chapter fourteen!
green nightmare

FOR SUCH a cheery turnout of people to the OSCORP Unity Day Festival, Nina didn't feel cheery. She clutched her purse, hugging it close to her stomach as she huddled near the balcony looking down onto the square below. She wanted to be down there. She wanted to be silly and play the games in the tents, watch the singing and pretend her life was better than it was. It looked so fun down there. So amazing, and carefree, with fairy floss on sticks and merry-go-rounds. Nina missed being a kid sometimes. She missed only having to worry about school assessments and getting onto the bus on time. She missed the only drama in her life being how she might not have been allowed to go to Flash's party or having to study late in the night for her SAT's. Everything seemed so simple back then now, but in that moment, everything had been so hard. Now, Nina was working a waitress job, hiding that from her boyfriend and not being able to get into the colleges she wanted. She was stuck in a shell of life failure where she didn't know where she wanted to go, or where she could go. Life was happening down below her and she was stuck up here waiting for Harry's father to arrive for over an hour now.

She could imagine herself down there now, pulling Mary Jane along as they laughed and had sticky fingers from pink fairy floss. They'd talk about her dreams to be an actress and Nina's determination to step into a male-dominated industry with science. Nina wanted that far more than to be up here. She wanted Mary Jane up here; in fact, she wanted to stand there and listen to her best friend sing just like in high school, and they'd both forget the problems in their lives.

Nina never stopped to even realise how hard real life might be. She dreamt, and she smiled, and she preeched her big plans to the universe ... but now that she was here, Nina was nowhere near where she wanted to be. She was supposed to be in college. She was supposed to work towards an internship. She was supposed to be succeeding like she had been in high school. And now, she was stranded.

She wanted to call Mary Jane, perhaps sneak off and run away like they used to. But Nina couldn't do that to Harry, and MJ had an audition right now. This audition could be her big break. It could be the start of a career, and Nina didn't want her to lose her chance at success when Nina couldn't find hers.

Nina sighed and propped her elbows onto the stone balcony, her hair blowing softly in the wind. She wore this dress to think she'd feel better; her favourite dress of pale, beautiful yellow despite the black Harry wanted her to wear. And it did, for a little bit. But now, she just knew she really wanted to be away from it all.

Her eyes wandered the crowd. Seeing the kids playing made her smile a little. She wanted kids one day. She wanted a little girl, and a little boy; three, hopefully. Three kids where she'd love them all equally and cherish. Nina never had a sibling, and so she wanted to make sure her children had what she didn't.

Her gaze crossed along the bright colours and happy laughs, until they stopped on a camera lens. Nina stood up a little, eyes widening in surprise. A grin grew on her face━a real one. One that made her chest, heart and eyes light up with it. The camera lowered and the face behind it smiled back up at her. Peter sent her a wave and she giggled, returning it with one of her own.

Nina leant onto the balcony again, watching Peter as he gazed back up at her. He was small, stuck in the centre of a crowd, and yet, he was now the only one Nina could see. He held up his camera again and she smirked, tilting her shoulder to give a funny pose━not caring at all about the people around her. She saw Peter laugh, and her heart fluttered.

Since they met again outside of Nina's work, the two of the have been meeting up whenever they could at small coffee shops and cafe's, just chatting. No more. Just chatting, and Nina never felt more at peace than she did at those little tables. More listened to. More appreciated for who she was than she was sitting across from Peter Parker.

Him taking her photo from such a length away reminded her of their school trip to OSCORP, and he took photos of her in front of the spider containers to which she made funny faces ... that had been so simple. Chatting with Peter made everything seem simple again.

"Hey," Nina stiffened out of surprise to hear Harry's voice and feel his hand on her back. She had been focusing so much on Peter she didn't even notice him coming up behind her. But she quickly smiled, turning to him and taking the glass of champagne he offered.

"Hey," she replied, reaching up and fixing a stray stand of hair that fell over his grey eyes. Nina liked Harry. She really did. He had been nice to her in school, and gave her flowers. He was handsome, too: tall, with that dark Osborn hair and wide, cheeky smile ... but ... well, Nina didn't know. She didn't like to think about the but.

Harry brought her a little closer, peering down over the balcony, "What were you looking at?" he chuckled.

"I saw Pete," beamed Nina. She noticed the slight fall of his face. It made her frown. "What?"

He shook his head, quickly dismissing it, "Don't worry about it," he assured her and Nina's brows furrowed a little more before they relaxed. That was something; Harry always treated her like she was a precious porceilain vase on a cabinent in his father's home. In his own way, that meant he cared about her, and thought she was something to be cherished with careful hands, but Nina often felt too swaddled; too taken care of. She felt like she was being held like she was on the brink of shattering, that Harry was desperate to keep ahold of her, scared that she'd break at the drop of a hat. But Nina wasn't like that. She was far from it, really.

