Green Goblin

Golden light filled the hall, and the dazzling crystal chandelier seemed to turn slowly amid the shifting glow. Light, soothing music drifted through the hall as military dignitaries in formal uniforms adorned with medals moved about the brightly lit room. There were also several prominent figures from New York City's political and business circles.

Michael Passo and his secretary, Elizabeth, entered the venue at around eight o'clock. Brad Bowen of the Military Committee was a neatly groomed, impeccably dressed old man who gave off a warm and approachable impression at first glance. With a friendly smile on his face, he walked toward the entrance.

"Go find yourself something to drink and relax," Michael whispered into Elizabeth's ear. "I'll call you if I need anything."

"Understood, sir."

Elizabeth was not much of a talker. She stepped aside, and Brad Bowen approached with a smile, shaking Michael's hand with his rough, powerful palm.

"Mr. Passo," Brad said, "what a surprise. I heard your busy work always made it difficult for you to get away."

"That was true. But Elizabeth told me that tonight's banquet had invited quite a few important friends from the military, so I figured it might indeed look improper if I stayed in the lab all the time." Michael paused, then added half-jokingly, "Besides, I plan to drink all the beer here."

Brad laughed, and the two began walking side by side through the crowd toward the center of the venue.

"About the Micro-missiles you proposed last time," he said, "have there been any developments?"

"Things are going smoothly." Michael shrugged and casually took a glass of whiskey from a nearby waiter. "The size issue has been resolved. We're currently testing different warheads to see how they perform."

"And the power?"

Michael smiled mysteriously and raised his glass. "You'll see when we do the live demonstration."

"Very well. Then I'll be waiting eagerly."

The background music gradually built toward its climax, and the lively rhythm seemed to make the atmosphere in the hall even more animated.

Until the arrival of an uninvited guest suddenly pushed the mood to its peak.

The towering glass curtain wall shattered with a sharp CRASH. A green phantom burst through it atop a silver-white glider, two trails of flame and black smoke spraying from its rear. The green demon arrogantly circled the crystal chandelier twice on his glider, letting out hysterical laughter.

"Hi! New York's important people! Are you all having a pleasant evening?"

He shouted at the top of his lungs, followed by another burst of wild laughter. Gun barrels extended from beneath the Glider and spewed fire indiscriminately across the venue. Bullets blasted glass and dinner plates to pieces, sending wine and food flying everywhere. The guests cried out and ducked for cover as terror swiftly took over.

Security rushed into the venue, but they were clearly helpless in this situation. The green madman standing on the Glider suppressed them with overwhelming firepower. They did not even last ten seconds.

The green figure was quite pleased with his control over the situation. He stopped flying around like an annoying buzzing fly, and the sharp, venomous gaze behind his mask swept coldly over the well-dressed elites before quickly locking onto Michael.

The Glider descended slowly with the hum of its engine, hovering before Michael Passo. The young man stood where he was without changing expression, his arms folded across his chest. He looked up at the bizarrely dressed figure on the Glider as though he were watching a clown onstage.

"Look at that. Our genius Michael Passo is as arrogant as ever," the green figure said in a shrill, strange voice.

"I'd say my attitude toward most people is fairly humble," Michael said blandly. "But for certain clowns who weren't invited to the banquet and decided to put on a Halloween costume before jumping in through the window... I'll admit they aren't particularly deserving of respect."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." The other man waggled a green finger. "That's because you don't know me well enough. You don't understand what I'm capable of. Once you learn how terrifying the Green Goblin is, you'll start praying."

"Sorry, but that name only strikes me as outdated and utterly unoriginal." Michael shrugged, then raised his eyes. A blade-like chill seemed to flash through them as he lowered his voice. "Or perhaps we should just call you Mr. Osborn instead. What do you think?"

The Green Goblin was an evil personality born from Norman Osborn's failed Oz Human Experiment. He granted Osborn physical abilities and reflexes far beyond those of an ordinary person and was a classic villain from Marvel's Spider-Man series. As a transmigrator, Michael did not know a great deal about Marvel comics, but he was not so ignorant that he would fail to recognize such a famous character.

The green demon mask concealed the Green Goblin's expression, but his eyes clearly shifted the instant his identity was exposed. He quickly recovered, however, and burst into laughter again.

