Spider-Man : The Hunted
Part 1 - Ghosts from the past.
His dreams were haunted by visions of his past, mixed with dark fantasies and scenes which might have been out of a horror movie. Ghosts and goblins, red and blue Spider Demons, all sorts of insects and predators... all out to get him. He was running, but could not escape. He was hiding, but could not stay hidden forever. " You must be strong, son! " Norman Osborn's voice echoed through his dream. " The world tramples over those that are weak, and leaves them broken and bleeding for the vultures to feed on, " His father once had told him. Norman never tolerated any kind of failure, much less the failure of his own son. Harry finally opened his eyes. He was drenched in sweat. There was no use in tossing and turning in bed. He wasn't getting any sleep anyway. He got out of bed, and flipped on the lightswitch.
The luxurious bedroom was lit with a soft light from the candlebra in the centre of the room. The house had never seemed so empty before. Harry wiped the sweat off his face and made his way to his father's study. Maybe he could clear his head by going through the Oscorp Industries files. The company was in serious trouble, and if he didn't do something, it would go under. Oscorp was the only way he could muster enough rescources for his revenge. Sure, his father had left him a fortune, but what he had in mind would cost a fantastic amount of money, work and research. As he sat down at the desk, he stared at the calendar. No wonder he was having bad dreams. Today would have been his father's birthday. The young man closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. Sure, Norman wasn't the best father figure in the world, but he had not deserved to die. Spider-Man had killed him. Stolen his only family from him.
The young man had still not figured out his father's connection to the Green Goblin. He knew the experiments his father and Doctor Mendell Stromm had conducted at Oscorp had resulted in the Green Goblin's origin somehow. Harry switched on his father's laptop. While waiting for it to boot up, he picked up a remote control resting on the oak desk, and clicked it. A panel in the far wall slid open and a large screen television came to life. Late night news, nothing to get excited about.
Harry felt his pulse accelerate as he watched a report about Spider-Man, saving some construction workers from a freak accident. An I-bar had somehow snapped, and the whole structure would have collapsed, crashing down on the helpless workers below, had Spider-Man not webbed the supports back into position. He hated the super hero, no doubt about that. There and then, he decided he would do anything to ensure his downfall.
The youth turned his attention back to his father's laptop again, and started going through Oscorp Industries' most confidential files.
A couple of hours, and lots of meaningless reading later, Harry came across on a file named 'Performance Enhancers Project.' It was password protected. Try as he might, he could not crack the password for the protected file. Harry felt his eyelids getting heavy. He decided to give up trying to get access to his father's file, and shut the laptop down. As he did so, a thought occurred to him. " Maybe Peter can crack it, " he muttered to himself aloud. Yes, he decided, Peter Parker would have no problem hacking into the computers most guarded secrets. His friend was a genius, after all. He returned to bed, and slept a little more peacefully than before, mainly because of exhaustion. Nightmares just weren't enough to keep him awake anymore.
The lecturer walked to and fro in front of the assembled students, explaining his theory on combining DNA of two species to incorporate the strong suites or abilities of one creature into another. He was in his mid thirties, with brown hair and wearing glasses. He also had only one arm. During his presentation he talked about how for example, humans might one day through genetic manipulation regrow damaged or severed tissue.
He stopped talking when he noticed a student fast asleep, near the back of the class. He was laying with his arms folded on his desk, snoring softly.
" Mr. Parker!! " Doctor Connors bellowed, more than a little annoyed at the student's apparent lack of interest in his class.
Peter awoke with a start, looking all around him. His classmates just laughed. " Parker, what a dope, " the class nerd whispered to his friend.
" When I want your opinion, Mr. Johnson, I'll ask for it, " Connors said. He directed his attention back to Peter. " So Mr. Parker, you don't deem it necessary to stay awake during my class in order to pass the term exam? "
Peter twiddled his thumbs nervously. " No, sir... er I mean, yes sir... it's just that I had to work late last night, sir and... "
" Go and get a strong cup of coffee, Peter. Come back when you're willing to learn something. " Connors said, thoroughly ticked off.
Peter wordlessly collected his books, packed them into his backpack and left the classroom. The truth was, he had been out all night as Spider-Man, doing the normal thing - webbing up bank robbers, helping people from freak accidents... it was all in a day's work for the Webslinger. The problem was, not even a superhero could manage to stay awake 24 hours a day. Coffee wasn't gonna do the trick. He needed sleep, so he decided to give class a miss and go home. Genetics was a breeze anyway.
He yawned as he entered his modest downtown apartment. He shut the door behind him and locked it, tossed his backpack in the corner, then crashed on his soft, comfy bed. Within minutes he was fast asleep.