Harry then frowned at her, and Nina titled her head to ask a silent what? "Nina," he began, she hummed as an answer, nodding. He smiled a little, coy, but confused. He brushed his thumb against her arm, "Why didn't you wear the black dress?" Nina faltered. She stepped back a little, knowing deep down she was expecting him to say that. Harry pursed his lips. He rubbed her arm again. "It's just ... you know I wanted to impress my father. He loves black."

Nina wondered how dry a man could be to only love black as a colour, but she didn't say this. She just smiled and tried to shrug it off, "Well, maybe he'll be impressed no matter what. It's me that matters, not the dress. And besides," she tilted her head up, "you find me pretty, don't you? If that's the only thing that is important?"

Harry didn't understand the slide comment. He just smiled at her, "I think you're beautiful." Nina felt a flicker of annoyance, and she couldn't stop herself. As he leaned in, she turned away, and his lips brushed her cheek.

Awkward silence. She tried to smile, to make it seem like she didn't just do that, but she could tell Harry was confused, and hurt. Nina turned her champagne glass in her hands and took a sip, avoiding his gaze. He glanced back down at the crowd where Peter still stood there, and had seen it all. He set his jaw, embarrassed.

"Hey, Nina," she forced herself to meet his gaze, desperate to push the awkward moment between them away. Harry took her arm gently and nodded back inside, "I forgot my drink inside, would you come with me?"

"Yeah, sure," said Nina, nodding. "Oh, and uh━Harry━do you think your father would want to talk about that essay I wrote? Perhaps his recommendation could get me into college."

"Nina," chided Harry and she pursed her lips, "just ask him and you'll get into OSCORP without college."

"I've told you," she whispered, trying not to sound annoyed, "I don't want to just get something, I want to earn it ... I brought it and everything ..."

Harry sighed, giving in. She hated how he made it seem like her asking was such a chore. "When he gets here, I guess," he grumbled to himself more than anything. "He was supposed to be here over an hour ago."

Despite what had happened before, in seeing the look on Harry's face, Nina grasped his hand gently to tell him, "He's going to come." Harry met her gaze and she gave him a small, encouraging smile. "Don't worry, babe, okay?"

He brought her hand up for a grateful kiss before letting go. "I should ask anyway. You don't mind?"

"No," Nina shook her head, stepping back a little and nodding. "Go ahead, I'll wait here."

Harry grinned at her, "You're the best, Nina."

Her smile fell as soon as he turned his back. Nina frowned at her drink, and since no one was paying attention to her anyway, she downed it in a final swig. She watched Harry wander over to talk to one of the board members in his father's company, thinking that if her mind was buzzing a little, she could enjoy the rest of this festival slightly better.

Something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Nina glanced over, a frown on her face to see a strange silhouette in the distance. In the sunlight, it seemed green ... almost like a man in a pointed costume was riding a flying skateboard, leaving small clouds of green smoke in its wake.

"What is that?" someone asked.

"Must be new this year," muttered another.

"Harry," Nina reached a hand out, and he made his way over to her. She pointed towards the strange figure flying towards them and he stepped out in front of her, trying to see past the glare of the sun.

A bad feeling settled in Nina's stomach. She followed him, her fingers itching towards his blazer sleeve for comfort. She frowned, hoping to see this thing better. What was it? It had to be a man, but that costume━it was so strange. It was green, but as if someone had taken a goblin out of a children's fairytale book, mixed it with a horror mask onto plated green armour and tights ... flying on something that was not a skateboard.

Nina's breath hitched. She recognised that design. Harry had showed it to her one night when she begged to see into OSCORP's current workings. Long and slender, wrapped back like the shaft of a bow with sharp edges and blue fire from the fuel, was an OSCORP Glider. The crowd below began to cheer, laughing and applauding the show as the strange goblin and his glider shot up towards the top of the building near the balcony. Nina wasn't cheering, she wasn't impressed. She felt like she was going to be sick.

The stranger soared past, a green goblin on his flying board, zipping past the floating animal ballons and past the Samsung adverts. Everyone's gazes followed. Some of the board men peered through binoculars to see.

"What the hell was that?" asked Harry.

Nina glanced at him, "I thought you'd know?"

He shook his head, and the uneasy feeling in her stomach did not ease.

