Chapter 6:

"What was that?" Gwen pushed past Miles, bursting into the apartment.

"Uh… nothing," Miles fumbled with the lie as he darted back in front of Gwen, desperately trying to ignore the fear that pulsated through his veins, eating away at him. "I was just… watching a movie. No big deal."

"I thought you had things to do!" Gwen threw her arms up, her face hardening. "If you didn't want to talk, then you could have just said-"

"Gwen, it's not that-"

THUD!

The sound sent shivers down Miles' spin as he spun around on the heels of his feet, forgetting about Gwen and Peter and Kitty and all the drama that needed to be sifted through. He forgot about the secret that Peter needed him to keep and he forgot about the danger that the Green Goblin posed. He had no time to think of any of it. He rushed into the living room as Gwen cursed at him for answers.

"You've gotta be kidding me," the Goblin said with a huff, tossing Aaron's body to the side, smashing through the coffee table. Blood smeared across the walls, the crimson glinting in the dim light. "Haven't we been through all this already? I should have killed you both then. I don't have time for reruns."

"Miles, what the he-" Gwen shot into the room, her blonde hair tangling around her face. And then she saw what was happening. Her face contorted to show the fear she felt, her muscles visibly tensed, her eyes seemed to draw back into her skull.

"Gwen," Miles whispered, speaking through the corner of his mouth, making sure he never turned away from the Goblin. His eyes stayed glued on the green clad monster in front of him, never wavering. "Just… g-give me a sec, okay?"

"Oh," the Goblin pressed a finger to his lips in intrigue. "Now, what do we have here, hmm? Hey, wait a second, I think I know you. Gwen Stacy, right?"

"I…" Gwen swallowed hard, her body staying still and yet her hands trembling violently.

"Police captain's daughter, right?" Goblin took a step forward, brandishing a blade. "George Stacy, if I remember correctly. Your full name is Gwendolyn Maxine Stacy. Born March eighteenth, 2001, right? Currently attending New York's own Midtown High magnet school, right now at the top of your class, too. Very nice, very nice. Impressive, really. Not many people can have-"

"H-how do you… how do you know all that?"

"Oh," Goblin cackled again, hunching over slightly so that he was eye to eye with Gwen. He dragged his knife against her cheek, ushering blood to come trickling down. "I keep tabs on everyone that I may need to… let's just say dispose of, should the opportunity and/or need ever arise. And you, Miss Stacy, happen to fall quite high on that list, just behind the other two in this room, actually. See, I'm a very dangerous and very powerful man. But the plight of the powerful man is to keep his power. Because really, there's nothing that someone like me would fear more than losing power. Than watching it slip away as if it were never there at all."

"Back away from her," Miles stifled out the demand, although fear had choked it into a mere whimper.

"Can you believe him," Goblin laughed, never moving his eyes away from Gwen. "What kind of sexist garbage is this? Does he really think you can't take care of yourself? Yeesh. You know, he should really be brought into the twenty-first century. Of course…" he turned away from Gwen, moving slowly over to Miles, his footsteps creaking against the floorboards. He held the knife out, flaunting it about like it was a ribbon of some sort. "He's not going to have much time to learn. See, your poor uncle over there is just moments away from bleeding out, from slipping away from this miserable life of his. And… well, that technically makes you a witness with a grudge. So I have to kill you," he turned back to Gwen. "And then that, in turn, would make you a witness with a grudge. Basically, all three of you are dying today. I probably could have just said that, but, as I'm sure you could tell, I like hearing myself talk."

"Y-you can't do that," Gwen said. "My father would… he'd come looking for you. If I'm dead, he'll be-"

"True," Goblin stood up straight, his fingers wrapping around his chin as he contemplated the problem. "But see, here's the thing. It might be good to give ol' Georgie a little shake back into reality. He's a good guy, if there even is such a thing. Makes him harder to buy off than other police officers. But seeing his poor little girl crammed into a box and Fedexed to his office sure would show him his place."

"Y-you wouldn't," Gwen stammered, a single tear falling down her face.

"I'm afraid I don't have much of a choice, Gwensie," Goblin smiled, as he plunged the knife into Miles' chest.

It could have just been a coincidence.

He doubted it, but maybe Herman Schultz just really like ice-cream. He could have frequented the place and…

Or, Peter reasoned, he could be here to kill me. Could the Goblin just be trying to clean house?

"I'll be right back," Peter said as he set his spoon down, letting it sink further down into the sundae.

"Is everything okay?" Kitty asked as she swallowed a bit of her sundae.

"Yeah," Peter forced a smile onto his face despite the situation he had found himself in. "I'm just gonna run to the bathroom real quick."

"Oh," Kitty smiled, turning back to her ice cream. "Okay."

Peter ducked behind a newspaper rack not far from where Schultz was. He watched as the man sat down at a chair not far from where Kitty was sitting. Stevie shuffled behind the counter, making her way over to Schultz. Peter listened to the regular pleasantries, paid close attention as Schultz ordered, waiting for some clue as to what he was doing.

The bell rang and another man entered. Peter, suddenly aware of how strange he looked lurking over the newspaper rack, began sifting through the latest edition of the Daily Bugle, skipping past the front page story about the state of the Avengers.

