Although the Wild Boar Armor was capable of flight, its ability was really only enough to keep it hovering. Without the acceleration provided by grappling hooks and winches, it was simply no match for Spider-Man. All the Wild Boar could do was watch helplessly as the Green Goblin fell into Spider-Man's hands.
However, having to deal with the extra burden inevitably made Spider-Man's movements less agile and three-dimensional than before. It was no longer possible for him to toy with the Wild Boar Armor as easily as he had previously.
Without his flight glider, the Green Goblin was completely at Spider-Man's mercy in the air. Without Spider-Man's help, he probably would have died beneath that kukri.
Even so, Spider-Man could use his webs to perform a double-swing in midair, changing direction and barely managing to keep the pig-headed humanoid from catching up. But sooner or later, they would have to land. There was no way Spider-Man could keep swinging him through the air forever.
The double-swing technique had a particular drawback: Spider-Man and the Green Goblin were always moving in opposite directions. Spider-Man had to expend even more effort to catch up with the latter before making another swing to adjust his trajectory.
The Wild Boar only needed to wait until Spider-Man grew exhausted, or until all the momentum in the Green Goblin's body was exhausted and he fell to the ground. The only exception would be if Spider-Man dared to hold onto the Green Goblin while swinging, just like in all those heroic rescues of damsels in distress.
The difference was that the women Spider-Man rescued would only look at him with hearts in their eyes, completely smitten with him. But the little spider couldn't guarantee that if the Green Goblin got too close, he wouldn't stab him.
That was why the two of them had always moved separately, and why the pig-headed humanoid metal man had finally found his opportunity.
After being hurled heavily against the wall, the Green Goblin, who wasn't wearing a helmet, looked as though he could barely endure the dangerous ride he'd just been through. His churning stomach nearly made him vomit up bile. He even grabbed the scarf portion of the hood around his body and wiped his mouth with it.
The Wild Boar Armor finally reached the Green Goblin before Spider-Man could, and once again raised the kukri in its hand.
The energy-charging sequence of the Isu technology had already begun. Lines of energy connected the fist, arm armor, and blade, showing that the power of the entire suit was concentrating toward the kukri.
The Wild Boar intended to finish off the Green Goblin before Spider-Man could arrive and stop him.
"Wait!" Norman Osborn finally had a chance to raise his hand and stop him, giving himself an opportunity to defend himself. "I'm no longer the person you think I am."
"Doesn't matter." The Wild Boar Armor spoke in an electronic voice.
"I'm Norman Osborn!" the Green Goblin firmly emphasized.
There was an unmistakable air of authority in his eyes, as though a superior were looking down upon a subordinate. Even though the current situation had him sitting on the ground and looking up while the Wild Boar stood over him.
That tone and that gaze really did stop the Wild Boar in its tracks, even if only for a brief moment. At the very least, those clear eyes didn't look insane.
That brief pause was enough for Spider-Man to hurry over. During their escape, he had also noticed the Green Goblin's appearance without his mask. Now that the man had admitted his identity himself, Spider-Man could hardly stand by and let his friend's father be killed.
This time, Spider-Man didn't use his webs to pull the metal man from behind. He had already tried that once, and it hadn't stopped the other party from swinging his blade. Instead, he used his webs to accelerate, leaped between the metal man and Norman Osborn, and blocked the attack with his own body.
"Don't use the knife. We can talk this out. You must have a reason for wanting to kill him, right?"
"Peter, move aside. Let me talk to him properly." Norman Osborn struggled to his feet.
"Okay, Mr. Osborn... Wait, why do you..." Spider-Man stared at his friend's father in astonishment after his identity had been exposed.
Even though his face was hidden behind his mask, everyone could still sense the sheer shock on his face.
Once he was standing upright, Norman Osborn said, "I went to a world that was very similar to this one. You went there too. Oh, I should say that a future version of you went there, not the current you. There were three Spider-Men there, including you.
"And my evil deeds came from my madness, while that madness came from a flawed super-soldier serum. The three of you worked together and developed a cure. I was injected with it. So the Green Goblin no longer exists. Can you understand that?"
The final question was directed by Norman Osborn at the Wild Boar.
Unlike the Green Arrow Duck, whose helmet would comically and exaggeratedly reproduce the wearer's facial expressions on the outside, the Wild Boar's face remained as rigid as ever.
But that didn't mean the person inside wasn't shocked by Norman Osborn's words.
So that's why this guy had disappeared earlier. The effects of Doctor Strange's memory-erasing spell had pulled him into the world of the Dutch Spider-Man—the world with three Spider-Men.
Wait, that doesn't make sense!
Wasn't the spell supposed to attract only people who knew that Peter Parker was Spider-Man? Judging by the Spider-Man standing before him, even he was shocked that his identity had been exposed.
Could Norman Osborn have already discovered Spider-Man's secret identity?
Oh. Electro and Eddie Brock's version of Venom also didn't know Spider-Man's identity, yet they were pulled over as well. So dragging over another Green Goblin who didn't know Spider-Man's identity wasn't entirely unreasonable.
Who the hell knew how many bugs an out-of-control spell had created? Since they couldn't identify the exact problem, the uncontrolled magic was riddled with loopholes. That was why Dutch Spider-Man and Doctor Strange had ultimately resorted to the simplest solution: cutting everything off at once and overwriting the original spell's effects.
Besides, this Green Goblin had known Peter Parker for a long time, and he also knew Spider-Man. He simply didn't know that Peter Parker was Spider-Man. No wonder that damn spell had caused such a serious accident. It was completely devoid of logic.
In any case, this guy had been dragged over. Norman Osborn glossed over whatever had happened in between, choosing not to elaborate. The final result was that he had been injected with the antidote to the Green Goblin serum and then sent back.
The Wild Boar nevertheless continued pretending that he knew nothing about any of this. The blade in his hand remained raised.
"And what does that prove?"
"If you came here to take revenge for what happened before, then go ahead and do it. If you're worried about what will happen in the future, then it's up to you whether you choose to believe me. Those things won't happen anymore."
There was a degree of probing in those words as well.
In other words, Norman Osborn, who retained more or less some memories from his time as the Green Goblin, had assumed that the pig-headed humanoid standing before him was someone who had crossed paths with the Green Goblin.
The Wild Boar's response could therefore confirm the man's hidden identity—or at the very least, give Norman a clue toward uncovering it. After all, there weren't many people the Green Goblin had deliberately gone out of his way to provoke after becoming the Green Goblin.
If the other party chose to attack, Spider-Man was there, so Norman still had a chance of surviving.
One could say that with just a few simple sentences, Norman Osborn, chairman of Osborn Industries and a man with the bearing of a ruthless leader, had once again displayed the shrewdness of a businessman, presenting a probing response that covered every possibility.
Which was precisely why, from the Wild Boar's perspective, simply chopping off that bastard's pig-like head with one stroke would accomplish several things at once.
But the old problem remained: killing the Green Goblin was one thing.
Killing Norman Osborn was another.
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