Spider-Man: Web of Magic

by MetalJrock

Issue #24: The Green Goblin Strikes Back

“Rule 1 of superheroing. Always ensure that people are safe under supervillain attacks.”

Spider-Man said this to Solar Eclipse while swinging with someone in his arms, getting them to safety from the attacker. The person in question wore purple armor, had bug eyes and mechanical bug-like wings on his back. He shot something from his wrist and tried to hit the wall-crawler, but Peter avoided it in time, the person he was protecting gripped around his neck as he landed, dropping them off behind an alleyway. Peter crouched down, “Alright... Beetle, was it? I think it’s time we ended this little encounter.”

It had been a weird day. What started as a simple afternoon of patrol and training turned into a brief scuffle with some assassin in beetle armor for Spider-Man’s life. Peter assumed that it was Tombstone trying to eliminate him from the picture once again. He thought, ‘Man, I’m getting real tired of this. I could use a nap. Luckily, I have backup waiting for the chance to jump in. She should be a minute.’

Suddenly, something covered Spider-Man as Beetle shot a dart at him. He smirked under his mask as a red beam suddenly hit Beetle in the back. “Rule 2. Always retain the element of surprise. It works on C-list crooks like you.”

The Solar Eclipse stood behind were Beetle once was, her arms extended. “Nice work, Solar Eclipse. Now let’s end this before he stands up.” Peter said.

With a powerful yank, Spider-Man ripped off Beetle’s wings and scanned it with his lenses. He made a mental note to send that pic to Ned and Trixie to see if they can figure out where it came from. “Looks like you’re grounded, Beetle.” Sunset quipped at the defeated villain. Spider-Man webbed him up and tied him to a lamp post for the police to arrest, shaking his head at what his partner said.

“And you can’t forget Rule 3, always quip in times of battle unless it gets serious. Although we’ll have to work on yours.” Peter finished off. Sunset smiled sheepishly, admitting that he was right.

The two heroes reached for high ground and decided to converse. Spider-Man sat down and sighed, “Not bad. We took down that Beetle guy faster than I expected. Having a partner’s honestly better than I thought.”

“And you’re a pretty good mentor. I wish I was this good of a listener back in Equestria...”

Peter leaned back, “Hey, you changed and that’s what’s important. I’m just lucky you’re willing to have my back and not be some rebellious partner or whatever.”

“I’m through with not listening. If I have to learn the ropes then so be it.” Sunset told him.

“And it’s working out great.” Peter told her.

The heroes flinched when the building across from them suddenly exploded, flames and smoke bursting out of the windows. Peter and Sunset were in shock at the sight. Spider-Man could already hear the sirens and his Spider-Sense was tingling as hard as it could. As fast as he could, Peter shot two web-lines to the building and pulled back. “Follow me, Sunset! I might need some magic for this one!”

The Solar Eclipse nodded, “Got it.”

Letting go of the lines, Spider-Man was flung through the window, his body spinning through it horizontally. The hero crouched and coughed, the smoke getting to him already. ‘So much for the skin-tight mask...’ he muttered. Sunset hovered in right next to him, a forcefield covering the two of them. “Nice. Let’s see if anyone’s in here and fast.” the two looked around and surprisingly found nothing. The room itself was already empty to begin with.

A shrill scream echoed through the burning room. Peter and Sunset went to trace where it came from, carefully traversing the burning terrain. Peter kicked a door down and threw it across the hall. In the other side of the burning hall was a woman wearing a thick coat, her back facing the heroes. The heroes walked closer to the figure and Sunset lowered the field to allow Peter to reach a hand out, “Come with us, ma’am. We’ll get you to safety.”

The figure turned around, revealing a hideous green face. The green figure then kicked Spider-Man through a wall. Sunset was taken aback at the person standing before them since she knew who it was. “I knew you couldn’t resist playing hero, Spider-Man. And I see you brought along your new partner. This will be twice as fun!” his voice cackled.

“Goblin...” grunted Spider-Man as he pushed himself up. “I was wondering if we’d meet again. For a while, I thought I ran your sorry butt out of town.”

Green Goblin didn’t respond and threw a pumpkin bomb at Spider-Man. Solar Eclipse tried to catch it, but breathing all that smoke was making it harder to focus. Peter’s Spider-Sense was already blaring due to the fact that they were in a burning building, so he had to move by instinct. Spidey aimed a web-line at the bomb and spun it around, aiming it so that it smacked Green Goblin. The Goblin’s eyes widened and he was blown back, bursting through the wall to the rooftop directly across from the building they were in.

