NO RESTRAINT

One night, Dr. Harleen Quinzel walks into The Goblins cell in Arkham Asylum where Norman Osborne is strapped to the bed, still with the same unhinged smile on his face.

"Hello Mr. Osborne. How are you feeling today?" Dr. Quinzel asks with a genuine smile.

The Goblin laughs.

"I'm better now that I'm with you, darling." He says.

Harleen blushes but quickly regains her composure.

"You know how this works by now. I'm here to evaluate your mental sta-"

"Tell me something, dear- Have you ever had a really bad day?" The Goblin asks.

"What do you mean by that?" Harleen asks.

"You of all people should know...There's nothing so cruel as memory. You can't even escape into madness from it, it's still there. Laughing at you. Mocking you. A bad joke at your expense."

The Goblin laughs.

"Then you meet someone who changes your life. And you feel you don't even know who you are anymore… Isn't it funny how one little encounter can cleave off little pieces of your past, deform your memories and persona until you rethink your whole identity. And as you realize how foolish it all is… your laughter reverberates off the walls of your own emptiness."

Harleen can't help but be in awe of Goblins poetic words. The Goblin then turns to Harleen, staring into her eyes.

"Have you ever had the feeling your entire life has been building to one moment?" He asks.

Quinzel gets a smile on her face.

"Is that how you feel?" She asks.

"Of course. I realized that all the battles, the bad days… The brutalities… It was all the hand of fate at work. Now I understand. There are no chance encounters. It was all meant to be. Everything leading up to who I've met on this journey."

"So you've met someone special?" Harleen asks.

"Yes. And you might say it's changed EVERYTHING."

Harleen's smile gets bigger.

"Everything?"

"Absolutely. I mean, do you realize what a vile world we live in? How lonely it is to wade through all the wretch and filth on your own?"

Harleen then holds The Goblins hand.

"It is kind of lonely, isn't it?" She says.

The Goblins smile grows.

"Harleen. What a pretty name. Do your friends call you Harley?"

"Oh, I don't have a lot of friends." Harleen says.

"Well Harley, you've got one now." The Goblin says, manipulating her emotions.

Meanwhile Peter is on the streets, beating on multiple criminals, trying to figure out any information about Hush. Peter's more violent than usual, breaking more bones, hurting people more severely. He then grabs one of the thugs by the throat, squeezing.

"WHERE IS HUSH!" Peter growls.

The man can barely even speak.

"I... don't... know... who..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Peter's grip tightens. The man can't get out a single word, his eyes rolling in the back of his head and face turning red.

"For God sakes master Peter! You are going too far, let him go or you'll kill him!" Ben yells through Peter's earpiece.

Peter keeps his grip for a moment, scowling at the man. He soon let's the man go as he drops to the ground, coughing up blood. When the man looks up, Spider-Bat is already gone.

Later Peter storms into the cave, past Ben and straight towards the computer to continue his search for Hush.

"You went too far tonight, Peter." Ben says.

"I was trying to get answers, Ben. It's what I've always done."

"No! Intimidating others is one thing, but you would have choked the life out of that man. He didn't even know a thing about this Hush fellow... You are going down the wrong path, sir. I don't want you to become something you aren't."

Peter turns to Ben for the first time since he entered the cave.

"Ben, who do you see when you look at us? The boy who shoes you used to tie every morning? The teenager you drove to his first date? While you are here every night, we are out there, the only thing between the innocent and the predatory."

"That maybe-" Ben starts to say as Peter gets into his face.

"No! Not maybe, I am. When a mugger stops to think twice, that is fear. That is what I am. I'm the reason criminals breathe easier when the sun rises. So No, Ben! I don't think I went too far! Until I find Hush, we'll go even further! If you can't handle it, there's the door!"

Ben is shocked by the look in Peter's eyes as he walks past him again.

"We have to go. Brock invited us to some big play." Peter says

His black Spider-Bat suit turns into a regular suit and tie. Before Peter can leave, Ben stops him.

"Have you even noticed that you keep saying "we" while referring to yourself, Master Peter?"

Peter stops, actually not even noticing that he was doing that.

"That suit is affecting you, sir. It's changing you. You have to take it off."

Peter immediately turns around and snaps at Ben.

"No! I need it! It's helping me be what this city needs!" Peter yells.

He then storms out of the cave to meet Brock, as Ben is left feeling worried.

Meanwhile in Arkham Asylum, The Goblin and Harleen Quinzel are running down the halls, laughing with each other while leaving bodies in their path. They look for an exit, but the entire Asylum is on lock down.

"Why is this place so hard to break out of all of a sudden?" The Goblin says.

At that moment, a mystery figure knocks out one of the guards in the control room and presses a button that opens a door infront of the Goblin, causing his smile to grow.

"I'd be thanking God if I actually thought he was listening! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

They soon escape as the two of them laugh.

"That was... so exciting." Harleen says, wrapping her arms around the Goblin.

The Goblin continues to manipulate Harleen, wrapping his arms around her too.

"Believe me, my dear. You stick with me, you'll have many more moments like that."

At that moment, a newspaper flies into Harleen's face. Norman rips it off of her face, reading the front page, immediately getting excited about a play, staring Andrea Jane Watson.

"Harley... I know what we're going to do tonight. HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

While the Goblin laughs, Hush is watching from the shadows.