Flash Sentry opened his eyes slowly, as if awakening from a long sleep. In reality he had been unconscious for less than an hour. He was the latest victim of the Black Goblin's hallucinogenic gas. As he focused his eyes, he got up holding his aching head. As he stepped back he felt himself lose his balance. Waving his hands to steady himself, he grabbed onto the steel beam next to him that kept him from falling.
Looking down, he saw cars moving up and down a road. The road from a bridge hundreds of meters below the foot of him. He recognized the place, having passed through it thousands of times. His mind finally cleared, and he was filled with true terror as he realized that he was standing... high on the west tower of the Queensboro Bridge!
"Don't look down! Don't look down! Don't look down!" Flash repeated himself, panicked.
He heard a loud, high-pitched sound and turned in time to see the Black Goblin flying over her glider heading for the Roosevelt Island streetcar station.
The red streetcar carried passengers from Manehattan to Roosevelt Island, a small residential island in the middle of the East River, halfway between Manehattan and Ponyville. He was making his way over the river attached to a cable that ran across the bridge. At the time, the tram was packed with children of about eight years old with their parents, returning from a school excursion.
As the Black Goblin approached the station, a missile launcher emerged from the underside of her glider.
"The little spider was walking on the roof..." the Black Goblin sang "And the Goblin has arrived and with one blow he has crushed it".
With a simple wave of the arm, the Black Goblin fired at the station.
BUUM!
The station exploded into a great inferno of flames and black smoke that lit up the night and threw burning debris in all directions.
Flaming chunks from the tram station were falling onto the bridge road, causing cars to collide with each other as they tried to avoid debris raining down from the air. On the river, the tram oscillated from side to side, since the cable that held it was affected by the explosion. The children screamed in terror.
A lightning-fast silhouette passed over the bridge and came to rest on a nearby building. Spider-Girl had been looking for the Black Goblin and Flash all night. It was obvious that the Black Goblin wanted to be found, since she had set the stage for her last show with the arachnid wonder in a place full of public.
Spider-Girl assessed the situation quickly: the Black Goblin had destroyed the tram station, Flash was trapped on the tower of the bridge, the crowded tram teetered... Everything was going to bring trouble, big trouble!
"Goblin, what have you done?" Spider-Girl said.
SNAP! ZAS!
Spider-Girl released a web and began to swing toward the bridge.
The tram's support cable snapped with a chilling sound, causing it to plummet, full of children with their parents, toward the river.
With an incredible display of speed and an impressive display of strength, the Black Goblin launched himself like a bullet towards the plummeting tram, grabbing the cable in midair. It tensed, with the quick and powerful movement of the Black Goblin. The tram bounced and hung over the choppy river.
The glider came to a stop in front of Flash and the Black Goblin jumped from the glider to land on the bridge tower. Without letting go of the wire from her hand, she grabbed Flash by the arm, hanging him over the river without him being able to do anything.
At that moment, Spider-Girl arrived, and saw the scene before her petrified.
"Spider-Girl! That's why only idiots are heroes!" shouted the Black Goblin to the figure dressed in pink and purple "Because you never know when a lunatic can come out with a sadistic offer!".
Spider-Girl's gaze went from Flash to the streetcar and from the streetcar to Flash. She was paralyzed. The Black Goblin had placed her in a dead end situation. It didn't matter what she did: someone would die.
"Let the boy you love die?" yelled the Black Goblin.
She reached out her arm and pushed Flash a little further over the river, as the crowd below gathered below.
"Or let the children suffer?" she laughed sarcastically, letting go of the cable car for a moment.
The cable slipped through her hand and the tram began to descend rapidly. Then the Black Goblin clenched her fist again, and the tram suddenly stopped again, knocking all its passengers down.
"You choose, Spider-Girl!" she ordered "And you will see how they reward the heroes!"
"Don't do it, Goblin!" yelled Spider-Girl.
"We are who we decided to be!" shouted the Black Goblin "And now... decide!".
And, saying this, the Black Goblin released both the cable car and Flash.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" yelled Spider-Girl.