“Looks like the Green Goblin planted a trap.” Sunset pointed out, doing her best to conjure up a forcefield to cover her and Spider-Man to protect them from the smoke.

Peter coughed, “No kidding. We have to figure out why he’s back now of all times. Let’s hurry.”

The heroes leaped out of the burning building and landed on the roof next to them. Sunset lowered the field and they panted for breathable air. Awaiting them was the Green Goblin, already on his glider and he smirked, “I guess we have to do this the hard way!”

The Goblin pointed at the heroes and shot more lasers from it. Sunset reacted fast enough to deflect them. She groaned, “He has fingers lasers too?”

Shooting a web-line from his hand, Peter managed to entrap Green Goblin’s left hand with the substance. “Oh well, looks like I’ll have to do this one-handed! Hahaha!”

Spider-Man jumped and attempted to strike the Green Goblin, but was knocked back by one of the lasers, which the villain shot out with a flick of his wrist. Then he yanked the webbing off of his other hand. “Spidey!” Solar Eclipse shouted. Peter got his bearings and flipped to his feet. The wall-crawler glanced over to his partner, who asked, “You alright?”

“Yeah, just a little burnt. It’s the usual.” Peter replied.

Digging into the bag strapped around him, Green Goblin pulled out another pumpkin bomb and pressed a button to detonate it in seconds before throwing it. Sunset caught it and entrapped it in a forcefield, allowing it to explode in the bubble before it could reach either of them. “You’re certainly more skilled than I anticipated. Perhaps you’d be of use to me.” Goblin told her.

“What?”

Spider-Man shot a web-line at Green Goblin, who countered by grabbing the strand and shooting Peter with a laser, shocking him again. Peter convulsed in the air for a few seconds as Green Goblin dove down in his glider, a crowbar in front of the aircraft. Sunset used her magic and shot Goblin out of it, allowing Peter to flip away from the glider, allowing it to create a small crack on the roof and slide. Goblin was lying on his back and felt Peter step on his stomach. “It’s over, Gobbie.”

“Oh dear, it appears to be the case.” Green Goblin admitted.

Sunset readied her magic in the event the psycho did anything strange. “Spill the beans. Why are you back now?”

Goblin smirked, “Why, that would spoil the surprise. Can’t a guy cause a little mayhem and lure out his two favorite heroes?”

“Nah. That mayhem is what’s gonna get you to do some time.” Spider-Man declared. As he said this, he didn’t see Goblin pressing a secret button, activating his glider once more. A gun appeared underneath it and aimed itself at the heroes. Peter’s Spider-Sense went off and he shouted, “What did you—“

Suddenly, he found his entire body covered by a hardening green substance. Sunset tried to react but she too got trapped by what got Peter. Green Goblin shook his head as he watched the heroes squirm and struggle. He stood up and walked to his glider. “Kids... when will they learn?” he muttered to himself. “How do you like my trademark Gob-Webs? Pretty difficult to break, hm?”

“They’ll break soon enough, Gobby. Then we’ll break you!” Spider-Man shouted.

Sunset tried to use her magic to escape, but the substance proved too strong even for her. “Ah! What is this stuff even made out of?!”

Green Goblin moved his glider in front of the heroes and said, “If I tell you, you’ll learn how to stop it. If you want, we can talk shop once you awaken.”

“Awaken?”

The glider shot out green smoke from the mouth of the gargoyle design, hitting Peter and Sunset. Their coughing was heard and they did their best to roll away. Their squirming slowed down until they fell unconscious. Stepping off his glider, Green Goblin walked to their sleeping forms and hummed, “Hm. It would be amusing to discover your identities here and now, but that wouldn’t be very sporting of me. Haha!” he grabbed two strong pieces of rope and placed them in a gap within his Gob-Webs, dragging the heroes’ forms with him as he stepped back onto his glider.

He flew away, Peter and Sunset getting carried with him by rope.

---

Peter awoke to a migraine. He raised his head and opened his eyes, being immediately greeted by the Green Goblin. “Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey, Spider-Man.” Goblin cooed, waving his hand in front of the wall-crawler’s face.

“Goblin!” Spider-Man yelped, trying to move. Unfortunately, he was still stuck in the substance Green Goblin used on him and the Solar Eclipse. The first thing that caught his attention was the fact that they were no longer in the city, but in the middle of an abandoned factory lot. Judging by how dark the sky was, he realized that they had been unconscious for a few hours at the very least.

