Spider-Man dodged another pumpkin bomb. It had only been a week since the funeral of Norman Osborn, who unknown to most was the Green Goblin. Most people believed he had died in a helicopter accident as opposed to having been sent crashing into a pumpkin bomb cannon during his final fight with Spider-Man. Only a few people knew he was the Green Goblin, and only Spider-Man knew Norman was fully aware of what he was doing as opposed to out of his mind on designer steroid Globulin Green. Now, however, it seemed there was someone trying to take his place. He didn't look like a Goblin, though. He wore a dark green outfit, which instead of being covered with a purple jacket was covered with bright green chainmail, with bright green gloves and boots. And instead of a goblin mask, he wore what looked like a helmet taken from one of the Goblin's pumpkin-headed henchmen.

"You know, just because your boss is gone doesn't mean you replace him," he snarked at the villain.

"I'm not one of the Goblin's useless pumpkin heads, I'm Jack'O'Lantern!" he proclaimed as he tossed a pair of pumpkin bombs. "Just because he failed doesn't mean I will!"

"Somehow, I doubt that," Spider-Man retorted, dodging the bombs. He then went swinging into Jack's chest, sending him flying off the glider and crashing into the wall. He hit hard enough to knock several bricks off the wall and fell onto a closed dumpster, bouncing off and knocking him unconscious. Landing on the ground after the glider smashed into another wall, Spider-Man walked up and took off the pumpkin mask. To his mild relief it wasn't Harry Osborn, who he had feared might do something rash like start using Globulin Green again. In fact, it was someone he barely knew, Roderick Kingsley, a fashion critic whose career had been on the slide for a while now. How he had gotten some of the Goblin's old gear was anyone's guess. Either way, Spider-Man wouldn't have to worry about this guy much longer, and webbed him to the ground for the police to arrest. Picking up his camera before swinging off, Spider-Man found an alley near Empire State University to duck into and changed clothes to that of Peter Parker. Hopefully, he would be able to sell the pictures to Jameson later.

Later…

Peter hadn't gotten as much as he would have wanted from Jameson for the pictures but it was adequate. Aunt May had gone out for dinner with a friend, so he was getting ready to head back out as Spider-Man when he got a surprising knock on the door. Going to answer it, he was surprised to see Gwen Stacy on his front porch. He had recently confessed his love to her and she had reciprocated but at Norman's funeral, she decided to stay with Harry to help him through his father's death. This was the first time they had been alone together since his confession.

"Gwen," he said, breaking the silence. "I didn't know you were coming."

"I didn't either," she replied. "Can we talk inside?"

"Sure," he said, letting her in. "It's nice to see you but I thought you made clear at the funeral you were staying with Harry."

"That's not why I'm here," she said. "Do you know Dr. Warren at ESU?"

"I have seen him, all I know is that he replaced Connors at the biology lab," he replied. "He doesn't strike me as that friendly."

"Well, I've still been interning so I can go there after graduation," she said. "Today, Warren said 'You'll be a good scientist…in a couple of years.' He also gave me a rather uncomfortable look when he said it."

"Gwen, I think you should be telling your dad this," Peter replied.

"There is no record of what he said," Gwen explained. "I don't want to risk my internship while I can't prove anything. Anyway, after he said that, I walked out of the building to get some fresh air. That is when I saw Spider-Man go into an alley, and take off his costume. You were the one underneath it." Peter was shocked, she had discovered his secret. "I wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, Harry's dad is dead because of Spider-Man but he-or rather YOU-have saved me more times than I can count. And, I still love you, so I would like to hear what you have to say." Peter mulled over his options, lying to her didn't seem like it had much chance of success, and it wasn't like Halloween where he could just say he was in a costume. Finally, he made his decision.

