At
Casa Lane, Jane was still thinking about what was happening with Tania when a
report came on the radio. “SpiderGirl, Ninja Talon and the fourth vigilante
are in a battle against an aircraft similar to the one responsible for the
Groundhog Day Attack…”
“Uh
oh!” Jane said. “The Shadow is on it!” she said.
Less
than a minute later, the Shadowcar left Casa Lane.
The
Enigma had retreated to recuperate. ‘Did Mother experience this in Boston?’ she
wondered.
As
SpiderGirl swung in again she could see that the glider was rather battered,
and the Goblin’s suit was torn in places. She webbed up part of it and as
several of Ninja Talon’s shuriken hit home at damaged areas.
“The
Enigma was a tough opponent, SpiderGirl,” the Goblin said in a taunting tone.
“I’m
tougher,” SpiderGirl said. “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility and I
have the responsibility to protect the people of Lawndale from your plans,
whatever they are.”
“You’re
deluded!” the Goblin said. He threw a bomb in SpiderGirl’s direction.
She
threw it aside with a web, with it exploding in midair. She then signalled
Talon.
Ninja
Talon leapt off a rooftop onto the glider.
“Think
you can defeat me this way?” the Goblin asked.
“Yes!” Ninja Talon said as she grabbed him and tried
to flip him off the glider.
The
Goblin reacted. “I am also experienced in martial arts and this is a very
dangerous environment to spar.”
“I
know, but Spidey has my back.”
“You’re
rather familiar with her, aren’t you?”
Ninja
Talon was silent as she danced aside from one of the Green Goblin’s strikes.
The
Enigma regained her strength. ‘Is it a second wind?’ she wondered. She saw that
Ninja Talon and the Goblin were sparring on the glider. ‘They are both very
good,’ she thought. She thought about shooting the glider again, but she didn’t
want to risk hitting Ninja Talon.
The
Shadow arrived on the street as Ninja Talon flipped off the glider onto a fire
escape. She saw SpiderGirl attempting to web the glider again. “Let’s see,
dramatic fog and paint missile.” A targeting crosshair came up onto the heads-up
display and the Shadow targeted the glider with a touchpad on the horn button.
She then flipped another switch and a fog was released.
The
paint missile hit the glider, causing further damage. The Goblin, tired from
his sparring, only barely managed to hang on.
“Paint…”
SpiderGirl mused. “Is it the Shadow?”
“Probably,”
Ninja Talon said.
“And
the Goblin is distracted,” SpiderGirl said, as she swung off.
The
Enigma watched as the Shadow used a grapple gun to get onto a rooftop. ‘I’ll
help,’ she decided.
“The
Shadow. You didn’t do much last time,” the Goblin said.
“I
did plenty,” the Shadow said. “My fogs and those of my mentor helped defeat
you.”
“But
your mentor isn’t here.”
“No,
she isn’t, but she doesn’t need to be!”
“You
think you’re good enough?” the Green Goblin asked.
“Not
by myself, but SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon are still here.”
SpiderGirl
swung over the glider and webbed out more of the bombs.
“Distracting
me, is that it?” the Goblin asked.
“That’s
part of it!” Ninja Talon said as she flipped onto the glider again. Another
sparring session began.
“I
was fighting fair last time,” the Goblin said.
“So
was I!” Ninja Talon said as she unsheathed her katana and swiped the control
panel, causing more damage.
“No!”
the Goblin cried out as the glider began to fall.
“Yes!”
Ninja Talon said as she extended her talons. She swiped them across the
Goblin’s torso and leapt off the glider to another fire escape.
“Ow!”
the Goblin grumbled. The glider was still falling. He tried to pull it up. “Oh
no!”
The
Goblin ejected from the glider and activated a jetpack. He watched it explode
on the street. “You have won this battle, so called heroes of Lawndale! But I
will have the last laugh.”
“I
can still catch you!” the Enigma said from a nearby rooftop. She pointed her
arms downwards; palms open as her hands glowed with her powers.
“What?”
the Goblin asked.