Part 1 - Ghosts from the past.
His dreams were haunted by visions of his past, mixed with dark fantasies and scenes which might have been out of a horror movie. Ghosts and goblins, red and blue Spider Demons, all sorts of insects and predators... all out to get him. He was running, but could not escape. He was hiding, but could not stay hidden forever. " You must be strong, son! " Norman Osborn's voice echoed through his dream. " The world tramples over those that are weak, and leaves them broken and bleeding for the vultures to feed on, " His father once had told him. Norman never tolerated any kind of failure, much less the failure of his own son. Harry finally opened his eyes. He was drenched in sweat. There was no use in tossing and turning in bed. He wasn't getting any sleep anyway. He got out of bed, and flipped on the lightswitch.
The luxurious bedroom was lit with a soft light from the candlebra in the centre of the room. The house had never seemed so empty before. Harry wiped the sweat off his face and made his way to his father's study. Maybe he could clear his head by going through the Oscorp Industries files. The company was in serious trouble, and if he didn't do something, it would go under. Oscorp was the only way he could muster enough rescources for his revenge. Sure, his father had left him a fortune, but what he had in mind would cost a fantastic amount of money, work and research. As he sat down at the desk, he stared at the calendar. No wonder he was having bad dreams. Today would have been his father's birthday. The young man closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. Sure, Norman wasn't the best father figure in the world, but he had not deserved to die. Spider-Man had killed him. Stolen his only family from him.
The young man had still not figured out his father's connection to the Green Goblin. He knew the experiments his father and Doctor Mendell Stromm had conducted at Oscorp had resulted in the Green Goblin's origin somehow. Harry switched on his father's laptop. While waiting for it to boot up, he picked up a remote control resting on the oak desk, and clicked it. A panel in the far wall slid open and a large screen television came to life. Late night news, nothing to get excited about.
Harry felt his pulse accelerate as he watched a report about Spider-Man, saving some construction workers from a freak accident. An I-bar had somehow snapped, and the whole structure would have collapsed, crashing down on the helpless workers below, had Spider-Man not webbed the supports back into position. He hated the super hero, no doubt about that. There and then, he decided he would do anything to ensure his downfall.
The youth turned his attention back to his father's laptop again, and started going through Oscorp Industries' most confidential files.
A couple of hours, and lots of meaningless reading later, Harry came across on a file named 'Performance Enhancers Project.' It was password protected. Try as he might, he could not crack the password for the protected file. Harry felt his eyelids getting heavy. He decided to give up trying to get access to his father's file, and shut the laptop down. As he did so, a thought occurred to him. " Maybe Peter can crack it, " he muttered to himself aloud. Yes, he decided, Peter Parker would have no problem hacking into the computers most guarded secrets. His friend was a genius, after all. He returned to bed, and slept a little more peacefully than before, mainly because of exhaustion. Nightmares just weren't enough to keep him awake anymore.
The lecturer walked to and fro in front of the assembled students, explaining his theory on combining DNA of two species to incorporate the strong suites or abilities of one creature into another. He was in his mid thirties, with brown hair and wearing glasses. He also had only one arm. During his presentation he talked about how for example, humans might one day through genetic manipulation regrow damaged or severed tissue.
He stopped talking when he noticed a student fast asleep, near the back of the class. He was laying with his arms folded on his desk, snoring softly.
" Mr. Parker!! " Doctor Connors bellowed, more than a little annoyed at the student's apparent lack of interest in his class.
Peter awoke with a start, looking all around him. His classmates just laughed. " Parker, what a dope, " the class nerd whispered to his friend.
" When I want your opinion, Mr. Johnson, I'll ask for it, " Connors said. He directed his attention back to Peter. " So Mr. Parker, you don't deem it necessary to stay awake during my class in order to pass the term exam? "
Peter twiddled his thumbs nervously. " No, sir... er I mean, yes sir... it's just that I had to work late last night, sir and... "
" Go and get a strong cup of coffee, Peter. Come back when you're willing to learn something. " Connors said, thoroughly ticked off.
Peter wordlessly collected his books, packed them into his backpack and left the classroom. The truth was, he had been out all night as Spider-Man, doing the normal thing - webbing up bank robbers, helping people from freak accidents... it was all in a day's work for the Webslinger. The problem was, not even a superhero could manage to stay awake 24 hours a day. Coffee wasn't gonna do the trick. He needed sleep, so he decided to give class a miss and go home. Genetics was a breeze anyway.
He yawned as he entered his modest downtown apartment. He shut the door behind him and locked it, tossed his backpack in the corner, then crashed on his soft, comfy bed. Within minutes he was fast asleep.