Ah, what can give a wry smile better than two young people getting home later than usual and giggling about it! They hush each other as they toss themselves through Gwen Stacy’s front door. And even though Gwen warns about the consequences of waking a father (let alone a police captain!), Harry secretly marvels at the fact the two had their first real date! But Gwen grows increasingly more concerned. Her father isn’t wakened, nor waiting for them, because he’s nowhere to be found!
Harry tries to console the distraught Gwen, but Gwen quickly composes herself. It’s not that uncommon for a police captain to be called away in the middle of the night. But still, something doesn’t feel right about this situation. Harry offers to stay a while longer, (“as long as it takes”), responding to Gwen’s inquiry that Harry’s own dad has been known to keep late hours. Gwen rests her head on Harry’s shoulder, and the two grow silent and close as the hours wane. Conflicted, Harry wonders what it means that he wishes Captain Stacy never returns home…
A knock awakened both of them just after dawn. Oh, crap! Did they fall asleep on the couch?! Harry’s mind was racing with images of Captain Stacy, the impending school day, and (most importantly) his father! Gwen answered the door to find Officer Baker, the sensational Sandman! NYPD’s own super-powered Enforcer! The Sandman stopped over for a routine inquiry about Capt. Stacy, as the captain never checked in after responding to a Goblin sighting at Empire State University. Gwen tried to press the issue, but the Sandman answered back with non-committal police-ese. Harry hugged Gwen tight after the Sandman left, but he knew he’d better leave soon to face—
Norman Osborn … stood beside the mantle, staring absently into the fireplace. He tossed the newspaper he held idly as soon as Harry tried unobtrusively to enter. It was obvious that Norman was not only tired, worried, and disappointed. His distraught fury fairly seethed on the surface of his face. “It’s not what I think?” he prompted his son before Harry could even say the words.
“Well, no, er… I,”
“Stop. Do you realize what you put me through? How I had to scour the city?”
“Dad, I…” Harry tried to recite his practiced speech, but he knew it wouldn’t be worth it.
“People with our … situation, we have even greater fears. The implications of our loved ones going missing… Do you even understand the position you put me in?”
This brought Harry up short. “Do I understand? Of course I understand! I understand because I see you put on a mask and leap into the night, and I wonder if I’ll ever see you again. I understand because *I* never get a call if you choose not to come home. At least I know you have a Goblin Formula coursing through your veins. What about Gwen, dad? What if she never hears from her father all night? Do you think she understands?”
With that, Harry explains the situation. Norman recalls that he did, in fact, fly near ESU, but wonders if it was enough to warrant a police investigation. He might double-check some facts today, but it was time for Harry to go to school. Norman warned him with a reminder after turning away: “this issue is NOT resolved, young man.”
Norman rearranged his schedule to visit ESU that day. OsCorp’s association with the university always allowed for such interaction, particularly with Dr. Miles Warren, biochemist. But Dr. Warren showed Osborn a different sight this day. The research labs had been completely thrashed! The two men of science touched base: Custodians had found the lab like this, presumably thrashed during the night. Could someone have broken in? The list of suspects could be anyone in New York upset about their physical condition!
You see, research by Dr. Curt Connors had recently been thrust into the limelight, as his “bio-regeneration formula” had captured the public’s attention. Connors hoped the formula could be used to repair damaged nervous systems, even regenerate lost limbs, such as his own. But it was still in the final stages of tests.
The last two people to leave the lab the previous day were Connors and J. Jonah Jameson, who had come to follow up on a piece written about the formula for The Daily Bugle. And although signs were abundant that a person or persons forced their way inside, campus security had failed to find any leads of intruders during the night. Osborn, afraid of the implication, nevertheless asked about the Green Goblin, seeing as how he heard police had responded to his presence last night. Dr. Warren grew a smile. It was the first he heard about it, but he dismissed the urban legend. Still, if a ghost story could do this much trouble…
On the ride back to work, Osborn called up a connection to follow up with The Daily Bugle, only to learn that Jameson was strangely and uncharacteristically absent today. Osborn considered, gazing out the limousine’s tinted window.