The
Enigma pushed downwards telekinetically at the same time as firing projections
and thus launched into the air, towards where the Green Goblin was hovering.
“I’m
not defenseless,” the Goblin said as he raised a firearm.
With
a flick, the Enigma disarmed him and then the two collided in midair.
“What
is she doing?” Ninja Talon asked.
“Be
ready to catch either of them,” SpiderGirl said.
“I
am,” the Shadow said. “If you’re not.”
The
Enigma grappled with the Goblin. “This is for kidnapping Beresfield!” she said.
“And for trying to take over Lawndale!”
“Beresfield?
She was getting too close. As for Lawndale, I have plans,” the Goblin then
lowered his voice. “You don’t understand, Sandi!”
“What?”
the Enigma asked.
“I
just figured it out. Who else would bring up Beresfield?”
“Oops!”
the Enigma said as she pulled off the Goblin’s helmet with a burst of strength.
There
was a crazed look in his eyes. “And I know about your mother’s past.”
“She
was a superhero, and now I am,” the Enigma said as one of her hands started to
glow.
“She
was an antihero, who did things,” the Goblin said.
“What
else is new? So what? So am I and I do things!” the Enigma shot back. She then
shot a projection at the jetpack. She then telekinetically pushed it and the
Goblin in separate directions.
“Ugh!”
the Goblin said.
SpiderGirl
grabbed the Enigma as she fell.
“Truce,”
the Enigma said. “I need to rest.”
“Good,”
SpiderGirl responded. “But what did he say to you?”
“He
knows my secret identity.”
“That’s
not good,” SpiderGirl considered. “But I don’t want to know it.”
“I
may want to know yours, but I don’t want to find out this way.”
“Right.”
The
Shadow caught the Green Goblin. “Got you!”
“Oh
no! The Enigma did something!” the Goblin said.
“She
clearly did,” the Shadow said. “We all did. We defeated you.”
“I
don’t know who you are.”
“That’s
good! You can’t come after me.”
“She
definitely did something. There’s tingling in my legs,” the Goblin said.
“I’ll
get you to the Hospital,” the Shadow said.
“You
are?” Ninja Talon asked as she walked up.
“Yes.
It’s the least I can do.”
The ninja
nodded.
SpiderGirl
placed the Enigma on the ground. “Why do you want to be my rival?” she asked.
“Because
I think your methods aren’t what Lawndale needs. Too simplistic for a
complicated town of today.”
“Simplistic?
Taking responsibility isn’t simplistic!”
“At
least think about what I said,” the Enigma said as she turned and left.
The
Shadow placed the Goblin on the back seat. She pressed a button and he was
secured with seat belts. “You didn’t need to do that!” he said.
“I
will be driving fast,” the Shadow responded. “I want to get you to the hospital
quickly.”
Ninja
Talon watched the Shadow drive away. SpiderGirl then joined her. “We better get
going,” she said.
“Of
course.”
They
turned a corner, heading towards the Historia, which they could see in the
distance. “That was intense,” Ninja Talon said. “Almost as much as last week.”
“I
agree. It’s a good thing the Enigma and the Shadow showed up, otherwise there
would have been more damage and you might have been injured.”
“I
haven’t been yet.”
“Good,
but I have,” SpiderGirl said. “But I have enhanced healing.”
“I
have thought about that. But what did the Enigma say to you then?”
“That
the Goblin knows her secret identity.”
Ninja
Talon shook her head. “That’s not good.”
“It
isn’t. I don’t want to know hers…”
“What?”
“She
said that she wants to know mine,” SpiderGirl admitted.
“Then
I hope she doesn’t find out.”
“She
won’t. I’m certain about it.”
‘There’s
something she isn’t saying,’ Ninja Talon thought. ‘But she will tell me when
she’s ready.’
“But
that battle. Is that what the future holds for us? Protecting Lawndale from
villains like him, who cause destruction?”
“Probably.
But Oscorp is still here too.”
“That’s
a good point. Oscorp is bigger than just Norman Osborn,” SpiderGirl said.
The
Shadow pulled up as close to the Emergency Room at Cedars of Lawndale as she
could get.
