"If you don't present yourself, Peter Parker, before me within four minutes and twenty seconds, then... your aunt and your uncle. Both of them will die."

Peter couldn't believe his ears for a moment. He stood frozen, trying to process what he'd just heard. When he finally collected his thoughts, an eerie chill had taken hold of his gaze.

*Thud!* *Thud!*

The two AK-47s slipped from his grasp, the weight of the situation finally sinking in. They hit the ground with a dull thud, the metallic clang echoing the abruptness of his actions.

The Hobgoblin, a mischievous glint in his eyes, turned to Peter with a raised eyebrow. His voice carried a hint of amusement as he spoke nonchalantly.

"Too heavy, huh?"

Mr. Ouroboros tilted his head slightly, his voice calm and measured as it escaped from behind the Vendetta mask. The mask's vendetta smile seemed to deepen as he continued.

"Not really. I prefer to feel the flesh with my own hands. Just realized this,

The Hobgoblin's creepy laughter echoed through the tense air as he wholeheartedly agreed with the mysterious figure before him.

"Interesting, you're just like me," he mused, the twisted delight evident in his tone. "I love it. Would you like to be my sidekick?"

Mr. Ouroboros shook his head, denying the untempting offer, and spoke in a calm tone.

"This Peter Parker... his uncle and aunt are very dear to him, you know. They're the only family he has."

The Hobgoblin released a heavu grunt, his voice both gruff and disturbingly cheerful.

"I know. That's precisely why they're my targets. Of course, it's all part of the ruse. I'll detonate the bomb even if Peter arrives on time. They will both meet their end, and I'll relish in the final laugh as I witness Parker's tearful face—HAHAHAHAHA—"

Mr. Ouroboros nodded thoughtfully, his voice shifting to a surprisingly soft and warm tone as he inquired further.

"Really? That's... theatrical. So, it's a bomb?"

The Hobgoblin's maniacal grin widened as he began to laugh hysterically.

"A bomb? HAHAHAHAHA! No, my friend, there are one hundred and nineteen bombs. Enough to reduce this entire neighborhood to utter ashes." 

He paused, his voice now laced with a complex mixture of emotions as he let out a heavy sigh.

"This would have never been possible without the help of my trusted companion, Bobo," he admitted, a hint of regret seeping into his words. "Unfortunately, I'll have to... dispose of him too."

Peter nodded calmly and mused aloud.

"Mr.Bobo too hmmm." 

Slowly, he raised his hands under the intense gaze of the Hobgoblin. His fingertips grazed his own face briefly, and he withdrew his hand, clutching it in his left palm. Tension filled the area.

A deep red luminescent glow bathed the surroundings, casting an unearthly aura over the scene. In the midst of this illumination, Peter's familiar face emerged, his eyes emitting an eerie radiance that seemed to illuminate his fair, olive-toned skin, sleek eyebrows, and long, captivating eyelashes.

It was a mesmerizing sight, transforming him into something more than human in that eerie crimson light emenating from his eyes.

Before the Hobgoblin could recover from his shock, a powerful palm covered his face, slamming him forcefully into the ground. The unexpected move caught him off guard, and for a fleeting moment, he was at the mercy of an unseen force.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!*

Dust and debris filled the air as a deep pit formed below, with Peter sitting atop the Hobgoblin amidst the chaos. His expression remained devoid of any emotion as he looked down at his defeated adversary, their roles now reversed in this eerie, silent moment of reckoning.

"Why? Why did you target me?"

A twisted and unsettling smile crept onto the Hobgoblin's face as he began to laugh in a chilling, maniacal manner.

"HIIHIHIHIHIHIHAHAHAHA!!!!"

His laughter echoed in the pit, creating an eerie and surreal atmosphere, almost sending shivers down Peter's spine.

The lunatic showed no signs of stopping, and in response, Peter's grip on the Hobgoblin's skull tightened, slowly applying crushing pressure.

The laughter of the yellow goblin began to muffle and distort, drowned out by the grim determination of Peter's actions. 

The goblin struggled, his face contorted in pain, but his laughter never transformed into screams. He locked eyes with Peter, the intensity of his gaze unyielding, as he spoke through gritted teeth, his voice hanging in the air.

"Isn't it obvious?"

Peter slowly released his grip on the Hobgoblin, his face etched with a mix of curiosity. He leaned in slightly, his voice firm but tinged with uncertainty.

"No. What is it?"

The tension in the pit remained still, and the Hobgoblin's laser-red eyes gleamed intensely as he whispered with eerie fervor.

"The last laugh. Only I can have it—HAHAHAHHAHAA!!!!"

In a gruesome turn of events, before the Hobgoblin could continue, his skull exploded into bits and pieces. Blood smeared across Peter's face as his fingers dug deep into the goblin's brain. However, the chilling laughter never ceased; it only grew louder and more unsettling.

