Shattered

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story.

Author's note: This is my first ficlet, and I'm excited. Usually when I say 'short' it turns out to be thirty pages, so this is a milestone for me. I hope all the Harry fans like this. I probably won't be writing more chapters since I'm writing my own book at the moment (or at least giving it a shot.) I hope everyone likes it.

It had been a week since Harry Osborn had lost the last of anything that held any significance in his life. The first thing to go was his father two years ago. Then Mary Jane shortly thereafter. Finally, and most recently, he'd learned that his best friend, Peter Parker, was in fact his ultimate enemy. He was the cause of everything. Spider-man had killed his father and stole Mary Jane right out from under him. To make matters worse, he faced the destruction of OsCorp, the company his father had spent the better part of his life creating. After the disaster with the human enhancement two years before and the recent fusion fiasco, the government had pulled all funding for OsCorp's research facilities. No one bought any products baring the OsCorp logo. They were teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Harry's career as director of special projects was practically over. Although he knew the end was near, Harry had been working overtime, fighting to save his father's legacy. It was a battle that Harry knew deep inside that he could not win. OsCorp's impending doom on top of everything else caused Harry to begin to question his sanity. At first he thought that he'd dreamed that he'd seen his father in the mirror that day. He tried time and again to convince himself that it wasn't real and that there was no such thing as ghosts. But the shattered glass from the mirror was still on the carpet. The hidden room behind it was still exposed. And try as he might to forget what happened, he had continued his constant watch on the room so that his butler, Bernard, wouldn't set foot inside and see what was there. After Bernard left for the night, Harry had taken to spending most of his time pacing a trail into the soft carpet of his spacious bedroom, thinking what he could possibly do to make Peter pay for what he'd done to him.

It was Saturday night. On a normal Saturday night, Harry would be out clubbing with a few of his friends to take his mind off everything. But these days, Harry's mind was too full and he couldn't forget, no matter how many mind-dulling drinks he consumed.

Harry stopped his pacing and gazed out his window and looked down upon one of the many busy streets of New York. He hoped that with the night would come his web-slinging abomination, making his way to the scene of yet another crime. Perhaps the sight of him swinging through the city would inspire Harry with a method he could use to exterminate the bug.

"Spider-man," Harry scoffed quietly to himself, feeling the familiar rage well up inside him. "I have such an advantage over you...I know where you live...and sleep...I know where you work and when you get there...I know your family and you friends...and once I go after you, there'll be no where for you to run." For the third time in just one week, the silence of his surroundings was pierced by a gravelly laugh. Harry gripped the sides of his head as he began to experience severe vertigo. He staggered his way to the bathroom to expel the contents of his stomach, but he didn't get any further than the mirror. He stopped and stared with dizzy eyes at his reflection which was not his at all. His father stared back at him with a menacing smile.

"You can't run from me, Harry," Norman Osborn said slowly.

"Yes I can," Harry stammered. "I'm getting rid of all the mirrors soon...once they're gone, you won't be able to torture me like this anymore..." Norman cackled in an amused way.

"Harry, Harry, Harry...you can't get rid of me. I'm your father. I'm a part of you," he said with a smile that chilled Harry to the bone. "A part you can't get away from." Harry's vertigo turned into an agonizing headache. "We have business to attend to. We need to get rid of Spider-man. Soon."

"I know, but...OsCorp is falling apart...I've got to save it," groaned Harry under the pain of his headache.

"And you're doing well," said Norman. "But first thing's first. Go behind the mirror again."

"I don't want to," Harry muttered miserably. "Why can't you let me do this by myself?"

"Because!" snapped Norman. "You aren't going to be able to destroy Spider-man by killing him in his sleep. He's much too quick. Go behind the mirror, and I'll show you what needs to be done." Harry looked away for a moment, and when he turned his gaze back on the mirror, his father had vanished. Somewhere else in the house, Harry heard his cackling. He got up and leaned against the wall. He caught his breath and staggered out of his room. Bernard saw him tripping down the stairs, gripping the banister for dear life and became worried.