“We’re
here,” she said, as she opened the back door. She saw that the Goblin was worse
than at the scene of the battle. ‘Fortunately, Mom was prepared,’ she thought
as she pressed a button and the seat extended out from the car and became a
wheelchair with a platform on the back.
“Coming
through,” the Shadow said as she and Osborn entered the ER.
“Is
that Norman Osborn?” one of the nurses asked.
“Yes.
I found him on a street downtown. It looks like something happened to him.”
“I’ll
get a chair and a doctor,” the nurse said.
It
wasn’t long before a doctor and a team of nurses came and took Osborn away. The
Shadow then zipped back to the car on the seat.
At
the Morgendorffers, Daria arrived back after the rescue and climbed back in
through the window. She placed the staff in her room and went to her mother’s
room.
Helen
heard knocking at the door. “Come in.”
Daria
opened the door. “I’m back,” she said quietly.
“What
did you find out?”
“Not
much.”
Helen
could tell her daughter was hiding something. ‘But that’s Daria all over. She
hasn’t gotten any more secretive since Jakey passed.’ Whatever it was, she
would tell her when she was ready. “Not much?” she asked anyway.
“I
need to think about it,” Daria said and sighed. “Have you seen anything about
Oscorp at work?”
“Of
course, Daria,” Helen said. “But nothing that is any different from other
corporations. Is it about what you said about their presence in Lawndale?”
“That’s
part of it,” Daria admitted. “But there’s more. I’ll say more another time,”
she said before leaving.
Helen
sighed.
Daria
went back to her room and started writing in her journal about the rescue of
Beresfield. ‘But what to tell Peterson about my possible hero identity? I can’t
form one from the meanings of either of my given names. Not on their own
anyway.’
“Is
that you, Sandi?” Linda asked.
“Yes,”
Sandi said as she came down the stairs.
“Did
you and Daria rescue Beresfield?”
“Yes,”
Sandi began and explained about the rescue and the following battle.
Sandi
had left out the fact that Osborn had figured out her secret identity. ‘I don’t
want to worry her too much,’ she thought.
“And
then there is Tania Ashworth,” her mother said. “She came around saying that
you’re the Shadow.”
“I
know, she was at the Morgendorffers at the same time as I was, assuming the
same of either of them.”
“Still,
you need to be more careful. If Tania is going around trying to figure out the
identities of the other vigilantes…”
“I
have been careful,” Sandi said, despite the fact she wasn’t when talking to
Osborn as the Goblin earlier.
Her
mother sighed.
Quinn
got home not long after Daria. She knocked on her door. “How did it go,
earlier?” she asked.
“It
was a success,” Daria answered.
“That’s
good news.”
“But
it’s a lot to take in. More about Oscorp.”
“What
else is new?” Quinn asked rhetorically.
Ashley-Amber
saw Brittany enter the kitchen. “There was a call for you earlier,” she said.
“Who?”
“Quinn.”
“I
caught up with her,” Brittany responded enigmatically.
“Good
to hear.”
Trent
got home from a gig to see Jane waiting in the kitchen. “What’s up, Janie?” he
asked.
“An
eventful evening,” Jane answered.
“In
what way?” Trent asked.
“Where
to start? Tania Ashworth, and then a battle against the Green Goblin.”
“I
thought we weren’t going to call him that? And what about Tania?”
“He
called himself that. He’s actually Norman Osborn. I took him to the hospital
afterwards,” Jane answered.
“Hmm,
you better start from the beginning.”
Jane
then explained, starting from Tania’s arrival.
Trent
thought on it when Jane had concluded with her dropping Osborn off at the
hospital. “The destruction of the glider, is good, right?”
“I’m
sure it was a prototype. If it’s gone, they might not make more right away. It
would be probably be a while before another is made,” Jane said. “Tania is more
of a threat.”
“But
what are you going do to do about that?”
“I’m
not sure, other than be more careful when accusing people as the Shadow.”
“At
least you know where you went wrong,” Trent said.
Jane
nodded and then went up to her room to take solace in her art before bed.
