Take Care of My Heart

Chapter 9 - Hail Mary

LYLA appeared back in front of him, stammering. "I can't find anything on this guy!" The Goblin's dark silhouette was growing bigger behind the hologram. "It's like he's a ghost or something!"

"That's... impossible." Miguel struggled to his feet, his back hurting. "You're telling me... that this guy just appeared out of thin air?"

"According to the module..."

Annoyed by this, he handwaved her away. The Goblin was now standing in front of him, his teeth shining disgustingly. Miguel threw him a haymaker. The Goblin caught it and followed up with a gut punch, and then an uppercut that sent the 2099 Spider-Man flying upwards in an arc before slamming back down on the hard gravel.

Getting back up again, he hunched in his stance, breathing heavily now. He was now in an open space under a lone spill of light. This enemy was stronger than he had anticipated.

Then again, in many dimensions, Spider-Man's greatest enemy was the Goblin... considering the damage he had not only done to their respective lives, but also to their loved ones.

The Goblin's laughter echoed through the trainyard again, and he unveiled himself from the shadows like an entity of death and whistled the tune of a familiar nursery rhyme...

The Itsy-Bitsy Spider.

Miguel O'Hara was no stranger to fear, yet it began to wash over him like an ice-cold shower. He clenched his fists harder, his sheathed claws digging into his palms. He had to stop this threat... he had to... but so far, he had been overpowered. His heart raced. His head spun.

How the hell do I beat this guy?

"HAS THIS SPIDER SPUN HIS LAST WEB?" The Goblin clicked his neck, bloodthirsty.

Just then, a bang crackled through the air. The green menace stumbled back, as if knocked by an invisible force, and clutched his side painfully. "WHO DID—!?"

"Why don't you try me instead?" a drawling voice spoke from above.

Both whipped their heads to see a dark hatted figure standing on top of a warehouse with a smoking handgun, his goggles glimmering, his coat billowing to the quiet breeze of the cold night; it was Noir.

"GUNS!?" The Goblin hissed through the pain. "SPIDER-MAN... DOESN'T USE... GUNS!"

"So, what?" he replied calmly.

Just as he aimed his firearm again, his spider-sense picked up another incoming threat jetting towards him from behind.

Just in time, the Spider-Man of the 1930s backflipped high in the air before the Goblin's glider could pierce him with its blades. He then tried to hit their new foe with some more bullets, all of which were shielded by the metallic contraption.

The Goblin hopped back onto his glider as it flew down to him. He hovered off the ground again, still clutching his side, as he glared at both spiders with murderous intent.

And then... he glitched, his atoms discoloring and distorting his entire being.

The Green Goblin shrieked in agony as soon as it was over. He hunched over, bug-eyed.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?"

Both Spider-Men looked to each other, knowing immediately.

"That's what happens when you stay out of your dimension too long..." Miguel thought twice about his answer. "... at least for you, it seems."

The Goblin just stared, no longer grinning, just snarling, before the unexpected happened... a black hole opened up behind the hovering supervillain. "We'll... meet again..." he hissed, no longer shouting at the top of his lungs.