"Alright, this is the truth," he began. For over an hour he explained everything to her, how he had been bitten by a radioactive spider in Dr. Connors's lab, how Uncle Ben died because he didn't stop Walter Hardy from fleeing wrestling arena, and how their old friend Eddie Brock had turned into Venom because he was infected with the parasitic slime monster that disappeared from ESU labs shortly after arriving. Gwen was stunned, especially by how one of her oldest friend had tried to kill her in order to hurt Peter. Then came the big questions, the ones about why he killed Norman.

"I was trying to ground his glider, not send it flying into a pumpkin cannon," Peter explained. "Also, Norman wasn't a crazed addict like Harry thinks. On Halloween, I was almost positive Norman was the Green Goblin. After fleeing our battle with an apparent limp, I went to his penthouse. During our final fight, Norman revealed what he did: he found Harry had passed out from using the Green. In order to convince me that Harry's subconscious was the Green Goblin, Norman dressed him in the costume, and to make it more convincing, broke his leg as well." Gwen was shocked, Norman had never been a particularly nice man, but she never thought that he would go so far as to hurt his own son as part of a ploy to trick someone onto his wrongdoing. Would Harry listen to this, though? One thing was for sure, she couldn't reveal Peter's secret.

"Your secret's safe with me," she said. After a moment's hesitation, she decided to kiss him, surprising Peter. He responded lovingly to the kiss. After a moment, they broke apart.

"I thought you were staying with Harry," he said.

"I'll always care for him but I don't think we can stay together," she said. "We had been growing apart even before you admitted you loved me. And he has a lot of unresolved anger towards, well you. He has recently started going to a psychiatrist but honestly, it is time we start seeing other people." To that, she kissed him again, and Peter responded much more eagerly. Neither of them realized there was a man with a microphone and camera who had been listening to them the whole time. He stayed there in the bushes until Gwen left the house. At that moment, he went back to his van and drove off to meet his employer.

At Riker's Island Infirmary…

Jason Macendale was rather pleased with himself. A police lieutenant who had been stuck behind a desk ever since he had broken a handcuffed suspect's nose, Macendale had become a trusted problem solver for Norman Osborn, disappearing bodies, finding blackmail material, and occasionally eliminating witnesses. He was one of the few people who knew his secret employer was in fact alive and hiding in the Cayman Islands, recovering from his battle with Spider-Man. Norman had charged him with finding Spider-Man's weaknesses and with defending the name of the Goblin. Right now, he was doing the second of those two tasks. He had switched off the cameras in this part of the prison, where Roderick Kingsley was being held. Kingsley had several broken ribs and a cracked spinal column after his battle with Spider-Man. The struggling fashion critic had stumbled onto a cache of the Green Goblin's gear and decided to create his own costume based on it. Unsurprisingly, he came up short against Spider-Man, and now Macendale was here to make an example out of the fool who thought he could succeed the Green Goblin. Walking into the hospital room, he walked up to Kingsley.

"So, you are the pretender to the goblin," he smirked. "I have to tell you that you are truly pathetic, and that he is not amused." Kingsley's eyes blinked in surprise at the last statement. "Oh yes, my employer is still alive. He has made me his successor, but he has decided to give you a chance." Macendale took out a pumpkin bomb with an extended timer on it. Placing it on the table next to Kingsley, he activated it. "If you can flip the switch back down, it will turn off and you will have earned your life but let's be real, you can't even do that." Walking out of the prison, Macendale had reached his car when the bomb went off. Checking his phone as everyone else ran to investigate the blast, he saw he had text telling him to meet from one of his detectives, Mac Gargan. Gargan was also unethical and Macendale had assigned him to look into Peter Parker, a photographer who consistently took good pictures of Spider-Man, and who had once been accused of being Spider-Man by the creature called Venom. Unlike others, Macendale was unconvinced Parker was just a skilled photographer who went as Spider-Man on Halloween. He was eager to find out what Gargan had found.

Hey everyone, I felt like writing this instead of more Star Wars. I hope you all like it, does anyone want a continuation?