The gliding stranger wrapped around the adverts and back towards them. Closer, and closer ... it was now at eye-level, coming straight over, and with nothing to show it was stopping. Nina suddenly regretted following Harry to the balcony. She tugged his sleeve, pulling him back. He got the idea. There were no smiles anymore. They tried to rush back. The goblin bounced off the balloons with a childish manner, making his way closer and closer ... he laughed ... and it was a horrible, chillful laugh. Something appeared in his hand; small, round, green and orange almost like a pumpkin━

Nina gasped, unable to do anything as the ball flung out towards them. It struck the foundations underneath the baloncy, and she screamed as the entire parapet shook. Nina's glass fell, shattering onto the stone, but it was the least of her problems. The windows below exploded with a burst of flame, the stone cracked and screams echoed down below. The crowd dispersed, desperate to flee. The goblin returned. In his hand, he held another━

BOOM!

Nina cried out as the parapet split into two. Stone from above fell and foundations crumbled underneath, she stumbled in her heels, reaching out for Harry━another blast, and another. Her ears rang with explosions and screams, including her own. She couldn't see, she had no idea what was going on, she only just saw the edge of the balcony fall away and two board members fall right to their deaths.

She had not even a single moment to think as the cracks grew; splintering along like fractures to a bone. They met up with one another and grew into geysers, surrounding Nina at her feet. Her breath hitched. No━she made a desperate move to try and jump, screaming Harry's name, but she wasn't quick enough. She tripped at the tremors and hit the stone by the ornate balcony. And before she knew it, Nina was tilting backwards. She was stuck, the stone of her trap breaking away from the rest.

Nina shrieked, helpless, as she began to slip, seconds away from a deathly fall.

*ೃ༄

WALKING UP to the Washington Monument, Nina kept glancing back to what used to be the Triskelion; the sight of S.H.I.E.L.D. Even now, Damage Control were still clearing up pieces of the heilcarriers Captain America sent to the Potomac. Nina pursed her lips and looked away, focusing on the tall, slender building standing before them till the very point at the top. It was so tall, that whenever Nina glanced up, she felt dizzy; almost as if the Washington Monument was going to tip and fall onto her.

Everyone was still celebrating from their win. Flash was the loudest, cheering and holding the trophey, despite not answering any question the entire Decathlon. "Woohoo!" he cried. "We won! We won!"

"You guys, I am so proud of you," Liz was saying, beaming so brightly her entire face lit up.

"Told you we didn't need Peter!"

"Flash, you didn't answer a single question," Ned frowned at him as he passed. Nina left MJ by the benches, for she didn't want to go up and rushed to reach Cindy Moon, deciding to join her for the trip.

She glanced back, watching Mr. Harrington approach MJ, "Taking it all in, Michelle?"

"Oh, yeah, I just, um━" Michelle made a face, shaking her head. She opened up her book, "━I don't really want to celebrate something that was built by slaves."

Mr. Harrington's smile fell away instantly. He stammered for a second, "O━Oh, I'm ... I'm sure the Washington Monument wasn't built by ..." he glanced at the security guard outside, and his face contorted into an uneasy grimace. Mr. Harrington pursed his lips. Then, he nodded. "Okay." MJ gave him a strained smile. "Enjoy your book."

"Thanks."

Nina waved goodbye to Michelle before she stepped inside. It was instantly cooler than it was outside and she pulled the sleeves of her jumper down, for she wasn't wearing her blazer anymore. She gazed around at the ground floor, seeing pieces of historical material beside labels, tour groups and tour guides, as well as an elevator meant to go right up to the top.

"Wow," let out Cindy, reading how many stories there were, "we're going all the way up?"

"Yeah, that's sort of the point," said Charles, taking out his phone to take a quick picture of their surroundings.

Nina went to say something, but when she saw Ned answer his phone, she knew exactly who was calling him. Her anger returned, and she stormed over towards the security checkout. "Peter?" he answered at a whisper. "Are you okay? Don't worry," he then said, "it's safe. It's in my backpack. You missed Decathon. I covered for you. We're at the Washington Monument━"

"Is that Peter?" Nina didn't wait for an answer, she just took Ned's phone right out of his fingers and placed it against her ear. "Peter, is that you?" She placed her bag on the belt and propped her hand on her hip.

Peter responded instantly with a nervous chuckle, "Oh, hey, Nina." He turned urgent. "Please, can you put Ned back on the phone?"

But she wasn't finished. "You are such a flake, you know that?" she told him, furious. "You completely ditched us! You are so lucky we won." He tried to cut her off, but she wouldn't let him. Nina scowled at the wall, pretending she was scowling at Peter. "You know, I seriously thought you actually wanted to come to participate━that you wouldn't quit on something again. But you did it. You keep on doing it and it's disappointing. What is going on with you, Peter?"

