The night in New York City was as brightly lit as ever. Peter arrived outside Ned's apartment, intending to climb through the window to scout out the situation, hoping to catch the target before he could don his gear.
"Let me scan... there's a pumpkin bomb placed at the window. It'll detonate the moment I open it."
Peter shrugged. This level of trap had no effect on his Spider-Sense. He controlled his Spider-Bot to dismantle the pumpkin bomb. Thanks to the technical support from Osborn, he was able to directly disarm the bomb's fuse mechanism.
"Done. Let me check again. No anomalies. Perfect."
Peter said this as he climbed into Ned's house, then scanned the equipment. He disarmed the fuses of all the pumpkin bombs in the closet and used a pre-installed program to hack Ned's glider and exoskeleton armor. Finally—
"Let's go for a DC style, buddy."
Venom responded by shifting into an all-black suit. Peter sat there quietly, waiting for Ned to return home.
Ned Leeds finished his busy day and returned home. He felt like he had forgotten something, yet perhaps he hadn't. His mental state these past two days was very poor, and he was distracted, so much so that even J. Jonah Jameson thought he needed a break.
Should he really take a leave of absence?
Anxiously, Ned opened his room door. But before he could turn on the light, he heard a low, raspy voice ask him, "Ned Leeds, do you know what you've done?"
Me? What have I done?
Ned was frantic, starting to wonder if he had offended someone. The low voice continued to press him: "You went to that restaurant and found some fragments on the floor, didn't you?"
In an instant, Ned's nerves seemed to be shocked by electricity. He suddenly understood exactly what he had forgotten.
He... he remembered. He wasn't a reporter named Ned Leeds, he was...
"Calm down, Ned."
A sharp reprimand interrupted his internal struggle. Ned then collected himself and spoke with shock.
"You... you are... you're Batman?!"
"No! I'm Spider-Man!"
[Aren't you cosplaying as Batman?]
I am cosplaying as Batman, but I am Spider-Man.
"Where did you get all this gear? Especially the bombs, the same kind that caused the restaurant explosion?!"
"I, I..."
A thousand thoughts raced through Ned's mind in a split second. Veins began to bulge beneath his skin, which gradually turned gray. Peter immediately noticed this and grabbed his arm: "Did someone inject you with serum? Or did you inject yourself?"
"I am! The Hobgoblin!"
The now completely gray-skinned Ned exerted force, intending to slam Spider-Man against the wall. Then, he himself flew backward, was thrown against the wall, and stuck there by Spider-Man's webbing.
"Spider-Man, I'm going to..."
"Listen, Ned, you are not the real Hobgoblin. Someone framed you, set you up, and filled your head with wrong ideas. You have to fight back, prove that you are not their puppet. Tell me, what exactly did you see? Who is the real Hobgoblin?"
Ned's eyes flickered, seemingly remembering something. But then, his gaze became panicked.
Even if the other person didn't say anything, Peter knew he was in trouble, because his Spider-Sense was buzzing incessantly. This could only mean one thing.
He swiftly turned around and used a web-shot to encapsulate the pumpkin bomb that had smashed through the window. The bomb was thus blocked, landed near the window, and instantly detonated. The flame illuminated the night. Peter looked outside. A man on a glider, wearing an exoskeleton battlesuit, appeared before him.
"Hello, Spider-Man. I heard you were looking for me?"
Beneath the flames, the man let out a sinister, cackling laugh. Peter looked around, said sorry, then webbed a chair and immediately flung it at the person outside. The figure quickly fled on the glider. Peter darted after him. His Spider-Sense immediately rang out as the person threw a pumpkin bomb along his escape route.
Flames surged instantly. Spider-Man leaped out of the fire and looked toward the man in the night, who was driving the glider and even paused and turned back toward him. The Hobgoblin let out a bizarre laugh before immediately leaving. Peter instantly pursued.
"You know what, Spider-Man? I've always understood you. I know you're very smart, so I specially prepared a gift for you, Ned Leeds. Isn't it wonderful? You walked right into the trap! Rushing in desperately, and then falling into the trap yourself!"
"Trap? Are you talking about your Halloween costume, or your pitiful little pumpkin? Sorry, but Halloween ended two months ago!"
Peter fired his webbing at the Hobgoblin, but the Hobgoblin seemed to have anticipated the move and dodged it. Then, another pumpkin bomb was thrown. Peter subconsciously dodged, only to realize something was wrong—his Spider-Sense didn't buzz much!
The opponent's pumpkin bomb was thrown at the crowd below!
A web-shot instantly snagged the pumpkin bomb and flung it back at the Hobgoblin. The Hobgoblin countered with another pumpkin bomb. The two bombs detonated in mid-air. Amidst the intense heat, small knives were fired from both sides of the flying glider, aimed at Spider-Man.
"So, is that all you can do? Throwing bombs at people, or little knives?"
Two flying knives accurately shot toward the Hobgoblin, striking his body, but not fatally. Peter landed on the glider and punched the opponent, then shouted angrily: "Is that all the skill you have?"
"Hahaha, hahaha, of course not, Spider-Man, hahahaha."
The Hobgoblin, who had just taken a punch from Peter, suddenly laughed maniacally without reason. Amidst his anger and confusion, Peter saw the Hobgoblin's mask.
The eye holes of the mask were hollowed out, and Peter could see the terror and flowing tears in the eyes of the person beneath the mask.
"You are not the Hobgoblin. No, this isn't the Hobgoblin!"
"This is certainly the Hobgoblin, Spider-Man. Arnold Donovan, in his predetermined fate, is destined to become the Hobgoblin, just like Ned Leeds!"
Although the other person's eyes were filled with terror, the voice beneath the mask was playful: "The King of the Goblins says hello to you, Spider-Man. Are you ready?"
"The Hobgoblins are not ordinary people riding gliders and wearing costumes; they are merely degraded Green Goblins!"
Accompanying a punch aimed at Spider-Man, the latter caught the blow. The two of them simultaneously fell from a great height, crashing onto the rooftop of a building.