Spider-Girl leapt off the bridge, grabbed Flash around the waist with one arm, and fired a strand of cobweb upward toward the bridge with the other.
"Hold on to me!" she screamed, swinging toward the falling tram. She broke free from the web and used her free hand to grasp the cable car. She shifted Flash onto her back and released another strand of cobweb from the freed wrist.
The cobweb stuck to the bottom of the bridge, tightening. The tram bounced hard. Spider-Girl felt as if her body was going to split in two. Her right hand clutched the web, while the other end of it was well adhered to the bridge. Her left hand held the cable of the tram. Her arms ached bearing the enormous weight. Flash clutched at her back to cling to life.
"Listen to me!" Spider-Girl yelled over her shoulder. Flash looked at her, confused "You have to go down the cable to the tram!"
"WHAT!? That's crazy!" he complained, his voice shaking.
"You have to do it!" Spider-Girl begged him "Flash, I know you can! Trust me!".
Flash finally nodded and started down, sliding from Spider-Girl's back to later down the thin metal cable.
When Flash was halfway up the wire, Spider-Girl heard the familiar howl of the Black Goblin glider behind her. Turning his head, Spider-Girl was met with the full force of the Black Goblin's fist. The powerful blow left her swaying from side to side. She now she struggled not only to hold the cable car, but also to stay awake.
Flash hung from the wire under Spider-Girl's feet, while the tram below swayed and spun, sending the people inside against the walls of it.
The Black Goblin spun her glider in a great arc and passed Spider-Girl again. She laughed uproariously as she encircled the helpless heroine. Spider-Girl extended her arm and the Black Goblin slashed her with the glider's built-in blades, causing some blood-stained chunks of the pink and purple suit to flutter into the river.
The impact of the Black Goblin's blow caused Spider-Girl to release the cable from the tram, which flew out of her hand.
Spider-Girl, in searing pain, stepped out after the cable and grabbed it when she was within reach of her, once again halting the fall of the tram.
This time, the jolt of the tram as the cable tightened caused the Flash to fall. He collapsed with a thud on the roof of the tram.
With an evil smile and the intention to end this, the Black Goblin launched herself at Spider-Girl, with the blades of the glider activated again.
"IT'S TIME TO DIE, SPIDER-GIRL!!" yelled the Black Goblin triumphantly.
Spider-Girl braced herself for the impact, knowing that she was not going to survive. The Black Goblin was approaching, readying her glider, when suddenly a stone struck the side of her head. She lost control of her spiraling around as she passed Spider-Girl.
The Black Goblin struggled to control her glider, and suddenly more things began to hit her. It turns out that, from above, on the bridge road, an enraged crowd threw everything they could find at hand at him, from pieces of wood to stones, bottles or hubcaps.
Spider-girl could hear the crowd yelling:
"Come here you coward! We have something for you!"
"We're going to give you a good beating!"
"Leave Spider-Girl alone!. Are you going to mess with someone, who wants to save some children?"
"Get this in your head: who messes with Spider-Girl, messes with Canterlot City!"
"If you mess with her, you mess with all of us!"
"AAHH!" the Black Goblin yelled, covering her head with her hands as she escaped the rain of flying debris.
From below, listening to the cheering crowd, Spider-Girl felt an injection of renewing energy. It didn't matter what the newspapers said. These were true citizens of Canterlot City. No one had told them what to think. And right now, based on what was in front of them, they unanimously thought that Spider-Girl... was a heroine.
At that moment, Spider-Girl discovered a huge mound of rocks that stretched out next to the supporting pillar of the bridge. She wasn't sure it was big enough to hold the tram, but she had no other options. Carefully, she started down the tram, with Flash subject to the ceiling, to the huge rock.
After a few tense moments, the tram came to rest on the rock. Flash stood on the ceiling and, looking up, smiled raptly at Spider-Girl, who breathed in relief.
Unfortunately, that joy was short-lived.
"SPIDER-GIRL, WATCH OUT!!" yelled Flash.