"Nina, Nina━" he was still trying to interrupt her, "listen to me. Please, listen to me. I have to talk to Ned. It's really important!"

"I don't even know why I still hoped you'd be different," Nina went on, shaking her head. "I am so over this whole thing you're doing, Peter. It's not okay."

"Nina, please━!"

"Miss," Nina looked over at security. The man gestured to Ned's phone. "All items on the belt, please."

"Nina, listen, please, there's something in Ned's backpack━"

Nina wasn't listening at all anymore. She placed Ned's phone on the belt, and Peter's call was disconnected as it passed under. With a scoff, Nina walked through the arch, grabbed her things on the other side and marched towards the elevator. Liz frowned at her.

"Peter?" she asked.

"He so ditched," answered Nina, standing in beside Liz and Cindy Moon as the elevator doors closed.

Flash fixed his grip on the trophy as the elevator jolted, and it started to go up. He glanced at Mr. Harrington, "Hey, can I be the one to tell Peter he's expelled?"

"If only it was you," muttered Abraham under his breath and Cindy muffled her giggles into her hand. The elevator jolted as it lifted upwards, being pulled by cables and pulley systems to the very top of the Washington Monument. The students were quiet as they listened to their tour guide, though she didn't seem very happy to be here ... at all.

"The Washington Monument is five-hundred-and-fifty-five feet," she was saying, droning on like a long, horrible minor tone in a song, "and one-eigth inches tall." As they passed up the levels, Nina caught engraved stones with names and measurements.

She crossed her arms, finding herself not as interested as she thought she'd be. She glanced up and around, wondering how long it was till they reached the top, and how long it will be to get back down. Nina met Liz's glance, who gave her a small smile.

Why do I have to be so jealous of her? Nina wondered to herself off-handedly. She's so kind and wonderful, and does not deserve how much Peter will disappoint her. And yet she still grates on me, and I can't stop it.

Nina imagined she was skating along a long level of concrete, doing twists and tricks she was still trying to get the handle of, barely listening. The tour guide was droning on about granite and marble, until the elevator around her seemed to light up. Nina frowned, glancing back, and her eyes widened in horror to see rays of purple and blue burst from the seams of Ned's backpack. They jetted up though the ceiling and━

Everyone's screams overshadowed the sound of the explosion. Nina might've heard glass shattering above, and she covered her head, crying out as pieces of metal dropped and melted. The others around her jumped and scrambled, having no idea what was going on. There was a terrible tremble; like the whole monument itself had shook right to its foundations.

Ned threw his bag off and it hit the centre, still steaming around the dust-filled, damaged elevator. Nina pressed her back on the wall, staring at the bag with a horrible, sick feeling in her stomach. She met his gaze, wondering what the hell he had been carrying!

It was dreadfully silent afterwards. Dust and rubble still dropped like drizzles of rain, but the shaking had subsided. It didn't stop the pound of Nina's heart.

"Oh, my God," then said Flash, his voice a hoarse whisper. His eyes were fixed above them. "Look at the ceiling."

Nina followed his gaze, and her pounding heart dropped.

*ೃ༄

SHE WAS too scared to move. The rubble around her slipped and split away from the parapet, and Nina found nothing more in her than to scream, desperate for Harry to get to her. "NINA!" he cried, extending out a hand, but he was too far away. He made no movement, just as terrified as she was. What if he moved, and that caused for the weak foundations to shatter completely? What if Nina moved and that was it? She was falling to her death?

So, when the shaking subsided, and the piece of parapet she sat on fixed itself on the remaining foundations and gargoyles━the only thing keeping her and this fragile stone aloft━Nina kept achingly still. The only thing that moved was her chest, rapid in her breaths and pounding heart.

She tried to search for where this strange Green Goblin was. She heard his maniacle laughter, and the sound of his glider, but she didn't see him until he swooped in so close, her dress billowed at the wind. This close, he was even more terrifying. She felt like she was looking straight into a demon's eyes though that pointed, sculptured mask. She was staring right at a nightmare.

But he wasn't focused on her. He readied another one of those strange, pumpkin-like bombs. With that dreadful laugh, he bellowed, "Out! Am I?!" and chucked it straight towards the huddled board members. Nina screamed when in a blast of green and red, they were nothing but skeletons, collapsing into piles of brittle dust and bones.

"NINA!" Harry yelled. He tried to make a jump for it. He stretched out his hand, stepping forward and Nina did her best to help. He was close; almost there to grab her, until a piece of rubble fell down.

