Chapter 56: The Ever-Present Bat-Cape
Sunset descended, stretching all shadows into elongated shapes.
Queens, on a pedestrian street less than twenty kilometers from Osborn Manor.
Norman Osborn wore a stolen gray-black bedsheet like a cloak, hiding the green Goblin suit beneath.
As the sky darkened, the pedestrian street filled with after-work crowds. Norman walked aimlessly with lowered head, occasionally swiping fruit from passing vendors to satisfy his hunger.
Two nights ago, Batman had infiltrated his study's secret chamber at Osborn Manor. Since fleeing in panic, he'd been hiding in someone's attic.
"How much longer will you keep living like a vagrant?"
An abrupt voice rang beside Norman's ear. He looked around in terror, then slowly crouched before a puddle on the ground.
The reflected figure wasn't Norman Osborn, but the Green Goblin mask with disgusting yellow eyes.
"Poor Norman. Can't go home, can't show your face at the company. Do you plan to keep hiding like this?"
The puddle's reflection—those yellow, sinister eyes—stared fixedly at Norman.
Norman's teeth chattered. He didn't dare look directly at the reflected eyes, speaking in a lowered voice.
"You ruined me. If you hadn't committed murder on sublevel three, if you hadn't killed the Smythe family, Batman wouldn't have come!"
"I'm not going home to avoid involving Harry. Not going to the company to avoid hurting others."
Norman's words fell—a piercing sound suddenly rang out nearby. His terrified gaze followed the sound source to see the Goblin standing in a mirror erected by a street shop, one finger pointing at him while laughing madly.
"Don't want to hurt Harry? Don't want to hurt others at the company?"
The Goblin laughed so hard he nearly doubled over.
"Then tell me—that night in the secret chamber when I aimed missiles at the pumpkin bombs, why didn't you stop me?"
Norman's lips moved wordlessly.
"You don't want to hurt others at the company, but look at the evening paper. What does it say?"
This time the Goblin appeared in the reflection of a passing woman's watch. Just as Norman started to follow, a Daily Bugle evening edition floated before him from nowhere.
It featured this morning's events.
Hell's Kitchen gang leader Kingpin had attempted to gain absolute controlling interest in Oscorp and vote Norman himself out of the board.
Then Silver Sable Security's president hired lawyers to stop Kingpin. Batman brawled with Kingpin in the conference room.
"This, this..."
Norman knelt on the ground, spreading the entire paper flat, reading its contents word by word.
Pedestrians came and went hastily. Whether intentionally or not, the paper was soon covered with various footprints. Norman's hand was stepped on several times.
But he seemed oblivious, staring fixedly at the lines about Kingpin planning to vote him out.
"Look—you were gone barely a day and nearly lost the business empire you built with your own hands. Harry is a useless waste. You must accept me, Norman."
"You need me."
The Goblin's seductive words echoed in Norman's ears.
"Will you keep living like a vagrant? Let bats occupy Osborn Manor? Let outsiders take Oscorp?"
"No!" Anger flashed across Norman's face. "I can't tolerate this happening... Kingpin's been sent to the precinct. My only remaining opponent is Batman!"
In the puddle, the Goblin's face reappeared. The cold metal mask now seemed to wear a mocking smile.
"Yes. We need to track him. Target the people closest to him. End his life while he's drowning in pain and despair."
Norman repeated the Goblin's words in a low voice.
"Track him..."
"Track who?"
The Goblin's reflection in the puddle suddenly vanished. A voice completely different from the Goblin's sinister tone rang out behind Norman.
This voice had almost no emotional fluctuation—cold as a machine.
Norman hastily turned around to discover the pedestrian street had somehow cleared. People stood dozens of meters away, pointing at him and discussing in low voices.
Behind him, the familiar black figure stood less than three meters away. The sunset's afterglow bloomed its last light before nightfall behind Batman's head. Golden rays scattering from his sharp pointed ears made Norman instinctively retreat half a step.
Evening wind brushed past. Norman saw Batman now had a cape behind him, gently swaying in the breeze.
"Norman Osborn. You need to come with me." Batman said.
Before coming to Queens to arrest the Green Goblin, Batman had first visited Parker Industries to craft a cape from the secondary material now producible, then approached Norman's vicinity.
"Heh-heh."
The Goblin's characteristic sinister tone emerged from Norman's mouth. He reached toward his lower back, pulling out his mask from beneath the gray-black bedsheet cloak, snapping it onto his head with a click.
His greatest fear was being ambushed by Batman like in the secret chamber two nights ago.
But now that Batman showed himself proactively, the Goblin wasn't worried instead.
Though his glider wasn't his usual one, it still carried micro-missiles and bullets. His suit also concealed that sharp green blade.
With so many onlookers around, grabbing any one as a hostage would suffice to threaten Batman.
Just delay a few more seconds until his Green Goblin glider arrived—
"No use trying to stall."
Batman stood like a statue, completely motionless. His low voice slowly rang out.
"I've hacked into your armor's onboard programs."
Plan B: hack the Green Goblin suit, completely disable its programs, eliminate the Goblin's mobility.
What!
The Goblin's heart jumped. Only now did he discover his suit had been completely shut down. Forget summoning the glider—even his armor's own propulsion system had failed.
Besides still providing protection, this suit had lost almost all other functions.
WOO-WAH WOO-WAH—
Just then, another sound made the Goblin's heart sink. Queens precinct had received reports and arrived rapidly. While dispersing surrounding onlookers, police cars blocked the street. Over a dozen dark gun barrels simultaneously aimed at both the Goblin and Batman.
"Raise your hands and stay where you are! You're surrounded!"
Suit disabled, police encircling—the Goblin looked around before leaping.
With a tremendous crash, relying on his super soldier serum-enhanced physique, the Goblin far exceeded ordinary people even without armor propulsion.
He didn't choose to battle Batman here. Instead, he jumped onto a street-side building, hands forming claws to firmly grip every protrusion—sometimes forcefully digging fingers straight into walls.
New York's towering buildings allowed the Goblin to maneuver and leap between high walls relying on strength. But his mouth could no longer stretch into a grin. His mood held no relief from escape.
Batman remained constantly nearby—shrouding him like a shadow. When the wide cape spread in the air, it seemed like a vulture waiting for prey to die before eating its carrion.
More importantly, though the escape route seemed the Goblin's own choice with Batman merely following, when night fully descended the Goblin discovered he'd unknowingly arrived near the East River.
Almost no people here. Empty and quiet all around—like a grave the Goblin had found for himself.