As night began to fall, Osborn entered his son’s room to remind him that he was forbidden to go out. Consequences must be enforced, regardless of how good the intention. Harry didn’t argue, but continued to stare at the ceiling from his bed. Wearing earphones, he barely gave any indication he heard his father at all. “He’s still missing, by the way,” Harry offered the information up as if to no one in particular. But Osborn did notice, taking pause at the doorway. He said nothing, however, and left.
Harry watched from the window, catching the familiar sight of the Green Goblin soaring through the night. Finally. He reached below the bed, pulling out the Gremlin’s mask.
The Green Goblin dropped onto the Sciences Wing ceiling, and he only needed a quick overview of the scene to know that security had been increased (making a total of, what, two guards below?), but was still easily circumvented. Also, there were no obvious signs of break-in from above. That left one untraditional route to examine—the one Below. His Goblin-strength ripped off a panel for the elevator ventilation, and he glided inside, the Glider set to silent mode…
Elsewhere, the Gremlin dropped in to a bushy tree with his Broomboard, giving himself a great vantage point for watching over the Stacy’s residence. He assured himself it was just to make sure the girl was all right, and his head kept filling with visions of her—their time together, their possible future. Perhaps that is why he failed to notice the animated tendril of sand snaking its way up the tree behind him…
In ESU’s labs, the Green Goblin couldn’t find anything that the police hadn’t already looked over. But there had to be a way. He produced a goblin-bomb, sending a thick spray of smoke into the room. A pause. A furtive look. Squinted eyes. Sure enough! Look at the subtle air currents affecting the dissipating smoke! There must be an opening in the floor near that pile of debris! A quick use of Goblin-strength, and there it was. Someone, or some thing, had smashed his way out of the lab to go underground, collapsing a wall behind him to cover his escape. There’s just one way left to go, now…
A blast of sand struck the Gremlin so hard he flew out of the tree and landed, hard, on the pavement below. The sand leaped after him! Part of the sand coalesced into the form of the Sandman, while the remainder continued to pour down on the Gremlin, nearly scouring his costume from his body. “Who are you? What are you doing here?” The interrogation began, but The Gremlin put up a gauntlet in a feign attempt to ward off the incessant blast, but actually, he was firing from it. Mini-explosive pellets dotted the length and breadth of the Sandman and his attack. While it didn’t seem to cause much harm, the counterattack forced the Sandman to shrug it off, allowing the Gremlin precious seconds to escape and try an attack of his own.
The Green Goblin found his passageway, more akin to a water runoff drainage system, opened to the world above in several places. Each time, he could peek out from a grated opening and see the blissful scene of ESU at night. Osborn did, eventually, find an opening that had looked forced recently. The trail was hot! Perhaps, too hot? The Goblin turned his attention back to the passage, when—an alligator! And another!
The Gremlin had problems of his own. The Sandman wouldn’t let up. He could take anything the Gremlin threw at him-- absorbing any physical blow, dodging any thrown weapon or electrical zap. But he could just as easily dish it out-- forming hammers and spiked balls instead of hands, making sand-lassoes and whips with his arms, and kicking up dust-like storms! The Gremlin was nearly on the ropes! He could break apart Sandman’s various attacks, but they would always regrow. He could stay just out of range by flying around on the Broomboard, but he couldn’t get far without Sandman sidling up, his body becoming a wave of sand.
