but is unable to, as Spider-Man lands next to him and pulls off his remaining glove. "No!"
"You gonna admit, Hobgobby," Spider-Man starts. "The hero catching the villain, that is a real classic."
Roderick gives him an angry expression.
At that moment, the entrance is slammed open, with several cops pouring in, including DeWolff and Carter.
"Lee and Kingsley," Carter says.
"And Kingsley?"
Carter turns to see DeWolff is looking up at the webbed Roderick, with Spider-Man next to him and waves a hand.
Shortly later, Spider-Man is on a nearby roof, watching as the police are leading Roderick and Daniel to squad cars, as Ned is talking with Carter and DeWolff. Spider-Man notices among the crowd of people watching is a brown haired young man with a camera.
"With everything going on, I completely forgot about my camera," Spider-Man realizes, before noticing Ned. "But then again, I can finally call this a win."
Spider-Man web swings away, as the man focuses his camera on Roderick, and takes a picture.
Narda is sitting on her hotel room's balcony, drinking a cup of tea and reading a Daily Bugle paper with the headline "Kingsley Exposed as Hobgoblin, Reporter Proven Innocent", above a picture of Roderick in Hobgoblin costume, minus gloves and mask, with the credit "Photograph by Lance Bannon".
Narda holds down her cup of tea, "That will do, for now."
At Emily's OsCorp office, Emily is talking on her Osberry, while holding the same newspaper.
"I still hadn't figured out how Kingsley was able to get his hands on Goblin gear and equipment," Emily says to the phone. "Or what caused the power outage a couple days ago, allowing the 'Morbius asset' to get away. I-I'm sorry…"
Emily listens to the response, "You're right, I shouldn't apologize." She turns to the side. "After all, you never do."
Ned and Betty are exiting the police station.
"I still don't believe I'm free to go," Ned says to her.
"Believe it," Matt approaches the pair, holding up the same newspaper. "I am holding this the right way, right?"
"Mr. Murdock, thank you so much for what you've done," Betty says.
"I was just doing my job, Ms. Brant," Matt holds the newspaper under his armpit.
"It was you who found out Kingsley has a twin brother, or how he could've used belladonna to subdue me," Ned says. "Which is a lot for a lawyer."
"I have to disagree," Matt says, with a smile. "Now, you should head-on home, you have been through a lot."
"I'm not gonna argue," Ned says, as he and Betty start to walk past Matt.
"Have a good day, Mr. Murdock," Betty says.
"Same to you both," Matt says, as he turns to their direction.
At that moment, Spider-Man swings by high, with Matt turns in his direction, "Mmh, a costumed crime fighter. Unorthodox… but effective."
Spider-Man continues to swing past.