A rope suddenly came out of nowhere, wrapping itself around Spider-Girl's waist. The Black Goblin, recovered from the attack of the crowd, held tightly to the other end. She then flew off with her glider, dragging Spider-Girl after her.
The crowd on the bridge let out an exclamation, as Flash stared in horror at the situation.
When the glider reached Roosevelt Island, the Black Goblin cut the rope and dropped Spider-Girl. She plummeted, crashing against the ruins of an abandoned hospital.
After flying at full speed towards the ruins, the Black Goblin landed her glider, jumped off it and stood next to Spider-Girl, savoring her victory.
On the ground, Spider-Girl was half dead, her costume tattered from the impacts, and part of her mask destroyed, revealing Twilight's face. She is trying to shoot another web, but the Black Goblin stepped on her wrist, stopping her.
"You have spun your last web, Spider-Girl. If you had not been so selfish, the death of your boyfriend would have been quick and painless" said the Black Goblin with feigned sympathy "But now that you've managed to piss me... I'll finish him off slowly and tortuously!".
Turning back to her glider, the Black Goblin took out some kind of pointed artifact. At the press of a button, three sharp blades appeared, forming a kind of triple dagger.
However, the Black Goblin herself was unaware that her words had made Spider-Girl start to get up, totally furious.
"Flash Sentry and I..." said the Black Goblin, returning to stand right in front of Spider-Girl "We are going to pass it... VERY WELL!!"
The Black Goblin aimed her triple dagger at Spider-Girl's heart, then delivered a savage stab at her.
However, before she reached the chest of her, Spider-Girl reached out her arms and grabbed her weapon, beginning to struggle against the Black Goblin.
The fury that simmered inside Spider-Girl gave her new strength. Freeing herself from her struggle, she grabbed hold of the Black Goblin and began punching her, until she crashed into the remains of a stone wall and then collapsed to the ground.
But then, just as she was about to deliver the final blow, Spider-Girl stopped after hearing supplicate the Black Goblin, a different voice... but familiar.
"Twilight! Stop!" begged the Black Goblin "It's me!"
At that moment, the Black Goblin slowly removed her mask and Spider-Girl met the face ... of Abacus Cinch.
"Mrs. Cinch!?" Spider-Girl said, surprised and confused at the same time.
"Thanks to Celestia" Cinch said relieved and somewhat hurt by the punches.
"It was you" said Twilight "You killed the people on the balcony!"
"It was the Black Goblin! I had nothing to do with it!" Cinch said, scared "Don't let him possess me again. I beg you! Help me!"
Spider-Girl stared at Cinch, trying to understand what terrible evil she had taken hold of that woman she had so respected. What she was unaware of was that Cinch was pressing a button on the control panel of her suit.
"But you wanted to kill Cadance, and also Flash!" Spider-Girl reminded him.
"But not you! I tried to stop him, but couldn't. I would never hurt you" Cinch said, feigning sympathy "From the beginning, I knew that if something happened to me, I could count on you. That you, Twilight Sparkle, would save me. And you have! Thanks to Celestia you're here, Twilight".
Very slowly and silently, Cinch got up and extended her right hand.
"Give me your hand, Twilight" begged Cinch "Believe in me as I have believed in you. I have been like a mother to you. Be a daughter to me now."
However, Spider-Girl took a step back, rejecting Cinch's hand.
"I had a father!" she said sternly "His name was Shining Armor!".
Suddenly, Spider-Girl noticed that Cinch showed an evil smile again.
"GO TO HELL, SPIDER-GIRL!!" Cinch yelled, in the Black Goblin's voice.
At that moment, Spider-Girl's spider sense soared. She felt a tingle on her head, and the impression that something behind her was threatening her pierced her entire body.
Turning her head, she saw the Black Goblin's glider rush in her direction, its blades activated again. Stepping out of her way, she flipped and landed, just in time to see the glider skewer Abacus Cinch and pin her to the stone wall.
"Twilight... Sparkle..." Cinch begged "Don't say anything... to Sunset..."
Then Cinch collapsed onto the glider, blood from her body spurting onto the Black Goblin's mask.
Abacus Cinch... the Black Goblin... was dead.