“Huh... Spidey?” Sunset groaned as she also awoke. She struggled in the Gob-Webs, still unable to do anything. “Oh yeah... This is just great...”

“You’re telling me.” Peter said, “What do you want, Gobby? If you wanted an autograph from Canterlot’s newest heroes, you could’ve just asked nicely.”

Green Goblin frowned, “Always with the jokes, boy. If you must know, after our last encounter, I realized something. You and I? We share a common goal, the fall of Tombstone and Fisk’s empire. They’re a thorn in my side as well and I wish to be rid of the competiton.”

“And what do we have to do about your little problem?” Sunset asked.

“I was thinking that perhaps we can form an alliance. We can take down Lonnie and Willie together and in exchange for your aid, you will be forever be allies to the Goblin Empire that will rise in the ashes of this city!” Green Goblin exclaimed.

Spider-Man rolled his eyes, “Listen, Gobby. I told Tomby that I’m not joining his gang, so why would I join you? You’re hurting innocents and plan to be the next Kingpin. That makes it my job to stop you.”

Sunset nodded, “Sorry, Goblin. But you’ll have to find other heroes to manipulate.”

Shaking his head in disappointment, Green Goblin said, “As expected. I offer you friendship... and you spat in my face.”

“Buddy, this isn’t friendship. You want to use us. That’s not what friends do.” Sunset growled. She kept trying to use her magic to no avail.

Spider-Man struggled in his trap and thought, ‘I can’t do much with this sticky stuff. Perhaps a quick turn around can change that.’ he cleared his throat, “...Actually, Gobby. I changed my mind. Being second in command of the criminal underworld sounds pretty awesome!”

Sunset whispered, “What?”

Narrowing his lenses, Spidey added, “But only on the condition that you remove this stuff. We can’t eliminate the competition if we can’t move we arms.”

The Solar Eclipse blinked and caught on, “...Yeah. We’ll help. Same terms as Spider-Man’s.”

Green Goblin tapped his chin and hummed, putting one hand into his pocket, releasing a vial. “Oh very well. I must admit that I’m pleased with this.” he poured the liquid onto the Gob-Webs, causing the substance to disintergrate, Peter and Sunset broke free of the green concrete-esque substance. “As of today, Spider-Man, the Solar Eclipse, and the Green Goblin are partners!” he declared, extending a hand.

Spider-Man shook Goblin’s hand, “Thanks for the offer, Gobby.” he smirked under his mask. In the blink of an eye, Peter spun and slammed Goblin onto the ground. “But I’m sticking with the hero gig. Minus Jameson’s whining, it puts less pressure on us.” he decided.

“Your morons!” Goblin snarled, sweep kicking Spider-Man. The wall-crawler jumped over his legs. The Solar Eclipse shot out a volt of magic at him, shocking the villain. “Agh!” he screamed in pain.

The Green Goblin flipped to his feet a moment later and punched Spider-Man launching him off the roof and onto one of the smokestacks. Peter slipped off the wall and shot web-line at the enlarged chimney, beginning his swing back onto the building.

Meanwhile Sunset Shimmer raised her arms, projecting a barrier strong enough to hold back Green Goblin’s pumpkin bomb. She gritted her teeth and flicked her wrists, pushing the barrier towards Goblin. The villain’s eyes widened and backflipped over it completely, landing on his glider. Sunset blinked, “...Huh.”

Peter landed next to her, “Had the same reaction. I’ve seen baddies before, but none like him.”

With a loud cackle, Green Goblin aimed the blaster on his glider and started shooting the heroes. “Time to bail!” Spider-Man told his partner. They both leaped. Spidey started to swing as the Eclipse used her magic to propel herself upwards. Peter shot another webline to Sunset, who caught it. The webslinger from then on used a single hand to swing forward, Sunset using her powers to give them a boost.

“Can you make us move faster?” Spider-Man shouted, swinging around the smokestack to avoid Goblin.

Sunset hissed as she blocked one of the lasers, “Trying to!”

“Do you really think you can stop me with this goose chase?” Goblin boasted. “I have no use for you anyway. Looks like I have to use the last resort.” he reached into his handbag and held a cylinder object in his hand. He pressed it and shouted, “Happy landing, heroes!” beeping was heard as Green Goblin flew away while landing.

“We gotta get after him!” Sunset shouted.