"Are you alright, sir?" asked Bernard.

"Fine...it's just a headache," Harry replied in his usual spiteful voice. Bernard watched him descend down the rest of the stairs and start on the second flight.

Harry headed into the large sitting room where the broken mirror still lay in shards on the floor. The tribal masks on the wall seemed to taunt him from their perches. Harry made his way through the opening where the mirror used to be, cutting his bare feet on the glass. As soon as he entered, the automatic light snapped on, illuminating the wall of pumpkin bombs, the glider, and the Goblin suit which lay in two separate pieces: the suit itself hung on the wall and the fearsome helmet was propped up on a post near the glider.

"Now, here is what you need to do," said Norman's voice, now seeming to come from the helmet. "Put the suit on." Harry obeyed. He stripped down to his shirt and boxers before getting the suit down from its place on the wall and stretching it over his body. He started for the helmet but stopped. In the shiny yellow eyes, he could see his father's reflection where his should have been. "Go on, put it on," his father coaxed. "What could happen?" That seemed to be enough to convince Harry. He took the heavy Goblin helmet and slipped it over his head. "Good," hissed Norman from inside the helmet. "In that case on the wall over there, there is a tube of green liquid. Take it." Harry did what he was told. He was now on autopilot, obeying everything his father's voice commanded. He took the tube in his hand and waited for further instructions. "Now go to OsCorp. Use the glider."

"But nobody's there," Harry protested dumbly.

"Exactly," Norman's voice said evilly.

Harry flew through the night sky, his feet unused to the glider's steering. He wobbled his way to OsCorp and flew over the outer fence where the security guards stood vigilant (but not vigilant enough) and then dropped low enough to step down onto the ground if he wanted to. He punched in the access code at the front doors. He heard the doors unlock. He turned to glider slightly sideways and nudged the door open. Harry's father muttered directions to him, including disabling the security cameras as he went.

Finally, Harry reached a room that he was not aware existed. Inside, the equipment was covered in dusty plastic sheets.

"Get those sheets off everything and plug in the computers and the chamber," Norman told his son. Harry did as he was told and booted up the computers when they were uncovered and plugged in. "Go to the enhancement program." Harry double-clicked on the program. A screen popped up that showed a digital picture of the chamber to his left. One of the options was 'Initiate Enhancement Sequence' and the other was 'Terminate .' "Go to that shelf over there. There should be a few phials of clear liquid. Drink it." Harry pulled out the stopper of one of the phials and drained it. "Good," said Norman. "Now plug in the tube with the green liquid into the compartment near the camber, there. Afterwards, set the initiation sequence to thirty seconds. That should give you enough time to lock yourself onto the rack." Harry activated the enhancement sequence and wasted no time in locking himself into the stretcher-like rack that slid out of the chamber upon activation. "Wait!" snapped Norman's voice before Harry locked his arms in. "Take off the helmet. You need to be able to inhale the gas." Harry took off the Goblin helmet and dropped it gently onto the tile below him. He looked over at the monitor, which was counting down his time. He had ten seconds before the rack slid back into the chamber. He quickly locked his arms in with the metal cuffs. A few seconds later, the rack began to move. After he was inside, the rack erected itself. Harry watched the computer monitor as it switched to a screen exhibiting a picture of a human body. Another monitor still showed the chamber.

"Enhancement sequence initiated," said the pleasant voice of the computer. "Liquid vaporization activated." The green liquid drained out of the tube and entered the chamber in the form of a green fog. Harry's head began to spin when the gas entered his lungs. The chamber was almost filled full of green vapor when Harry heard his father cackling loudly. He hoped that whatever this stuff did to him ultimately aided in Spider-man's demise. It was at that time that Harry began to convulse. The last thing he remembered before he slipped into cold, impenetrable darkness was the agonizing pain of his muscles expanding all over his body...

Fin

Author's note again: Well, how'd you like it? In any case, I had fun writing it. If you enjoyed reading this ficlet, I plan to write two more, one based on Octavius's relationship with Rosie and another on Doc Ock's last moments. Please review and tell me what you thought of this one.