The new man meandered over to Schultz, every step caked in indecision. He was tall, gangly, his face gaunt and his chin speckled with scraggly stubble. He wore a heavy jacket, which seemed odd even for the cool of the autumn air. It took Peter a moment to realize that the man was missing his right arm, the sleeve folded upward.

"Mister Schultz," the man stuttered, turning to Shocker. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. I know-"

"Please," Schultz said. "It's no problem. Especially not if what you say is true, Doctor Connors."

"I assure you. It is."

"Good," Schultz nodded and smiled, clapping a hand on Connors' back. "'Cause these last couple months have been… rough, let's say. The underworld has always been my home. I've never known another way to make a living, really. I grew up doing it. Robbing places, lying, cheating, stealing. But, when that's what you're left with, you learn how things work. How the real world works. The little tricks that keep you alive, keep you breathing for just one more day."

"And…" Connors looked over nervously, his eyes darting around the shop, his fingers folding over themselves in constant repetition. "What… what are you trying to-"

"You can't trust anyone," Schultz forced a smile upon his face as he gladly accepted the ice cream cone from Stevie.

"And what can I get for you?" Stevie smiled kindly, turning to Connors.

"Scoop of vanilla," Connors nodded, his eyes shifting downward as if he had suddenly become fascinated with the patterns that danced across the counter. "I-in a bowl, please."

Stevie nodded, spinning back, brandishing her scooper.

"Vanilla," Schultz chuckled. "You must be more boring than I had heard, Doc."

"I… yeah," Connors chuckled, his hand rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I guess."

"Say," Schultz asked, "why exactly an ice cream shop. I mean, a place like this has the ability to ruin the rep of a well established… I'll go with businessman such as myself."

"I…" a deep sadness crept into Connors' voice. "I used to take my son here. Figured no one would be looking in a place such as this. And I guess I wanted to… look, do you mind, umm, finishing up. I don't want to be out and… exposed like this for any longer than I really need to be."

"Good man, Doc," Schultz said. "Cautious, alert. Always thinking. I like it. Anyway, where was I?"

"You were saying h-how you can't trust anyone?"

"Right," Schultz nodded emphatically. "Right. So, you can't trust anyone. Gotta expect them ta take a knife an' stab you in the back at any moment. That goes for the boss, too. An' the Goblin, he's… well, he's trouble. And not the good kind of trouble. If you wanna get involved with this stuff, Doc, you gotta learn the difference. Good trouble gets you money. Bad trouble gets you dead."

Connors nodded like he understood as he accepted the bowl from Stevie. He fished through his pockets for a moment and plunked a bill on the counter. From where he stood, Peter couldn't see how much it was worth.

"That should cover me and my… friend, here," Connors said. "Keep the change."

"Thanks," Stevie smiled, whisking away in a flurry of movements to help another customer.

"So like I said," Schultz continued, ignoring the brief interruption. "This new boss is bad trouble. I don't wanna touch the Goblin with a ten foot pole. But he's got a monopoly on the whole underworld. The only real competition for 'im is Fisk, an' I'm sure as hell not going to work for that guy. So I'm looking for new options. New avenues to exploit. I wanna take the Goblin down a peg, knock him offa his little throne. But with all the superhumans it's rumored he's got, not to mention the normal firepower, it's risky ta do that kinda think alone. I need help."

"And… what exactly do you think I can do? I… I'm not a part of this like you. Not really. I just stumbled into it. Goblin needed scientists and-"

"That's the point, man," Schultz said. "I know you might not be a bunch of firepower, but you know more about the Goblin's superhuman plan than anything. That's what you were working on, right?"

"I… something like that. It was a little more complicated. The Goblin promised that I wasn't making weapons or anything. T-that fell to Octavius and Warren."

"Right," Schultz nodded. "Octavius made my Shocker suit. An' I heard that Warren was behind that Rhino guy a few weeks back. But you've gotta know something, right?"

"I-I don't know that I should tell you. It's… it's risky."

"Well, Doc, sometimes risks are just worth taking."

Peter was practically leaning on top of the newspaper rack, straining to hear every word they were saying. He had forgotten about everything else. It was like he had kicked into Spider-Man mode, and there was no getting out of it at the moment. At least until he felt the tap on his shoulder.

"Peter?"

"Kitty," he shot back, jerking his head around so fast it almost gave him whiplash. The newspaper dropped, the funny pages slipping to the floor. "Hey, I-"

"Look," Kitty said, biting her lip. "I… I'm sorry if I made things awkward. I know-"

"Kitty, it wasn't that," Peter checked behind him, making sure Connors and Schultz were staying in place, still talking. "I was just-"

"Forget it, okay," Kitty sighed. "I'm sorry I… it was stupid. But if we can't handle it, if things don't work because of it, then I'm not gonna keep doing this. If you need some time to process this, then go ahead. But I'm heading back to my place."

"Kitty," Peter called out as Kitty made her way to the door. She stopped, her hand pressed against the handle. Her head cocked to the side slightly, but with a sigh, she kept going, cool air brushing against the floor. Peter cursed at himself as he raced after her. As he neared, he heard one last bit of the conversation between Schultz and Connors.

"As long as what you told me over the phone is true," Schultz said, a sudden surge of confidence in his voice, "we don't need guns. We don't need superpowers. And it's true?"

"Yeah," Connors sighed. "I know who the Goblin really is."