Before Peter could react to the gruesome scene, blood seeped from his ears, and they exploded. A sudden sonic wave pushed him away from the Hobgoblin and sent him hurtling into the air, towards the ceiling.

Just as it appeared that Peter would crash into the ceiling, Gwen moved with lightning speed, swooping in to hold him securely in her arms. The two clung to each other in mid-air, a moment of relief amidst the pain.

Gwen looked on in horror as Peter groaned in excruciating pain, his ears completely gone. His bloodshot eyes were filled with agony that seemed to sear through every fiber of his being.

Slowly, new ears began to regenerate, but each sensation, every sound that touched them, caused him even more torment. It was a nightmarish ordeal, and Gwen could only hold him tighter, offering what little comfort she could in that moment of suffering.

Peter's gaze met Gwen's, though his hearing was still impaired, and her words were muffled. In a raspy and somewhat incomprehensible voice, he managed to instruct her.

"Go... check on Ben and May. I'll take care of this. GO! NOW!"

In Peter's blurred vision, Gwen shut up, offering a nod of understanding before she shot off at her fastest speed, leaving the prom hall behind.

Peter looked at her figure that vanished into the dead of the night and lampooned.

'Its better if she does not see what happens next.'

Peter slowly rose to his feet, his hearing still impaired, rendering him unable to perceive the laughter or devilish words of the Hobgoblin.

"Spider-Woman must be Gwen, seeing how close the two of you are," the Hobgoblin mused with a hint of amusement. "Hehe, interesting."

Peter turned around to cast a glance at the Hobgoblin, his face now smeared with dried blood.

Though he couldn't understand the goblin's incomprehensible words, he sensed that they were likely nothing more than taunts and insults. At this point, he cared little for the goblin's words, his focus squarely on the impending showdown.

A single sound pierced his ears—a continuous beep, reminiscent of his past life when he was Gehrman Sparrow. It mirrored the haunting rhythm of the heartbeat monitor during his father's cancer battle and most when he died, in front of his very eyes.

A single, ceaseless beep.

The Hobgoblin's skull wounds began to regenerate as he stared at Peter. Suddenly, a surge of purple lightning smashed into the goblin's face, propelling him through the air.

Then a kick to his stomach, causing him to fall in midair. However, despite all of this, he did not stop laughing. Peter stared at him without remorse, slowly walking toward the villain.

Shards of glass formed in his palm and fused to form a sharp crude glass crystal. Peter held it tight, and grabbed the goblin by his neck into the air. Looking momentarily at the crystal and the goblin, he whispered.

"Ned?"

The goblin laughed loudly, a sonic wave escaped from his throat but Peter dodged it easily. He glanced at the Hobgoblin and spoke.

"There are benefits to not having ears. Your attacks now don't have any effects on me. Blocking the ears has actually made me realize the power of Lizard actually."

Due to not being able to use human senses, Peter was relying mostly on his Lizard Vision. He could see things up close and far like a zooming tool, and see colors that humans cannot.

Peter spoke in a soft manner, holding the glass crystal in the other hand as the Hobgoblin kept laughing.

"I can see emotions too you know. Right now, your laugh is not of happiness. So you can drop the laughter. I know you fear me."

Ned's eyes widened and before he could react Peter grabbed a few Halloween pumpkin bombs and stuffed them all into his throat and to close it all, a gigantic spiky glass crystal found its way into his mouth.

The Hobgoblin looked at Peter with utmost horror and moaned loudly in pain, communicating with Peter from his eyes. Begging to remove all the bombs and the glass crystal however, Peter did blink an eye

From the Hobgoblin's entire mouth, to his throat, to his stomach, and deeper into the intestine. The huge shard of glass had invaded and cut through all of them until it did not pierce out of his butthole.

Peter glanced at Ned Leeds, now Hobgoblin as he spoke.

"I can still save you. All you need to do is beg."

The Hobgoblin looked at Peter with utmost horror and moaned loudly in pain, communicating with Peter from his eyes. Begging to remove all the bombs and the glass crystal, however, all Peter did was blink his eye throughout the entire spectacle.

"MFGHHHHHHHHHH- SAAACCVVVVEE MEHHHHH-AAAAARFGGGGG!!!!!"

Peter raised an eyebrow looking at Ned with confusion and pointed at his regenerating ears.

"Can't hear you. Was gonna let you die anyways."

A smile crept onto Peter's face and slowly he began to laugh similar to a lunatic in front of the Hobgoblin. Pausing for a millisecond, Peter smiled again, this time rather warm.

"Fuck you."

*B0000000OOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!*

Waves of smog thrust into Peter's face and the entire environment along with a rain of burning flesh that incinerated, turning into dust.

Peter had long turned his back and begun to walk away, unable to hear a single sound, unable to hear a single whimper of the Hobgoblin and unable to hear the explosion.

Violet tendrils of electricity covered his body as he jumped turning into a streak of lightning as he constantly blink and teleported toward his destination, a home that he was unsure if it existed.

~

Da stones