"Oh? Am I?" He lowered the Glider and leaned in close to Michael, the words from his sinister grin seeming to carry an icy chill. "You know absolutely nothing about the Green Goblin, Mr. Passo."

"If you want to discuss something with me privately, I happen to be free," Michael said coolly. "But there's no need to hold all these guests here."

The Green Goblin laughed again.

"You see, you still don't understand." He spoke loudly. "This is what makes it fun! So many people watching, so many spectators! Things are only just getting exciting!"

A crisp tapping sound against the glass interrupted their conversation. Everyone turned toward the sound and saw a slender figure in a red-and-blue bodysuit crouched at the crack in the glass window that the Glider had smashed through, a web-patterned head peeking in through the opening.

It was Spider-Man, who had become active around New York recently.

Spider-Man? Michael raised an eyebrow. Sure enough, this was not entirely the MCU film universe. The timing of Spider-Man and the Green Goblin's appearances was enough to prove that. It seemed that the MCU's future plot developments could only serve as a general reference; he could no longer base all his future plans entirely on the movies.

"You." The Green Goblin turned to look at him, his eyes narrowing beneath the mask.

"Me." Spider-Man leaped down, landing on a messy dining table. "Seriously, Halloween is still a long way off. And your outfit really isn't convincing enough."

The Green Goblin temporarily cast Michael aside and controlled the Glider over to Spider-Man.

"Says the guy wearing a web-patterned head," the Green Goblin mocked. "Seriously, I have a better proposal. You and me, we're not so different. Think about how much we could accomplish if we worked together, Webhead. All those big-shot gangsters in New York would become history!"

Spider-Man propped up his chin, seeming to genuinely consider it.

"You mean ruling Manhattan? Or all five boroughs? That does sound pretty tempting." He then waved a hand. "But on second thought, forget it. I suddenly remembered that my principle is not to work with green people."

"Ha! What a shame, though not surprising in the slightest. But if I were you, I'd think it over carefully." The Green Goblin paused, lowering his voice into a cold, eerie chuckle. "Parker."

Spider-Man's pupils shrank beneath his lenses.

The Green Goblin raised his right hand, and flame suddenly burst from the index finger of his glove. Spider-Man reacted swiftly and leaped aside. The dining table beneath him was instantly blown open with a hole the size of a bowl.

Spider-Man spun around and fired two web lines at the underside of the second-floor walkway. Using them to propel himself upward, he flipped in midair and slammed both feet toward the Green Goblin on the Glider. The Green Goblin leaned back slightly as the Glider blasted out a tail flame and dodged aside. He laughed smugly. "Ha! Missed!"

Spider-Man flipped twice through the air and landed on the glass curtain wall along the inner side of the hall. The Green Goblin turned around, and several gun barrels extended from beneath the Glider. Long streams of fire poured out amid a continuous RAT-TAT-TAT, but Spider-Man nimbly sprang away as the fierce barrage shattered the glass curtain wall. The venue instantly erupted into chaos, and the guests took the chance to rush toward the various exits.

"Green Goblin!" Spider-Man was in midair as two web lines grabbed two chairs and hurled them along long arcs toward the Green Goblin above. "Catch!"

The Green Goblin dodged one chair, then swung an arm and smashed the other apart in midair. Yet his movements paused involuntarily for a moment. Seizing the chance, Spider-Man switched to two new web lines and quickly swung in front of the Green Goblin before lunging onto his Glider Board.

"Hey! This isn't something you should be playing with!" the Green Goblin shouted, suddenly throwing a punch straight at the webbed head before him. "Get off!"

Spider-Man tilted his head aside to dodge and answered with an unapologetic uppercut. "Really? But I suspect you might not have a license to drive this thing. I need to check your driver's license first."

The green and red figures crowded into the Glider's limited space, neither yielding an inch—neither with their fists nor their mouths. The Glider Board buzzed and careened around the hall like an out-of-control fly. The two standing on it fought fiercely back and forth, yet neither could knock the other off. Before long, the wayward Glider finally rammed through another window, carrying the two still locked in combat far into the distance until they vanished beneath the moonlight.

(Thanks to readers 160701224116320, I Don't Know What to Say, kabuto555, and Soldier 97 for their 100 Qidian Coin donations, and to Wan Shui Shuren for the 500 Qidian Coin donation!)