Peter’s Spider-Sense tingled as that beeping echoed, “Uh, Eclipse? You better get a forcefield around us ready! I’m not gonna get us out of here in time!”

“Got it!”

Peter let go of the web as Sunset summoned a round barrier around the two of them. Suddenly, multiple loud explosions were heard in the area and green smoke enveloped them. Peter and Sunset fell a considerable amount of height as the explosions slightly bounced the barrier they were trapped in around. They yelped in fear before the explosions ended. The heroes landed, the barrier cushioning their fall.

They coughed and panted, worn out from that brief scare. Sunset rolled on her back saying, “Remind me to never fight the Green Goblin again...”

“No promises...” Peter muttered, “He’ll be a part of our recurring Rogues Gallery I told you about.”

Sunset rolled her eyes, “Wonderful...”

“But hey... At least Green Goblin went easy this time...” Peter admitted. “Another job well done for Canterot City’s Dynamic Duo.”

“But he got away...” Sunset said in disappointment.

The two heroes stood up and dusted off. “It happens. You should’ve seen me when I was taking down the Vulture. It happened a few times before I took him down.” he put his hands on his hips, “We’ll get him next time.”

“If you say so. At the very least, we’ll be more prepared for him.” Sunset said.

“Now that’s the spirit!” Peter cheered on, “Now let’s get back to the city for clean up patrol. The police should be here soon to investigate the explosion and we don’t want Jameson framing us.”

Sunsst chuckled and followed Peter’s lead upwards. They landed on the nearest rooftop and ran on to continue their earlier patrol, hoping nothing happened in their hours of absence.

---

Meanwhile in a secret warehouse in the far end of a city, two people were sitting in a bright room. A man with a bowlcut wearing a green costume and purple cape sighed. He needed a new plan to make himself known to the world. He needed to show that the menacing Mysterio was not to be trifled with, and that would start with the defeat of Spider-Man and that girl who foiled his debut bank robbery.

“Mason! Is the last of the new equipment ready?” Mysterio asked.

Mason nodded. After the end of Toomes’ weapon black market, he managed to escape Spider-Man and ended up in the employment of Mysterio, who hoped to use his tech to bring about a new era of fear to the city. “It’s finished. You’re free to test it now.” he handed Mysterio the hologram drones.

Turning his head, Mysterio smiled, “Excellent.”

Unknown to Mysterio however, a strange surge of light bursted through his helmet. The same rainbow color beam that was seen in the city that night many months ago, which Mysterio would have recognized had he paid better attention. He didn’t however and put the helmet. “Hm... Mason, did you perhaps alter my helmet in anyway?”

Mason shook his head, “No, sir. I’ve been focused on the projectors. Why?”

“Because something about it feels... different. Like there’s energy radiating within the dome. I cannot explain it.” Mysterio described for his partner. He moved a hand and suddenly saw it glowing. “Strange. My gloves aren’t activated.”

Now curious over what was happening, Mysterio flicked his wrist and shot a small sphere of energy at the wall and made a small hole. His eyes widened under his dome and he snickered. He waved his hand and summoned a snake to materialize in his hands before letting it vanish. “Interesting. This doesn’t look to be tech of your calibur, Mason.”

“That’s because it isn’t.” Mason revealed.

Mysterio blinked and curled his hands into fists, an aura covering his body. “Fascinating. No longer shall Mysterio rely purely on tech. Now Mysterio is the one true Master of Illusion!”

Mason rolled his eyes and whispered, “If only you’d stop talking about yourself like that.”

“For my first act: The fall of Spider-Man!” Mysterio declared, wanting to put some more time into his newfound power before beginning his plan

Author's Note:

Next Time: Spider-Man has to save Trixie when robots suddenly attack Quentin Beck’s magic show.

Comments

[Boltstrike58]

Green Goblin tapped his chin and hummed, putting one hand into his pocket, releasing a vial. “Oh very well. I must admit that I’m pleased with this.”

Idiot.

Mysterio blinked and curled his hands into fists, an aura covering his body. “Fascinating. No longer shall Mysterio rely purely on tech. Now Mysterio is the one true Master of Illusion!”

SUNSET! WHAT DID YOU DO?!

[Raistlin]

Norman really grabbed hard the idiot ball in this chapter.

[Bumblebee16]

Awesome!

[DavisSentoV5]

Oh boy, Goblin is surprisingly a bit more stronger & Mysterio is about to be more deadly!

[TopGun1986]

Green Goblin: I’M BACK BABY!!!