"Harry!" Nina cried when he crumpled to the stone, unconscious. "NO!"

Sobbing, her breath hitched to hear the laugh right behind her. A chill-biting whir made her glance back, and there was the nightmare. The green monster that lived under everyone's beds. He crouched down, arms spread out on his glider as he leered down towards her.

"Hello, my dear," he said, like his words were threaded with blood and gravel.

Nina screamed and reached for a piece of rubble. Not thinking, she wrapped her hands around it and threw it straight at him. It hit him in the chin of his helmet. It did little━nothing even, except make his stance jerk off balance for a second, and make him much, much angrier.

The Green Goblin cackled at her. He cackled, and he cackled, and Nina wanted to cry. Her heart hurt her chest. She had nowhere to run. Those board members were bone and dust, Harry was unconscious, and Nina was so petrified she no longer could move even a muscle. "Ring-a-round a rosey," taunted the Goblin, singing as he reached for another bomb. Hearing him sing was even worse than hearing his laugh. Nina's blood ran cold, "a pocket full of poseys. A tissue, a tissue, they all fall━"

Just as he was about to throw, and Nina would've fallen, precisely as the nursery rhyme said, a blur of red and blue swooped out of nowhere. In a flash, the Green Goblin was knocked from his glider. Nina heard his stranged yells as he tumbled down towards the tents. The red and blue blur swung up to the stone of the building above. Nina could see him now. He wasn't a blur. No, he was something far better.

Nina's heart rose with hope to see the one and only Spider-Man. Here was here; he was going to save the day. (Save the day in a skin-tight red-and-blue suit but save the day nonetheless).

"Hi," she said to him, even though she was sure he couldn't hear.

Even if he did, Spider-Man had no time to say hello back. Green Goblin disappeared beneath the tarps of the market tent, but his glider still laid rampage in search of him. It bolted from Nina and towards its master, striking right through the heavy, world balloon suspended above. Rapidly, it began to fold in on itself, sinking towards the music stage and the crowd around it. The musicians dived off the stage, the audience stampeded, but one little boy did not. His ice cream dropped to the ground as he stared, mouth-agape at the collossal balloon about to fold right onto him.

"Come on!" said Spider-Man. "Move, kid!"

"Get him out of there!" screamed Nina down to the crowd, hopefully to the mother, trying her best to help.

The boy did not move. He was frozen. The balloon flattened against the stage, and the scaffolding began to topple over. Nina has seen action movies, and they always showed scenes like these ones in slow motion; suspensful, giving the superhero enough time rush in and save the day. But this wasn't like that. It was happening so fast. No one could run to him. This boy was alone and he just stared, every self-preserving thought fried with fear.

Spider-Man yelled in desperation. He pushed himself off the stone of the building, running along it like it was a racing track. Then, he jumped forwards, extending out an arm where a thin, long string of web attatched itself to the building across. Nina watched, amazed, as he swung down low━nothing more than the blur of a silhouette towards the child, and in the nick of time, he snatched him up in his free arm, keeping him close to his side just as the stage and balloon hit the ground with a mighty crash!

Nina sighed with relief, watching him land on his feet and pass the little boy over to his mother. She clung onto her son, sobbing and crying out blubbers of gratitude to Spider-Man who squeezed her shoulder.

Something cracked underneath Nina. She gasped, confused for second. Then, she remembered where she was, and she yelped when the piece of stone she was on shuddered and dropped an inch. Then, it collapsed.

Nina screamed, horrifed as everything around her seemed to just leave her; she dropped, but the world stayed still, and she felt like she was jolting down an air shute until she wasn't, and the piece of the parapet that was her safe haven found another piece of crumbling column to settle on.

Problem was, Nina couldn't get away this time. The balcony was above her, and she had no way of climbing up.

And down below, the Green Goblin finally resurfaced.

*ೃ༄

a/n: publishing this on the road to south Australia like—

      when nina realises she is angry and crushing on the same person without knowing it:

   
     Felicia is like you gotta move on!
     And Nina is like yeah! Yeah I gotta do that!
     Also Nina: unknowingly falls for her ex all over again

also Mary Jane hate ain't welcome here pls I love her sm she's a queen thank. i mean, what do people expect her to be? an actress doubling in martial arts? she's so realistic in consideration to how most of us would react in the situations she was forced into by just knowing spider-man, and she tried her best to help in anyway she could!!

anyway, we're not getting into another Mary Jane rant. I love her, u can hate her, just pls don't spread that hate on my book in mean ways. Respectful ways, yes of course. We are mature in my comments <3