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[Frog] Chapter 117: The Lord of Hell - Mephisto
🕑 Added 2024-10-26 09:40:16 +0000 UTC“What’s happening to him?” Gwen asked after catching the Green Goblin’s punch. After a stream of cursing, the Green Goblin suddenly pulled his hand away, clutching his head and retreating, as if struggling with something within himself.
Red Queen’s voice came through immediately, “Miss Gwen, it seems like there’s another personality inside his body.”
“Another personality?”
“Yes, it's very likely that the two personalities are fighting over control of the body right now.”
Not far away, Tony frowned as he watched the scene. Anna, standing next to him, also paled when she saw the Green Goblin’s condition. It was eerily familiar to her. It reminded her of a certain vagrant locked up in prison.
“Uncle George, I think I know why he came here,” Anna said after glancing at George.
“Oh?” George responded, puzzled.
Anna explained, “His symptoms are identical to a prisoner we have in the station.”
“I think the reason he came to the NYPD is because of that criminal!”
Tony, now curious, interrupted their conversation. “Hold on. What kind of criminal are you talking about?”
Compared to Red Queen, Jarvis, created by Tony, was much weaker in the medical field, making it difficult for him to accurately assess the Green Goblin’s condition. Tony, naturally, was curious about what exactly was happening to him.
Anna glanced at Tony and explained, “It’s a criminal we caught today, someone suffering from a split personality disorder. After interrogation, it seemed like the condition was caused by some kind of drug. The symptoms are exactly the same as what we're seeing in the Green Goblin right now.”
Tony nodded in understanding and pointed at the crazed Green Goblin. “So, how do we deal with him now?”
“Get back in your place! This isn’t something a worthless fool like you can handle!” The Green Goblin screamed, banging his head with his fist, trying to suppress the Norman Osborn personality inside him. But Norman, provoked and enraged, fought back even harder.
The Green Goblin, clearly frustrated, pulled several bombs from a pouch on his waist and activated them. The sound of beeping filled the air.
Seeing this, Anna's face turned pale, and she shouted to Gwen, “Spider-Woman, be careful! That personality of his may be trying to take everyone down with him!”
Hearing Anna's warning, Tony kicked the glider away, stepped forward, and positioned himself to shield everyone behind him. His repulsor was aimed and ready. “Get behind cover, now!”
Gwen, too, readied her web shooters, prepared to encase and hurl the bombs back at the Green Goblin the moment he threw them. However, by this point, the Green Goblin was completely unaware of the others’ actions. He was locked in a struggle with Norman's personality.
“Fine, you want to play? Let’s play!” he yelled.
The next second, something no one expected happened—the Green Goblin threw all the bombs at his own feet.
In an instant, multiple explosions went off simultaneously, filling the area with thick, green smoke.
Seeing the green smoke spread, Gwen’s expression changed beneath her mask. She quickly shot her web at a high point and swung herself up to a traffic light, getting a clear view of the situation below.
“Is he trying to escape?” Gwen furrowed her brows. The only reason she could think of for the Green Goblin's actions was that he intended to flee, using the smoke to obscure everyone’s vision before making his escape.
“Miss Gwen, would you like to activate the infrared thermal imaging function?” Red Queen suggested.
“Yes, do it!”
Instantly, everything in Gwen’s view transformed into the colors of infrared imaging. Within seconds, she could clearly see the Green Goblin still in the center of the smoke, just as before, as though struggling with himself.
“Red Queen, can the drone fly inside to pick up sound?”
“Of course!”
A small drone detached from Gwen's spider suit and flew toward the green smoke.
From afar, Tony, still on alert, watched this in surprise. “A mini drone? Looks like this Spider-Woman doesn’t rely solely on brute strength.”
In Tony’s eyes, that mini drone technology was far more advanced than the crude glider the Green Goblin had used earlier.
As the drone penetrated the smoke, Gwen finally began to hear the Green Goblin’s voice.
“Trust me. I'll take care of them all. All you need to do now is surrender the body to me!”