Fighting an alligator or two wouldn’t have been at the top of the Green Goblin’s agenda. Thankfully, the battle was over as long as the Goblin could maneuver to get a good grip to deliver an electrified touch. He made his way deeper into the almost catacomb-like underbelly of the city. The amount of creepy-crawlies increased-- snakes, geckos, chameleons, and, of course, lizards! They were almost dripping from the walls, which seemed alive with the creatures’ ever-shifting movement. The passage-hall opened up into a large area, a convergence of passages from all directions, criss-crossed with grated walkways and sluice coverings. Throughout it all, more of the wall-animating legion of creepy-crawlies, including more alligators. Human prisoners dotted the wide, grated floor that made up the center. But in the middle of it all was a giant, humanoid reptile! “Who daresss disssturb the domainsss of – THE LIZARD!”
The Sandman, all business and no-nonsense, continued to grill the Gremlin about his presence at the scene and the whereabouts of Captain Stacy. The Gremlin, all in-jokey and self-deprecating, continued to profess his innocence, that he was here to make sure that nothing happened to Stacy’s daughter. (Although I’m not sure who’s there to make sure nothing happens to the yard. Those guys are making a mess!) Finally, the Gremlin announces, very much sarcastically, that “Fine! Adults always seem to know best anyway!” and he takes a small sphere from his gauntlet, breaking it in front of Sandman’s face. The flare-bomb bathed the Enforcer in purest, brightest light before extinguishing nearly instantly. The Sandman recovered just as quickly; something about his beachfront body wouldn’t leave him as incapacitated as you might think. But it was distraction enough-- the Gremlin had fled the scene.
Gwen, her eyes wide and mouth agape, finally dropped the curtain from which she had watched the entire scene.
Back underground, the Green Goblin swooped in to confront the Lizard, who warned him to “SSstop! Lessst the ssspilt blood of innosssentsss be on your conscien-ssse!” The Goblin recognized among the Lizard’s captives a few uniformed officers—but also Captain Stacy, Jameson, AND Dr. Connors!
“What happened to Connor’s formula?” demanded the Goblin, stepping down from the Goblin Glider to place himself between the Lizard and the prisoners.
“I ssstole it! What a fool I wasss, thinking that ssscience would be enough to cure my condition! NOW look at me!”
Connors tried to yell back, “Jameson and I tried to return to the labs and found the formula in HIS hands!” (“My--- handsss…” the Lizard echoed dolefully.) “But it was too late! Now he wants to force us as hostages to cure his condition! Us, and anyone who wants to get in his way!”
“Ssshut up!” his tongue flickered out at Captain Stacy and the two officers. “Wrong placcce, wrong time… But the time for exposssition isss over! Attack!”
The Lizard leapt toward the Goblin, and his creatures surged forward as well. But the Goblin Glider flew in, striking the Lizard aside and sending him flying. “You got pets, but I got toys!”
He places his gloves on the ground, sending his electrified touch through the grating. The animals reeled in pain, shocking them into unconsciousness. Next came the tear gas pumpkin bombs, ensuring that all animals were kept at bay, and the Goblin helped escort the hostages toward the exit. “Go! I’ll handle the Lizard!”
Jameson patted the Goblin on the shoulder. “Thank you,” he said softly. Captain Stacy was a bit more gruff. “Let’s get out of here. It’s not too far from when the Lizard popped out to get us.”
The Lizard and the Goblin! A fight worthy of the greatest battles of all time! Perhaps there wasn’t that much difference between Goblin-Formula and Connors’ concoction. In any event, the two exchanged a series of blows until the Goblin could recover his glider. The advantage wasn’t great—after all, it was very close quarters, but it did allow the Goblin to swoop down and ingloriously pop a pumpkin bomb into the Lizard’s gaping maw. The momentum carried him up and around, landing on the Lizard’s back while holding his mouth shut! The bomb went off with a muffled POOM! forcing the Lizard to experience the full effects of the knockout gas.
The Sandman was the only one in our tale to see the happy reunion between father and daughter. She hugged her father close, telling him how awful it was that the Goblin tried to attack her while he was away. “The… Goblin?” Captain Stacy repeated, confused. He kept her daughter in the embrace, but his face was troubled.
Cover and text by Danny Wall
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