Green mist poured from the vents of Oscorp Tower like poison breath from a sleeping dragon.
Peter and Felicia landed on a nearby rooftop, the wind slicing past them, the city spread out beneath in a restless sprawl of sirens and searchlights. Oscorp was a hive of panic — federal agents shouting orders, helicopters hovering, and then… the gas hit.
The first scream came from inside the building. Then another. Then dozens.
The agents closest to the vents began convulsing, their bodies distorting as if something beneath the skin was trying to claw its way out. Bones snapped, muscles bulged and tore through uniforms, skin flared with green veins pulsing beneath the flesh. When they rose, their eyes were red, mouths foaming and curling into mindless snarls.
Peter's stomach twisted. "My God… he actually did it. He really released it."
Felicia covered her nose and mouth with a torn piece of her sleeve. "That's not smoke, is it?"
"Modified Goblin Serum," Peter said, voice tight. "Airborne, mutagenic. He turned them into mindless weapons. He should be planning to release the rest."
Below, chaos broke loose. Federal agents fired at their transformed comrades, but the bullets barely slowed them. The goblinized soldiers charged like beasts, tearing through armored vehicles, ripping metal doors off hinges.
Peter's instincts screamed, 'go to the roof.' Norman was up there, deploying something bigger. Besides, he'd need the serum to be able to make an antidote. But Felicia's voice cut through his thoughts.
"They're dying, Peter! What do we do!?"
He looked at her. One glance was enough — the decision already made.
"Alright," he said. "We go in."
They dropped from the building like shadows, hitting the street below in unison. The noise was overwhelming — the roar of gunfire, the screech of twisted metal, and the guttural growls of men turned into monsters.
Felicia was the first to move, vaulting over a wrecked police car and slashing her claws across one mutant's face. It barely flinched, swinging at her with inhuman speed. Peter shot a webline around its arm and yanked, sending it crashing into a wall.
"Try not to let them touch you," he shouted. "No telling how contagious this is!"
Felicia flipped backward, landing beside him. "Thanks for the comforting thought!"
They fought as a team — an efficient, violent ballet honed through necessity. Peter used webbing to corral groups of them, tying them to overturned vehicles, while Felicia struck the weak points with surgical precision. Still, for every one that fell, two more surged from the gas-filled lobby.
Peter's suit was ripped in several places. The goblinized agents were relentless, snarling like animals as they clawed at him. One managed to grab his arm — the grip like iron — and slammed him into a concrete barrier. His ribs screamed, but adrenaline drowned the pain. He flipped up, webbed the creature's face, and yanked it straight into another.
Felicia's voice came through the smoke. "They're coming out faster than we can take them down!"
Peter's eyes darted toward the building's upper vents — still spewing green mist. "We have to seal the entrance. Herd them back inside!"
Together, they drove the horde backward, using webs and stun grenades. Peter grabbed a ruptured hydrant and used the pressure to blast a wall of water through the lobby doors, knocking the creatures inside. Felicia fired a stolen Oscorp EMP into the doorframe, frying the locks shut.
The growls continued from within, pounding fists against the steel and bulletproof glass, but the doors held.
Felicia fell back against a wrecked car, chest heaving. Her hair was plastered to her face, her claws cracked, one arm shaking.
"That's all I've got," she said between breaths.
Peter nodded. "That's enough."
She met his eyes — the briefest flicker of pride, fear, and something softer. Then she said, "Go. He's waiting for you up there."
Peter hesitated. "Felicia, if they break out—"
"I'll handle it," she said firmly. "Go save the city hero."
He looked at her one last time, then fired a webline upward and launched himself toward Oscorp Tower.
Felicia watched him vanish into the storm. "Don't make me regret this, Spider."
Peter ascended the side of the skyscraper in bursts, each webline pulling him through the crosswinds. Smoke coiled around the glass facade. Flames licked out from broken windows. Helicopters circled at a distance, spotlights cutting through the mist.
He reached the rooftop and froze.
The Green Goblin stood in the center, lit by the eerie glow of floodlights. The mask was gone. Norman's face — twisted, smeared with soot, veins glowing faintly green — stared back at him. Behind him, a massive dispersal rig hummed, pipes connecting to vats of glowing serum. A digital timer ticked down from ten minutes.
Norman turned slowly, smiling.
"Ah, Peter," he said, voice dripping with a mockery of warmth. "You're just in time."
Peter landed lightly, eyes flicking to the timer. "What did you do?"
"What I've always done," Norman said. "Innovate."
He gestured grandly to the city skyline, the clouds tinged green with toxic mist. "In ten minutes, the distribution system will activate. Every corner of this city will carry the gift of freedom. Imagine it — millions of New Yorkers, freed from fear, pain, and doubt. No more pretending. Just raw instinct."
"Rabid monsters, you mean. Why dress it up nicely?"
Norman's grin widened. "It's a matter of perspective."
He turned back to the machine, slotting a final vial — glowing brighter than the rest — into the dispersal core. "This one," he said softly, almost reverently, "is special. The perfected version. My final creation."
Peter took a step forward. "Turn it off, Norman."
Norman laughed — a sharp, jagged sound that echoed across the rooftops. "Oh, Peter. You still think you can appeal to reason. Tell me — after all these years, all the blood, all the broken bones — does your endless mercy ever work?"
Peter shrugged, eyes narrowing. "Not really. But it annoys you, so I keep trying."
Norman's laughter broke into a snarl. "Do you think this is a game?!"
Peter raised a hand. "Well, you did say I have ten minutes. Timer, rules, enemy, sounds kind of like a game to be honest."
The Goblin's eyes turned serious. "Then let's not waste them."
The first strike came fast — Norman's glider shot out from behind him, launching razor-blade bombs that spun through the air. Peter dodged, diving into a roll as the rooftop exploded behind him. Shards of glass and metal rained down.
He fired twin web lines and yanked the glider downward, slamming it into the concrete. Norman detached midair, flipping effortlessly before landing with inhuman grace.
The two circled each other, wind whipping through the flames around them.
Norman's voice was low now, almost intimate. "I used to see so much of myself in you, Peter. Brilliant. Determined. But weak. Always afraid of what you could really be."
Peter clenched his fists. "And what's that? Another monster?"
"No," Norman hissed. "A superior being. A God if you will."
He lunged. Peter countered, their fists colliding with enough force to crack the roof plating. Norman's strength was overwhelming — his serum-enhanced speed turned every punch into a blur. Peter ducked under one, webbed Norman's arm, and swung him into the distribution rig. Sparks flew as machinery buckled.
Norman recovered instantly, hurling a pumpkin bomb point-blank. Peter caught it mid-air, wrapped it in webbing, and slung it back. The explosion sent both men flying.
Peter landed hard, rolling near the roof's edge. His suit was half-burned, mask cracked. Blood pooled under one elbow. The timer behind Norman continued to tick — 08:43… 08:42…
Norman rose from the smoke, face shadowed by rage. He looked less human now, veins bulging, teeth bared. His laughter cut through the sound of the storm.
"You can't win, Peter," he said. "You never do."
Peter pushed himself up, muscles screaming. "Maybe not," he said. "But I don't lose alone."
He fired a web, catching a falling antenna and pulling himself back into the fight.
They collided again in midair — the storm roaring around them, lightning painting their silhouettes across the skyline.