“No, don’t you get it? We've already lost! We lost our strength to Spider-Woman, our technology to Tony, and to Howard too! None of this matters anymore! It's all meaningless!”
Norman’s voice echoed in defiance, continually pushing back against the Green Goblin's.
Not only that, but the Green Goblin had even taken off his mask, leaving nothing to muffle his voice. The original voice of Norman Osborn could now be clearly heard.
“This voice... It sounds so familiar...” Gwen murmured, unable to recall exactly where she had heard it before, but it triggered a sense of familiarity. The thick smoke made it impossible for the drone to get a clear image of the Green Goblin’s face, leaving Gwen questioning his true identity.
Inside the smoke, the argument between the Green Goblin and Norman raged on.
“I already told you! You deal with those bureaucrats during the day, and the night belongs to me!”
“Are you going to go back on your word now?” the Green Goblin snarled angrily.
Norman responded, his tone bleak and defeated, “No. I just think none of this has any meaning anymore.”
The Green Goblin was speechless for a moment—Damn it! If you want to give up and die, don’t drag me down with you!
Suddenly, a new voice echoed from deep within their minds, carrying an almost irresistible temptation.
“Actually... you can win. All you have to do is make a deal with me.”
Both Norman and the Green Goblin’s faces twisted in shock and terror as they cried out, “Who are you?!”
At that moment, Tony flew over to Gwen’s side. “Nice gear, Spider-Lady.”
“Of course,” Gwen responded confidently.
The technology in Gwen’s Spider suit had been specially designed for her by Alan. Complimenting the suit was as good as complimenting Alan himself, and to Gwen, that was far better than any praise directed at her.
“Can you see what's going on inside? I've got infrared thermal imaging and can see the guy in there,” Tony boasted.
Gwen wasn’t about to back down. “What makes you think I don’t have that too?”
Tony was momentarily speechless. After all, if she had drones like that, then infrared thermal imaging wasn’t far-fetched either.
“Wait... what’s he doing?” Gwen suddenly said.
Inside the smoke, the figure revealed by thermal imaging had dropped to its knees.
Tony saw it too, and puzzled, he added, “It looks like... he’s...”
“...praying,” Gwen finished.
On a nearby rooftop, Alan observed as the Green Goblin surrounded himself in smoke. “Looks like it's over,” he muttered.
In the original storyline, the Green Goblin—with his glider and bombs—could barely hold his own against Spider-Woman. But Tony’s forceful intervention had ruined his glider, taking away the Green Goblin's main advantage. Without his flying device, the Green Goblin’s combat effectiveness was severely diminished. Under these circumstances, defeating Gwen was nearly impossible.
Just as Alan was preparing to teleport away, his expression suddenly shifted, his pupils briefly glowing a brilliant gold.
“Who’s there?!”
In the depths of the universe, Heimdall, who had been keeping watch over Thor, suddenly froze, his gaze shifting. He saw it—above the New York Police Department, swirling within the green smoke.
“No, this can’t be! How could he be there?” Heimdall quickly looked away and rushed toward Odin's throne room.
Somewhere on Earth...
In a quiet room, the Ancient One, dressed in a gray monk’s robe, sat at a tea table, preparing tea for her disciples. The disciples, respectful, nodded gratefully in response to her gestures.
The Ancient One’s steady hands poured the tea with the same calm, timeless manner that reflected her serene mind. But in the next moment, her ever-calm expression changed ever so slightly. Her hand wavered, causing the tea to spill unevenly.
Setting down the teapot abruptly, the Ancient One stood and took a few steps, turning her gaze toward New York.
Her disciples’ expressions shifted immediately. They had been with the Ancient One for years but had never seen her this shaken.
One of the older disciples stepped forward and asked, “Master, has something happened?”
The Ancient One spoke slowly, “He has appeared.”
The disciples exchanged puzzled glances.
He?
“Master, who are you referring to?” another disciple asked, confused.
The Ancient One’s eyes, reflecting countless stars, remained distant for a moment before she finally spoke again.
“The Lord of Hell... Mephisto.”
...
